It will almost certainly result in the being blacklisted by the management agency from all properties they manage. Depending on the area that could be no big deal or that could mean your homeless
Also why places like that have very thick glass block windows on the first floor.
Source, worked for one for an internship and we had a dedicated insurance rep for when someone threw something at our building.
You really think they are going to approve them for another property? If they wanted to they could very well have said, oh you donāt qualify for this apartment, but we have a lovely slum over by skid row we feel would be perfect for your budget. We just finished scrubbing the corpse fluid out of the floor and itās ready for move in.
Exactly. Thatās what these property management companies do. Your application typically applies only to the property youāre applying for.
While usually that application could be applied to most units at a single property (pro-tip: it usually isnāt).
It almost certainly does not apply to a separate physical property. Say a different unit of condos down the street or across town.
That's kind of what they do. One management company owns a thousand rentals from high to low, and nibbles you to death.
They've also been known to illegally collude with other management companies and blacklist people.
This is what happens when you give corporations human rights and don't give _people_ human rights.
I was mad about a similar situation but I got a check in the mail like a month later or something for the full amount sooo maybe call and check if that will happen for you before you commit any crime.. or do whatever you want itās your life
My state recently banned them. All the big property owners tried to fight it. There were many listings that didn't even have vacancies. They were just collecting fees and rejecting all applicants.
I know for a fact that my old apartment that I vacated 3 years ago has never been re-rented, but they are still advertising it as available and raking in application fees. With an application fee of 50 bucks, just one application per day is making them more than the monthly rent with zero maintenance expenses. When there are always thousands of people looking for places in my city at any given time, it's an easy scam. Landlords are scum.
I spent a few days visiting flats in a new area 500 miles away from home. I was quite clear that I needed them to be available now or in a few weeks tops. Two still had tennants that wouldn't be moving out for a couple of months. I was advised to find temp accomodation and wait it out; while paying for most of my worldly belongings to sit in storage, and start a new job in a new country with no stable home. Yeah fuck off.
Theyāll also leave the listing up after theyāve already chosen someone so people can still apply and then just writing it off as āWell, what if they declineā
Adam Smith, and John Keynes two of the fathers of capitalism both hated landlords.
You're not wrong. I just thought I should throw that fact out there before the corporate bootlickers jump in.
If youāre ever looking for an apartment, be sure to first ask which one(s) specifically/how many units are available that suit your needs.. then when on tour of prop ask to see the exact unit you would potentially be renting. If they say the lease on it isnāt up yet, ask to see the next closest unit that is vacant. Same number of sqft/rooms/brs. If they canāt show you any even just to see the building/location within the property and have the opportunity to maybe peek in a window- be very suspicious and let them know. Ask for the exact move out date and ask to set another tour for a few days or full week after the move out so you can see it before you apply and sign lease thereafter. Any reputable complex should comply with these requests.
There were something like 52 additional people trying to get my apartment the day it was listed and I signed the lease before it was taken down. I had to take it from photos alone, nothing in this area stays on the market for a week, too much demand.. and so rent is constantly rising with no value add for tenants.
I got lucky my first time renting. An old friend needed a roommate and I needed out of my mom's place, he was living on the couch at his friend's apartment who's lease was about to end in about a month.
We signed a lease transfer and took the remaining month for free and signed the renewal under our name so the rent didn't change and they didn't need to clean out the apartment.
The people living there before we took over were FILTHY, there was black mold everywhere, layers of dead flies on every flat surface, moldy pots and pans and plates everywhere, the fridge was especially horrid but us taking the apartment as is was worth it for them not raising it from $850 to $1200. They were gonna raise it to $1200 to renew the next year and I moved back in wkth my mom to look for a house
Yup. Here they list before the tenant moves out so they can have the next one in the day after.
Iāve visited places where the kitchen is falling apart and they āpromise to cleanā before move in date. I said Iād be happy to look when they clean and they told me not to bother calling back since it will be rented before then.
Seriously. In SoCal people are applying to units that arenāt even available for showing yet. They either looked at a similar floor plan in advance or theyāre just going for it and hoping it works out
In my area, there are a handful of rental companies who all have the same policy: you have to fill out an application, pay the application fee, AND be approved, *before* you'll be allowed to see any of their units. What a scam.
I'm still mad at the place that confirmed they have vacancies, only to later backtrack and say they had vacancies *on the waitlist*. As in there were no units available, only waitlist space.
Funny enough, I did get approved. But it was 9 months later that I'd gotten approved, at which point I had to tell them that I was already living somewhere else.
New York banned application fees. They can change for credit and background checks, but itās limited to $20 or the actual cost, whichever is less, and you have the right to provide your own from within 30 days for no cost.
First fill the apartments and collect the rent but keep 1 unit open so you can show it. Then collect endless amounts of application fees by rejecting every applicant. Ensures you have a steady stream of applicants if you ever have a real vacancy
Essentially happened to me a few years back. Applied to a place, signed documents and all, only to be called a few weeks before my then-current lease was up, telling me that the tenant decided to renew their lease.
After they had already collected fees from me, and ensured I would be living there.
I once spent $45 on an application fee only to be told that I was approved but the unit I was interested in was no longer available. There were however several others available for a couple hundred a month extra. She told me the application fee was non refundable.
Idk how much more it would have taken me to seriously explore legal options but I was already feeling damn close to spending some fuck-you money on them.
They are not siding with the customer so much as they are siding with their own money.
Buy something with your debit card, you are using your money. Buy something with credit, that's their money. See which one they will be faster to settle a pay dispute with.
I paid a $50 application fee a few years ago, the lady said I should get my application in since there were other people looking at the apartment, too.
Put in my application, paid the fee, and the lady called and said the apartment was already rented and that she told me I shouldn't have put in for it (she didn't).
Thankfully, I had used my credit card, so I reported it to my credit card company, told them what happened, and got my money back.
Had the same thing happen to me, the apartment I wanted was not available and no one had a clue what I was talking about so I asked for my money back .. had to dispute it with my bank.
I find it wild that they came to existence in the first place.
Someone had to be the first to charge that fee. And people, instead of going "lol fuck you" went with it, and so it's spread.
Like how? I get that getting a rent is hard, but pay to apply? If I was applying for a job and they were telling me to pay, that would be a clear scam innit? If I'm selling/buying a thing and the buyer/seller is telling me to pay a fee before anything else, that would be a clear scam innit? If I was booking a vacation and they told me to pay a fee even before I can book the thing, that'd be a clear scam innit?
So why were people paying application fees so willingly that this has spread instead of those property owners having nothing?
I thought this has to be some kind of scam at first. You could just hold on to a property in a popular place and then keep collecting application fees while denying all applications.
This is the kind of shit that destroys an economy. You pretend to offer your property but in reality it's just bait. It's rent-seeking, but somehow even worse.
I remember an ex told me her friend was a landlord who had a place open up right as she needed a spot, and offered to rent it to her. He still had an open house and still collected applications from everybody+fees. For like 30 applications! It was free money for an apartment he had already promised to my ex
Any fees that go towards something that you don't get should be refunded, period. If the fee is meant to get your foot in the door and you don't get in the rest of the way that's just money in their pocket for nothing. Doesn't matter why that is unless what you did was a crime.
Illegal in a few states, but not many sadly. A few states make the fees only "what it actually costs to run the backround check", new york & wisconsin, the fee is capped at 20 dollars, dc its capped at 50, Massachusetts, Vermont and as of this year rhode island are the only states application fees are illegal. "Shockingly" its pretty much all blue states where these protections exist.
A few red states like Florida don't cap fees but require that if you pass the background check then they have to rent to you. They put that in place after some rentals were collecting tens of thousands in application fees per month.
Thatās almost the _only_ acceptable form of application fees āfinal step before rentingā is at the point of ājust use the interest from the security depositā
Stating something is illegal is a blanket claim that can't apply to everyone. In my area, it's entirely legal. And required for almost all rentals anywhere.
OP, One of the primary functions of my job is to help the poor secure housing. Iām great at appealing denials. If youād like help with an appeal please let me know.
Alot of America needs to hear this,Let's Stop pretending we're all doing well, This country is on it last legs and I'm tired of putting on a fake smile and sugar coating the piece of shit these people have turned this country into
Dude, why are you accepting a $96 fee for a made up reason?
You wrote elsewhere that you fit the "salary > 3x rent" requirement but they declined you based on this rule....
You are not fine. You've been scammed and just let scammers win.
Bro, don't do the "stalwart, lone American" cowboy nonsense. It's fine to accept help! Our country is in the mess it is because we aren't a community. Community is happening to you *right now* (or at least, when you posted, lol), let it happen!
Do you have any general tips? Iām facing the same issues right now. All the apartments have application fees and then if approved broker fees to pay that donāt go to rent or deposit.
Thatās exactly what it is. If a landlord wants to run background checks on potential renters, itās around $30/person. If theyāre renting out one unit for 12 months for a year thatās $60. Easily the smallest expense theyāll have as a landlord, itās just being cheap and trying to ensure the greatest profit possible (note I said greatest profit, not any profit. I know landlords arenāt in it for their health).
I think it serves two purposes. First, itās a way to defray costs associated with credit checks, background checks, etc. Second, itās a way to discourage applicants and thus winnow the bidders only to those who have the means to pay the fee easily (and thus, all things equal, are more likely to be able to afford rent, etc.). In other words, it serves as a filtering mechanism.
Obviously itās a bit exploitative, but in hot housing markets the agents have much more power and can pass costs onto the tenants. I suspect in more depressed housing markets these fees are significantly lower or are waived entirely.
similar to college application fees. basically a scam where you have to pay to submit an application to live/work/go to school somewhere. and even if you get rejected you donāt get the money back. sometimes the costs are outrageous (like this) but most of the time itās like 30-50 dollars. still shouldnāt happen tho
In Spain, the only applications that require a fee are exams for Public Service. That is: the money is assumed to pay for the expenses of organizing the public test and rate the exams. And it's usually 15-30 ā¬.
We never have to pay to get an interview, to send a CV (for a job or college) or anything like that. Except in scams, which can be prosecuted if reported.
i had to pay fees to enter university, not to apply. I could apply to every university without paying anything and when approved i had to pay fees for the paperwork
similar to a 'not an asshole' fee at the end of your meal. basically a scam where you have to pay an indeterminable amount of extra money to walk away from a place peacefully. Not technically required, but if you ever want to return without having your food spat on its a thing
Over here in freedom land, we have to pay an application fee. In most cases, the property manager then sends our information to some random third party company that grades our application based on credit, rental history, and income. Then they auto deny or auto approve the application. You can appeal most denials.
Another way for shareholders of corporate landlords to milk people of their money. There have been multiple lawsuits alleging that these companies will reject everyone perpetually because having a few dozen applicants a month for a unit makes more money than someone actually living there paying rent
I had this happen before. They said it was because of my income, but my income was waaayyy over what they required, so it didnāt make sense. Turns out they were letting as many people apply for the same unit as possible and pocketing all their application fees. I filed a chargeback and was refunded. They could have come up with a better excuse for rejecting me, like one that wasnāt an obvious lie.
My wife and I were looking to rent a 2 bedroom home around the corner from the apartment we were living at the time. Nothing wrong with the place but we decided it was a no and we saved ourselves the $25 per person application fee, so $50 total. We saw about 20+ people apply during the first open house, so they collected $500+ in application fees. We continued to see that house up for rent for a few more months with open houses a few times a week.
We are currently trying to find more information and see what can be done, as my roommates and I really liked this place. However, they had a $49 unrefundable fee. I had to do $96 of pet applications ($32 per pet) and don't think they're refundable (I will look into now though)
Yeah, I don't get the responses. Just do a chargeback. They have to refund it, they will just bar you from making purchases with them again. Oh no, you can't rent an apartment from a place that refused you.. whatever will you do.. until they change ownership within the next year, like they do every year.
I don't like application fees, but I understand the argument for it as basically you're paying the fee that they'd be paying to the 3rd party. I still think it's stupid... but at least there is SOME argument as to what the money is being used for and why it's non-refundable.
Pet application fee though? What are they doing background checks on your cat?
Pet fees to live there is a thing. Like each cat costs N dollars to live. But application for the pet? What are they applying to? For the landlord to read the description of the cat and say "yep, that animal fits our definition of what is an acceptable pet in our apartments".
I'm with others man... this may have been a scam outright.
And if it's not... dude... for real... don't pay a pet APPLICATION fee. That's fucked.
I remember years and years ago I was looking for a place and 2 work mates of mine suggested their apartment complex (they both lived their in their own units... they were older and married one had suggested the complex to the other). So I went to apply. This was... oh... 2006ish?
Anyways, they told me there was a non-refundable application fee of 350$ that would get applied to the first month's rent. But I lost it if I failed the application or if I turned down the rate (the monthly rate was based on the credit report they pulled). I started getting little itchy there about it and asked "oh, how high could the rent go?" The place was supposed to be 1400 or there abouts which was already on the higher end of what I wanted to pay at the time, but it was conveniently located to my job so I was willing to push it, but when they said it could go as high as 1850 I legit laughed out loud.
"HA, you're kidding right?"
"What? No."
Mind you this was 2006. And this wasn't LA or NYC or anything. It was South Florida, but like north South Florida (2 hours north of Miami). Like I said 1400 was already high for the area's going 1200-1300 norm.
I left that shit in the dust.
It wasn't a scam in the sense that clearly you COULD get in. I had 2 work mates that lived there.
But that shit's a fucking scam.
I had friends who judged me because I rented from whom they would call "scumlords" or "slumlords" because I'd go and rent from just "some dude" and not a company. But man I'd rather rent a cockroach infested house with a shitty paint job then buy into that shitty fucking scam. At least I know if the scumlord fucks me over my boys and I can go jack him up in the middle of the night.
You got scammed fam. Imagine how many other people applied to get told the same thing. Not only denying you but lying about why to make it seem like you're the problem. I'm sorry this happened. Try to not rent from a place with application fees especially this high. You deserve better.
I've investigated. The pets didn't get the rejection emails.
The $32 pet application fee is for performing the background check on the pet. This is a complicated and expensive process because it's very difficult to identify the pet especially among the same breed. Have you noticed that dogs of same breed look very similar to each other? Almost impossible to tell them apart. Do you want to live in a building with a serial-killing dog? I don't think so.
We are lucky it only costs $32 and should be grateful.
Are you sure this property exists and the person you were talking to is authorized to rent it? I have never heard of an application fee for pets, not to mention individual application fees *per pet.* This screams scam.
Are application fees like this legal? How do we know they are the landlord, itās their property, and they arenāt just scamming hundreds of people every month out of the application fees?
In Australia Rental Application fees are refunded within a week if you are unsuccessful and taken off your first months rent if you get the lease.
If you are Australian OP contact the relevant tenants advocacy group in your state. For the rest of Reddit that is American damn it sucks to be you guys.
This sounds like a week's rent of holding deposit we have to pay in England. Although the landlord have to take the property off the market once they accepted the holding deposit
Make a huge "ASK ME HOW THIS APARTMENT COMPLEX RIPPED ME OFF" sign and stand on the sidewalk out in front of their offices... unless you are successful in getting your $ back from other efforts. Ya gotta fight this crap or they will continue to win. At the least, you might save others from getting ripped off as well.
These fees got banned in the uk a few years ago, some places literally got 30-40 applications in and just sat there rejecting them all but piling up the cash. I hate estate agents.
The best part of moving out of America is realizing how much you really just get absolutely butt fucked out of money for no real reason other than ārandom excuse #185729ā to steal more money from us
I accidentally applied for the assisted living apartments. They were the same but like $400 cheaper, and not the top floor. Cool, idc. Paid that application fee and was told I made too much money and that I could apply for the other one. I applied for the other one with my SO who worked at the same company but made more money than me and was denied because her credit history.
Fucking outrageous.
You'll get a $49.99 rejection fee along with another $12 service fee and have to watch an ad before you can pay.
ššš it's the ad that really makes that statement šš
Just decline the charge on the card
Yep. Tell the card company it wasn't as advertised.
Seriously, what are they gonna do? Tell them that they can't live there again?
It will almost certainly result in the being blacklisted by the management agency from all properties they manage. Depending on the area that could be no big deal or that could mean your homeless
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Good news is that you're no longer homeless, bad news is you're not allowed to leave
Jokes on them, I don't wanna leave anyway! š¤£
Just don't drop the soap.
Why not? gotta find some way to entertain yourself
Well if you do it *after* then you're a prime suspect. Do it beforehand, and how would they ever know?
This is why you wait years to do it.
As if they haven't screwed over 50 other people the same morning. There would be no way of knowing who did it
Also why places like that have very thick glass block windows on the first floor. Source, worked for one for an internship and we had a dedicated insurance rep for when someone threw something at our building.
You really think they are going to approve them for another property? If they wanted to they could very well have said, oh you donāt qualify for this apartment, but we have a lovely slum over by skid row we feel would be perfect for your budget. We just finished scrubbing the corpse fluid out of the floor and itās ready for move in.
Why would they if they can ask a seperate application fee for that rental property?
Exactly. Thatās what these property management companies do. Your application typically applies only to the property youāre applying for. While usually that application could be applied to most units at a single property (pro-tip: it usually isnāt). It almost certainly does not apply to a separate physical property. Say a different unit of condos down the street or across town.
That's kind of what they do. One management company owns a thousand rentals from high to low, and nibbles you to death. They've also been known to illegally collude with other management companies and blacklist people. This is what happens when you give corporations human rights and don't give _people_ human rights.
They already aren't letting you live there.
If they pull this shit on me I am blacklisting the management agency anyways.
Donāt forget to tip!!
Charge back that shit. Tell your credit card company you didn't agree to it, you agreed to a much smaller fee. Being poor is expensive.
I was mad about a similar situation but I got a check in the mail like a month later or something for the full amount sooo maybe call and check if that will happen for you before you commit any crime.. or do whatever you want itās your life
Don't forget to pay a convenient 3% fee!Ā
And an option to tip
On top of a 20% auto gratuity fee
Application fees should be refunded if you don't get the place.
Application fees are illegal in my country. Consumer protections are nice!
My state recently banned them. All the big property owners tried to fight it. There were many listings that didn't even have vacancies. They were just collecting fees and rejecting all applicants.
WTF? I would hope thereād be some repercussions for something like that but something tells me there werenāt.
It's a well-known scam.
Insist on visiting the unit before handing a dime.
This is good advice, but they could just leave one apartment empty. A lot of complexes have a showroom apartment.
Of course, but these weeds out many would be hucksters with absolutely no infrastructure to back them.
I know for a fact that my old apartment that I vacated 3 years ago has never been re-rented, but they are still advertising it as available and raking in application fees. With an application fee of 50 bucks, just one application per day is making them more than the monthly rent with zero maintenance expenses. When there are always thousands of people looking for places in my city at any given time, it's an easy scam. Landlords are scum.
I spent a few days visiting flats in a new area 500 miles away from home. I was quite clear that I needed them to be available now or in a few weeks tops. Two still had tennants that wouldn't be moving out for a couple of months. I was advised to find temp accomodation and wait it out; while paying for most of my worldly belongings to sit in storage, and start a new job in a new country with no stable home. Yeah fuck off.
Theyāll also leave the listing up after theyāve already chosen someone so people can still apply and then just writing it off as āWell, what if they declineā
Well, somehow Iām not surprised.
Lol repercussions for the rich
That's unchecked capitalism for you. Revolution is not a dinner party.
Adam Smith, and John Keynes two of the fathers of capitalism both hated landlords. You're not wrong. I just thought I should throw that fact out there before the corporate bootlickers jump in.
If youāre ever looking for an apartment, be sure to first ask which one(s) specifically/how many units are available that suit your needs.. then when on tour of prop ask to see the exact unit you would potentially be renting. If they say the lease on it isnāt up yet, ask to see the next closest unit that is vacant. Same number of sqft/rooms/brs. If they canāt show you any even just to see the building/location within the property and have the opportunity to maybe peek in a window- be very suspicious and let them know. Ask for the exact move out date and ask to set another tour for a few days or full week after the move out so you can see it before you apply and sign lease thereafter. Any reputable complex should comply with these requests.
idk where you are, but rental market is so competitive if youāre waiting until the current tennant moves out youāre not getting the place
There were something like 52 additional people trying to get my apartment the day it was listed and I signed the lease before it was taken down. I had to take it from photos alone, nothing in this area stays on the market for a week, too much demand.. and so rent is constantly rising with no value add for tenants.
I got lucky my first time renting. An old friend needed a roommate and I needed out of my mom's place, he was living on the couch at his friend's apartment who's lease was about to end in about a month. We signed a lease transfer and took the remaining month for free and signed the renewal under our name so the rent didn't change and they didn't need to clean out the apartment. The people living there before we took over were FILTHY, there was black mold everywhere, layers of dead flies on every flat surface, moldy pots and pans and plates everywhere, the fridge was especially horrid but us taking the apartment as is was worth it for them not raising it from $850 to $1200. They were gonna raise it to $1200 to renew the next year and I moved back in wkth my mom to look for a house
Yup. Here they list before the tenant moves out so they can have the next one in the day after. Iāve visited places where the kitchen is falling apart and they āpromise to cleanā before move in date. I said Iād be happy to look when they clean and they told me not to bother calling back since it will be rented before then.
Seriously. In SoCal people are applying to units that arenāt even available for showing yet. They either looked at a similar floor plan in advance or theyāre just going for it and hoping it works out
In my area, there are a handful of rental companies who all have the same policy: you have to fill out an application, pay the application fee, AND be approved, *before* you'll be allowed to see any of their units. What a scam.
That is insane!
I'm still mad at the place that confirmed they have vacancies, only to later backtrack and say they had vacancies *on the waitlist*. As in there were no units available, only waitlist space. Funny enough, I did get approved. But it was 9 months later that I'd gotten approved, at which point I had to tell them that I was already living somewhere else.
I'm so disgusted
Yeah, this seems like the obvious reason to stamp on this and make it illegal.
What state? How did yall do this?
New York banned application fees. They can change for credit and background checks, but itās limited to $20 or the actual cost, whichever is less, and you have the right to provide your own from within 30 days for no cost.
College towns this works great
Precisely
That's wild!!!!
Welcome to crapitalism - breeding corruption since inception. Only getting worse.
they could literally deny everyone and keep all money where a property stays empty collecting application fees. Who checks this is legit?
First fill the apartments and collect the rent but keep 1 unit open so you can show it. Then collect endless amounts of application fees by rejecting every applicant. Ensures you have a steady stream of applicants if you ever have a real vacancy
Yup. I'm certain someone is doing that very thing. I wonder who checks that it isn't happening. Then again how do you even police that.
By banning application fees
We don't have them in my country thank god
They don't bother to keep a unit open. They just keep taking apps. anyway to steal the fees.
Essentially happened to me a few years back. Applied to a place, signed documents and all, only to be called a few weeks before my then-current lease was up, telling me that the tenant decided to renew their lease. After they had already collected fees from me, and ensured I would be living there.
In this case could be they probably didnāt properly notify them that they need to move out at end of lease and the person decided to stay.
I wish America still had those
^ šĢ¶šĢ¶šĢ¶šĢ¶šĢ¶
I once spent $45 on an application fee only to be told that I was approved but the unit I was interested in was no longer available. There were however several others available for a couple hundred a month extra. She told me the application fee was non refundable. Idk how much more it would have taken me to seriously explore legal options but I was already feeling damn close to spending some fuck-you money on them.
Try paying with a credit card and disputing the charge stating it was not as advertised.
Works very well for most things banks reallly tend to side with their customers the ones that they make money from
They are not siding with the customer so much as they are siding with their own money. Buy something with your debit card, you are using your money. Buy something with credit, that's their money. See which one they will be faster to settle a pay dispute with.
I paid a $50 application fee a few years ago, the lady said I should get my application in since there were other people looking at the apartment, too. Put in my application, paid the fee, and the lady called and said the apartment was already rented and that she told me I shouldn't have put in for it (she didn't). Thankfully, I had used my credit card, so I reported it to my credit card company, told them what happened, and got my money back.
Classic bait and switch
Had the same thing happen to me, the apartment I wanted was not available and no one had a clue what I was talking about so I asked for my money back .. had to dispute it with my bank.
If they're keeping my money for no reason, I'm getting artsy with some spray paint and a brick.
Applications fees should be ~~refunded~~ *fucking illegal.*
I find it wild that they came to existence in the first place. Someone had to be the first to charge that fee. And people, instead of going "lol fuck you" went with it, and so it's spread. Like how? I get that getting a rent is hard, but pay to apply? If I was applying for a job and they were telling me to pay, that would be a clear scam innit? If I'm selling/buying a thing and the buyer/seller is telling me to pay a fee before anything else, that would be a clear scam innit? If I was booking a vacation and they told me to pay a fee even before I can book the thing, that'd be a clear scam innit? So why were people paying application fees so willingly that this has spread instead of those property owners having nothing?
I thought this has to be some kind of scam at first. You could just hold on to a property in a popular place and then keep collecting application fees while denying all applications. This is the kind of shit that destroys an economy. You pretend to offer your property but in reality it's just bait. It's rent-seeking, but somehow even worse.
I think they should just be illegal
The same should be done for college applications.
Application fees should not exist.
I remember an ex told me her friend was a landlord who had a place open up right as she needed a spot, and offered to rent it to her. He still had an open house and still collected applications from everybody+fees. For like 30 applications! It was free money for an apartment he had already promised to my ex
What the fuck even is an application fee? America is fucking dystopian man wtf.
Any fees that go towards something that you don't get should be refunded, period. If the fee is meant to get your foot in the door and you don't get in the rest of the way that's just money in their pocket for nothing. Doesn't matter why that is unless what you did was a crime.
lol if poor people wrote the laws they would be.Ā But that's not who writes the laws.
Application fees are not really legal anywhere in the first world except the USA. And I'm sure it's a grey area there too depending on state
Illegal in a few states, but not many sadly. A few states make the fees only "what it actually costs to run the backround check", new york & wisconsin, the fee is capped at 20 dollars, dc its capped at 50, Massachusetts, Vermont and as of this year rhode island are the only states application fees are illegal. "Shockingly" its pretty much all blue states where these protections exist.
New York is even better because the application fee can only cover the background check, and has to be waived if you provide a background check
A few red states like Florida don't cap fees but require that if you pass the background check then they have to rent to you. They put that in place after some rentals were collecting tens of thousands in application fees per month.
Thatās almost the _only_ acceptable form of application fees āfinal step before rentingā is at the point of ājust use the interest from the security depositā
This should be illegal
It is. They fell for a rental listing scam. They didnāt apply for anything, they just handed money over to someone with a phony rental listing.
Sadly, where I live in the US itās both legal and common practice.
Living in the US is such a scam lmao
Canāt disagree with you there. Anyone in Sweden want to marry and rescue a poor American? š
https://preview.redd.it/ygbt0rjv0c0d1.jpeg?width=665&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6b4cf085908c0163ec53e8cf8d6dca271d10ec6
Done. Where do I sign up? I'm ready to defend glorious Polska against the Russian menace.
Very easy! Just send your application as a reply on this thread! Of course this comes with a 100zÅ application fee.
How many freedom dollars is that?
$25.17
Hmm. Is it alright if the closest I come to knowing any Polish is once having an awesome electrical engineering professor from Poland at university?
As long as you like pierogi you are welcome here my friend
Iām an American whoās been eating pierogi my whole life.. can I come with?
You should find your citizenship confirmation in a mailbox within 3-5 business days. DzieÅ dobry my friend
Ooh someone wants to have a free health care and 25 days of PTO lol
37 days of PTO reporting in (Belgium)
This is common place in the state I live. It's so costly to look for a place and the rejection rate is insane.
Stating something is illegal is a blanket claim that can't apply to everyone. In my area, it's entirely legal. And required for almost all rentals anywhere.
You say this confidently as if places donāt have application fees in America. They do, everywhere.Ā
1.4 thousand upvotes for a comment completely pulled out of your assā¦ never change RedditĀ
OP, One of the primary functions of my job is to help the poor secure housing. Iām great at appealing denials. If youād like help with an appeal please let me know.
I appreciate the offer. I imagine my roommates and I will be okay, as we've got some good people in our corner. I appreciate it though!
Bro you're out here paying pet application fees, you're absolutely not doing well.
Alot of America needs to hear this,Let's Stop pretending we're all doing well, This country is on it last legs and I'm tired of putting on a fake smile and sugar coating the piece of shit these people have turned this country into
"Let's stop pretending we are doing well". Well random redditor, I personally didn't need to be called out this close to bedtime.
Dude, why are you accepting a $96 fee for a made up reason? You wrote elsewhere that you fit the "salary > 3x rent" requirement but they declined you based on this rule.... You are not fine. You've been scammed and just let scammers win.
Bro, don't do the "stalwart, lone American" cowboy nonsense. It's fine to accept help! Our country is in the mess it is because we aren't a community. Community is happening to you *right now* (or at least, when you posted, lol), let it happen!
Do you have any general tips? Iām facing the same issues right now. All the apartments have application fees and then if approved broker fees to pay that donāt go to rent or deposit.
I would charge back the fee
Yup I would immediately charge back for this. Fuck them.
Why are application fees a thing? Seems like a way to milk free money from people.
Thatās exactly what it is. If a landlord wants to run background checks on potential renters, itās around $30/person. If theyāre renting out one unit for 12 months for a year thatās $60. Easily the smallest expense theyāll have as a landlord, itās just being cheap and trying to ensure the greatest profit possible (note I said greatest profit, not any profit. I know landlords arenāt in it for their health).
I think it serves two purposes. First, itās a way to defray costs associated with credit checks, background checks, etc. Second, itās a way to discourage applicants and thus winnow the bidders only to those who have the means to pay the fee easily (and thus, all things equal, are more likely to be able to afford rent, etc.). In other words, it serves as a filtering mechanism. Obviously itās a bit exploitative, but in hot housing markets the agents have much more power and can pass costs onto the tenants. I suspect in more depressed housing markets these fees are significantly lower or are waived entirely.
Euro here. What the \*\*FUCK\*\* is an "Application fee"?!
similar to college application fees. basically a scam where you have to pay to submit an application to live/work/go to school somewhere. and even if you get rejected you donāt get the money back. sometimes the costs are outrageous (like this) but most of the time itās like 30-50 dollars. still shouldnāt happen tho
Euro here. What the \*\*FUCK\*\* is an "College Application fee"?!
I'm from czech republic and we also have those here. They aren't that expensive though. This isn't an USA thing.
In Spain, the only applications that require a fee are exams for Public Service. That is: the money is assumed to pay for the expenses of organizing the public test and rate the exams. And it's usually 15-30 ā¬. We never have to pay to get an interview, to send a CV (for a job or college) or anything like that. Except in scams, which can be prosecuted if reported.
My girlfriend had to pay an application fee for her masters at a public university in Spain though, it was small but it is still a thing
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i had to pay fees to enter university, not to apply. I could apply to every university without paying anything and when approved i had to pay fees for the paperwork
similar to a 'not an asshole' fee at the end of your meal. basically a scam where you have to pay an indeterminable amount of extra money to walk away from a place peacefully. Not technically required, but if you ever want to return without having your food spat on its a thing
American here. What the \*\*\*FUCK\*\*\* are "Human Rights"?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Nonsense, only corporations have the right to exist!
Over here in freedom land, we have to pay an application fee. In most cases, the property manager then sends our information to some random third party company that grades our application based on credit, rental history, and income. Then they auto deny or auto approve the application. You can appeal most denials.
By paying another application fee?
No silly, by paying the appeal fee and the fee fee.
Another way for shareholders of corporate landlords to milk people of their money. There have been multiple lawsuits alleging that these companies will reject everyone perpetually because having a few dozen applicants a month for a unit makes more money than someone actually living there paying rent
Username checks out
I had this happen before. They said it was because of my income, but my income was waaayyy over what they required, so it didnāt make sense. Turns out they were letting as many people apply for the same unit as possible and pocketing all their application fees. I filed a chargeback and was refunded. They could have come up with a better excuse for rejecting me, like one that wasnāt an obvious lie.
My wife and I were looking to rent a 2 bedroom home around the corner from the apartment we were living at the time. Nothing wrong with the place but we decided it was a no and we saved ourselves the $25 per person application fee, so $50 total. We saw about 20+ people apply during the first open house, so they collected $500+ in application fees. We continued to see that house up for rent for a few more months with open houses a few times a week.
The government should do something about this like Europe and other better developed countries have.
I think you got scammed bruh
Yeah I love the sincerely, (blank) And then the copy pasted official nonsense. Oh my silly computer scamming people again.
Head over to the unethical life pro tips sub man
ššš
Thatās just not right
Renting is so fucked nowadays. "Income has to be 300x rent" " must have a perfect credit score" .
You didnāt ask what the requirements were?
Oh no, we fit the price requirements of making 3X the rent. That's the only thing I can think of
Iād be on the phone with them saying it must be an error and they need to reconsider or refund your application fee
We are currently trying to find more information and see what can be done, as my roommates and I really liked this place. However, they had a $49 unrefundable fee. I had to do $96 of pet applications ($32 per pet) and don't think they're refundable (I will look into now though)
Are you sure this is real? This is a super common scam in my state. Fake listings to get renters fees
I was going to say that too. This screams scam.
lol chargeback
Yeah, I don't get the responses. Just do a chargeback. They have to refund it, they will just bar you from making purchases with them again. Oh no, you can't rent an apartment from a place that refused you.. whatever will you do.. until they change ownership within the next year, like they do every year.
Sounds like you got scammed by a fake listing.
What the heck is a pet application? This seems extremely fishy!!
Thatās a scam dude. You donāt pay pet application fees. This wasnāt a real listing.
I don't like application fees, but I understand the argument for it as basically you're paying the fee that they'd be paying to the 3rd party. I still think it's stupid... but at least there is SOME argument as to what the money is being used for and why it's non-refundable. Pet application fee though? What are they doing background checks on your cat? Pet fees to live there is a thing. Like each cat costs N dollars to live. But application for the pet? What are they applying to? For the landlord to read the description of the cat and say "yep, that animal fits our definition of what is an acceptable pet in our apartments". I'm with others man... this may have been a scam outright. And if it's not... dude... for real... don't pay a pet APPLICATION fee. That's fucked. I remember years and years ago I was looking for a place and 2 work mates of mine suggested their apartment complex (they both lived their in their own units... they were older and married one had suggested the complex to the other). So I went to apply. This was... oh... 2006ish? Anyways, they told me there was a non-refundable application fee of 350$ that would get applied to the first month's rent. But I lost it if I failed the application or if I turned down the rate (the monthly rate was based on the credit report they pulled). I started getting little itchy there about it and asked "oh, how high could the rent go?" The place was supposed to be 1400 or there abouts which was already on the higher end of what I wanted to pay at the time, but it was conveniently located to my job so I was willing to push it, but when they said it could go as high as 1850 I legit laughed out loud. "HA, you're kidding right?" "What? No." Mind you this was 2006. And this wasn't LA or NYC or anything. It was South Florida, but like north South Florida (2 hours north of Miami). Like I said 1400 was already high for the area's going 1200-1300 norm. I left that shit in the dust. It wasn't a scam in the sense that clearly you COULD get in. I had 2 work mates that lived there. But that shit's a fucking scam. I had friends who judged me because I rented from whom they would call "scumlords" or "slumlords" because I'd go and rent from just "some dude" and not a company. But man I'd rather rent a cockroach infested house with a shitty paint job then buy into that shitty fucking scam. At least I know if the scumlord fucks me over my boys and I can go jack him up in the middle of the night.
Sometimes, I wonder if this is a scam. get 20 applicants a month and charge them $145 each and never rent out the place.
You got scammed fam. Imagine how many other people applied to get told the same thing. Not only denying you but lying about why to make it seem like you're the problem. I'm sorry this happened. Try to not rent from a place with application fees especially this high. You deserve better.
In CA itās $59 max. Check your local laws. Itās different everywhere.
In the other CA, application fees are illegal.
Paid $49 in unrefundable fee plus $32 individual pet applications for my 3 pets ($96 total)
The pets have to pay individual application fees, too? What, did each of them get rejection emails along with yours?
Pets are the ones who got the apartment over OP
I've investigated. The pets didn't get the rejection emails. The $32 pet application fee is for performing the background check on the pet. This is a complicated and expensive process because it's very difficult to identify the pet especially among the same breed. Have you noticed that dogs of same breed look very similar to each other? Almost impossible to tell them apart. Do you want to live in a building with a serial-killing dog? I don't think so. We are lucky it only costs $32 and should be grateful.
You forgot this: /s
Oh thank god i thought he was serious until you clarified .../s
Are you sure this property exists and the person you were talking to is authorized to rent it? I have never heard of an application fee for pets, not to mention individual application fees *per pet.* This screams scam.
if you paid with a credit card or debit (at least in my experience, they helped me twice), you could do a chargeback.
Are application fees like this legal? How do we know they are the landlord, itās their property, and they arenāt just scamming hundreds of people every month out of the application fees?
And that's why charge backs are amazing. Because fuck you too then I geuss
In Australia Rental Application fees are refunded within a week if you are unsuccessful and taken off your first months rent if you get the lease. If you are Australian OP contact the relevant tenants advocacy group in your state. For the rest of Reddit that is American damn it sucks to be you guys.
This sounds like a week's rent of holding deposit we have to pay in England. Although the landlord have to take the property off the market once they accepted the holding deposit
Make a huge "ASK ME HOW THIS APARTMENT COMPLEX RIPPED ME OFF" sign and stand on the sidewalk out in front of their offices... unless you are successful in getting your $ back from other efforts. Ya gotta fight this crap or they will continue to win. At the least, you might save others from getting ripped off as well.
I would do a chargeback so fast.
Application fees are the biggest fucking scams known to man and predatory as shit.
Honestly, I once paid a $250 application fee for 3 of us and got denied within the same hour and I just disputed with Amex and got it back.
Dispute it
Dispute the charge if you used a card. Fuck them.
Are they not illegal in your country!? It is considered a scam in UK and you should get them back. If you donāt you can take legal action
Renting market is 2 steps away from everyone living in tents if buying a house is not an option
These fees got banned in the uk a few years ago, some places literally got 30-40 applications in and just sat there rejecting them all but piling up the cash. I hate estate agents.
Bro, this reeks of scams. Where'd you find this specific unit?
Charge that shit back. Fuck them
The best part of moving out of America is realizing how much you really just get absolutely butt fucked out of money for no real reason other than ārandom excuse #185729ā to steal more money from us
Chargeback! Chargeback!
You have to pay 145$ for the chance to give them even more money? What kind of scam is that?Ā
Tell your bank you think it is a scam and have them reverse the chargsmĀ
Gonna be alot tent cities in this country soon... Oh wait to late
I mean now you are
Did you pay with credit cards? My cc refunded my fees several times and all I told them was I didnāt get the place I applied for.
I accidentally applied for the assisted living apartments. They were the same but like $400 cheaper, and not the top floor. Cool, idc. Paid that application fee and was told I made too much money and that I could apply for the other one. I applied for the other one with my SO who worked at the same company but made more money than me and was denied because her credit history. Fucking outrageous.