Imperialscribe
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Asks for advice on increasing rent, says they had no applications yet. When asked why they would raise listed rent if it's not renting, they say they've actually received 25 applications and realize they could have gotten more for it. Wants to relist without reimbursing the application fees.
At least the other landlords are roasting them for it.
NowLetMeTellYou
Nothing is more weird than seeing the literal place you live and a Facebook group you are a part of featured. Also home prices here are nuts
kevinout
We tell our possible tenants that we will refund the application fee if they are accepted. Works out great for our tenant and for us.
rbasta
A contract is considered to be formed when there is an offer and acceptance. Not easily enforced unless there's detrimental reliance - $$$.
speedracerdvm
I rent my house but my renters pay a flat rate that covers everything, gas, water, electric, sewer, internet and the house.
speedracerdvm
I never wanted to leave my house but figured if I couldn't be there then I'd want to find somone who loved it as much as I did not for the $
thugg77
i do not understand the having to pay a person to make sure im ok to rent a place that alone sounds suspect as shit
shamoolie
She sounds like a real prized cunt
ModsSometimesHeedMyScamWarnings
I'm sorry, but why would I PAY to APPLY to a place? Jesus America, get your shit together.
Illithidbane
ChunLiRoyJenkins
I wouldn't pay that price here in So Cal let alone VA...neither of them.
letthecatout
What? People have to pay even to apply to rent in the US? What a shitshow country it is.
dogsarebetterthanhuman
typically the app/doc fee is to cover cost of background/credit check and fee for listing site. its rare for direct rental
afatrollofmyown
You have to pay to apply to college too. $65 to send in an application and be rejected.
dogsarebetterthanhuman
depends on the school. 20 years ago I had to pay $100 app fee for my uni
Freestila
Glad that in my country (Germany) it's illegal to take any fees for this. If you're prof. agent the landlord has to pay.
VaultGirl69
While I'm bitter I don't own a home, thanks US health torture, I'm glad my landlord is a good man. He just leases for his retirement.
Sully0811
Adam Smith called these people parasites. yes that Adam Smith, the wealth of nations, Adam Smith.
SuperDragonYoshi1989
Man, the US is such a scummy place. If it wasnt for your daily brainwashing, all of you would have left the country by now
Groovechild
How about taking the mortgage payment you have and adding 25%? Instead of gouging people for rent and being a greedy piece of shit.
HappyTimeHollis
Or just your mortgage payment? Rent is supposed to help you pay off an investment, not pay it off completely for you. Your rates, etc are
HappyTimeHollis
the cost of you getting all that extra equity without paying it yourself.
WankMartindale
Well that’s neither a moral or social norm. I inherited some money, put 75% down on an investment property. Why would I charge below market?
HappyTimeHollis
It was the social norm for the longest time. Rent covering mortgage + all the other fees + a profit is only fairly new comparatively.
HolyCringeLordBatman
Or maybe housing, which is a necessity, not be dominated by investor scum. If the tenant can cover your mortgage they can have it themselvse
kylielapelirroja
Some people remt because they are nomadic or don’t want to be tied to a place. Not everyone who rents can’t afford a house.
HolyCringeLordBatman
Oh boy an edge case, that certainly disproves a trend.
GreyNotGray
Homeowners are trying to generate wealth while escaping debt. For most, it’s easier to just match “market value” than ethical pricing. Sad.
HolyCringeLordBatman
You do not take out a fucking mortgage to "escape debt" you do it to passively earn income on someone else's labor. I don't mind renting a
HolyCringeLordBatman
Part of your own home. But buying up property raises the price out of affordability.
GreyNotGray
I completely agree with the affordability disaster, but taking a mortgage is an intent to generate wealth while mitigating associated debt.
SilverNicktail
When I rented my place I based it directly on my mortgage payment, miscalculated and "lost" 20 quid a year for 5 years. No biggie.
SilverNicktail
Dude was still covering 95% of my costs and at the end I had more equity. He got cheap-ass rent without increase for 5 years.
SilverNicktail
Before anyone starts the usual shit on me, I was renting it because I wasn't able to sell it mid-recession.
GoblinShaper
That's, like not what anti rent people are angry about. It's the legal structures and the lack of renters rights and protections
SilverNicktail
You say that, but I've had people IRL calling me a "parasite" and worse for ever having dared to rent a house I couldn't sell.
chaggaya
Don't forget property tax and insurance.
76000BatteryLlamas
Which is usually in the mortgage
chaggaya
Neither of my houses have them in the mortgage. I pay them separately.
binnybuns
Same
76000BatteryLlamas
That's abnormal
chaggaya
Not where I live, with exception to your very first mtg and possibly if only 5% down payment. Then the bank does prop tax but not insurance.
binnybuns
By paying them through up mortgage you are allowing the bank to hold the funds, and earn interest, until the bill is due.
yallmfsneedjesus
I believe you are to go 25% AFTER taxes, maintenance, services (water, trash etc.) and any other fee (like hoa)
HappyTimeHollis
No, that's what the 25% is to cover. Renting isn't supposed to give them extra income, it's to give them cheaper equity
yallmfsneedjesus
Im sorry what? You think people should just let you live in a house, and spend all their time and enery to maintain it for free? WTF?
HappyTimeHollis
It's not for free. My rent goes into paying their equity. Their profit is the cheaper equity of me paying the mortgage on their investment
yallmfsneedjesus
That's communism. "You have something and i dont have it so you should let me use it". You prefer a communistic society in America?
JCBalance
Should be pointed out that the landlord hasn't raised the price, and didn't disagree with the advice here.
GiantFlyingLabia
I’m gonna be renting my house soon and I will not pull that shit. What a jackass
Ikwilstroopwaffels
Landlords are parasites. End of.
snotrocketscience
*All landlords are scum.
yallmfsneedjesus
My landlord paid my electric bill every december as a xmas present. They also let me paint the walls. I vetted every landlord i ever had.
yallmfsneedjesus
..its not hard to not rent from a shitty person.
TempestRose
I wish I had a choice but when the alternative is homelessness you get what you can afford and cross your fingers because there is no choice
yallmfsneedjesus
And that i can understand. You have to take whats available in your budget in your area. So choices may be slim. But people who are not in
yallmfsneedjesus
..that position simply make bad decisions and then complain loudly about how it isnt their fault. But none of that means "landlords are evil
rooik14
For every "not shitty" landlord there's a thousand people in need of affordable housing. While they can be good individual people 1/
rooik14
2/2 the occupation of "landlord" is inherently evil. There are no good landlords, just degrees of bad.
JCBalance
My dad built our house and both my parents died last year. To maintain, its being rented well below what the new mortgage would be if sold.
grapefruitengery
I rent from my neighbor and she's great. Plenty of land lords are not scum
IMakeLotsOfReferencesAndRemakes
They are withholding ownership and you are paying their taxes plus profit in rent. Its never been a fair deal.
rooik14
She might be a sweet person individually but the occupation of being a landlord is morally wrong.
grapefruitengery
She's an astronomer who is out of town much of the year. Lives in a small place when she is here, but doesn't want to sell her family home
rooik14
Well then it sounds like you're providing a service to her by maintaining the place. If housing was a right she'd be able to afford 1/
rooik14
2/2 to pay someone to help maintain the place.
youidiot
So... no one should ever be a landlord? Rental properties shouldn't be a thing? At all?
rooik14
Correct! Housing should be a right, not a commodity.
youidiot
Ummmmmmm, what about people who don't want to own, but want to rent? E.g the best man at my wedding?
jbsquare
Since housing isn't a right atm, what should renters do in the mean time?
bradfordtheheretic
What’s really wild is Aldie, VA is basically a rural area too. Near DC in NW VA out past Dulles Airpot
TwinWaterTowers
Aldie Va is in Loudoun County, richest County in the US. This is a town house because I can't imagine renting a house in Aldie for less $3k
bushpotato
Who in the hell is paying $2800 rent?
afatrollofmyown
San Diegans. San Joseans. San-Whatevers.
11023517141
3 bed 2 bath apartments where I live are $3200
RedDragonDaker
Americans.
Nonna2
We paid $2500 rent for a 3 bedroom house in 2015. Now we pay $2200/month for our mortgage. We live in Colorado.
bushpotato
That is outrageous. No house is genuinely worth that much money without artificial interference.
Nonna2
The house we own now is much bigger, nicer, has community pool - And we pay less a month for it 6 years later.
timtams
the problem here isn't the landlord, it's culture that accepts paying fees to apply for something. a fee is fine - once accepted, not before
codenameRadical
Application fees are bullshit
ChickenFingerFingers
In Korea, you pay a key deposit, which can be up to 80% the value of the property, but no rent and you get it back after 2 years. They also
ChickenFingerFingers
have security deposits and monthly rent option like US, but the deposit is still like 3 times monthly rent.
makesense
He doesn't make the claim there were zero applications...he says he 'accepted' no applications.
WhatImgurWantsIsWierd
Application FEES?!?! Wtf america?
smythre666
App fees "should" be used for background/credit checks. Not always the case.
ShrokNil
I once punched the landlord of my current condo I now own entirely in the face. He's my stepdad lol.
bojeefus
great story, it has everything- action, brevity and a twist ending. 10/10
Stanistani
Story time?
ShrokNil
He provoked me by insulting my wisdom so I smacked him. I then called 911 and almost got us both arrested.
ShrokNil
He pinned me to the ground and pummeled my face repeatedly. I dodged a lot of them though by just enough to force him to hit the wood floor.
PerpetuityPhoto
Just a friendly reminder that accepting paid applications with the full foreknowledge that you intend to deny them is fraud.
DarralHunter
It’s fucking hilarious how much you guys just accept this. I pay £370 a month for a very comfortable 2 bedroom home with a garden
Feralblowfish
Jesus Christ where? Down here in the southwest you would be looking at least a grand a month for that
DarralHunter
Yeah Devon is expensive for some reason. I used to see a girl from there even a takeaway was twice the price. I’m in County Durham
Feralblowfish
Ah nice yeah fair enough. Somerset for me wasn't too bad 5 years ago but rent has skyrocketed
Thoughttoolongaboutthis
Sure we can all go on strike and not rent but you know.. homelessness is illegal too
Amizcuz
Aldie is in the richest single county in the USA, and is basically a suburb to DC; Aldie is pretty nice, $2500 is competitive :/
DarralHunter
Forgive me, as a reference the “nice” houses in my area are more like £500–600. For 2.5k a month here, I could get my dream home. No joke
Kehy
For fucks sake I pay $2300 a month for a 3 bed/2 bath apartment in an area that has moderate crime issues
DarralHunter
Forgive me, as a reference the “nice” houses in my area are more like £500–600. For 2.5k a month here, I could get my dream home. No joke
PrincessNakedMoleRat
Yeah, you noobs should just stay homeless until this entire system is unfucked!
GreyNotGray
People are struggling to sustain themselves and often forced into dangerous circumstances as a result. Hilarious doesn’t quite fit here.
DarralHunter
But it is though. The whole country is a joke. Health care, rent, politics, anti vax, shit they are even anti education.
DarralHunter
Every second post on here is some “new” horror story on the US. They have laws to protect a rapist and condemn the victim. They are a third
DarralHunter
World country masquerading as a developed nation. Hilarious
DeathLemons
Exactly. Unfortunately they proof you would need to prosecute is almost impossible to deliver unless they specifically tell you on paper.
Wazzamaniac
Do screenshots of a facebook thread count?
grapefruitengery
He shouldn't raise the price, but asking a question like this to a group of peers doesn't seem hate worthy
grapefruitengery
The only other comment he made was that Zillow has the application fees, making it hard for him to reimburse
ProbablyDrunkAgain
They believe the landlord is pocketing the fees because Imgur.
grapefruitengery
If this was a house sale, it would be common place to raise the price after a large number of applications
grapefruitengery
Eh actually. Zillow application fee is 30, and can be applied to an unlimited number of applications. Contacting a few if the people
grapefruitengery
Applied and seeing if they're with an increase seems pretty reasonable
potatoardvarkhybrid
wait...people in the US are now paying to apply for an over priced rental?
elinveronicap
After I understood that you pay fees to apply for schools in the US, I'm assuming every application has fees there.
endyrr
Wait until you find out some states require you to go through a broker who can charge up to 150% 1 months rent.
lemmonjello
lol the US is such a shithole you couldnt pay me to live there
SerialChickenLover
well, I mean, no one would
enderthedefender
eh, you just see people complaining on Imgur. It's pretty cool.
jayman0123
Tell that to rape victims in Oklahoma that are now legally required to be mothers if they get pregnant...
byronape
A valid point, but at least you don't have to worry about child soldiers, warlords killing people all over the place, etc 1/
byronape
2/ The US has a LOT of really fucked up problems, but it is a lot better than some countries.
tentacularfleshscape
That's a low fucking bar
sarkonas
Jesus fucking Christ, just how low do you want that bar to be? Fucking child soldiers? By that metric 99% of countries are A-OK...
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lemmonjello
I am invited regularly try again dumbass and keep loving your shithole
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DrewBerg
Application fees have existed for awhile. Any way to make a buck. I guess because renters don't deserve a break or any respect?
JustFeedMePieDammit
Fuckin hell, I’ve been lucky enough to get added in as a housemate after the deal. That’s bonkers
idklolwut12
A great example of the million little ways this system ensures that the poor stay poor.
nycterelis
That's capitalism baby
KarateCanine
Application fees? My god America. Give your balls a tug
ninjasenseivalkyrieprincess
It’s for people who own many homes and rent them out. The landlord can hire a company to filter out applicants so they don’t have to
DrewBerg
Oh no! They own too many homes! Those poor people. I guess nickel and diming people to death is the only reasonable solution.
zFUBARz
I don't fucking care that they're too successful, cost of doing business.
Imperialscribe
That's been the norm for a very long time. The fees are supposed to cover things like processing the application and background check.
haadyy
If you apply through a platform for multiple places, doesn't the platform run the checks only once? Why should they take multiple fees?
YangKoete
You can literally do that for free in a good few areas and sites.
HedonistBeard
Cool. Just letting you know that's not the norm in the civilized world.
A1from86
Totally not ok...
marima9000
It’s not cheap either. Sometimes $100 per person
FromTheVortex
What the actual fuck?!
Imperialscribe
Many places have laws requiring they fairly consider the application and you know, actually rent it, so this may be illegal.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
Its only illegal if someone reports it. Otherwise, its just getting away with theft.
truemetalman
It's rarely enforced though. There's tons of scams out there that advertise, collect application fees and never rent the property.
CleverGroom
Right. These are the kind of laws that're really hard to enforce as an oppressed poor. How're you supposed to bring a discrimination case...
CleverGroom
...against a landlord who won't rent to you or an employer who won't hire you? You need to get "Nah, cause you old/Black/broke," in writing.
AnimalGenetaliaAudioClues
Been like that for a while.
seyne
Yup, in NYC it's often even required that you hire a broker to find apartments, and then pay them a big commission when you lease somewhere
Kakeukh
Wait until you see the 2 months of rent the renter has to pay in Germany for the rental agency to just upload a crappy picture online.
ProbablyDrunkAgain
When I rented, I always had to pay an application fee to cover the background and credit check.
PikaChunin
Only if they pass the credit check.
adognamedpumpkin
We’ll pay for just about anything without getting it.
ICampOntheFirstDate
Yes, but your realtor is supposed to tell you how many applicants put in for the house before you bother sending yours.
AuntieCoddswaddle
The US is basically just a collection of cottage industries for the Seven Deadly Sins.
staticrabbit
In New York we had to pay 1 month rent, 1 month deposit, and 1 month to the landlord’s listing agent in order to move into our rental.
Madringo
Yeah, from Canada, and never paid to apply once. Got a $500 signing bonus and first month free rent once.
unableraven
Also your credit score goes down
DiamondDogLedTasso
More often than not it doesn't, it's a soft credit pull to see score & yo know if there are any significant negatives (bankruptcy & liens)
Frozenspokes
Yes. And the application fee is far more expensive than what it costs to get credit reports from all three agencies. It's a scam.
KingORedLions
The idea of an application fee is fucking mind-blowing, and it's apparently $29. If this house is perfectly average, 24 in 25 applicants
KingORedLions
will of course get nothing for their application. If it takes 25 application *attempts* each renter is down $700 (!!!) before being accepted
IVIunk
35¢ to use your debit card!
Chezoso
Was out like 300 looking for my last place... You apply and they don't tell you someone is already about to sign
outdoorsman537360
It's a common practice, but generally, a background check, was a red flag for me when I was renting. I refused to pay for one and as it 1/2
outdoorsman537360
Turned out, the good landlords wanted to actually meet you before ever accepting any sort of fee. Never got stuck with a bad one.
paulwall117350
People on here downvote me or tell me I'm going too far when I say that rent is slavery and landlords are slavers, but it gets even worse.
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OrangeFlavours
Uh.. yeah no shit they're gonna downvote that, it's utterly nonsensical. That's genuinely fucking insulting.
Nobody7713
Because frankly that understates the conditions of slavery. Landlords are bad, really bad. But don't compare it to slavery.
WEARELEGI0N
Slavery when?
paulwall117350
Not only are non-refundable application fees a totally normal thing, and have been for years, they apply to each individual tenant.
henryvk
*totally normal in America. I’ve never heard of auf a thing where I live
JPRiddles
I think that was implied from the original comment...
paulwall117350
So let's say you and 2 friends need to move in together because the rent is so extortionate that it takes all 3 of you to meet the minimum
paulwall117350
income requirements. But, the application fee is $70. So, that's $210 dollars just to find out they rented it out to some other applicants.
pmmeyourgold
On places like zillow,, you pay once for them to check your credit/background and it gets used on multiple applications.
bigger66
its clear from this post it is underpriced, thats why he wants to raise it
nopenopenopenothanks
Welcome to USA circa 2010
nosilazurc11
I'd never heard of this scam either till I moved here. I was a landlord in Calgary, rent and security deposit was all I ever requested
OmnibusLatinName
i don't like it but I get it. You could spend your whole life running checks for no gain. I work in manufacturing in what's referred to as
OmnibusLatinName
a "job shop". We make other peoples parts, not our own products. Which means we quote or bid for work. We have three full time employees
OmnibusLatinName
estimate cost so we can submit bids to customers. Sometimes customers come at us with massive quantities of work they'd like us to bid.
OmnibusLatinName
We pull in some extra hands and start working overtime to get the quotes out on time. All the time invested in the process guarantees
OmnibusLatinName
no return on our invested time. We've had vendors tell us to go pound because of the very same issue. All work and no reward.
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Thoughttoolongaboutthis
That's almost every apartment in my area.
westy81585
In "theory" it's not a bad idea - you charge a deposit to cover like the carpet after they move. In practice LL's just abuse it for extra $
slacklines
I've had a house destroyed by pets
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slacklines
We're not talking about puke we're talking a house of ruined carpet chewed trim. No pets or pet deposit
votedbesttacos
Pets require more money to clean properly between renters and while not all cause damage, some do, so you average the extra cost.
ItispronouncedGIFwithahardG
That's been the norm for a really long time. Pet deposits or slightly increased rent due to the potential damage that pets may cause.
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lucindamarie18
Anyone not listed on my rental contract besides me that moves in is an extra 10.00 .
Userlivewire
No but there are communities that simply don’t allow children at all.
Totallyscrewedinaustin
No, that would be illegal
Marikhen
The real fun is when places charge deposits and rents and those are 10% or more of the per-person cost while claiming to be "pet friendly."
Marikhen
1) Any time I see "pet friendly" with "$100 pet deposit and $50+/m pet rent" I feel like asking them if they're violating truth in
Marikhen
2) in advertising laws since they're clearly pet *tolerant*, and barely that, and not actually "pet friendly."