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There are very valid reasons for charging transfer fees in apartment buildings. It is not at all arbitrary. If you're increasing your rent by transferring to a more expensive unit, it makes sense to charge a minimal trasfer fee (because it'll inevitably increase the landlord/owner's revenue), whereas if you're moving down in rent, it makes sense to charge a higher transfer fee (which will inevitably cause the landlord/owner to lose money).
The important thing to remember is that a vacancy, for whatever reason, creates time-consuming work and monetary expense for the landlord. Accordingly, your best chance of getting what you want is to offer to reduce his work and or expenses or otherwise mitigate his costs.
First, lets consider what a vacancy means to the landlord. The factors that count are:
The landlord usually receives no rent from a vacant unit
The landlord must usually spend time and money for cleaning, painting, and miscellaneous repairs and/or upgrades when a unit becomes vacant
The landlord must process paperwork when a vacant unit is rented
Some units are easier to rent than other units
Second, consider that, if a tenant moves from one unit to another within a building or complex, the following is true:
The landlord will have two units to clean, paint, repair and/or upgrade.
Depending upon available staff and the amount of work required, getting two units read may, in itself, increase the total vacancy time.
If the unit that you would like to move to is a very desirable one compared to yours, the landlord will have less down time by renting the one you'd like to a new tenant.
The landlord will have two sets of paperwork to deal with - that for your transfer and that for a replacement tenant in your old unit.
The reason you didn't read anything to that effect in your lease, is due to the fact that a lease only applies to the unit you're renting, as well as upkeep of common areas, for the term of that lease, not every unit in that building that you may possibly desire!
[quote=Alana85;18307353]There are very valid reasons for charging transfer fees in apartment buildings. It is not at all arbitrary.
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Actually, in the case of Globe Mills, it is arbitrary.
1. The tenant I spoke to wanted to transfer over to another (same style as myself) apartment in a different location within the building.
She was quoted 500.00 // I was quoted 250.00.
Two different prices for the exact same scenario; in my book, that is arbitrary.
2. The apartment transfer fee had never **ever** been mentioned to me before after the numerous inquiries I made; then, lo and behold, this fee magically appeared out of thin air; in my book, this is arbitrary.
3. Apartment transfer fees should be disclosed in the lease or SHOULD be on paper somewhere advising of this policy; the dollar amount is not necessary as every situation is unique but a notation such as, "a tenant may be subject to an "apartment transfer fee" if they choose to relocate to another unit within the same building". The lack of disclosure of this "policy" and the fact that is not in writing **anywhere** makes it an arbitrary policy as they can choose to charge it whenever they wish or to whomever they wish.
This can potentially open the owners or management company up to certain legal ramifications. I would not be surprised if the owners are not even aware of this so-called policy; which begs the question, where does this money end up or who's pockets does it end up lining??
It's not in writing anywhere, right??
Was the other tenant moving up in rent or down? Was the unit you wanted to transfer to more than the one you were renting or less? That could have a lot to do with why the fee the other was quoted was higher and you were quoted a lower. Was it mid-lease? All of these things are factors. Transferring units within the building is a huge inconvenience both financially and time-wise for the owners/management company. They have every legal right to charge those fees, and it isn't pertinent to mention it in a lease because, like I mentioned previously, the lease you sign only applies to your unit, and you are the one who is in a legally binding contract to remain a tenant of that unit for the term of the lease. Breaching that (even if you want to stay within the complex), will still have financial ramifications for the leasee. Why you weren't told about the fee later is beyond me, but perhaps it was a new policy. To assume that management is pocketing the money is a pretty severe judgement in my opinion.
The bottom line is this: If I have to fork over additional hard earned cash, then I want to see in writing, period. The fact that it's not in writing (even after I asked) would make most reasonable people suspicious. Combine this with the fact that Globe doesn't have the best reputation in town; whether that reputation is based on truth or not, it's still a reputation that has developed over the past three years.
In any case, there were plenty of other places eager to cash my rent check so I left.
Quote: Globe only charges $50 out of the security for carpet cleaning, which is very reasonable in my opinion.
Here is the State Law regarding carpet cleaning. I was not told, nor was it in writing that $50. was going to be taken from my deposit. Nor was I given the opportunity to clean the nearly clean carpet before I vacated.
It was an arbitry and I believe illegal deduction from my security deposit. I would challenge anyone who moved from Globe Mills, who can take the time, to sue in Small Claims Court (in the County Courts) because if this deduction is illegal, not only will you get the $50. but you could be awarded damages.
Please post the link to the Sacramento Bee retraction.
The original post was not created as a vendetta. It was created because Globe Mills did not properly screen people as tenants. This may have changed but in the first few months, there was pressure, pressure, pressure to get the buildings filled.
The reason: the builders had a low interest construction loan, which was converted to a higher interest bank loan, after the building was finished and they needed to get the buildings full to make the higher bank payments.
The result was people coming off the streets through the Salvation Army, with very little time off drugs/alcohol. No problem with that; if this building project was designed to help people. There was a high level of relapse, several tenants were arrested with a block of the buildings for selling meth and cocaine.
The problem is that not all tenants were just off the street. Some of us were legitimately low income seniors who wanted to live in a nice, protected building. That opportunity was never afforded us.
The image was wonderful, the reality was terrible. The stories told on this post are real.
I was told not to open my front door too far because one of the drug dealers, teanants might push past me and steal my purse and I was taught by all of management, in the management meetings to go to extremes to protect myself. Evidently, that advice was given because they had no real security budget.
Many other women living alone felt the same fear. Senior people should not feel afraid in that type of environment. The managers and developers had a responsiblity to protect their tenants and they failed.
This thread has been quiet for a while. We recently visited Sacramento and were pleasantly surprised at what we found in the city. We are REALLY tired of the constant gray skies and chilly weather, as well as the high costs of living in the Puget Sound area. We want somewhere warmer, and our son and family moved to the Sacramento area in February.
We didn't know about the Globe Mills when we visited, but we began looking around a bit after we got back to Washington. We already knew we were going to be leaving here, but had not considered much of California, as we assumed it would be too expensive. In our case, we are probably losing our home, as we cannot pay the mortgage now, and have not been able to sell the property, even at a "break even" price, losing our equity, and we are worried about what this will do to our previously perfect credit scores. Bad enough that our retirement money is decimated by the last three years in the stock market.
Globe Mills LOOKED great on paper, until I checked it out here. We can deal with being by a place that serves food to the homeless; we might even volunteer there. But drug dealers and filth, no reasonable security, etc. is a deal breaker for us. Has the situation improved at all?
If NOT, where do we go to find reasonably priced senior housing, in a nice area, (would be good if there were good public transportation) within a radius of maybe 60 miles of Sacramento? We will keep one car, if we must, but we are, of necessity, severely downsizing due to the lowered income available. I can work part time. We are both highly educated people, but we have physical issues that prohibit standing for long periods or labor such as cleaning or gardening.
The only people who know about what goes on in Globe Mills are:
People who live there and are willing to be honest about what they see (without fear of retaliation) and management, who won't tell you.
and the police. If you look for internet postings about crime in that area, you will see the lack of disclosure about the real number of incidents. I assume this was not an accident. I assume this area was targeted for redevelopment and the only way people would invest or move into the area was if the city police department stopped reporting all criminal activity to the newspaper, other media and internet reporting agencies, such as CrimeReports.
You may have to visit that local precint and ask for the truth. You may want to tell them what you have said on this site: you are aging people and you want to live in a safe neighborhood, without fear of violence and you are asking the police to do their job. If they shrug their shoulders (that means they are overwhelmed with the problem), you should not move into Globe Mills.
Where to go is the question. There are many, many new senior housing developments in the general area. You can look at the HUD website for a list of funded buildings and then use Crime Reports to study the kind of crime in that neighborhood.
I went online this morning looking for something, someone... anyone who could help me make sense of the evil/demonic hell I've experience after moving into the Lofts At Globe Mills. I saw an ad on Craigslist showcasing a beautiful loft in the heart of Downtown Sacramento... I wish I had never seen that ad.
Within about a week of moving into the loft, I started to feel sick to my stomach at night, as if someone was watching me through the walls. I even remember calling a family member and saying that I felt very strange....something wasn't right. I was told that I was being silly and to enjoy my new loft by my sisters...so I tried to put the feeling behind me but it didnt last long.
The noises at night have been horrible and unlike anything I've ever heard. It feels like I'm living in an old insane asylum... my refrigerator starts up and makes these unreal sounds, then the air will start up and it sound like a dog barking really loud at first -scares me each time. You can hear the voices of people walking and sometimes running down the hallways at night. They don't sound normal or happy or anything of love and light....these people are addicts or worship the horned one -something crazy and something I could only try to describe for you. You'd have to live through this place a couple nights to see what I'm talking about. I've been finishing work late at night only with no lights on and have watched strange shadowy figures appear in the courtyard and then come to my window and hunch down to look inside....only to leave and then come back again and do the same thing. I've experienced looking into hidden parts of the loft here only to find 30 or 40 coaxial cable tv cords hanging and going through various parts of the ceiling... I only have one connection in the place - and it looks like whoever put them there literally just cut some holes into the connecting area (where or what that is I couldn't tell you - the building I'm learning doesn't quite work the way you;d think). I've spent hours and hours being forced to endure noises that sound like screaming and strange moaning, echoes of metal being hit across the concrete hallway walls, neighbors (who won't look at me, and I have never been able to meet!!!) whose dogs will sometimes howl the most eery sounding howls from another world, its been absolutely scary and it gets worse with every week. For a while I started to believe that ghosts were real - because as a human whose not prepared for this stuff - you tend to want to justify it so you don't feel in danger...well - the ghosts trick didn't help at all...especially after I experienced something that was all too human.
I could tell one night that I was indeed being screwed with by someone on the other side of the wall...it just was too powerful a feeling and mixed with the noises and the responses to my scared reactions....i knew i was being looked at through a wall with holes (all the walls here are full of holes that are deep and unless you look with a flash light and have something to pull out the strange materials you find shoved inside, you won't be able to see anything. Now, my walls are literally 20 feet up in the air...I can't reach the several holes I'm almost positive someones been using to watch me. I started to walk towards to get a better view and immediately was met with a panic sounding banging against the wall, and something that sounded like a drill going off. I backed up in shock...and was frozen stiff. That's when things went from bad to extremely unbearable. It was the next night when I had a friend with me and we were talking, as it got later, the strange sounds and feelings from the wall started again - my friend was very unsure and felt the same way I had... those aren't normal noises, and this isn't a normal wall, and why are their holes everywhere, and then as she said what the hell is that a bit louder... someone on the other side of my wall took something of weight and slapped the smooth concrete so hard that my friend and I went running down the stairs in fear. I've never slept up in my loft since then. I've since had others come to see if I was crazy who have said that I need to leave as they feel something very off here and while the noises are usually the worse when I'm alone quiet and reading....they heard enough to know what I was talking about.
Its like this place is a devil camp or something...it seems that some of the residents have fun scaring folks like me who had no intention of doing anything other than just enjoying a loft experience. I had no idea what I was in for - the management in my opinion is totally corrupt and there is no way she should be selling the "lifestyle" in the way she does. It makes no sense, and I've lived literally through something that I fear could turn violent. In fact at one point a group of what I assume are residents new I was pissed off because I know they are harassing me and watching me...that they started pounding the wall where I was sitting for several minutes and again I just sat there in shock. I am really nervous to even leave my apartment without taking anything of value...which isn't easy to do.
The other night I cam home to find a business card on my door that said "lockouts no problem" and the funny thing is, that I had recently started having trouble with my deadbolt.
Finally the reason I even did a search for Globe Mills and found this thread is because late last night I heard the strange thumping around in the walls and grabbed my flashlight and actually went into the bathroom and checked it out... nothing was there and so I started to exit when all of a sudden I heard what sounded like someone crawling rapidly, through the oversized heating and air vents....and I knew it...at that moment last night I knew it in my heart - someone, or more than one of them has access to a part of this building that residents like me wouldn't have assumed is even there. I have no clue how to deal with this,,,, I feel very angry and ripped off doesn't even begin to express. The deposit was very large, and I know now that I've been here why... there are strange issues with my loft in every area....damage, no, just very strange and spotty craftsmanship. I can;t explain it -- but i am certain that when I leave, especially prior to a full lease term...she's going to try and keep my deposit....well thanks to my ability to document things that have happened and my friends having been here to witness it, and a thread like this one...she's going to have to start addressing this stuff - as its not right and no tenant should be subject to a space like this one.
Does anyone have any advice, other than call police? I know from experience what the process is for PD getting involved and I'm not interested in being brushed aside and told to bring them proof. I don't know what these guys are capable of, but I'm certainly not willing to stick around to find out....people crawling through my apartment is the final straw. I don't wish anyone the stress and fear that I've gone through living here....steer clear of this place.
Globe Mills Resident (packing as we speak)
Last edited by Anon_Globe_Mills_Resident; 08-07-2011 at 10:51 AM..
Reason: n/a
I don't see a police issue in your posting, Anon Globe Mills Resident, I didn't see anything that amounts to a specific complaint you could make to the police.
The stuff you point out appears to be something you need to work out with the management, I don't see anything that seems like an illegal activity.
The loft experience is very different from a traditional apartment setting. There may be an adjustment period that you need to undergo before things get better. It sounds like your senses are on overload right now and you're starting to become a little paranoid.
I lived at GM for a year and really never felt unsafe in any way. I had other issues with management which are documented here but safety was really not one of them. However, even at the lofts I felt they could have done a better job screening potential residents because there were a handful of characters I felt better to stay away from.
They could have also done a better job lighting the very dark patio area which gave me the creeps at night.
Although I had no real proof, my instincts very strongly told me their was something unsavory about management. Let's put it this way, if I ever heard of some police or other legal action against management there in the future, I wouldn't be surprised.
The neighborhood was also very depressing to live in and I think it got to me after a while so I couldn't wait to leave after my 12 months.
Anyway, If you haven't already, document document document. Write down dates of incidents, take photos, even set up your own inexpensive surveillance equipment to monitor your loft when you're not there. Police need evidence and wont act based on suspicion only. Good luck!
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So, what is it like NOW?
Don't Know
