Rental Application Fee - Disputed Charge

[Anonymous]

I think all of you peeps are missing the point. We all know "Its only $35". With that being said though this is illegal in every sense of the word. They were advertising for potential people to apply for a apartment that WAS NEVER FOR RENT OR EVEN available. If you read his OP you would know this. Not only did they commit borderline fraud they also falsely advertised a good or service. 

Its funny how how you say "let it go". If the tables were turned and he committed fraud against a company or misled them on purpose do you think they would just "let it go"? HELL NO. At the very least they would report it on his credit or charge it off if not worse. 

I wouldnt let let it go just out of princable. What they did is wrong. At the VERY LEAST I would send there butts a ITS and then follow through if they do not refund. You can sue not ONLY for the $35 but also ALL OF YOUR attorney fees and for your state punitive damages for taking time out of your day to go to courts AND lost work wages. Don't let these major corporations screw you over. We need a credit revolution in this country because the current system ONLY favors the banks and companies. 

Just my 2 cents...

[kdm31091]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I think all of you peeps are missing the point. We all know "Its only $35". With that being said though this is illegal in every sense of the word. They were advertising for potential people to apply for a apartment that WAS NEVER FOR RENT OR EVEN available. If you read his OP you would know this. Not only did they commit borderline fraud they also falsely advertised a good or service. 

Its funny how how you say "let it go". If the tables were turned and he committed fraud against a company or misled them on purpose do you think they would just "let it go"? HELL NO. At the very least they would report it on his credit or charge it off if not worse. 

I wouldnt let let it go just out of princable. What they did is wrong. At the VERY LEAST I would send there butts a ITS and then follow through if they do not refund. You can sue it ONLYfor the $35 but also ALL OF YOUR attorney fees and for your state punitive damages for taking time out of your day to go to courts AND lost work wages. Don't let these major corporations screw you over. We need a credit revolution in this country because the current system ONLY favors the banks and companies. 

Just my 2 cents...

---

First off, calm down

.

Second, the OP never said it "was never for rent". It was "no longer for rent". Someone rented it before OP got it.

Again, nearly EVERY rental property charges a non refundable application fee. Whether you get or don't get the place, it's the fee they charge and can't be returned. Nobody besides the company knows if the apartment was available at the moment OP applied. The point is that you are jumping the gun to say this is "fraud". All that happened was someone else got the apartment. Happens every day. Application fees are almost never refundable. It is what it is. You move on and try another place.

Going to court, claiming "lost wages", etc and all that over this, a $35 non-refundable deposit, is almost certainly a waste of time. You aren't going to win because I am sure it is explicitly stated in some such way: "whether you get this property or not, the application fee is non refundable". Since you signed this when placing the deposit, you have no recourse.

[Anonymous]

He said it was never even available to begin with. That's fraud because they were PURPOSELY still listing a property that was not even available. Your not getting it. I understand rental apps are not refundable. But this is a exception. They knew it was not available and they continue to take apps. They got a free $35 because if the property

 was never available they would never ran a background check or anything. They just got free money and this is not just morally wrong but not LEGAL...

[kdm31091]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

He said it was never even available to begin with. That's fraud because they were PURPOSELY still listing a property that was not even available. Your not getting it. I understand rental apps are not refundable. But this is a exception. They knew it was not available and they continue to take apps. They got a free $35 because if the property

 was never available they would never ran a background check or anything. They just got free money and this is not just morally wrong but not LEGAL...

---

Unfortunately, one can't just say "well this is an exception!" and get their money back.

I understand what you are saying but the fact is we are only going by what OP told us (and what they know). Only the rental company truly knows if the place was actually available when OP applied. Sometimes apartments go very quickly. Maybe it went 10 minutes after his application was submitted. That's not fraud, just bad luck. We can speculate all day.

It's up to OP, but I think going to court over this is an exercise in futility and a waste of time.  Opinions may vary.

[Callandra]

---

@boosnark wrote:

What really does matter is what it says in the fine print before you submitted payment. Anything else is irrelevant. One recourse is to file in small claims court, but this is probably not worth the hassle given that the filing fee is about the same amount that you're owed.

---

This. Was there anything in the fine print regarding this issue?

I do agree it's lousy for them not to refund the $35 to you and I feel they should. However, they most certainly got charged a chargeback fee for your dispute so think of it that way -- they're going to be out at least $20 for the dispute. 

[yfan]

---

@pennccrn wrote:

Hi guys: I wanted to just get the forum's perspective on this disputed charge I submitted through Discover. I submitted an application for a rental property, charged a $35 fee for this process (fairly customary). When I submitted the application, I received a call from the property management group that this property was no longer on the market, despite my application being accepted and still advertised on their site.  I attempted to seek a refund since I wasn't considered for this property and it was already rented to another tenant - however it wasn't honored.

I submitted a charge dispute saying under "failure to deliver on goods and services" and heard today that it wasn't granted in my favor.

---

You have every right to feel shafted, but Discover is also right in what they decided. From their perspective, they only need to verify that you did indeed authorize the charge. If the service in this case is just taking your application, then there is nothing Discover can do. You might, however, have better luck seeking a refund through the property management. Or post a review of their management on Yelp based on your experience and see if they change their tune.

[Anonymous]

I would invest this time towards next credit card signup bonus. Be thankful they didnt give you a hard inquiry and use that to make hundreds of dollars to offset the $35.

There is a great article floating around you may have to search for it. Its called Bed Bugs. And its not about the acutal bug infestation. It is about misleading posts. You are better off to find a real estate agent to get you in an apartment if possible.

http://yochicago.com/apartment-rental-bedbugs-%E2%80%93-yo%E2%80%99s-do-not-call-list/20758/  Theres the bedbug article link

The crappy trend now is move in fees. These are $100-$500 per person and are non refundable! So instead of paying $2050 to move in to your new 1k a month apartment, you will be paying $1350 and not get any of the move in fees back. The legal system and tenants rights have improved drastically and in bigger cities you 99.9999999% get your rent deposits back no matter what.  And as someone who has volunteered in a tenants rights organization I am going to throw out some non relevant but useful info.

The problem was the landlords and property management companies were not placing these deposits in secure accounts or paying the tenants any interest accrued. Many were sued. So they went to non refundable move in fees to be safer and remove liability.

Better believe any time I went for an apartment, everything was out on the table, who replaces light bulbs, making sure garage door openers were available, making sure keyless gates were functioning and called cell phone correctly, when furnace filters were replaced last, when  bugs are sprayed, and direct number to maintenance man.  Again today is much better as there are such things as tenants rights. If you have a roof leak and they wont fix it, you can send a certified letter stating you are arranging to have it fixed and will be deducting it from your rent. 

http://www.tenant.net/Other_Areas/Illinois/mto/english2.html

http://www.tenant.net/Other_Areas/Illinois/mto/english2.html#Rent Withholding and Repair and Deduct

Whatever. Make a few more phone calls, call the better business bureau if you want. But I wouldnt waste more than an hour or two on this.

[taxi818]

---

@pennccrn wrote:

Hi guys: I wanted to just get the forum's perspective on this disputed charge I submitted through Discover. I submitted an application for a rental property, charged a $35 fee for this process (fairly customary). When I submitted the application, I received a call from the property management group that this property was no longer on the market, despite my application being accepted and still advertised on their site.  I attempted to seek a refund since I wasn't considered for this property and it was already rented to another tenant - however it wasn't honored.

I submitted a charge dispute saying under "failure to deliver on goods and services" and heard today that it wasn't granted in my favor. I know its just $35 but I don't believe I should be responsible for this since my credit was never pulled - just was told it was signed to another tenant. Just more of principal than anything else. The response in the dispute I received just was a copy of my application - didn't really address the acceptance of the application when the property was already leased.

So my question is, should I make an issue out of this - I'm inclined to just let it go. But wasn't sure if anyone else had a perspective ...

Thanks! Nothing personal with this company, its just business.

---

Keep in mind. its and application fee. It is not dependent on you being approved for the apartment. And They are correct. you have no leg to stand on. even if no apartments were available at all. you would have to pay application fee. so if one did come up in the future. you would not have to do anything except accept the apt or not.

[Wovenyarn]

I would take 5 minutes and submit a BBB complaint about the rental company. My experience is that companies that previously ignore you, are quick to respond to your concerns in this manner. It doesn't matter how much it is. It's bad business.

[dethkultur]

---

@Wovenyarn wrote:
I would take 5 minutes and submit a BBB complaint about the rental company. My experience is that companies that previously ignore you, are quick to respond to your concerns in this manner. It doesn't matter how much it is. It's bad business.

---

In this case, the BBB would resolve it in the business' favor and no one would ever see the complaint. Trust me on that one. Not because the BBB sucks, but because the company did nothing wrong.

If you want to hurt them, better to complain on Yelp, or maybe Zillow if they let you. Google places. Or hell, name names here in this forum. Social media is where to hurt them if you have a grudge. It's real estate so complain on a map, because all real estate searches start with a google search and include a map search these days. All it would do is make you feel better and turn some people away from them if that's your goal. It's not going to get your money back or help you find an apartment though.