ApartmentRatings.com is the Internet's most comprehensive forum for renters nationwide to share renting experiences and opinions. ApartmentRatings.com provides an organized venue for renters to share their experiences and opinions, bringing the Internet's vast potential for person-to-person information sharing to the market for rental housing.

The reviews posted on this web site are generally protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and ApartmentRatings.com makes them available under protection of The Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) 47 U.S.C. Section 230 and supporting case law.

There are several web sites that let consumers share their experiences and opinions on a variety of topics:

• Epinions.com
• Kudzu
• Yahoo! Local (*) (!)
• Verizon Super Pages (*) (!)
• Yelp.com (*) (!)
• RateItAll.com (*) (!)
• Insider Pages (*) (!)
• ConsumerReview.com
• Citysearch.com (*) (!)
  
  

(*) Offer consumer ratings of apartments.
(!) Do not allow managers to respond to reviews.

In the past, a common dilemma faced by property managers was that investments in high quality service, construction, and maintenance were often "invisible" to prospective tenants. A property's true value was known only to the residents who had already become customers.

Now, with ApartmentRatings.com, prospective tenants can learn about all the unique attributes of your property by connecting with your best sales force... your existing and former tenants. ApartmentRatings.com lets tenants relate their experience both through ratings and in their own words. A tenant's endorsement is the best marketing and it's free!

Based on feedback from our users, we have changed the calculation of apartments "% Recommended" score to weight more-recent reviews more heavily.

Reviews aged between 0 and 4 years are weighted based on the age of the review. For example, a review received today is weighted approximately 4 times more than a review that is 4 years old. Reviews that are 4+ years or older receive no weight, unless they are the only reviews available for a property, in which case they count equally.

We believe this change neither systematically helps nor harms scores, but merely gives greater weight to newer reviews. Both users and apartment managers requested this change to ensure that reviews posted 4+ years ago (and likely posted regarding conditions that have since changed at the property), not unduly influence the "% Recommended" scores of apartments.

To remain unbiased, ApartmentRatings.com does not accept advertising or support from apartment complex owners or managers. Reviews posted on ApartmentRatings.com represent the opinions of individuals reviewers and DO NOT in any way represent the views of ApartmentRatings.com, its employees, partners, or affiliates.

Both the statute (CDA's Section 230 provisions) and case law are very strong in the exemptions granted to the operators of a computer service from the duties and liabilities of a traditional publisher. Every direct challenge brought against an online service provider regarding speech contributed by a third-party has been defeated both at trial and in appellate court.

• Zeran v. America Online. U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of defendant, AOL, that defendant was NOT responsible for defamatory statements made via its service by a third party per Section 230 of the CDA. Subsequent appeal was denied by US Supreme Court.
  
  
• Ben Ezra, Weinstein, and Co., Inc. v. America Online Inc. The US District Court in New Mexico held that AOL "clearly qualifies" for Internet service provider immunity under Section 230 of the CDA. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld this finding.
  
  
• Curzon Brown v. San Francisco Community College District Plaintiff charged that TeacherReview.com was responsible for defamatory comments made on its web site about a professor at San Francisco City College. In settlement, plaintiff abandoned claim and paid $10,000 to TeacherReview.com for legal fees.
  
  

ApartmentRatings.com is operated by Internet Brands, Inc. Usage of this web site is subject to our Terms of Service. To contact us with questions or feedback, visit the Contact Us page.