My heart goes out to those hard working families who are renters and are being harassed by property management companies who do not care about the human condition, but their profits.
The apartment, which I have lived in for more than nine years, had been purchased and is being run by a large corporate property management company. I have seen good people that are good tenants not being allowed to do yearly leases. Tenants are given vague orders to clear off plants, barbecues, and furniture, even if their patio is beautiful and the other tenants love their plants and give compliments. These are things we enjoy in our homes. The management feels this is clutter and they are not complying. They receive fines for not even being communicated the rules or by complicated legal BS. What actually is clutter?
Rent is raised, oh and by the way, water and trash must be paid separately. Wow. Pet lovers pay a $400 pet deposit and find out after they have signed their lease, that the management has marked “X” for no pets allowed. Nice people. Dogs and cats have more soul. A guy I know is in an apartment complex, which used to be awesome. We had great management then.
Anyway, I can get off track sometimes. Back to the property management meanies. This gentleman lives alone, but his girlfriend lives in Seattle and she was having trouble getting a job because of COVID. She finally found a job in Portland after months of trying. The guy suggested to his girlfriend that she could live there temporarily until she got back on her feet and she could move back to Seattle to be near her son. The guy wanted to do the right thing and gave our present, incompetent manager the license plate of her car, and let her know she would be moving in temporarily. He paid the rent. It was and still is a nice two bedroom apartment. He did not want to just sneak her in. He believes in honesty and doing the right thing.
This is where this guy learned a thing or two about the present reality of having a roof over your head.
He paid the rent. The woman was required to have a background check, which I believe is good. But her only issue was she did not have great credit. She was out of work. She had gone back to school, got that license. She was trying. The management denied her living with her boyfriend. She’s OK. Luckily she got into a place.
We have a homeless crisis. Good people are not able to be a roommate because of so-so credit. This is against corporate policy. It is not our problem and they have to live on the streets.
What has happened to this country? This is happening to this apartment complex and many across the country. Good people struggle to keep a roof over their families heads. Some go homeless. It’s really sad.
Steven Gray,
Battle Ground
