In need of some help.

[ShaneSA]

The plot thickens. Since your lease is up and you are buying a house all the more the red flags. Last month's rent free. You can also get out before any court date so the eviction is mute and not on your record. It will be on your credit.
Sorry I am so cynical, but all the red flags are there. I've been a landlord way to long to fall for the sob story.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

Originally Posted by juanin89

ShaneSA that is 100% understandable but we have been late only once and we paid the late fees and rent the next day no issues. The thing i dont get is why would i make the full money order and keep it then claim that it was turned in. Then go so far as getting the media and corporate involved. Just is not logical to go through all this stress and bs if i had the money order. If i had the money **** i would just pay them again since i am getting the full refund anyways but i dont. My lease ends this month and i will be moving into a house and done with apartments. I have even provided them with copies front and back of the money order receipt and the tracking info so they can track the money order that was sent to western union and can track it when it gets sent back. With all this evidence it shows that i am doing all i can to get them their money. Doesn't help that the manager in the office is no help at all. Will not provide any info for corporate or regional manager, they state they will have them call me but never receive a call. To top it off the property management company does not respond to calls or emails either. I just dont want an eviction on my record that is not my fault.

After my rent check was stolen, I told one of my neighbors and the next month, she got a money order, then cashed it. When the office asked for her rent for that month, she showed them the stub and said she had paid it in the drop box and acted shocked that they were asking her for it again. (I was shocked that she had told me she had done that.) Anyhow, there are people who do things like that and they make life more difficult for honest people like you.

You should ask around and see if other people in your complex are having the same problem right now. If other money orders or checks are missing from the same night, then they probably got fished out of the drop box. If yours is the only one missing, chances are an employee of the complex stole it and cashed it. If they state that they never found it in the drop box, you should call the police and make a report of it being missing. (If you have renter's insurance, there may be some coverage for this situation, you should call your insurance agent and ask).

The best way to get the property management company to call you is to call and leave them a message saying that you're giving them one last chance to contact you before your attorney gets in touch with them.

Don't count on a refund for the money order, if the money order company does a trace on it and it has been cashed, you're going to be out that money.

[Pachuco2]

Originally Posted by Hedgehog_Mom

After this, pay in person. Take it inside, make them give you a receipt with a photocopy of the money order. And keep all those receipts in a folder for as long as you live in the complex.

Thank You!....always get a receipt...certain money order receipts can take months to verify...

[juanin89]

I will try that, I was able to request a stop payment before anything was cashed so I will be getting the refund.

[laina1980]

Originally Posted by Hedgehog_Mom

After this, pay in person. Take it inside, make them give you a receipt with a photocopy of the money order. And keep all those receipts in a folder for as long as you live in the complex.

I agree. I use to live in a apt with drop box and never dropped it due to paranoia that it would be "lost". Landlords are tricky and the best method is in person with a receipt.

[Sally_Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Hedgehog_Mom

After this, pay in person. Take it inside, make them give you a receipt with a photocopy of the money order. And keep all those receipts in a folder for as long as you live in the complex.

Reading this thread has me a bit paranoid now. We've lived here in this complex for a year and we pay via money order and we pay by dropping it in the drop box.

I never considered the possibility of theft because it is made out to such and such property management company, and we have not had any problems ever with it being "lost".

The issue for us is that our landlord (who works for the large prop. mgt. company located elsewhere, who knows where) is not local. He lives an hour away and he isn't here on a daily basis, and he has requested we pay this way so we do. Trying to catch him to give it to him in person would be nearly impossible since when he *is* here, we are not. He seems to actually be on-site maybe 2x a week. Mailing it to him at his home sounds scary as well, for fear of it being lost in the mail. The apartment "office" is not manned at all by anyone else, it's a small complex and just the one guy, aside from 3 maintenance guys who are around off and on. No receptionist or any of that jazz.

hmmm... now I am worried about how to best protect ourselves when we pay the rent in this case.

[phox1515]

sadly the courts do not understand the term "i don't have extra money" and will tell you one of 2 (or both) things. "you still have to pay your rent" or "next time give it to them in person and get a receipt from them"

I say the same thing for one and I do understand that we all have to work and have busy schedules.

Keep in mind it takes almost a month to evict someone. they have to give you a 3 day notice first, then they have to file it then it's at least another week not counting holidays till you even GET a court date which is usually a week after THAT, then you get 5 days to pay up or get out, then you get 2-3 more days from a writ of possession... at that point the constable forces you out.