Edit: Oh Janene. I was prepared to just leave you the blank 1-star review you deserved for your…read moreillegal business practices and just move on with my life. But see, now I have to share my story because your response reminded me how terrible you are.
Long story short - don't apply to rent with Christy Living. Janene will add surprise fees to try to increase the rent AFTER you apply and she's given access to all your financial records. Then she will tell you that you only have 24 hours to sign the lease agreement in an effort to get away with it quickly.
Minnesota Statute 82.78 prohibits rental services from advertising in a misleading way about fees, services, unit availability, or terms and conditions. Janene tried to sneakily add an extra $105 to our monthly rent for "pet rent" after we applied and were approved by her personally. Note - the application stated the rent for the property, and pet rent was not mentioned on her website, on any of her listings, or in the rental application I assume she drafted herself, given it's her business.
I inquired about a property on July 15th via your website's contact form. Your leasing agent Heidi responded the next day via email. I informed her in my first email to her we were interested in touring the unit and that we had 3 pets. She listed the fees and utilities/fees for the unit as follows: "$1850 a month-you are responsible for all utilities, snow removal and lawn care. Pets need approval."
We emailed back and forth all week with Heidi and toured the unit on the 19th and applied that same night. The instructions you're referring to on your website stated the following: "Before submitting your application, it is strongly recommended that you verify the property you desire is currently available (or has a unit meeting your needs, e.g. # of bedrooms, and amenities) by calling Christy Living at (612) 889-5100."
Using basic human logic and common sense, most people would assume that they in fact do not need to call your rental office to confirm the unit's availability and amenities given they have toured the unit, are aware it's available, and have been corresponding with your own leasing agent for over a week. We're not the ones who made a mistake. We did everything we were supposed to do to confirm the property met all our needs.
We told Heidi we applied to the property that Monday morning after we applied. Once again I mentioned my pets and offered to provide additional information about them. Once again, there was no mention of your pet rent policy. How strange! It seems like this policy only exists in your head.
You strung us along another week and then emailed us at 6:00PM on Friday the 26th informing us we were approved and that we had 24 hours to sign the lease you attached, which included the pet rent you and Heidi conveniently forgot to mention for two weeks.
You got mad when I pointed out all of this and refused to respond to my requests for more time with the lease so I could review it with an attorney. You just kept repeating over and over again it was our fault for not calling the office first to ask about a policy we weren't aware existed.
You claim you decided not to rent to us because we were "aggressive", but we all know you just didn't want to deal with someone who pointed out to you what you were doing was illegal and a result of your own ineptitude. Like a child, you stopped responding to my emails because my partner left you a 1-star review that explained this situation truthfully. It's funny how you interpret anyone criticizing your unethical practices as threatening.
I tried to smooth things over with you because you strung us along for two weeks and wasted valuable time we needed to find a new residence. Fortunately, we found a better place to live the very next day, and they actually were upfront about all their fees
My request for you to drop the surprise fees was reasonable and is backed by the law. Like a true professional you stopped responding because you'd rather find a tenant you can scam than one who makes you adhere to the law.