Application Woes

17 years ago

Recently my current apartment got bed bugs, we received them due to the land lord refusing to do anything including even check our place when the apartment across the hall brought bed bugs into the apartment.

We were told that they wouldn't do anything until we got them, so now we have them and they are being taken care of but we wish to move.

We had to excersize our rights to get the land lord of the building to actually have it investigated and sprayed and had to call the city as well as health boards to have it done.

Now because of all of this we wish to move, recently we applied for an apartment which was perfect for my girlfriend and myself. Went in and seen it, everything was copacetic, age requirements, no pets no smoking which we have none of.

My credit rating is excellent and I have been told that when I applied at previous apartment, I have never been late for a payment and I make more then enough to cover the rent on my own not including the extra income that my girlfriend brings in.

The morning after we applied, without evening calling my reference of which was my landlord for 3 years they called and said we were denied due to someone else getting the apartment.

Three weeks later, we find out that the apartment is still up for rent and no one else has applied for it. Should we re-apply? Is there no law that states we have to be told a valid reason of why we were denied? This apartment is not a privately owned apartment, it is a large apartment owned by a company that own several apartment buildings.

We believe the problems may be due to our current situation with our landlord, and possibly being on one of those black lists because we had to use our rights to fight just to get our current apartment taken care of.

Frustrated and confused,

Johnathan

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Comments (6)

lucy
17 years ago
The deal may have fallen through, but if there was no deal to begin with, and even if it was a matter of your present LL causing the problem, do you really still want to rent there, all things considered? It would seem to me a lousy way to start out, and it's hard to believe there are no other places around. You're asking about a law, but a) haven't said which state you're in, and b) only an RE lawyer could give you a proper answer.
sjarz
17 years ago
If the new place didn't call your present landlord, how could they know about the bedbug situation? I don't think there's a giant list somewhere that blacklist's tenants that execute their rights...
why don't you call the company and ask if they can tell you the reason? It may be something else altogether, sometimes landlords get a feel for a person when they interview them. Something you or your girlfriend said may have given them the wrong impression, and that may be why they decided to pass on you.
I know myself as a landlord, if I feel weird about the prospective tenant I will pass on them, often for no other reason. There are so many people looking for places where I live, I don't have to take the first person that shows up for the viewing - that may be what's happening there as well.
If you can't get the company to tell you what the problem is, I think you just have to look elsewhere. I wonder if the landlord is worried that the bedbugs are a) your fault due to dirt or b)going to travel with you to the new place.
Wherever you go, make sure you don't take anything with you that could have the bugs in it - you might need to tent and fumigate your furniture before you move it.
Suzan J
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johnathan
Original Author
17 years ago
Fumigation is being done, and throwing out the bed, sofa, chairs that had fabric in them. Only keep electronics which are going into storage over the winter. The issue is when they denied us we did ask why, and all they said was someone else got it. I have found on google that there is a list that exists, although they have been trying to outlaw it. Though I do agree after going through this do not really want to go there its just how are we to fix the issue at hand in future applications then? By the way, Alberta Canada is where I live and there is a 99.9% vacancy rate in the city of Edmonton which is where I am currently looking. To get a decent place is not easy here unfortunately.
lucy
17 years ago
Hi, if you're in Calgary (which I think is foregone :-), you are in a terrible spot, but now that the boom is busting in the U.S. I think it's going to trickle up here a bit and you may have better luck soon (in a way, I hope not, but we're all going to be in for it I guess).
sjarz
17 years ago
Have you seen any of these, Jonathan?
SJ

http://edmonton.en.craigslist.ca/apa/
dilly_dally
17 years ago
Posted by sjarz: "I don't think there's a giant list somewhere that blacklist's tenants that execute their rights..."

Actually there IS. There are many such lists that LL subscribe to. They are accessible online now but have ALWAYS been around.

A blacklist is not a credit report or arrest record. You can end up on one if you sue your landlord and WIN. It can also be secret personal info the landlord has compiled on a tenant that he shares. While it is a good thing that landlords protect themselves, the reports on the list may contain inaccuracies and an innocent person suffers.

In some cites you will find "Bad Landlord" lists put out by grassroots groups.

Here are a few articles explaining it. Google for lots more. Everyone should know about this. Unfortunately there is often no way to know or even find out if one is on a list like this.
http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13108365

http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/housing/20060208/10/1753

http://ohmyapt.apartmentratings.com/blacklisted-tenant.html

http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/124/blacklist.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Tenant Black Lists