Many of you are aware of my current predicament with the apartment management where I live.  In the course of 2 years, my rent has increased by almost three hundred dollars.  This in itself is a travesty, but the worst part about it is the fact that my latest increase came with no notification at all, which is in violation of my initial lease agreement, and Utah state law.

I’ve written a letter to the management company for the apartment complex.  I’ve detailed my issue and asked for a response.  I’m blogging this today as an additional method of exposure, in case my letter falls on deaf ears.  Please feel free to comment and pass the information along to others, so that perhaps other people won’t be subjected to this kind of treatment in the future.  The Internet is one of the methods we can use to stop this kind of corruption, and I intend to use it.

Thanks.

I hope that this e-mail gets to the right people, but please pass it to the proper department if this isn’t the correct channel.

I have to state a complaint.

I’m a resident of the Brighton Place apartments in Midvale. I’ve been a resident here since November of 2005, and I can’t say that the experience has been all that great. My problem is the ever-increasing rent. When I moved here, my rent was $549 per month, a bit high considering the neighborhood, but at least fairly reasonable. As of this March, my rent is $830 per month. This is almost a $300 increase over the course of two years, and that is absolutely ridiculous.

Part of my rent is because I am month-to-month. There is a penalty associated with this, apparently, of $100. It used to be $50, which was incredibly high to begin with, but DOUBLING that penalty Is outrageous. I can understand charging a little extra per month in lieu of a contracted lease, but a HUNDRED DOLLARS? I would sincerely appreciate some sort of explanation on how you can justify that. It makes no sense.

Beyond the month-to-month penalty, my rent increase is still absurd. However, it is what it is. However you justify that sort of rent, considering the nature of the market right now and the average prices of rentals around the area, is completely beyond me. I accept it as reality however, so I’ll deal with it.

What I won’t accept however, is the fact that my rent was raised with NO PREVIOUS NOTICE. The rental agreement that I signed when I moved here, which according to the property management, still has an effect on my tenancy even though I’m month-to-month, states that you are required to give me 30 DAYS NOTICE in the event of a rent increase. THIS WAS NOT DONE. Utah state law says that landlords are required to give at least 15 DAYS NOTICE. In effect, the management of Brighton Place has violated state law, and the terms of my previous lease agreement.

I went into the office to protest, of course. The explanation I got was that my rent amount is based on the market value of the apartment, and because I am month-to-month, my rent is based on this amount and can be raised at any time accordingly. That’s all well and good, but you are STILL REQUIRED TO GIVE ME NOTIFICATION of this. Once again, this was not done.

Since Brighton Place has violated the terms of the initial agreement, I feel I am no longer bound by it. I will be moving as soon as possible, and although management will be given notification, it may or may not be 30 days.

As I stated, I hope this complaint gets to the right people. Please notify me if there is another channel I should be using, or if there is a dispute to my complaint here. I would like to work this situation out amicably, but I feel I’ve exhausted my resources.

Thanks for your time.

Any thoughts on this?  What are the odds that I even get a response?  Does anyone else have experience with this kind of thing?  I could use some advice.

FOLLOW UP:  The e-mail I sent bounced back to me.  The e-mail address they have posted on their website isn’t even functional.  Further proof that this company is only interested in scamming people.

FOLLOW UP 2:  I filed a report with the BBB of Utah.  Whilst doing this, I noted that Wasatch Property management has the wonderful score of D+ in regards to their company’s reputation among businesses.  Why am I not surprised?

I’m having more problems with my apartment complex.  Aside from units blowing up a few months ago, and aside from the occasional crime, not to mention the obnoxious kids that plague my neighborhood and the Mexican soccer tournaments on the tennis courts every night, the bastards have decided to raise my rent yet again.

This is the note I received on my door this morning, along with the rent check I turned in yesterday.  This is the first notice that I’ve received that my base rent was changed to $719.  I got no prior warning about this whatsoever.  If you can read this, you’ll also note that along with the $10 fee for the parking space, and the $100 fee for month to month, my rent for a ONE BEDROOM apartment, here in the ghetto-ass part of Midvale, is $829 per month.  Holy shit.

I was aware that the month to month fee was raised to $100, which in itself is absolutely ludicrous.  How exactly do they justify charging an extra $100 per month, for no other reason than I don’t have a contracted lease?  That’s asinine.  But that aside, I’m pretty damn sure that they are required BY LAW to contact me at least 15 days ahead of time to raise the base rent.  This was not done.

I went over to the office and pitched a fit.  They kept saying that my lease agreement (an oral agreement, because I’m month to month) states that my rent is dependant on the market value of the apartment (which is some random number they pull out of their asses and raise occasionally,) and that the base rent can be raised at any time without notice.  I’m quite sure this isn’t true, and in fact I looked it up under the Utah state law, and specifically noted that it’s not true.

I’m sick to death of this place.  I hate bad business practice, and I hate thieves who masquerade as a business.  I can’t stand this any longer.  I’m looking to move as soon as possible, and no… they will most definitely NOT be getting any notice from me.  As far as I’m concerned, they broke the agreement themselves, so there’s absolutely no reason why I should be bound to it any longer.

I need a favor.  If anyone is willing, please spread the news via word of mouth, or by blog, or Twitter, or whatever that Wasatch Community Properties, and specifically, Brighton Place Apartments in Midvale, Utah, is a scam and a rip-off.  Under no circumstances should anyone looking to move to the area even consider these properties.  They will be thoroughly  screwed in every possible way by a company who only plays dirty and unfairly.  Please let people be warned.

All this talk about government bail-outs lately has me riled up.  The latest group requesting charity happens to be the American Auto industry, which for decades has been pumping out inferior and sub-par products which barely even compete with their foreign counterparts.  Now, because they’re in dire straights after finally realizing that no one wants to buy a rickety-ass Dodge because they could simply buy a tight, well-made Toyota, the car companies are crying and pointing fingers.  They want us, (me, you, and all your tax paying neighbors) to bail them out.

As further evidence of their complete stupidity, heads of the big three auto manufacturers recently flew to Washington to plead their case.  Of course, all three of them flew in their private, executive jets.  Here is an actual quoted transcript from the hearing, courtesy of CNN.com:

“There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they’re going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses,” Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, told the chief executive officers of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee.

“It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious.”

He added, “couldn’t you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here? It would have at least sent a message that you do get it.”

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-California, asked the three CEOs to “raise their hand if they flew here commercial. Let the record show, no hands went up. Second, I’m going to ask you to raise your hand if you are planning to sell your jet in place now and fly back commercial. Let the record show, no hands went up.”

Well now, isn’t that just peachy?  Three dumbasses saunter up in their Armani suits and ties, wearing their Gucci loafers, checking their Rolex watches to make sure they arrive near to on time, having just stepped off their private jets and checked into nice, swanky hotel suites, to approach the government and whine about making cutbacks to their respective companies.

Meanwhile, the GM plant near my hometown in Dayton, Ohio, and all of the support companies that rely on that plant, are shutting down next month — just in time for Christmas, I might add.  This means that blue collar workers with five kids, a mortgage, car payments, kid’s college payments, and tons of bills can’t even afford to eat anymore.  That’s not to mention all of the other cutbacks that will happen in the next few months as the executives “try to curtail spending” in an effort to keep delivering shitty American cars to a public that doesn’t want them anyway.

God bless America.