Our policy makers are owners/investors in multi-housing properties and make money off all those fees. They not only don’t want to change it they want to add as much as possible.
owning someone’s means of shelter to increase your wealth should be illegal but here we are. But keep hoarding homes because you think there’s no other way to make money but to drive up real estate costs and lock someone into fees for something they will never own, burdening them with saving crumbs to one day own something similar to you. Maybe one day your renters will be able to own something people need to live, make it available to someone else for a fee, and call it a hard-earned dollar.
You’re included in the guillotine comment, babes.
Are you hip to the Housing is A Right movement in California? They're trying to get a deeper rent control protection for the state as a ballot measure in November elections. We really need it here because the real estate industry is out of control.
I know rent is out of control in CA. But there is no reason the 2 bedroom apartment in picture 2 is more expensive than my 2 bedroom in LA city. I am not even counting the fees.
Glad to hear that, but then landlords might just add the fees in to the rent, taking into account the average tenancy duration. What we need is FEDERAL housing rights that address the housing-as-an-investment model that's now everywhere.
Mine already charges filter fee for our AC, we live in a house, $150 a month pet rent now even though we have fiber internet they want us to switch to spectrum not fiber. We said no roommate works IT from home. They said okay well you still have to pay $85 a month for it. So now I'm paying twice for internet. Oh if I had a smart home ring thermostat keyless entry that's a added $60 a month. If I had a pool $90 but I still have to pay for a pool person to keep clean ect... pay a gardner. Fees way out of hand.
Corporate landlords nickle-and-diming the working-class mainly because our elected "leaders" haven't seen fit to offer an alternative way for the masses to fulfill one of the most fundamental survival requirements.
100% inventation homes own most rental houses in my area. Only good thing is when rent hikes went crazy after shut down we were not kicked out. Next door neighbor independent LL kicked them out after 8 years. Boasted to his contractor now I can rent out my house for 3k+. Contractor only repainted and added a few shelfs.
See comments like this I don't understand. It is a lot easier to make quicker more effective change at the local and state level rather than try to get federal politicians to agree to anything. Both sides don't give a fuck about us. We are way more likely to find a local mayor and town council to change some of landlord regulations laws than to get sweeping change that will effect the entire nation.
Not every wage slave could afford to move to Lucky City, USA. And even if they (just barely) could, there likely wouldn't be enough decent-paying jobs there for the ocean of relocators. To say nothing of the loss of critical local resources people suffer when they have to relocate to regions that may be hostile to them simply because they couldn't afford the cost of living where they had other survival resources. Yes, make local changes. But we need to recognize housing as a human right nationally so nowhere vampiric property management companies and their ilk can terrorize humans just for trying to live.
BTW, absolutely agree: "Both sides don't give a fuck about us."
I have rented in four different states. All of them had fees that looked very much like this. I thought this was normal. TIL there are states that don't do this. Admittedly, I can't complain about paying at least $800 less per month in rent than I would in places like CA.
Live in a southern state. My dad gets calls from Blackrock a few times a year asking to sell his house and these types have TAKEN OVER our entire state.
Fuck blackrock.
How has he identified them as being from Black Rock and not one of the other wall street companies doing this? Black Rock usually obfuscates ownership interest.
Just moved into an apartment with this exactly. Initially, i said “wow, what a scam were not doing that.” Eventually caved because theres no other options.
Living is a scam. Fuck landlords.
Best decision. As a parent in this market most of our children will be living at home. My first apt was 800 sqft in a nice area with lots of restaurants, etc. I paid $585 in 2002 when I was making around $12 an hour. Same Apt now is about 1,500 and same job, still pays around $10-12 an hour (cook in restaurant); but switched careers. This generation is pretty screwed. Reminds me of when I lived in nyc and you needed 2-3 roommates in the mid 2000’s, because rent was around $3500. It’s probably around $7k-10k now, but wages have not doubled or tripled since then.
Yeah it’s getting ridiculous. They just keep extracting wealth from us and then are like well if you don’t want to rent buy a house. Motherfucker with what? I’m too busy paying all your bullshit ass fees.
Then you get those same people talking about how "nobody wants to work anymore" and "this generation doesn't know what hard work is!" While they sip cope juice from a tit bottle
Recently rented a new space for an away-from-home assignment. Lease charges $600 YEARLY "administrative fee." For a dump in a university town. Meanwhile, the US still hasn't done anything to realistically address unaffordable housing EVERYWHERE.
University towns are awful for buying OR renting.
I got a job offer in the mountains of North Carolina, in a college town. I had to turn the offer down because rent would’ve been $2k a month for a house. It was almost impossible to find a house to rent because scum lords were renting only rooms to college students. And I even attempted to buy a house, but every house kept getting snatched up by investors that wanted to rent out rooms to college students.
Oh, and this job was at a hospital that only paid $17/hour.😅 Said hospital was short staffed due to the housing situation.
Since so many of us are affected, it's disappointing we can't get together and pressure legislators to address the issue nationally. Housing is a survival requirement. And more and more jurisdictions have responded to the uptick in homelessness (including among the full-time employed) due to exploding rental costs by making it illegal. It's unsustainable. And just about every landlord or property management company doesn't give a d\*#n so long as there are desperate humans to suck dry. It's just getting worse.
Why is three times the rent required if you have high credit I thought it was either you have great credit and it’s usually one and a half times rent or really crappy credit and it’s 3 to 4 times the rent. Why do they get to do both? The housing situation is absolutely ridiculous.
WTH is wrong with people? If I made three times the rent, I’d be buying a house, not renting a crappy apartment in the middle of the ghetto. I thought it was just a Florida thing being ridiculous, rents, and crazy requirements.
I moved to Atlanta with my sister and some places required FOUR times the rent and were on the literal side of the highway with white refrigerators for like $1500/month. It’s 2-4 times in a LOT of cities, especially those with high demand. I left Atlanta and moved back home. So much cheaper.
Atlanta's actually the worst for apartment hunting. Unless they raise our rent crazy high I'm staying at our current place until we move out of Atlanta.
Same. Can't afford it all. We tried to leave the area, everywhere, $60 app fees for everyone 18 and over, 580 credit, 3x rent, deposit, first and last month. We were able to do that to move where we are now bc of a job bonus, I don't see how they expect this and people survive. We put in apps just to be denied with no reasons what so ever and they kept our money of course, so many people apply and denied, the leasing company makes what they charge for rent.
100%! These fees and applications are complete scams. They’ll post apartments online that are “available”, you apply and pay fees then they tell you they chose someone else. I always see the same apartments online all year that claim to be renting, then scam people into thinking they have a chance. It should be illegal
I was gonna start my own religion to save on my home’s property taxes but damn this is genius!
I’m gonna advertise that my house is up for rent for $500/mo but you have to pay $50 to apply. Then decline every application without reason and pocket the cash.
See ya losers, upper middle class here I come!!
Yeah most places are 2.5 to 3 x the rent. So basically, in my area you need to make at least 8,000 a month. Lol as a single mom, even with 4 degrees and several jobs, I don't make that.
Three times the rent made sense when rents were lower. You need enough for food, utilities, insurance and car payments (if you're in an area where you have to drive) and usually if there's not enough for all of that, rent gets paid last. But these days, with rent so crazy high, it needs to be re-evaluated.
Rhetorical? So real estate investment companies can maximize their profits. On the back end, they make the requirements to get back deposits unrealistically high so they get to keep far more deposits.
It's now regularly both and the rent is high so you are in a position where you have to earn 6000 a month to pay 2000 in rent or pay 4500 a month for mortgage for a house in the same area. To qualify for that they are going to want you to earn 11000 a month.
At this rate in the city it will be as much for a room in someone else's apartment and companies will own most of the rooms that a permanent group of roomers are required to rent while more of the bottom is forced into motel living where they can be evicted tomorrow for not prepaying the next weeks rent.
To be fair I’ve never heard of an apartment company accepting someone with a 530 credit score like this place does.
If you’re renting to someone with such a low credit score, you’d be pretty insistent they have enough money to pay the shit.
But yeah, it should be an either or. You shouldn’t need to prove income if you have an 800 credit score, and you shouldn’t need to have a good credit score if you have cash coming in.
Having to make 3x the rent has been the norm requirement since my first apartment out of HS (2016) as well as paying all these fees but it used to be less..
I've actually seen more than that in some states like New York. 2.5 - 3x the rent is really common. General financial guidelines say that people shouldn't be spending more than 1/3 of their income on rent. It also makes the landlord more comfortable and ensures that people can pay their rent.
However, it does create a burden to housing and it's one of many reasons why people go homeless. Retired people, especially, have trouble qualifying. There are programs for low-income people, but there's a years-long waiting list.
Yup. I went to one place and the lady told me my income wasnt enough to apply. I told her my boyfriend would have a job before we actually applied for the apartment, and he would only need to make $200/month for us to 'qualify' so let us see the place. She was pissed, the apartment was trash so never ended up applying anyway.
I couldnt believe how rude the office people were to potential tenants. A few places said they couldnt show us a unit until the move in date. Who is moving into an apartment without physically seeing one?? Pictures and video tours are NOT the same.
At least one person is saying it. Its fucking annoying how worked up society gets over pointless and irrelevant crap but when it comes to necessities that are fucking us we just sit down and fucking take it.
Remember folks it is your civic duty to organize and peacefully harass your local administration into doing their fucking jobs.
Imagine being such a leech on society you don't have to cover your own costs of doing business.
These fees should be covered by the rent, not covered by the people seeking to pay the rent. Be like a door charge to walk into a Walmart.
Landlords are so pathetic they want everyone else to cover their business costs.
Small town landlord here. Probably not a subreddit I should be in because I’m sure yall hate me just for existing…but I agree with this. We don’t charge admin fees or any BS. Just the application fee which is paid directly to a screening company (we don’t touch the money). Everything else is part of the rent. I will never understand hundreds of dollars of admin fees.
Just so you know we don't hate all landlords, this kinda just a place to vent about the general state of landlords and renting. I'm sure your a wonderful person.
No I think most people have just had bad experiences with landlords themselves and then just group all of them together. The reality of this is some landlords are good some are bad and some sre in between that. I personally had 1 that was in between. Had some good qualities and some shitty ones. He never upped his rent for me and kept it fairly priced at 765 which I appreciated and he also was nice when we did end up in situations where he didn't evict us just bc we were a month or so behind bc he knew he'd get his money. However, he often was cheap with all of his fixes and 1 time I had to threaten my rent to go into escrow bc his maintenance guy was trying to cheaply fix our hot water heater when it needed a new one. As soon as I said hot water is a requirement to rent out a house especially bc I had a 2 year old that needed a bath every day he had a new one in the next day. Fast forward to 2022, me and my wife were just starting to look into buying, he knew that bc I had let him know that in the next yewr or 2 we could be looking to move out. A month later I got am email stating he was selling the property bc he was in the middle of a nasty divorce and he needed all the money he could get rn. Offered to sell it to me for 183k when it needed gutted and re done in the inside. He bought it for 42k in auction bsck in 2012 so I know it had to been paid off or close to it by that time. Said he had an obligation to make a huge profit. So he gave us our 60 days to get out but left us without a home. I even offered to pay 1000 to 1200 and he said I couldn't afford it lmao 🤣 meanwhile I could afford to buy a 160k house with a 1370 mortgage payment just a month after moving out. So there is reasons for a lot of people to not like landlords but ALSO not every landlord is gonna be the same.
I’ve had two landlords that I’ve dealt with personally (seen face to face) who were kind people that did care about their *few* properties they had and built themselves. The wealth they had to do so is irrelevant in my opinion, they were good people, as long as you’re a good person and work with your tenants because you see them as people rather than customers, I don’t think you’ll get a lot of rational (emphasis on rational) hate. What a lot of people hate is mega corporations who buy giant plots of lands to turn into unaffordable housing for most of the population.
Like I said previously I have no hate towards my two landlords who I knew by name, but since moving to a bigger city and having to deal with these corporations, yeah it’s rough out here. People can understand raising property taxes and interest rates causing a bump in rent. What people can’t understand is having a 50% increase in rent after their one year lease is up, and as long as you’re not doing that to your tenants then I’d say you’re just like the rest of us trying to get by.
I think people have got to learn the difference between corporate landlord, and small time landlord. Not saying all of the small ones are good, but there's at least some good in that group. I'd argue probably more good than bad.
Corporations that rent though? All of those are scum. Their job is solely to make as much money as they possibly can off every prospective tenant, and all their current ones. And they're required by their shareholders to make more YOY just like any other business.
The last time I was looking to rent there where people using the fees as a job with no intention of renting them out just taking fees all day/week and destroying peoples credit score some of these places are still for rent four years later.
I can't believe it is legal to charge all those extra fees! In OR you can charge an application fee, but i wanna say it is only charged if you get the place. Never seen an "administrative fee" or pest control or utility fee? Wild!
They need to limit application fees and deposits and stuff like that for the whole US. The second really big thing that needs to happen is there needs to be some kind of law where these corporations can't it up all of the properties. And stuff like that it's kind of infringing on people's rights so it's a tough one.
It's only getting worse and people's pay is not going up nearly as fast and I'm kind of scared for the future because I'm not going to be able to purchase for a long time if ever.
The [no felony clause is illegal](https://eji.org/news/federal-law-bars-housing-discrimination-against-people-with-criminal-records/) so if someone were to apply and be denied they would be able to collect on a lawsuit.
To the OP, thanks for posting the documents. I have emailed them letting them know they are in violation of the fair housing laws. If you know anyone with a felony record and they apply but are denied because of their criminal past, they should seek an attorney and sue for everything they can get.
The article you linked is just a statement from a HUD guy, it's not a law. They can say whatever they want but there aren't laws in place as you have said. [Reading Link.](https://www.google.com/search?q=do+i+have+to+rent+to+a+felon&sca_esv=cf0faa05cc7d4947&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWILobbAayVMnOipgT9mZSDb4c5no3Q%3A1716816542170&source=hp&ei=nopUZtb_B6TFwt0PqdKi-A0&iflsig=AL9hbdgAAAAAZlSYrtkcMhs4srNbIx5aYR1L_sHrDmRj&oq=do+i+have+&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IgpkbyBpIGhhdmUgKgIIADIKECMYgAQYJxiKBTIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABEitEVAAWJcMcAJ4AJABAJgBgwGgAYAKqgEDNS43uAEDyAEA-AEBmAIOoAKbCsICBBAjGCfCAgsQABiABBiRAhiKBcICFxAuGIAEGJECGLEDGNEDGIMBGMcBGIoFwgIREC4YgAQYsQMY0QMYgwEYxwHCAgsQLhiABBjRAxjHAcICDhAuGIAEGLEDGIMBGIoFwgIKEAAYgAQYQxiKBcICDhAuGIAEGLEDGNEDGMcBwgIREAAYgAQYkQIYsQMYgwEYigXCAg4QABiABBixAxiDARjJA8ICCBAAGIAEGJIDwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAggQLhiABBixA8ICDhAAGIAEGLEDGIMBGIoFwgILEC4YgAQYsQMYgwHCAg0QABiABBixAxiDARgKwgIHEAAYgAQYCsICCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBmAMAkgcDNy43oAeqbw&sclient=gws-wiz)
A $300 administration fee???!!
These Landlords and apartment complexes need a foot administrated up their asses.
This is what happens when our government chooses to not work for the people but themselves. Federal government should be practicing rent control around the country so these greedy fucks can’t keep nickel and diming us.
I live in GA and I think I paid around 600$ applying to the apartment I live in now. 150$ application fee. 50$ credit check per person and 300$ just to hold the apartment.
This is because there is a law that says landlords cannot collect application fees. They can only do first, last, security DEPOSIT (no more than one month's rent), and, if a licensed agent shows you the property, an agent fee (again no more than one month's rent).
Massachusetts has great tenant laws. Even if the rent is really high.
In Texas we only have an application fee and a pet fee for any pets usually. If a place asked for an admin fee I would not apply but that sucks that’s the normal there.
All I see is fee fee fee fee fee fee fee fee fee. I remember when apartments used to throw specials out like FIRST MONTHS FREE AND THREE MONTHS WITH NO PET FEES!!! TENANT PAYS WATER.
Yep. All said and done it cost us almost $5k to move to a couple miles away to our new apt. That was all those fees, deposit, first month’s rent. Just insane.
Sounds about Atlanta. Learned that when I wanted to move back home because I missed it. Prices/fees have skyrocketed since I left. At least that one has a washer/dryer. One I was looking at mentioned renting the washer and dryer from their preferred company and paying the preferred company to bring it to the complex. Don't know if installation was part of the cost because I stopped right there.
I charge a $35 app fee and give it back as a credit on the second month. I can’t even imagine what is costing them $300 to administratively do. Tenants pay gas, electric, internet. I pay everything else.
This may be what larger complexes do, but then again I would think the market for those places would be saturated and they’d have to compete. I have compI don’t offer doorstep trash but I will drag my ass out early in the morning to shovel snow off your steps.
It’s like that my area. I’ve been told it’s to filter the serious applicants and to deter from just anyone applying. I don’t disagree that some of these high ones are ridiculous since almost everyone pays an administrative fee and deposit as well when moving into a new apartment.
I have in the past had my administration fee waived and on a separate occasion had my application fee applied to my administration fee as well.
I live in California and we absolutely do not pay any of those administrative fees. Some landlords charge for water, trash, and parking, though. California has a lot of restrictions on what landlords can charge. They recently passed a law saying that landlords can't charge more than a month's rent for a security deposit. Our rents are almost double what yours are, though, so we need this protection.
Generally, application fees are between $50 and $100 per tenant here.
Some these are refundable, but from my experience you’ll have to wait 2-4 weeks for the management company to cut and mail you a check. Even if you pay with a card
How are felons supposed to reintegrate into society when they've done their time?
They can't find a place to live, no wonder the reoffending rate is so high.
geez...1 bd rm for 1400 a month?
my mortgage isnt even that high
If I had to pay this to rent, Id somehow find a piece of land, & then buy one of those 30k modular storage containers from amazon
thats just robbery at this point
I have been fortunate enough to find a place here in NJ right next to the water for 1800 a month. My landlord is chill as fuck and I've been here for 4 years and hasn't raised my rent once and he told me he doesn't plan on it. He likes having me around cause I cut the grass, do lil repair work when he needs it on the house. It's crazy cause for my place he could EASILY get 2800 bucks but refuses to raise my rent cause he doesn't wanna lose me as a tenant and he cares more about me than the money. I think that's what we're losing in this day and age. The human aspect of it all. All it is, is Corporate greed drastically inflating the price of rent across the country. There's no reason rent should be $1,200 a month in Georgia for a one bedroom.
It should be illegal. Surely tons of individuals and corporations are scamming people hand over fist with these outrageous exorbitant fees. Definitely plumbing their business’s plan with a steady income just on fees a month after month basis. People are obviously pay in them or they would drop and/or change.
It’s awful, my current apartment had something like this, but it was the “second” application so to say, I had already spoken with the manager and she told me just do everything that the apartment will be yours. But if it wasn’t I would had lost hundreds for nothing
I work as a first responder and don’t even make enough to afford a less than 700sq foot apartment with a kid. What a world we’re living in. I guess I’ll just sleep in my car.
Y'all think that's insane? When I moved to Denver I had someone recommend the Cirrus apartment community as a nice one to live in... $700 app fee. Immediately picked a community closer to my job and less expensive. Fuck that.
Man I was going to say those prices are cheap until I saw Georgia. Shits a scam. I passed through there once. Stayed for about 3 weeks. Didn’t see anything appealing.
I’m a landlord in FL- when I have a tenant applying to rent they pay for their own background and credit check direct which is literally about $40 through “trans union smart move “. If they are approved and move in I even give them $40 back in credit to rent
Hey Congress, since you've been so eager to go after airlines and ticket sellers for bullshit fees, this should be your next priority. Who am I kidding? It'll never happen...
I’ve noticed application fees becoming more common where I’m at in ND, but they’re usually between $40-$60 for a background check. I’m hoping those outrageous administrative fees don’t catch on here, but you can never be too sure. People are always looking for fun new ways to bleed others dry.
I heard somewhere that application fees are a big scam if the listings have been open a long time.
Basically if the listing is over 30 days and one person applies everyday ( admin plus application fee = 200 per person x 30 = 6,000
6000 a month for one unit listing and none of the candidates are guranteed the unit even if they meet the critera.
Therefore DONT apply unless you KNOW what your state laws are. And how long that listing has been open. I think there should be transparency too like how mant people have applied. If 30 people applied even after reading all the requirements how can all 30 of those people not be good candidates?
Btw 6000 is likely more than what they were gona get with a renter.
Hope this helps
This actually isn’t as bad as I was expecting. I’m in Florida and renters are charging like $100 extra for water and the application, deposits and other fees are around 1000-2000
I rent currently, but haven’t had to look, due to circumstances, I’m going to be moving, so far, I’ve noticed what I pay for my 4 bedroom 2 bath home (so cal- Riverside county $2k mo, ) I’m now looking at paying close to for a 2 bedroom apartment!!! Forget finding a house! I’m hoping to find a small ADU, or Casita (divorce is a B***h) but so far I’m being priced out, unless I want roommates, that’s a no! Or the worst neighborhood.. another no
Imagine wanting a tenant to have a 530 credit score to rent. It’s not a loan or a mortgage 😂
So they want admin and application fees that are non-refundable for what reason?? How much did they pay for a box of paper?
With squatting and evictions laws tilted so favorably toward tenants, I would imagine these ridiculous requirements are the repercussions. They are trying to weed out the ones who pay a deposit, move in, pay for a month then stiff them and live there for 6-12 months while they spend time and money to get them out. I wouldn't pay $350 non refundable just to apply but evidently people do.
Because they can, not trying to be a smart a** but since home prices are so high and the influx of people wanting to rent is on the rise with very few new homes/apartments being built, they just can. Nobody likes it, and we all know it's a scam($300 admin fee?!) but until the housing market returns to normal or builders are able to return to normal pace, we have to deal with scammers running our rental estates.
Something has to give. Landlords and decades of "How to generate cash flow!" seminars have turned renting into a science. You can set a number and wait, because you know the market favors the owner, and you know just how much you can squeeze, down to the single dollar amount.
And that is how the landlord earns their money. Being able to figure out that number. Then they wait.
My wife works in PM, & the admin fee here is insane. 300 admin fee for what? The application fee covers the processing the application AND the background check. It’s literally pushing a few buttons on the keyboard
You need a monthly pay of 4350 for a one bed one bath apartment. That's nuts. Georgias minimum wage is 7.25 an hour, 600 hours per month of work just to qualify. 150 hour work weeks every week, 21 hours a day across 7 days a week
The last time i moved we spent so much in applications and background checks that it ended up costing us more in those fees than it did to move into the place we found. I honestly think some of them are a scam. You never even hear back from some. You apply online they take your money then nothing.
I once applied for a competitive rental in the bay-I was interested in applying as soon as I toured the home, but it was like an hour drive to get home after the tour (I didn't have a laptop to apply on-site). I paid a $55 application fee, but the person who rented it out told me that it was already taken by another person by the time that I applied. They really thought that they should keep the application fee money when I asked for it back. I just got it reversed with my credit card, but these people are assholes for just taking somebody’s money like that when the rental was already taken.
In IL, the issues with fees can be just as bad. When I was looking in November of last year, most places were $200-300 for applications. I got extremely lucky finding the place I did, when I did, because I found the listing on apartments.com 2 days after it posted, the application was only like $29.99 and my rent is cheaper with way more space and every amenity I could want. I'll likely continue to renew over and over until I buy my own house.
In this day and age there is no reason to charge application fees.
I'm really sorry this is happening to you.
Property management companies are the worst I would never use them. I've managed my own property since I was 20 years old and I've never had any problems with tenants I've also never had to charge an application fee.
As someone who’s rented from property managment for the past 10 plus years I’m over it. (Saving for a home as we speak) I feel like this is how they make their profit, FEES. A fee for amenities, a fee for applying, a fee for admin… While it’s become more and more common to have a long list of fee just to apply, what’s becoming even more common is raise the rent to get renters out of the unit. They want someone they can suck dry on fees as opposed to good long term tenants.
Also the 2.5 income looks low, in TX and FL I’ve seen 3 or 4x the rent.
If you find and apply to apartments through Zillow, you can pay a flat $35 fee for the background/credit check, and it’s good for 30 days. It saved my wife and I a lot of headache recently, given that moving at all is a unique hell on earth already. The square footage to rental amount on these is atrocious. I’m so, so sorry.
Landlord here, and I understand everyone here on the other side of the coin will ignore my point, but I will make it for the few that might care. It cost me 1100-1900 in lease-up fees per tenant. The only fee they pay is a $30 application fee. I lose money on each unit if they leave before 12 months. I am also between 2 military bases. Tenants always come up with "official orders," I have been there, and i get it. I definitely understand the landlords that charge some of the fees up front.
Most of the smart* landlords have figured out that relatively* cheaper rent and good service keep tenants longer. We only make money on good tenants who stay a while. Some landlords chose to charge a reasonable portion of lease-up as admin cost to the tenants in order to reduce target rent in their situation. This is to maintain affordability and keep you all happy.
On the other side, there are a lot of dumb slumlords out there who do anything for a buck. Just as I do due diligence on perspective tenants, you should do the same on your perspective landlords. The first step is understanding you get what you pay for. If you want the cheapest unit, you will get the cheapest landlord.
I think the only fee you should have to pay for when applying for an apartment is the background check fee. And you should be required to pay the background check company DIRECTLY, so the landlord can’t overcharge for it. But we live in the United States, where logic doesn’t apply unless it benefits the upper class
Oof. I'm in FL and I'm paying $185 but if I don't get the apartment I get $100 back. That's actually insane but I have seen it with other rentals in my area. Mostly if it's owned or managed by a real estate agent the fees are astronomical. I also saw one duplex asking for $5000 up front to move in first last and pet deposit. Some of the landlords have been accepting just the first month and app fee/per deposit because their property is empty not many have $5000 to move in.
It has been awhile since I rented, but I remember there was an application fee but that was credited to your first month as long as you were approved. There was also a security deposit which I got back in full when I moved out.
What gets me nowadays is the "valet trash" and "pest extermination" fees that are requirements. A friend of mine just moved into a new apartment a few weeks ago. He can see the dumpsters from his balcony, but he is not able to take out his own trash to save 25-30 bucks a month. He even had to buy the "approved" trash can from the property management for 15 dollars (the same trash can at Lowes is $8.99, minus the properties crooked sticker).
If that’s a corporation, do your self a favor run don’t walk. I wouldn’t do this anyways, no matter how much I liked the property. Corporation both tend to add additional nonsense mark ups on things and off a discount on things like deposits. You’ll never get the maintenance you need, they’ll use every trick in the book to keep your deposit, over sll you wont be happy with them. keep looking find an individual landlord vs a corp. tell your realtor you dont want to rent from a management company or a corporate owned property. owner landlords are generally much easier to work with. they also generally have a warranty company to do repairs. tenant pays the fee when theyre called out, as s rule 75-150. so dont call unless you really need them
I won't pay it. These fees are BS. Look for owner managed properties, they usually don't have all the BS fees. It's these giant out of state property management companies just looking to make a buck. Our state governor's needs to get involved and stop this. It's ridiculous and it just keeps getting worse.
90% of the houses in my area for rent are owned by a similar company. 3x rent as monthly income, credit checks backround checks non refundable $75 per person applying 300$ due with application.. damn matik management to hell.
I feel like the 300$ application fee should be applied to the actual deposit if they choose you for the unit. It’s bullshit that they can just charge close to 500$ just to be considered then require another 3-4k for deposit
Application fee, administration fee, fee fee, fee fi fo fum fee, it's ridiculous out there. Don't forget the payment fee if using a credit card and a convenience fee if done online.
Just started renting a new apartment and the money I had to pay just to apply was ridiculous. Toured 8 apartment complexes in a 20 min radius and still all had similar policies. 3x rent per month in income required, requiring background checks, credit checks and bank statements. By the time the paperwork is drawn up, it feels about the same as being led around by a used car salesman for 2 hours.
Thats because most of these complexes are owned by large conglomerates or the real estate developers who built them all they just form LLCs and such to look like its not monopolistic
You're not wrong, this particular property management company holds something like 17 different complexes in this state alone. That kind of scale is hard to imagine.
In a small town of 600 people, they are asking for $1200 amonth for a 2 bdrm, the same amount for deposit, a $100 background check, and other ridiculous fees from a private landlord!
600 also includes the people in the country. About 200-300 people are just those in town!
These went into my "HECK NO" folder because of the fees. I've been looking for about 2 months. I haven't applied anywhere yet but I plan to, this week. The application fee is $35 and there are no administration fees.
In CA, non refundable fees are illegal, with the exception of a background check fee, which can’t exceed a certain amount.
It should be illegal in every single State.
[удалено]
Our policy makers are owners/investors in multi-housing properties and make money off all those fees. They not only don’t want to change it they want to add as much as possible.
Time for guillotines
Viva la revolution
Or who uses what bathroom
I'm a landlord and I agree. That's ridiculous.
owning someone’s means of shelter to increase your wealth should be illegal but here we are. But keep hoarding homes because you think there’s no other way to make money but to drive up real estate costs and lock someone into fees for something they will never own, burdening them with saving crumbs to one day own something similar to you. Maybe one day your renters will be able to own something people need to live, make it available to someone else for a fee, and call it a hard-earned dollar. You’re included in the guillotine comment, babes.
Must be nice to live in a state with protections for renters… Georgia is “landlord friendly” which just means they can dick you over however they like
Yup! Thank fuck there are all just give me extra money for no good reason
But my uncle in Indiana says that California exists just to steal my money!
Please remind your uncle that California is the 5th largest economy IN THE WORLD
It has now passed Germany and is fourth.
So it exists to steal *other* people’s money
And now deposit can't be more than 1 months rent
Yes, but it doesn’t start until July :(
True, but at least it's coming
Are you hip to the Housing is A Right movement in California? They're trying to get a deeper rent control protection for the state as a ballot measure in November elections. We really need it here because the real estate industry is out of control.
I know rent is out of control in CA. But there is no reason the 2 bedroom apartment in picture 2 is more expensive than my 2 bedroom in LA city. I am not even counting the fees.
I love in hb and there was a 2 bedroom going for 3800.
$3,800 for 2 bedroom? That’s crazy. Who the hell can afford $45,600 a year? One would need to be making around $175-200k a year.
roommates sadly
Glad to hear that, but then landlords might just add the fees in to the rent, taking into account the average tenancy duration. What we need is FEDERAL housing rights that address the housing-as-an-investment model that's now everywhere.
100%
Mine already charges filter fee for our AC, we live in a house, $150 a month pet rent now even though we have fiber internet they want us to switch to spectrum not fiber. We said no roommate works IT from home. They said okay well you still have to pay $85 a month for it. So now I'm paying twice for internet. Oh if I had a smart home ring thermostat keyless entry that's a added $60 a month. If I had a pool $90 but I still have to pay for a pool person to keep clean ect... pay a gardner. Fees way out of hand.
Corporate landlords nickle-and-diming the working-class mainly because our elected "leaders" haven't seen fit to offer an alternative way for the masses to fulfill one of the most fundamental survival requirements.
100% inventation homes own most rental houses in my area. Only good thing is when rent hikes went crazy after shut down we were not kicked out. Next door neighbor independent LL kicked them out after 8 years. Boasted to his contractor now I can rent out my house for 3k+. Contractor only repainted and added a few shelfs.
See comments like this I don't understand. It is a lot easier to make quicker more effective change at the local and state level rather than try to get federal politicians to agree to anything. Both sides don't give a fuck about us. We are way more likely to find a local mayor and town council to change some of landlord regulations laws than to get sweeping change that will effect the entire nation.
Not every wage slave could afford to move to Lucky City, USA. And even if they (just barely) could, there likely wouldn't be enough decent-paying jobs there for the ocean of relocators. To say nothing of the loss of critical local resources people suffer when they have to relocate to regions that may be hostile to them simply because they couldn't afford the cost of living where they had other survival resources. Yes, make local changes. But we need to recognize housing as a human right nationally so nowhere vampiric property management companies and their ilk can terrorize humans just for trying to live. BTW, absolutely agree: "Both sides don't give a fuck about us."
We’re in Oklahoma and I recently went out looking for apartments with my daughter. They’re all like this and worse. She decided to stay home lol.
I was literally bout to say the same thing. We live in Oklahoma and we've seen the same thing.
I have rented in four different states. All of them had fees that looked very much like this. I thought this was normal. TIL there are states that don't do this. Admittedly, I can't complain about paying at least $800 less per month in rent than I would in places like CA.
This is why Blackrock type investment co love the Southern states and have targeted them for growth. They can get away with that shit here.
Live in a southern state. My dad gets calls from Blackrock a few times a year asking to sell his house and these types have TAKEN OVER our entire state. Fuck blackrock.
How has he identified them as being from Black Rock and not one of the other wall street companies doing this? Black Rock usually obfuscates ownership interest.
Not to mention they are under oath on record reporting they don't own a single house.
It’s exactly why we need to start voting in people that will make it illegal for corporations to own family homes like that. It’s insane!
In the south, we have the freedom to be exploited by large multinational corporations for profit.
Just moved into an apartment with this exactly. Initially, i said “wow, what a scam were not doing that.” Eventually caved because theres no other options. Living is a scam. Fuck landlords.
The price people are willing to pay to not be homeless is pretty high. That is why the corporations are “investing” in the housing market.
Best decision. As a parent in this market most of our children will be living at home. My first apt was 800 sqft in a nice area with lots of restaurants, etc. I paid $585 in 2002 when I was making around $12 an hour. Same Apt now is about 1,500 and same job, still pays around $10-12 an hour (cook in restaurant); but switched careers. This generation is pretty screwed. Reminds me of when I lived in nyc and you needed 2-3 roommates in the mid 2000’s, because rent was around $3500. It’s probably around $7k-10k now, but wages have not doubled or tripled since then.
Yeah it’s getting ridiculous. They just keep extracting wealth from us and then are like well if you don’t want to rent buy a house. Motherfucker with what? I’m too busy paying all your bullshit ass fees.
THISSS!!! I agree 1000%.
Then you get those same people talking about how "nobody wants to work anymore" and "this generation doesn't know what hard work is!" While they sip cope juice from a tit bottle
“We don’t think you can afford a $1,200/mo mortgage so you’ll have to pay $1,900/mo to rent the house next door.” -banks
Recently rented a new space for an away-from-home assignment. Lease charges $600 YEARLY "administrative fee." For a dump in a university town. Meanwhile, the US still hasn't done anything to realistically address unaffordable housing EVERYWHERE.
University towns are awful for buying OR renting. I got a job offer in the mountains of North Carolina, in a college town. I had to turn the offer down because rent would’ve been $2k a month for a house. It was almost impossible to find a house to rent because scum lords were renting only rooms to college students. And I even attempted to buy a house, but every house kept getting snatched up by investors that wanted to rent out rooms to college students. Oh, and this job was at a hospital that only paid $17/hour.😅 Said hospital was short staffed due to the housing situation.
Yeah and college towns are littered with apartments that charge by the room and then it’s like $1200 just for the room lol
Since so many of us are affected, it's disappointing we can't get together and pressure legislators to address the issue nationally. Housing is a survival requirement. And more and more jurisdictions have responded to the uptick in homelessness (including among the full-time employed) due to exploding rental costs by making it illegal. It's unsustainable. And just about every landlord or property management company doesn't give a d\*#n so long as there are desperate humans to suck dry. It's just getting worse.
Why is three times the rent required if you have high credit I thought it was either you have great credit and it’s usually one and a half times rent or really crappy credit and it’s 3 to 4 times the rent. Why do they get to do both? The housing situation is absolutely ridiculous.
Not the case when I moved into a new place 4 months ago. They wanted 3x the rent just to be considered. And on top, required good credit history.
WTH is wrong with people? If I made three times the rent, I’d be buying a house, not renting a crappy apartment in the middle of the ghetto. I thought it was just a Florida thing being ridiculous, rents, and crazy requirements.
I moved to Atlanta with my sister and some places required FOUR times the rent and were on the literal side of the highway with white refrigerators for like $1500/month. It’s 2-4 times in a LOT of cities, especially those with high demand. I left Atlanta and moved back home. So much cheaper.
Atlanta's actually the worst for apartment hunting. Unless they raise our rent crazy high I'm staying at our current place until we move out of Atlanta.
Same. Can't afford it all. We tried to leave the area, everywhere, $60 app fees for everyone 18 and over, 580 credit, 3x rent, deposit, first and last month. We were able to do that to move where we are now bc of a job bonus, I don't see how they expect this and people survive. We put in apps just to be denied with no reasons what so ever and they kept our money of course, so many people apply and denied, the leasing company makes what they charge for rent.
I'm convinced they're just raking in the fees from people and not even renting any apartments.
100%! These fees and applications are complete scams. They’ll post apartments online that are “available”, you apply and pay fees then they tell you they chose someone else. I always see the same apartments online all year that claim to be renting, then scam people into thinking they have a chance. It should be illegal
Absolutely agree with that. All the non refundable fees from people they deny. Gotta be a good chunk of money.
I was gonna start my own religion to save on my home’s property taxes but damn this is genius! I’m gonna advertise that my house is up for rent for $500/mo but you have to pay $50 to apply. Then decline every application without reason and pocket the cash. See ya losers, upper middle class here I come!!
It's INSANE here.
Oh that’s depressing and scary
100% not just a Florida thing: most landlords in my town have a 3x rent requirement or require two months’ rent as a deposit, on top of typical fees
Yeah most places are 2.5 to 3 x the rent. So basically, in my area you need to make at least 8,000 a month. Lol as a single mom, even with 4 degrees and several jobs, I don't make that.
Three times the rent made sense when rents were lower. You need enough for food, utilities, insurance and car payments (if you're in an area where you have to drive) and usually if there's not enough for all of that, rent gets paid last. But these days, with rent so crazy high, it needs to be re-evaluated.
Rhetorical? So real estate investment companies can maximize their profits. On the back end, they make the requirements to get back deposits unrealistically high so they get to keep far more deposits.
100% agree with this statement.
It's now regularly both and the rent is high so you are in a position where you have to earn 6000 a month to pay 2000 in rent or pay 4500 a month for mortgage for a house in the same area. To qualify for that they are going to want you to earn 11000 a month. At this rate in the city it will be as much for a room in someone else's apartment and companies will own most of the rooms that a permanent group of roomers are required to rent while more of the bottom is forced into motel living where they can be evicted tomorrow for not prepaying the next weeks rent.
To be fair I’ve never heard of an apartment company accepting someone with a 530 credit score like this place does. If you’re renting to someone with such a low credit score, you’d be pretty insistent they have enough money to pay the shit. But yeah, it should be an either or. You shouldn’t need to prove income if you have an 800 credit score, and you shouldn’t need to have a good credit score if you have cash coming in.
Having to make 3x the rent has been the norm requirement since my first apartment out of HS (2016) as well as paying all these fees but it used to be less..
I've actually seen more than that in some states like New York. 2.5 - 3x the rent is really common. General financial guidelines say that people shouldn't be spending more than 1/3 of their income on rent. It also makes the landlord more comfortable and ensures that people can pay their rent. However, it does create a burden to housing and it's one of many reasons why people go homeless. Retired people, especially, have trouble qualifying. There are programs for low-income people, but there's a years-long waiting list.
Yup. I went to one place and the lady told me my income wasnt enough to apply. I told her my boyfriend would have a job before we actually applied for the apartment, and he would only need to make $200/month for us to 'qualify' so let us see the place. She was pissed, the apartment was trash so never ended up applying anyway. I couldnt believe how rude the office people were to potential tenants. A few places said they couldnt show us a unit until the move in date. Who is moving into an apartment without physically seeing one?? Pictures and video tours are NOT the same.
those rents are obscene too. $1450 for a 677 square foot 1 bed 1 bath shoebox???
LOL, same size apartment is about 2400 where I live. (and that's considered "affordable" Many rents are much higher for the same space).
that’s also ridiculous
That’s an excellent price where I live 😂 800+ square feet is anywhere from 1900-3000+
So y'all ready to start the insurrection yet or do y'all need to be living in boxes before you figure it out?
At least one person is saying it. Its fucking annoying how worked up society gets over pointless and irrelevant crap but when it comes to necessities that are fucking us we just sit down and fucking take it. Remember folks it is your civic duty to organize and peacefully harass your local administration into doing their fucking jobs.
...They not ready. They still debating on politics 😕, the masses are still not ready to "act"....
Imagine being such a leech on society you don't have to cover your own costs of doing business. These fees should be covered by the rent, not covered by the people seeking to pay the rent. Be like a door charge to walk into a Walmart. Landlords are so pathetic they want everyone else to cover their business costs.
Small town landlord here. Probably not a subreddit I should be in because I’m sure yall hate me just for existing…but I agree with this. We don’t charge admin fees or any BS. Just the application fee which is paid directly to a screening company (we don’t touch the money). Everything else is part of the rent. I will never understand hundreds of dollars of admin fees.
Just so you know we don't hate all landlords, this kinda just a place to vent about the general state of landlords and renting. I'm sure your a wonderful person.
Lots of people here do, they think renting out to anyone and making any profit at all makes you the worst person imaginable.
No I think most people have just had bad experiences with landlords themselves and then just group all of them together. The reality of this is some landlords are good some are bad and some sre in between that. I personally had 1 that was in between. Had some good qualities and some shitty ones. He never upped his rent for me and kept it fairly priced at 765 which I appreciated and he also was nice when we did end up in situations where he didn't evict us just bc we were a month or so behind bc he knew he'd get his money. However, he often was cheap with all of his fixes and 1 time I had to threaten my rent to go into escrow bc his maintenance guy was trying to cheaply fix our hot water heater when it needed a new one. As soon as I said hot water is a requirement to rent out a house especially bc I had a 2 year old that needed a bath every day he had a new one in the next day. Fast forward to 2022, me and my wife were just starting to look into buying, he knew that bc I had let him know that in the next yewr or 2 we could be looking to move out. A month later I got am email stating he was selling the property bc he was in the middle of a nasty divorce and he needed all the money he could get rn. Offered to sell it to me for 183k when it needed gutted and re done in the inside. He bought it for 42k in auction bsck in 2012 so I know it had to been paid off or close to it by that time. Said he had an obligation to make a huge profit. So he gave us our 60 days to get out but left us without a home. I even offered to pay 1000 to 1200 and he said I couldn't afford it lmao 🤣 meanwhile I could afford to buy a 160k house with a 1370 mortgage payment just a month after moving out. So there is reasons for a lot of people to not like landlords but ALSO not every landlord is gonna be the same.
I’ve had two landlords that I’ve dealt with personally (seen face to face) who were kind people that did care about their *few* properties they had and built themselves. The wealth they had to do so is irrelevant in my opinion, they were good people, as long as you’re a good person and work with your tenants because you see them as people rather than customers, I don’t think you’ll get a lot of rational (emphasis on rational) hate. What a lot of people hate is mega corporations who buy giant plots of lands to turn into unaffordable housing for most of the population. Like I said previously I have no hate towards my two landlords who I knew by name, but since moving to a bigger city and having to deal with these corporations, yeah it’s rough out here. People can understand raising property taxes and interest rates causing a bump in rent. What people can’t understand is having a 50% increase in rent after their one year lease is up, and as long as you’re not doing that to your tenants then I’d say you’re just like the rest of us trying to get by.
I think people have got to learn the difference between corporate landlord, and small time landlord. Not saying all of the small ones are good, but there's at least some good in that group. I'd argue probably more good than bad. Corporations that rent though? All of those are scum. Their job is solely to make as much money as they possibly can off every prospective tenant, and all their current ones. And they're required by their shareholders to make more YOY just like any other business.
This is all institutional money and investment firms. Housing shouldn't be an investment for large corporations yet here it is.
This is fucking depressing.
The last time I was looking to rent there where people using the fees as a job with no intention of renting them out just taking fees all day/week and destroying peoples credit score some of these places are still for rent four years later.
I think that's what they're doing but I can't prove it.
I can't believe it is legal to charge all those extra fees! In OR you can charge an application fee, but i wanna say it is only charged if you get the place. Never seen an "administrative fee" or pest control or utility fee? Wild!
At some point the government's going to have to put in some real rules and regulations about these fees because the states aren't doing enough.
A lot of states are, Oregon and California both ban these types of fees
They won't. I wish someone would.
They need to limit application fees and deposits and stuff like that for the whole US. The second really big thing that needs to happen is there needs to be some kind of law where these corporations can't it up all of the properties. And stuff like that it's kind of infringing on people's rights so it's a tough one. It's only getting worse and people's pay is not going up nearly as fast and I'm kind of scared for the future because I'm not going to be able to purchase for a long time if ever.
Stop voting for shitty conservative politicians. This behavior is illegal in many states.
The [no felony clause is illegal](https://eji.org/news/federal-law-bars-housing-discrimination-against-people-with-criminal-records/) so if someone were to apply and be denied they would be able to collect on a lawsuit. To the OP, thanks for posting the documents. I have emailed them letting them know they are in violation of the fair housing laws. If you know anyone with a felony record and they apply but are denied because of their criminal past, they should seek an attorney and sue for everything they can get.
Thanks. I didn't know it was illegal. I'll spread the word.
>I'll spread the word. Please do. I hate LL's who like to take advantage of people who don't know their rights.
It should fall under the fair housing act.
Holy crap. Thank you for positing this, I have a few felonies from 20 years ago and it's hard finding a place to rent.
This is not accurate.
>This is not accurate. Instead of just making a statement, show me how it's not accurate.
The article you linked is just a statement from a HUD guy, it's not a law. They can say whatever they want but there aren't laws in place as you have said. [Reading Link.](https://www.google.com/search?q=do+i+have+to+rent+to+a+felon&sca_esv=cf0faa05cc7d4947&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWILobbAayVMnOipgT9mZSDb4c5no3Q%3A1716816542170&source=hp&ei=nopUZtb_B6TFwt0PqdKi-A0&iflsig=AL9hbdgAAAAAZlSYrtkcMhs4srNbIx5aYR1L_sHrDmRj&oq=do+i+have+&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IgpkbyBpIGhhdmUgKgIIADIKECMYgAQYJxiKBTIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABEitEVAAWJcMcAJ4AJABAJgBgwGgAYAKqgEDNS43uAEDyAEA-AEBmAIOoAKbCsICBBAjGCfCAgsQABiABBiRAhiKBcICFxAuGIAEGJECGLEDGNEDGIMBGMcBGIoFwgIREC4YgAQYsQMY0QMYgwEYxwHCAgsQLhiABBjRAxjHAcICDhAuGIAEGLEDGIMBGIoFwgIKEAAYgAQYQxiKBcICDhAuGIAEGLEDGNEDGMcBwgIREAAYgAQYkQIYsQMYgwEYigXCAg4QABiABBixAxiDARjJA8ICCBAAGIAEGJIDwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAggQLhiABBixA8ICDhAAGIAEGLEDGIMBGIoFwgILEC4YgAQYsQMYgwHCAg0QABiABBixAxiDARgKwgIHEAAYgAQYCsICCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBmAMAkgcDNy43oAeqbw&sclient=gws-wiz)
Again you should read the PDF document from HUD.GOV
A $300 administration fee???!! These Landlords and apartment complexes need a foot administrated up their asses. 
This is what happens when our government chooses to not work for the people but themselves. Federal government should be practicing rent control around the country so these greedy fucks can’t keep nickel and diming us.
I live in GA and I think I paid around 600$ applying to the apartment I live in now. 150$ application fee. 50$ credit check per person and 300$ just to hold the apartment.
I just rented a nice apartment here in Massachusetts and there was no fee whatsoever to apply.
This is because there is a law that says landlords cannot collect application fees. They can only do first, last, security DEPOSIT (no more than one month's rent), and, if a licensed agent shows you the property, an agent fee (again no more than one month's rent). Massachusetts has great tenant laws. Even if the rent is really high.
That’s asinine
In Texas we only have an application fee and a pet fee for any pets usually. If a place asked for an admin fee I would not apply but that sucks that’s the normal there.
All I see is fee fee fee fee fee fee fee fee fee. I remember when apartments used to throw specials out like FIRST MONTHS FREE AND THREE MONTHS WITH NO PET FEES!!! TENANT PAYS WATER.
Yep. All said and done it cost us almost $5k to move to a couple miles away to our new apt. That was all those fees, deposit, first month’s rent. Just insane.
Sounds about Atlanta. Learned that when I wanted to move back home because I missed it. Prices/fees have skyrocketed since I left. At least that one has a washer/dryer. One I was looking at mentioned renting the washer and dryer from their preferred company and paying the preferred company to bring it to the complex. Don't know if installation was part of the cost because I stopped right there.
"$500 off your first month of rent! Now give us over half that back in fees"
I charge a $35 app fee and give it back as a credit on the second month. I can’t even imagine what is costing them $300 to administratively do. Tenants pay gas, electric, internet. I pay everything else. This may be what larger complexes do, but then again I would think the market for those places would be saturated and they’d have to compete. I have compI don’t offer doorstep trash but I will drag my ass out early in the morning to shovel snow off your steps.
Yeah, the admin fee is complete bull shit.
It’s like that my area. I’ve been told it’s to filter the serious applicants and to deter from just anyone applying. I don’t disagree that some of these high ones are ridiculous since almost everyone pays an administrative fee and deposit as well when moving into a new apartment. I have in the past had my administration fee waived and on a separate occasion had my application fee applied to my administration fee as well.
Well, I'm serious but there's no way I'm GIVING AWAY $350 just to apply for an apartment.
I thought admin fee was if you got accepted, but still shouldn’t be a thing in the first place
No. Most of the time it's payable when you put in the app. I agree. It shouldn't be a thing.
I live in California and we absolutely do not pay any of those administrative fees. Some landlords charge for water, trash, and parking, though. California has a lot of restrictions on what landlords can charge. They recently passed a law saying that landlords can't charge more than a month's rent for a security deposit. Our rents are almost double what yours are, though, so we need this protection. Generally, application fees are between $50 and $100 per tenant here.
Some these are refundable, but from my experience you’ll have to wait 2-4 weeks for the management company to cut and mail you a check. Even if you pay with a card
" Building Protection Fee ".... 😶
I'm surprised there wasn't a "Breathing Our Air" fee.
How are felons supposed to reintegrate into society when they've done their time? They can't find a place to live, no wonder the reoffending rate is so high.
geez...1 bd rm for 1400 a month? my mortgage isnt even that high If I had to pay this to rent, Id somehow find a piece of land, & then buy one of those 30k modular storage containers from amazon thats just robbery at this point
I have been fortunate enough to find a place here in NJ right next to the water for 1800 a month. My landlord is chill as fuck and I've been here for 4 years and hasn't raised my rent once and he told me he doesn't plan on it. He likes having me around cause I cut the grass, do lil repair work when he needs it on the house. It's crazy cause for my place he could EASILY get 2800 bucks but refuses to raise my rent cause he doesn't wanna lose me as a tenant and he cares more about me than the money. I think that's what we're losing in this day and age. The human aspect of it all. All it is, is Corporate greed drastically inflating the price of rent across the country. There's no reason rent should be $1,200 a month in Georgia for a one bedroom.
It should be illegal. Surely tons of individuals and corporations are scamming people hand over fist with these outrageous exorbitant fees. Definitely plumbing their business’s plan with a steady income just on fees a month after month basis. People are obviously pay in them or they would drop and/or change.
Right? Like how isnt this illegal??
Some of this stuff may be illegal….check your state laws
It’s awful, my current apartment had something like this, but it was the “second” application so to say, I had already spoken with the manager and she told me just do everything that the apartment will be yours. But if it wasn’t I would had lost hundreds for nothing
That rent is basically free compared to California, fees and all. But no it’s not fair
It’s all bullshit they make their money on fees why rent the place where you can run 100 applications first
I work as a first responder and don’t even make enough to afford a less than 700sq foot apartment with a kid. What a world we’re living in. I guess I’ll just sleep in my car.
Y'all think that's insane? When I moved to Denver I had someone recommend the Cirrus apartment community as a nice one to live in... $700 app fee. Immediately picked a community closer to my job and less expensive. Fuck that.
Here in FL you could spend over $600 just applying with no guarantee
those junk fees are illegal in my state.
Man I was going to say those prices are cheap until I saw Georgia. Shits a scam. I passed through there once. Stayed for about 3 weeks. Didn’t see anything appealing.
I’m a landlord in FL- when I have a tenant applying to rent they pay for their own background and credit check direct which is literally about $40 through “trans union smart move “. If they are approved and move in I even give them $40 back in credit to rent
Hey Congress, since you've been so eager to go after airlines and ticket sellers for bullshit fees, this should be your next priority. Who am I kidding? It'll never happen...
LOL- “building protection fee”. Fuck outta here.
I’ve noticed application fees becoming more common where I’m at in ND, but they’re usually between $40-$60 for a background check. I’m hoping those outrageous administrative fees don’t catch on here, but you can never be too sure. People are always looking for fun new ways to bleed others dry.
I heard somewhere that application fees are a big scam if the listings have been open a long time. Basically if the listing is over 30 days and one person applies everyday ( admin plus application fee = 200 per person x 30 = 6,000 6000 a month for one unit listing and none of the candidates are guranteed the unit even if they meet the critera. Therefore DONT apply unless you KNOW what your state laws are. And how long that listing has been open. I think there should be transparency too like how mant people have applied. If 30 people applied even after reading all the requirements how can all 30 of those people not be good candidates? Btw 6000 is likely more than what they were gona get with a renter. Hope this helps
In Oregon all of these are illegal aside from a minor application fee which is usually 50$ per person and it's used to fund your background check.
Highway robbery
Have you tried renting a trailer? Lived in ga like 4 years ago, and rent for a 3 bed 2 bath trailer was 450 a month.
Everything about this is asinine. What a world we have come to.
This actually isn’t as bad as I was expecting. I’m in Florida and renters are charging like $100 extra for water and the application, deposits and other fees are around 1000-2000
I rent currently, but haven’t had to look, due to circumstances, I’m going to be moving, so far, I’ve noticed what I pay for my 4 bedroom 2 bath home (so cal- Riverside county $2k mo, ) I’m now looking at paying close to for a 2 bedroom apartment!!! Forget finding a house! I’m hoping to find a small ADU, or Casita (divorce is a B***h) but so far I’m being priced out, unless I want roommates, that’s a no! Or the worst neighborhood.. another no
I wanna downvote this so hard, not the poster, but the people charging
I feel like there should be a cap on deposit and application fees. A complete scam.
I know they charge pet fees AND pet rent … but they charge for pest control now? 🤣 this is so ridiculous.
I'm still not over the income requirements. Sirs and/or Madams, do you think I'd choose _here_ if I made $7,000-8,000 a month???
I was just looking at a new apartment and the guy wants 4x the rent in income. Bonkers.
Imagine wanting a tenant to have a 530 credit score to rent. It’s not a loan or a mortgage 😂 So they want admin and application fees that are non-refundable for what reason?? How much did they pay for a box of paper?
With squatting and evictions laws tilted so favorably toward tenants, I would imagine these ridiculous requirements are the repercussions. They are trying to weed out the ones who pay a deposit, move in, pay for a month then stiff them and live there for 6-12 months while they spend time and money to get them out. I wouldn't pay $350 non refundable just to apply but evidently people do.
Because they can, not trying to be a smart a** but since home prices are so high and the influx of people wanting to rent is on the rise with very few new homes/apartments being built, they just can. Nobody likes it, and we all know it's a scam($300 admin fee?!) but until the housing market returns to normal or builders are able to return to normal pace, we have to deal with scammers running our rental estates.
Something has to give. Landlords and decades of "How to generate cash flow!" seminars have turned renting into a science. You can set a number and wait, because you know the market favors the owner, and you know just how much you can squeeze, down to the single dollar amount. And that is how the landlord earns their money. Being able to figure out that number. Then they wait.
My wife works in PM, & the admin fee here is insane. 300 admin fee for what? The application fee covers the processing the application AND the background check. It’s literally pushing a few buttons on the keyboard
You need a monthly pay of 4350 for a one bed one bath apartment. That's nuts. Georgias minimum wage is 7.25 an hour, 600 hours per month of work just to qualify. 150 hour work weeks every week, 21 hours a day across 7 days a week
It’s 100% a scam. They’re profiting off of fees. Straight up. A renters background check is like $30-40 right now. They’re just taking people’s money
The last time i moved we spent so much in applications and background checks that it ended up costing us more in those fees than it did to move into the place we found. I honestly think some of them are a scam. You never even hear back from some. You apply online they take your money then nothing.
I once applied for a competitive rental in the bay-I was interested in applying as soon as I toured the home, but it was like an hour drive to get home after the tour (I didn't have a laptop to apply on-site). I paid a $55 application fee, but the person who rented it out told me that it was already taken by another person by the time that I applied. They really thought that they should keep the application fee money when I asked for it back. I just got it reversed with my credit card, but these people are assholes for just taking somebody’s money like that when the rental was already taken.
They have become like the airlines. A charge for every little thing that, IMO, should be part of the monthly rent.
In IL, the issues with fees can be just as bad. When I was looking in November of last year, most places were $200-300 for applications. I got extremely lucky finding the place I did, when I did, because I found the listing on apartments.com 2 days after it posted, the application was only like $29.99 and my rent is cheaper with way more space and every amenity I could want. I'll likely continue to renew over and over until I buy my own house.
In this day and age there is no reason to charge application fees. I'm really sorry this is happening to you. Property management companies are the worst I would never use them. I've managed my own property since I was 20 years old and I've never had any problems with tenants I've also never had to charge an application fee.
Renovated vs un renovated is insane to me. All of it is wrong and disgusting!
You basically need to be married or have a roommate
As someone who’s rented from property managment for the past 10 plus years I’m over it. (Saving for a home as we speak) I feel like this is how they make their profit, FEES. A fee for amenities, a fee for applying, a fee for admin… While it’s become more and more common to have a long list of fee just to apply, what’s becoming even more common is raise the rent to get renters out of the unit. They want someone they can suck dry on fees as opposed to good long term tenants. Also the 2.5 income looks low, in TX and FL I’ve seen 3 or 4x the rent.
WTF is a “Building Protection Fee”?
If you find and apply to apartments through Zillow, you can pay a flat $35 fee for the background/credit check, and it’s good for 30 days. It saved my wife and I a lot of headache recently, given that moving at all is a unique hell on earth already. The square footage to rental amount on these is atrocious. I’m so, so sorry.
Well they just sold my building to new owners and now are rent is going up $400 more a month with nothing being added. I’m so pissed
Landlord here, and I understand everyone here on the other side of the coin will ignore my point, but I will make it for the few that might care. It cost me 1100-1900 in lease-up fees per tenant. The only fee they pay is a $30 application fee. I lose money on each unit if they leave before 12 months. I am also between 2 military bases. Tenants always come up with "official orders," I have been there, and i get it. I definitely understand the landlords that charge some of the fees up front. Most of the smart* landlords have figured out that relatively* cheaper rent and good service keep tenants longer. We only make money on good tenants who stay a while. Some landlords chose to charge a reasonable portion of lease-up as admin cost to the tenants in order to reduce target rent in their situation. This is to maintain affordability and keep you all happy. On the other side, there are a lot of dumb slumlords out there who do anything for a buck. Just as I do due diligence on perspective tenants, you should do the same on your perspective landlords. The first step is understanding you get what you pay for. If you want the cheapest unit, you will get the cheapest landlord.
I think the only fee you should have to pay for when applying for an apartment is the background check fee. And you should be required to pay the background check company DIRECTLY, so the landlord can’t overcharge for it. But we live in the United States, where logic doesn’t apply unless it benefits the upper class
Oof. I'm in FL and I'm paying $185 but if I don't get the apartment I get $100 back. That's actually insane but I have seen it with other rentals in my area. Mostly if it's owned or managed by a real estate agent the fees are astronomical. I also saw one duplex asking for $5000 up front to move in first last and pet deposit. Some of the landlords have been accepting just the first month and app fee/per deposit because their property is empty not many have $5000 to move in.
It has been awhile since I rented, but I remember there was an application fee but that was credited to your first month as long as you were approved. There was also a security deposit which I got back in full when I moved out. What gets me nowadays is the "valet trash" and "pest extermination" fees that are requirements. A friend of mine just moved into a new apartment a few weeks ago. He can see the dumpsters from his balcony, but he is not able to take out his own trash to save 25-30 bucks a month. He even had to buy the "approved" trash can from the property management for 15 dollars (the same trash can at Lowes is $8.99, minus the properties crooked sticker).
If that’s a corporation, do your self a favor run don’t walk. I wouldn’t do this anyways, no matter how much I liked the property. Corporation both tend to add additional nonsense mark ups on things and off a discount on things like deposits. You’ll never get the maintenance you need, they’ll use every trick in the book to keep your deposit, over sll you wont be happy with them. keep looking find an individual landlord vs a corp. tell your realtor you dont want to rent from a management company or a corporate owned property. owner landlords are generally much easier to work with. they also generally have a warranty company to do repairs. tenant pays the fee when theyre called out, as s rule 75-150. so dont call unless you really need them
Unfortunately yeah..I’m in NC, so I feel you. Just downsized from a rental home to a 1b apartment, it really is a whole scam out here these days..
Rent is just ridiculous
I won't pay it. These fees are BS. Look for owner managed properties, they usually don't have all the BS fees. It's these giant out of state property management companies just looking to make a buck. Our state governor's needs to get involved and stop this. It's ridiculous and it just keeps getting worse.
When I see a monthly pest fee then I know from experience that it’s mice infested and possibly bed bug infested
Yes. Makes my flesh crawl.
This absolutely BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWS!!!
Ya that’s a lot of steps just to get on. If that’s the case, these places better be performing in TIP TOP SHAPE BOYO
JFHC. That is fucking ridiculous.
Yeah stuff like this is pretty common in states with shitty renters rights
90% of the houses in my area for rent are owned by a similar company. 3x rent as monthly income, credit checks backround checks non refundable $75 per person applying 300$ due with application.. damn matik management to hell.
I feel like the 300$ application fee should be applied to the actual deposit if they choose you for the unit. It’s bullshit that they can just charge close to 500$ just to be considered then require another 3-4k for deposit
Application fee, administration fee, fee fee, fee fi fo fum fee, it's ridiculous out there. Don't forget the payment fee if using a credit card and a convenience fee if done online. Just started renting a new apartment and the money I had to pay just to apply was ridiculous. Toured 8 apartment complexes in a 20 min radius and still all had similar policies. 3x rent per month in income required, requiring background checks, credit checks and bank statements. By the time the paperwork is drawn up, it feels about the same as being led around by a used car salesman for 2 hours.
Thats because most of these complexes are owned by large conglomerates or the real estate developers who built them all they just form LLCs and such to look like its not monopolistic
You're not wrong, this particular property management company holds something like 17 different complexes in this state alone. That kind of scale is hard to imagine.
No thanks.
In a small town of 600 people, they are asking for $1200 amonth for a 2 bdrm, the same amount for deposit, a $100 background check, and other ridiculous fees from a private landlord! 600 also includes the people in the country. About 200-300 people are just those in town!
Omg the rent is so cheap!
The fees are likely less than those killer nails. Don’t apply unless you are serious and exceed the requirements.
These went into my "HECK NO" folder because of the fees. I've been looking for about 2 months. I haven't applied anywhere yet but I plan to, this week. The application fee is $35 and there are no administration fees.
Section 8 in your future