Although I might tentatively suggest the Lovejoy Station Apartments to a few friends looking to live downtown in an income-restricted building, I do not feel good about recommending this property to the general public. In particular, I DO NOT recommend the building's current property management company, Bowen Property Management. Although most of building's on-site staff seem reasonably courteous, the Bowen Property Management representatives I've dealt with appear eager to look for ways to trample on the interests of the people who, literally, pay the rent.

One particularly infuriating--and completely avoidable--example of this is Bowen Property Management's "company policy" that "does not allow a check to be submitted twice for payment." This pernicious little rule snagged me this month when my rent check, which I'd given them on the first, apparently cleared their system and hit my checking account before my payroll check had cleared. My credit union kicked it back, and charged me a $25 NSF fee. When I discovered the snafu a day or so later, I contacted my credit union to ask if they could waive the fee (my paycheck had already cleared by then). They immediately, and graciously, granted my request.

This was the first time my rent check had cleared Bowen Property Management's system and hit my checking account before my paycheck had cleared. Oddly enough, I'd had a sort of queasy feeling about paying my rent exactly on the first of the month this time, a hunch I probably should have paid more attention to. Instead, exactly on the 1st I asked the on-site building manager how long it would take my rent check to clear if I gave it to her before I'd confirmed that my paycheck had deposited to my account. I came away from that conversation with the understanding that my rent check wouldn't clear their system before that upcoming Friday, and wouldn't attempt to clear my account until Monday, the next week.

Against my better judgment I gave her my check on the first (Wednesday), rather than wait until as late as the 5th (the following Sunday), as we tenants are legally entitled to do. The building manager's assurances that my check would not clear their system before Friday proved bogus. Adding insult to injury, Bowen Property Management then enforced their "gotcha" policy, which allows a tenant's rent check only one shot at submitting for payment. Had Bowen Property Management allowed the check another attempt to clear, like nearly everyone else does, I wouldn't have been stuck with the $75 in punitive fees their "policy" ultimately cost me.

When I first moved into this building last Fall, the building manager (at the time; there had been a 100% staff turnover since) admonished to always pay my rent on the first of the month, even though I was legally entitled to pay it as late as the fifth. I consistently complied with her request. Obviously my cooperation earned me not one iota of consideration from Bowen Property Management. From now on, they can expect my rent payment at 11:59 p.m. on the fifth of each month.

More at this post on my blog:
http://opensources.davy.us/index.php/2007/08/16/love_and_joy_have_left_the_station

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/03/2009
Thanks for the novel about your irresponsible dealing with rent. Didn't tell me much about the management being anything but professional and business like. Tip: Don't depend on other people, especially a business which is dealing with hundreds of other people, to pay attention to your own financial issues: i.e.:when your check clears. Grow up.

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