I've lived here 6 1/2 years and have always had nice and respectful managers who didn't seem to have any problem with my request to be home when they came in for the yearly inspection or a repair. Until this one. Now I'm having fear and flashbacks to that abusive manager from the past. I'm continuing to look for a mobile with a better agent but nothing newer is for sale. When I did the final walk through for that former apartment, a co-worker stated "you can't go on that walkthrough alone" This didn't occur to me. A friend went with me wearing a suit and heels with folders from her ex husbands law office. The woman was so rattled, she never even went in the bathroom. She asked my friend twice 'who are YOU" and my friend replied "I'm a friend of Ms ________" And kept asking her questions about when I would get my deposit back etc. I've rarely had anyone protect me like that. Guess we ruined her last chance to treat me like crap. Yes, Sheldon, a motivation for me is not having someone have the key to my home for the rest of my life. I should mention this new maintenance individual told me the former maintenance man was "fired" He had been here for years. Very unprofessional. This group is obviously a class act. Not.
I told the story elsewhere in this forum but when I first moved to Brownsville, Texas, I leased a condominium apartment for six months. Under the circumstances, I felt fortunate to get in, since the bank had lost my bank account for a couple of weeks, but it turned to to be an unpleasant experience. The cost was good, I liked the apartment, and it was near enough to my job, so I would have probably stayed there if not for the management. It began a few days after I moved in. I got home from work a couple of days after I started work to find a notice on my door to call the manager. When I called, she told me that she had received complaints from the person below me that I had been tromping up and down the stairs all afternoon. Well, I was moving into an empty second-floor apartment with a truckload of furniture, and couldn't think of another way to do it without going up and down the stairs. When I explained the obvious to her, she simply said that I needed to be more quiet. I was starting a new job and there was a lot to be done, so I was working long hours every day but Sunday, so I was seldom there. I worked the graveyard shift so I went to work at ten or eleven o'clock at night, and didn't usually get home until eleven or noon the next day. I would shower, then usually go somewhere for breakfast, sleep, work on the computer or watch television for a few hours before going back to work. My hearing, at least then, was just fine so the volume on the television was never loud. I came home one morning to find a page from the condominium rules attached to my door, with the section about music and noise highlighted. The people next to me had some loud parties sometimes, and I could generally hear the music from their apartment, but it didn't really bother me. I figured that there was a general problem with noise so they were reminding everyone, as there was no notice about calling the manager's office. But a few days after that, there was a notice to call the manager's office. She told me that my neighbors were complaining that music was playing loudly in my apartment all night and it was keeping people awake. I told her that the next time she received such a complaint, she should call the police because there shouldn't be anyone in my apartment at night, except on Sundays and holidays, and that I didn't even own anything to play music on. "Maybe it was a television," she suggested. Again, I told her I wasn't even home at night, I certainly wasn't leaving the television on while I was at work and, when I did have my television on, I doubt that anyone would be able to hear it because the volume is always low. "We've never had complaints before you moved in," she said. I suggested that she actually walk over there to listen for herself when she receives such complaints, so that she could assure herself that it wasn't coming from my apartment. Another time, I found a page from the book of rules about hanging clothing on the balcony attached to my door. I called the manager to ask about it, and she told me that I had left towels hanging on the railing of my balcony for the past several days, and that the rules prohibited anything hanging on the balcony. Well, I had never once used the condominium's pool, and I had only been on my balcony a couple of times. There was nothing hanging from my balcony, nor had there ever been anything hanging from my balcony. Again, the upstairs apartment one door away from me had towels hanging on their balcony, and that was the same apartment that I could hear music coming from often. I asked her to come with me, saying that I could show her where the towels were hanging, and she could see for herself that there were no towels hanging from my balcony. She refused, saying that the towels had been there when she had left the notice on my door yesterday and that, although I may have removed them, they had been there for several days. I told her no, my neighbor had towels hanging from his balcony, and he hasn't removed them, but she refused to look. By then, I was a couple of months away from my lease ending, so I ignored the next notice that I found hanging on my door, and moved out as soon as the lease ended, at which time I tromped up and down the stairs moving my furniture and clothing. A more frustrating woman, I have never met. I felt like screaming at her, "You have the wrong apartment, you stupid b....!"
"We've never had complaints before you moved in" These are the tactics these little sociopaths use. Ever heard of the term "gaslighting" Look it up. It's exactly what this individual was doing to you with the towels and what these creepy people are doing to me about the time. And telling me I canceled an appointment when he never showed up at the agreed time. I'm glad you got out but you had to move again and that's a cost and stress. I'm documenting dates, times and conversations. I'm not calling the management company but if this kind of thing keeps up I may have to. It's getting close to 2pm and as I predicted, they will be here closer to 4. I think a four hour time span is too much. The cable company can give you 2 and they run around town. When I do move, I may call the management company once safely out of here. Or perhaps this manager will leave.
You folks have helped me decide. If and when I move it won't be to an apartment. I don't want anyone telling me what I can or can't do in my house. I'm afraid I'd get violent if some of the things mentioned in this thread happened to me.
This is now getting more weird and scary. Time line was noon to 4. No show. I waited until 10 to 5 in case they tried to say it was 5 instead of 4. Tried to call the managers office. Voice mail. Called the maintenance line. They stated a work order was completed at 2:45pm per their records. The job is completed. I told them no way, I was here the whole time. No one was here. Used to be able to get a hold of the management company but it was just leave a message. I don't want these people in my apartment. They are crazy. I don't know what to do now.
In the end I did send an email to the management company. I got a call from the apartment manager this morning stating she needed to make an appointment to have the dish washer fixed. I asked "what happened yesterday" She said "we just need to fix your dishwasher" I repeated 3 times until she finally stated there was another repair issue. I told them I deserved a call if that was the case. This woman is someone who likes to mess with people she thinks she can get by with. In the end they had to call a appliance repair guy and it's supposed to be fixed but I'm so sick of this dishwasher I don't want to use it right now. I called into work due to this. It's a good thing I did as it wasn't resolved until after 3pm. I hope I can find a place to buy soon.
I don't miss renting at all. I've never felt secure living in someone else's house but at least there is generally more privacy in renting a house than an apartment, probably because owners have more of an interest in keeping their renter than apartment managers do. I'm really a pretty easy tenant too, willing to do a lot of the maintenance stuff myself and I don't enjoy complaining about stuff.
I've lived here 6 1/2 years and always felt safe and felt good with the management and maintenance we had. But this has changed that. I'm 56 and still dealing with people who will treat me like this. I guess, for me, bulling will never end. I did tell her she was being "psychologically abusive" And it's true. I know now buying a manufactured home is the right thing. I'll have a "manager" but no one will have the key to my house. There were three brand new ones in my step dad's park. Only one has sold and they have lowered the prices a good deal. But his park isn't on the bus line (for the future when I don't plan to have a car) and I don't want to live that close to him really. I have to keep looking.
@Chris Ladewig If I recall correctly, as a kid in Crook County, nearby, Lake County had a notorious reputation for illegal gambling activities. Not pertinent to OP, sorry. Frank
@Sheldon Scott My first time ever renting, I had a house outside Phoenix. The landlord was an OK guy, but I learned that later. I have a huge amount of very expensive tools. I changed the outside door locks after I moved in. A few days later, the Manager approached me, telling me it was against the regulations to change locks. I asked her how she knew I changed the locks. Nothing more was ever said. Frank
Yes, I would hate to go back to renting an apartment, and because i do some work in the field, I know how outrageously expensive they are. I go into a place that is half the size of my house, and not as nice and it is like 1,000 dollars a month or something. It is really absurd. I just think I would not rent under any circumstances unless it was rent controlled and was all I could do.
Over here, you can rent retirement properties and the result is the same as if you were buying the property Same rules etc ............. I just didn't know they existed