I am a professional woman who lives at Falkland Chase and thought that the postings about the office managers were bunk until the following happened to me: my roommate and I recently submitted our two rent checks for September in a single envelope to the front office. Eleven days later, we received a notice that our rent was late and a demand for a "late fee" equal to 5% of our rent. I immediately called the office to figure out what had happened and was told that the envelope we had submitted contained only one check. Having sealed the envelope myself and thus knowing this was wrong, I told them that they must have inadvertently thrown away the second check, offered to replace it right then, and also offered to provide them a carbon copy of the check (and carbons and cancelled returns of the checks around it) to show them it had been timely paid, but management would have none of it. Rather, the person I spoke to insisted that the rent was late and had to be paid by a money order. Wanting to avoid any problems, my roommate and I obtained a money order the next day and paid the rent and the "late fee" that same week.

Flash forward a few days: this weekend, we received a SUMMONS to appear in court next week for non-payment of rent. I just called the management office and confirmed that our rent is current and paid in full and was told not to worry; they sue folks and get the suit dismissed all the time.

Now, folks, you have to understand, my roommate and I are two young professionals, who have never bounced a check to management, never (truly) been late on our rent, never been the subject of any sort of complaint by neighbors, and never given management any hassle whatsoever. But, after management, in our view, lost one of our rent checks, we now find ourselves facing the prospect of having to hire a lawyer and take a day off of work to defend against a claim for rent that EVERYONE AGREES HAS BEEN PAID.

Now, if management will file suit against two professional women who have never given them a problem and who, far from shirking their rent responsibilities, immediately contacted management when it became apparent that there was a problem, offered to tender a replacement check on the spot, the next day obtained a money order for a missing rent check, and kept management informed of what was happening the whole time, they have NO regard for their tenants at all in my opinion, certainly no interest in retaining professional people who cannot afford to have their credibility harmed due to the incompetence or simple mistakes of management.

Management if you read these postings: you should really take a hard look at your business practices. I have every sympathy for landlords and am sure you have had to deal with a lot of deadbeat tenants. But you will LOSE every responsible tenant in your complex if you treat them like deadbeat tenants. My roommate and I are great tenants -- a manager's dream. But you are going to lose us because we simply don't have the time or the interest in documenting every single thing we do with the front office to avoid a mistake and a court date. When it becomes apparent that responsible tenants who have never given you a problem are attempting to work WITH you to remedy a mistake, try cooperation, not litigation. Pursuing a false claim against folks, as the claim against us is surely now, is not a matter that you should take lightly or expect your tenants to take lightly.

User Responses
From: bmitchell	Date: 09/01/2005
Lesson: Put one check per envelope

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