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Hi all. Please bear with me as this may be long, but I am looking for suggestions. I turned in a rental application to an apartment complex on 2/27/15. It's okay, but not spectacular and a step down from where we are now. My fiance and I are downsizing a bit in order to save more for a future home purchase. I have been renting since 2000 and I have NEVER experienced anything quite like this. So, I turned in the application on 2/27. I expected a response in the usual 2-3 business day time frame, but when I didn't hear back, I gave it a couple more days. Well, a couple more days went by without hearing from anyone and on 3/6/15 my fiance sent the complex an email asking for the status. He was told that they are currently working on our application and hope to have it finished by that day. We did not hear back that day, or the next (Friday).
I called on Saturday, but after getting no answer, sent an email asking if there was something wrong with our application, or if there was some piece of information missing, why it's taking so long to get a response. That email went unanswered. My fiance called the office yesterday (Monday) and was told that their systems were down last week, but they are processing our application now and we should hear back by the end of the day. Very fishy since this is not what he was told on Thursday. We did not hear back by the end of the day but I received an email from the leasing consultant I gave my application materials to telling me that she received word that we'd been calling the office for an update and none of the other staff could give us an answer. They are waiting on word from their corporate office regarding our application and that she will follow up with corporate tomorrow, if they haven't reached out to us by later that day (This was already after 5pm). I was in shock. I've never had a rental application sent to corporate for review.
Today, after not hearing from the complex, I sent an email asking for an update and advised that I would like my security deposit back as this is taking ridiculously long. I asked again what was wrong with our application. I got a response back almost immediately saying that we had been declined and they are waiting on override from corporate. However, as luck would have it, the corporate managers are in a meeting today and she wouldn't hear back until tomorrow. She attached their denial letter, dated today (3/10/15) and credit ran yesterday, (3/9/15). I turned in this application on 2/27. To my shock when I read the denial letter it said we were denied for unsatisfactory criminal history. We don't have a criminal history!! I am not joking or BS'ing when I say this. We have NO criminal history. So I replied back and began Googling myself as well as my fiance to make sure no one had used our names or anything, and I found nothing. Checked public records, nothing. I replied back that I needed to know what they meant by unsatisfactory criminal history when we have none. Not to mention a year ago, we resided in their sister property. She replied that she doesn't understand it either and it may have been that their system pulled the wrong criminal backgrounds. She offered apologies and said everyone is in a meeting today However, if I just cancel out now, instead of waiting for corporate response, I will forfeit my security deposit. How is that true, when I have the denial letter? What steps do I need to take to get my money back? At this point, I do not want to live there even if their corporate overrides their denial. It took them well over a week to process our application, and we get a denial letter for something that doesn't even exist. Short of small claims, can't I just send a demand letter to get my money back?
I turned in a rental application to an apartment complex on 2/27/15.
Today...I got a response back almost immediately saying that we had been declined
their denial letter, dated today (3/10/15) and credit ran yesterday, (3/9/15).
I turned in this application on 2/27.
denial letter it said we were denied for unsatisfactory criminal history.
We don't have a criminal history!!
Do you have a common name?
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...if I just cancel out now, instead of waiting for corporate response,
I will forfeit my security deposit. How is that true, when I have the denial letter?
What steps do I need to take to get my money back?
Wait for corporate response
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At this point, I do not want to live there even if their corporate overrides their denial.
Short of small claims, can't I just send a demand letter to get my money back?
What was the exact definition of the deposit you gave? If it was a "holding deposit", that would normally be credited to your account on lease signing if you were approved. If you weren't approved it wouldn't be returned. If it was a "security deposit", it would be refundable if you were turned down as an applicant. My guess is that it was the latter - but in light of their apparent error in denying your application I would definitely ask for its return.
What was the exact definition of the deposit you gave? If it was a "holding deposit", that would normally be credited to your account on lease signing if you were approved. If you weren't approved it wouldn't be returned. If it was a "security deposit", it would be refundable if you were turned down as an applicant. My guess is that it was the latter - but in light of their apparent error in denying your application I would definitely ask for its return.
Hi. It was the security deposit. She confirmed it's refundable, but only after waiting for corporate to respond, which I don't get. They already declined us. I found out they use RealPage as their 3rd party background check company. I checked the internet, and it seems like this isn't uncommon. I submitted a dispute to that company as well.
....... only after waiting for corporate to respond, which I don't get. They already declined us. ........
I'm going to guess that whoever is sitting at the front desk is only accepting the paperwork as it is handed in and doesn't have the authority to make any decisions.
Yes, it can take a week to run a screening. I often spend several days playing phone tag with the previous landlord and sometimes the employer refuses to give a reference, so income has to be verified in a different fashion. Some of the big apartment complexes are really bad about giving references. Everything has to be FAXed to them and then they take days to respond. I screen as fast as I can, but nobody else feels my need to get the screening done quickly, and I have to wait for them to respond.
Running the credit report doesn't make much of a ding, but still, I don't run it until after everything else has been checked. If there is another problem with the application and I am going to reject, I don't run the criminal or credit. It's bad enough to reject the applicant and take their application fee without dinging their credit on top of it.
Your criminal was dated the day before rejection, so my best guess is that you passed every other screening test and criminal and credit were run as the last thing checked.
If something is coming up on your screening that isn't really you, you need to get that fixed.
My last name is common, but my first, FAR from it.
The assumption is that someone else with a similar name is being read about.
Straightening that out becomes a different matter.
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But they already declined us at the local level...
And they also said something about the Corporate office decision...
implying there is some sort of continuum between the local "determination" and the main office "decision"
Right, wrong or purple... your 2 weeks into this now.
Be patient and wait out their process.
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Hearing it from corporate only compounds the issue.
This is a shot in the dark but plentyofplaces.com? With corporate offices in state of California?
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