Getting added to a lease as an occupant (apartment, lease agreement, tenant)

[anabolina]

My brother moved into his town home in July with the assumption that I would move in once my current lease expires at the end of November. He qualified under his own income and credit and it's a nice enough town home.

Since I have a dog and wanted to bring her to his place when I stopped by(we're about 5 minutes apart) I thought I would go ahead and get the pet deposit out of the way in August. After completing the form and leaving them a check on Saturday, my brother got a notice on his door on Wednesday that they couldn't accept a personal check for a deposit and that it would have to be paid with a cashiers check or money order.

This:ahem: upset me, so I went in to protest that I wasn't even moving in until November and the check should certainly have cleared by then. I went in to the office to explain the situation and the manger was having none of that. I said fine and left. As I was going through the door to leave, I said'f--- it, what a b---h' under my breath. Frankly, I had no idea she heard me and came running after me and said she was going to evict my brother in 3 days because of this incident of "abusive and belligerent language". I tried to apologize and she didn't want to hear it. So I stopped at my brother's apartment as I was leaving and told him what happened. While I was there, she came by and said she's decided not to evict him, but gave him a written warning instead. I then went and got the money order and he turned it into the office.

Now before anyone comments about how this is only one side of the story and that there has to be more to it then this, well, there isn't. This has been my one and only experience with the leasing office and I really wish it could be my last. While it was immature to curse her under my breath as I was leaving the leasing office and I know she shouldn't have to hear such language, I think threatening to evict someone over muttered curses is an over-reaction and worrisome in an apartment manager.

I know this is a long story, but what it comes down to is that I've already promised my brother I would move in and moved in most of my furniture since he had practically none at movein. Also my current roommate and I have already given notice at our current place(which I will miss as I never had any problems here and I have nice neighbors and abundant parking). But I really don't want to risk my renting history or credit at this place after what happened with the manager before.

Is it unusual to ask to be added to the lease as an occupant rather than a lease-holder? Given my past track-record with the manager(yes my brother already asked if I could be added to the lease and he says that she said it was okay) how do I go about asking about this? I wish to avoid as much contact with the manager as possible and so want to plan out what to ask for and how to say it in advance.

Any advice is appreciated.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by anabolina

...notice on his door on Wednesday that they couldn't accept a personal check for a deposit
and that it would have to be paid with a cashiers check or money order.

This is rather common policy for "deposits"
It's petty for secondary deposits like pets but when dealing with BIG company thinking,
processes and ahem "management" you get this sort of stuff. Suck it up.

...came running after me and said she was going to evict my brother in 3 days
because of this incident of "abusive and belligerent language".

While I was there, she came by and said she's decided not to evict him,
but gave him a written warning instead.
I then went and got the money order and he turned it into the office.

You're lucky she didn't accuse you of having cooties.
Petty people given to self importance. Suck it up.

Is it unusual to ask to be added to the lease as an occupant rather than a lease-holder?

If they don't have a pre-printed space on their form for such... you betcha. Suck it up.

Given my past track-record with the manager...how do I go about asking about this? ...
I wish to avoid as much contact with the manager as possible
and so want to plan out what to ask for and how to say it in advance.

Have your brother do the asking instead.

hth

[ShaneSA]

Have your brother do any contacting with the leasing office in the future. If you have to have contact, just smile and say yes and no as appropriate.
Some people get power hungry and make threats because they can.

[anabolina]

Originally Posted by MrRational

This is rather common policy for "deposits"
It's petty for secondary deposits like pets but when dealing with BIG company thinking,
processes and ahem "management" you get this sort of stuff. Suck it up.



You're lucky she didn't accuse you of having cooties.
Petty people given to self importance. Suck it up.


If they don't have a pre-printed space on their form for such... you betcha. Suck it up.



Have your brother do the asking instead.

hth

MrRational and ShaneSA for the responses. You are correct, why am I even thinking about going into the office myself. I'll let him deal with it

I think they used a typical TAA lease form so there is a place on the lease application to add adult occupants, but I wonder about how you go about submitting it after the original application was already submitted months ago. They require separate applications for all adult occupants so I'll need to submit a new application and there is the option to submit it online, but you all are right that I should ask bro to talk to them about it first and make sure
how the form shold be submitted for a occupant rather than lease-holder.

[sware2cod]

If I was the LL, I would not rent to you. What you said when walking out the door is a big red flag and a sign of potential trouble in the future.

You're lucky and hopefully you learned a lesson. There are certain folks you always treat with respect - teachers, pastors, bosses, parents, elderly, doctors, landlords ( might have missed a few). Actually, you should really treat everyone with respect. If you loose your cool, nothing good will come out of it. Even if you are right.

[PacificFlights]

Originally Posted by anabolina

While I was there, she came by and said she's decided not to evict him, but gave him a written warning instead. I then went and got the money order and he turned it into the office.

She didn't evict because odds are it would have been a loosing battle and your briotehr may have ended up getting some compensation for the attempt at eviction over this. You are not on the lease, you are not an occupant, therefor you are a guest to the PMC. That means although your brother could have been held accountable for any violations of rules you committed, this is far from an evictable offense. The PMC knew it , or relaized it, so they changed their mind and made it seemed they were doing you a favor.

Now, on the side, remember because you are not a tenant or occupant, they had no reason to accept or deal with anything you bring to them regarding the lease or deposits. You brother and only your broteher should have been the one dealing with them. Yopu were way out of line expecting what you expected, demanding what you demanded, and acting as you acted. You had no standing in the matter but shoved your nose where it didn;t belong.

But they will be the ones getting even. because by letting you become a occupant, you and your brother are bound by all the terms of the lease and rules of the place equally. As a guest, the courts would have looked down on the PMC for trying to evict your brother over actions of a guest that were rude but not serious to warrent eviction. But when you become the occupnat, now its a diffrent ballgame and you and your brother can;t hide behind the "guest" status to lessen violations. So be on your best behavior cause once you become an occupant, they now hold all the cards and next time you go all pissed of baby on them, you may have to get a moving van.

[LongtimeBravesFan]

What you said was rude, but you apologized and the LL did not evict your brother. Just forget about it and let your brother handle anything that needs to go through the office, such as maintenance requests.

One way to get back in her good graces would be for you to deliver the rent check to the office each month. When you do, make sure you smile and give a cheerful and sincere greeting to the person you cursed.

[Alexortiz1276]

HI
i have a big problem with my current refund deposit check I received from the leasing company. my old roommate abandoned the lease agreement last year. he left for vacation and never returned back. he was on the lease as an occupant not a tenant. but for some reason the leasing company put his name on the refund deposit check and now i cannot deposit or cash it out. he is not in my state anymore and i do not have any means in finding him since i do not know which state he is located. what can I do or the leasing company do in this situation PLEASE HELP!. is there anything legally i can tell the leasing company that can change the check under my name only?
thanks

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by Alexortiz1276

HI
i have a big problem with my current refund deposit check I received from the leasing company. my old roommate abandoned the lease agreement last year. he left for vacation and never returned back. he was on the lease as an occupant not a tenant. but for some reason the leasing company put his name on the refund deposit check and now i cannot deposit or cash it out. he is not in my state anymore and i do not have any means in finding him since i do not know which state he is located. what can I do or the leasing company do in this situation PLEASE HELP!. is there anything legally i can tell the leasing company that can change the check under my name only?
thanks

Umm, did you try calling them and explaining all this? Do you have a copy of the receipt from when YOU paid the security deposit? Then fax that to them with an explanation.

[Campfires]

Alex,

Are you new to the internet? Why didn't you simply create your own post? You are very unlikely to get help from an unrelated post that is over 6 years old.