Her Property Manager Falsely Claimed She Missed Rent—So Now She CCs the Entire Office Every Month as Proof
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Man…there are some seriously sketchy property management companies out there.
And, even a lot of the ones who are not outright sketchy seem to be pretty incompetent.
Either way, that’s not a good sign for all the folks who rent out there!
Which brings us to today’s story…
A woman explained what she did after her property manager tried to tell her that she didn’t pay the rent…
And she wasn’t having it!
Take a look!
So you’re going to charge us a late fee, then?
“Things you need to know: I have 3 roommates that each give me their portion of the rent and I pay it in full.
Our apartment complex has an option to pay rent online. We have a grace period of 3 days before we’re considered late, at which point we can’t pay online anymore, the account gets locked out.
We have to go into the office and pay via cashier’s check and then they allow you to log back in.
Two months ago, logged into the website and went through the motions of paying, even getting the “thank you for your payment” screen like usual. I thought rent for that month had been taken care of.
Huh?
Come the 4th day of the month, we get a slip of paper that says “late payment”. Naturally, I went to look online to find information, but found my account locked and a short message that said something along the lines of “talk with the leasing office”.
I walked in and spoke with the Property Manager (PM), who had a pompous attitude the entire time. I’m also going to cut out the part where she asked me for my apt number but I’m going to say it because some of you might ask.
Me: “So I got this late notice and I’m confused as to why, because I paid rent.”
PM: Checks something on her computer and then looks at me “According to this, you didn’t. There were no attempts to pay rent on your apartment’s behalf.”
This sounds sketchy…
Me: “I KNOW that the payment went through on the website. It showed me the thank you screen” I pull out my phone and show her the screenshot I took of it along with the bank withdrawal.
PM: “There’s no date on this screenshot, so I can’t take this as proof. Maybe store your proof with date via email for your records. Since you’re a day late, here’s the amount you owe.”
Now, I wanted to argue more, but I had just gotten back from school and really wasn’t in the mood. I go to the bank and get a cashier’s check and then go back to the office.
She takes the check from me and I take a moment to stop at the little corner with all of their business cards and get one for each member of staff. This has their e-mails.
Now, she didn’t tell me that I should send it to myself, all she said was “via e-mail” so that’s exactly what I did.
This is where the malicious compliance comes in.
Last month, I wrote an email to the entire office staff that said “I’m paying rent today.”
They asked for it!
After I was done, I took a screenshot of the thank you screen and the calendar next to each other. I then sent another email to the entire office staff with the screenshot attached.
If that wasn’t enough, I sent another e-mail after the bank withdrew the money, and another saying that I was done paying rent for this month, but to expect the same thing next month, for my records, of course. This month, I did the exact same thing.
PM called me and told me that sending them an e-mail for everything wasn’t necessary, but I insisted that I needed witnesses for my records that way I couldn’t get accused of falsifying again.
I thanked her for her willingness to cooperate and for the wonderful idea of sending things via e-mail. Also told her that I would be doing this until I decide to move out but would gladly send them e-mails on behalf of the rest of my roommates for as long as they decide to stay there.
She’s not stopping anytime soon!
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Just as the icing on the cake, we just signed a new 14 month lease, so that means at least 14 months of e-mails from me.
I also talked to corporate, who refunded me the second time I paid because the money had gone through the first time.”
Let’s see what readers had to say about this.
This person spoke up.
Another individual weighed in.
This Reddit user shared their thoughts.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a condo owner who replaced a whole a/c unit just to stop the complaints.
And another reader weighed in.
Yeah, it sounds like these folks don’t have it all together.
That’s why it’s important to always keep good records, whether you rent, own, or anything in between.
Just in case!
The people running her apartment complex have their heads in the sand…
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