Apartment Showings

[blas87]

This has been going on for about the past month.

Naturally, if you don't renew your lease, eventually, they start having showings at your place.

Well, my first rant, unrelated to showings, is the notice we are REQUIRED to give here. I think most states, legally, the minimum notice required is 30 days of moving out. Well, this property management company takes advantage of that "minimum" word, and wants nearly 4 months notice! Usually, in early February, we get a letter in the mail bullying us to renew our lease or give notice by the middle/end of February, if they don't hear from you by then, they'll automatically assume you're moving and start showing your apartment as soon as anyone starts calling.

This year, we got those letters in January. January. Demanding we give notice by the middle/end of January. Because of "extra interest" this year of potential new renters.

I was still on the fence about moving, back then. I had to make up my mind or just have my apartment shown anyway!

So, we get to April, and it's time for showings. Ya know legally you need 24 hour's notice of someone entering your apartment?

It may be splitting hairs here, but they'd call me at 2, 3, 4 pm to tell me that the NEXT DAY at 10, 11, 12, etc that there was a showing.

At first, I didn't realize that you could be home while there was a showing.

After the property management company made it abundantly clear they were not willing to work with me and my schedule (not to mention I still pay rent to live here, it's my right to be here, and I can't afford to just waste all of my PTO to take off every time there's a showing), after about 5 or so showings, I decided to stay here and be sleeping on the couch.

Just like always, a lack of communication or care....I asked for it to be NOTED that I would be sleeping on the couch, just come in and do the showing and pretend I'm not there. That's fine!

No. The owner's idiot son, who is now in charge of the damn place it seems, the very first time there was a showing while I was here sleeping......puts the key in the door and opens it, and starts pounding on it until I wake up, and then yells "HELLO!!!! HELLO?!! HELLO?! CAN WE COME IN?!"

For fuck's sake.

Then he shows the apartment. For 10 seconds. Opens up my spare bedroom door, and says, "This looks just like the other one you saw." and then they left.

Two days later, two showings that day.

AGAIN. Again with the starting to come in anyway, but knocking and hollering at me until I wake up and asking my permission to come in anyway. Shows the apartment once again for 10 seconds, totally ripping the people off of a chance to see the place.

Something tells me I will not be getting my security deposit back.

Look, as far as I'm concerned, this is NOT my problem if no one rents this place before I leave in two weeks and this place is vacant for a bit. Of course, their policy is that they don't want vacant apartments. This is their fault, their problem.

Well, if you won't work with people, treat your tenants like shit, and screw over potential renters by punishing your paying tenants....you're going to have vacant apartments, you God damned mouth breathing, chest pounding idiots.

A couple of my coworkers have said that if they went to an apartment showing, and the tenant was sleeping, they'd refuse to rent from someone who was so inconsiderate of their tenant's schedule that they did a showing during that person's sleep time.

[DrFaroohk]

I always had to deal with showings in the apartment buildings I lived in from people looking to buy the building and want to inspect every room. Christ, people live there and you're tramping all over someone's personal space.

After that I made it a point to ask if they were planning on selling soon and letting them know I don't do "showings".

[blas87]

Oh, inspections are another rant in themselves.

I had a pre-inspect the other day, which is where they see what "condition" my place is in, before I move, so they know if they need to paint or re-carpet. Where I was, as always, told that I need to take better care of dusting around here. Oh, and apparently, I need to bleach my $5 generic blinds so they aren't dirty.

Then they inspect again on the day I move. They even mailed me a "to do" list.

I'm thinking to myself.....haha, so, are they just not going to let me leave if they don't like it? I'm not getting my deposit back and I know it, so they can take their to do list and shove it.

[DrFaroohk]

I say fuck inspections. All you have to worry about is that the apartment looks the same on the day I move out, or your wallet is fatter.

Or even worse when they're like "You don't get your security deposit back, I had to put new rugs in."

"Why? Were they damaged?"

"nope, just old."

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.

[Andara Bledin]

There are laws about not keeping deposits for normal wear and tear. Absolutely check your local laws about that.

^-.-^

[kiwi]

I'm glad in BC they have to give 48 hours notice I believe. We had a landlord once who would post notices like this

"we will be showing your apartment on 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th from 10-2pm and 3-6pm please be ready to vacate during these showings for the prospective tenants to look around"

yeah right, like Im going to leave my apartment for hours at a time day after day because a new tenant might be upset that I am watching tv or cooking dinner...

[Jetfire]

If they give less than 24 hour notice and when they wake you up like that, I'd be ready with tea and cookies, invite the people being shown the apartment, and go throuhg ALL the details about how the company deals with the tenants like you outlined.

[siead_lietrathua]

i never let them show our old apartment when i wasn't home. like hell i'm gonna risk someone taking the electronics or something. (we were living in basically a stoner-building, so not the best people came touring through.)

[blas87]

I think they depend on people not knowing they are allowed to be there.

I never thought of theives before, but after someone at work brought it up, I didn't really get paranoid, but thought it'd be a good reason to use as to why I'm not leaving, and staying there no matter who is there.

Of course, the more they just show the place for 10 seconds, is probably why no one has booked this place yet for after I leave.

[HYHYBT]

Why would they want you not to be there anyway?

[blas87]

Probably just another convenient way for them to see what all you have, make sure you don't have anything you aren't supposed to (because they do show closets, to show how much space there is, cupboards, etc).

Because there are laws preventing random entrance into your place, they really have no way of knowing you may be stashing a pet, another person, or stupid shit here like candles, drain cleaner, automatic shower cleaners, pictures on the walls, etc.

That and most property management companies are just assholes. You're almost better off renting from a private landlord. I mean, you have the convenience of on-call maintenance people and someone always there to take a complaint when you rent from a big company, but they can be SO nosy, so rude, so demanding, treat you like you're just money in their pocket, etc.

[flybye023]

Huh. Your experience is really wierd to me. Where I live the only experiences I had when apartment hunting was the property would have a model apartment that they would take you to and basically say "this is what they look like." The other was to be shown an already empty apartment--the exact same one I would potentially be renting.

It was never even suggested that I be shown an occupied apartment and as a renter I was never asked.

[wolfie]

So, we get to April, and it's time for showings. Ya know legally you need 24 hour's notice of someone entering your apartment?

It may be splitting hairs here, but they'd call me at 2, 3, 4 pm to tell me that the NEXT DAY at 10, 11, 12, etc that there was a showing.

No. The owner's idiot son, who is now in charge of the damn place it seems, the very first time there was a showing while I was here sleeping......puts the key in the door and opens it, and starts pounding on it until I wake up, and then yells "HELLO!!!! HELLO?!! HELLO?! CAN WE COME IN?!"

Proper answers:

- When they call you at 2 in the afternoon to tell you that there will be a showing the next day at noon (I'm being generous, giving the longest lead time possible from the call/showing times you listed), tell them "No, there will not be a showing, since you are legally required to give 24 hours notice of someone entering my home, and you have only given 22 hours notice"

- When "idiot boy" does that, tell him "No, you have failed to provide the legally required 24 hours notice to enter my home - and the fact that this apartment has only one entry door has specific legal meaning".

What is the legal meaning of only having one entry door? Simple - if you're in a "duty to retreat" jurisdiction (as opposed to a "stand your ground" jurisdiction), someone coming in through that door has BLOCKED YOUR AVENUE OF RETREAT, so that if you are afraid that they will cause you physical harm (understandable since they have come in under circumstances other than allowed by law, and you have explicitly refused permission), you are unable to retreat from them, and therefore have no option (other than allowing them to harm you, which is a non-starter) but to defend yourself.

[AdminAssistant]

It was never even suggested that I be shown an occupied apartment and as a renter I was never asked.

Some smaller complexes or private renters may not have an unoccupied 'model' apartment to show off. Most of the apartments I saw last time I looked were occupied, and most of those had the tenants in them. Of course, in two cases, I couldn't actually *see* the apartment because the floor was so covered in garbage and dirty laundry that I couldn't walk around.

[jackfaire]

If I am looking to rent a place they better have an empty apartment to show me. Most places have at least one apartment that is empty if they are actively seeking renters.

I refuse to walk into someone else's home to see if I want to rent it. For one that makes it harder to judge. I can't get a sense of space if there is a bunch of things in it and it's harder to mentally place my own stuff in the apartment. That being said in the 5 years I rented from my old place, month to month, they never ever showed an occupied apartment. They wanted it empty and clean before showing to new renters.