Situation with rent/apt manager

[somegirl30]

I wasn't sure which forum to post this in, but here it is.

 

I'll start by saying that on Dec. 23rd I was going out of town so I went ahead and dropped my rent check (due every month on the 1st) at the office and post-dated it Jan. 1st. Nobody is ever there when you drop your check and we're supposed to put it in this slot. I ignorantly thought since I post-dated it, it wouldn't be cashed till the 1st.

 

I have my check directly deposited and am paid on the 1st as well. Well, after I got back into town there was a note on my door saying my check was returned. I called the bank and they told me they attempted to cash the check Dec. 28th. So now I had to pay the rent as well as NSF and late fees and had to pay with a money order. Well, I didn't have the money then for all of that. In hind-sight I should have paid what I could then and paid the rest when I got paid, but I didn't. A week or so later there was another note on my door saying if I didn't pay by a certain date they were going to start eviction proceedings. I attempted to call my apartment manager twice in the next couple of days and left messages. She didn't return my calls. I got paid a couple of days after receiving the 2nd note and paid my rent and all the other fees. I left a note with it asking her to let me know she got it, but she has not gotten in contact with me at all. Well, I went on with life. It's been 4 days since I paid my rent. Well, I just now have no water. Water is a paid utility. So I'm thinking since my rent was so late they didn't pay my water bill? I did not receive any notification about this. Anyone know what I need to do?

 

Btw, while I shouldn't have been so late on rent, it has never been late before.

[OptomisticGirl]

Hoenstly? I'd be shopping around for another apartment complex because their relations with their tennants is shoddy. No way would I live in a place were I had to drop my check off every month into a slot box OR I couldn't personally get a hold of someone when calling them.

[karvala]

If I were in your position I would demand that they restore water immediately together with some compensation for the time it was off, return the money for all my late fees immediately, and then if they're really lucky, I won't sue them for fraudulantly cashing a post-dated rent check in December when there was no rent due (until 1st Jan). A contract works both ways, remember. Meanwhile, I would be sending Health and Safety officers around to a few of their other flats for fun, I would be in their office literally screaming in front of other potential customers until they ran out of the office, and generally making their lives miserable until they were more afraid of me than I was of them. In fact, I basically did that with my present letting agents, who as a result have learned to behave themselves. But then I'm vindictive towards rogue companies, of which your apartment management is undoubtledly one. You, on the other hand, might quite sensibly prefer a quieter life, in which case you could take the above suggestion to move instead.