To those looking for housing in the St. Paul area, if I can give you one piece of advice it is to stay AWAY from Bigos Management. I recently visited 8 properties in the St. Paul area in the span of one day (moving from the east coast), and all visits were scheduled prior. I had communicated to each property that they were one of multiple I would be visiting that day, and that I was therefore not ready to commit to anything prior to visiting each location. After a massive search online, I was really looking forward to visiting The Kendrick & MacLaren Hill apartments in particular. Prior to my visit, The Kendrick strongly encouraged me to fill out an application online for the apartment, sot that this portion of the paperwork would already be done in case I was still interested in the apartment after seeing it in person. This made sense, and so I filled out the application, paying a standard $35 non-refundable application fee. On the day of my visit, I was very disappointed with the rude personality of the assistant property manager I had been communicating with, but nonetheless liked the apartment and was strongly considering renting it. While in the office, the manager urged me to sign the lease right there and then (despite the fact that my application was still pending as she was waiting on paperwork from my previous employer). I kindly reminded her that I had 7 more properties to look at throughout the remainder of the day and so was not yet ready to sign a lease (as I had already communicated prior). She seemed to understand this, and stated that she would let me know when my application was finalized. I received an e-mail later on that day to inform me that my application had been approved, and I took the night to sleep on things. The next day, I ended up choosing a different property over The Kendrick, although it had been between these two. Before I could make any phone calls, I received an e-mail from B
igos management thanking me for a payment of $300 on my application to The Kendrick. Having not authorized this charge, I called the manager to calmly ask her about the origin of the charge and explain my confusion. Her response was that upon approval of my application, I automatically gave them permission to deduct a security deposit of $300 from my bank account.
She claimed that she had clearly mentioned this the day prior during my visit, which she had not. I apologized for any miscommunication, and explained that this had not been a part of our conversation. Perhaps she forgot to mention it? Either way, I informed her that I had ultimately decided to go with a different location. Her response was that by not renting with them, I would forfeit the $300 that they had just deducted out of my account. Dumfounded, I then called my mom (who had been with me the day prior during the tour and in The Kendrick's leasing office), who also firmly agreed that there had been no mention of any $300 fee and no mention of forfeiture of this fee should I elect to not rent with them. In an attempt to relay my feelings calmly, I wrote an e-mail to the assistant property manager. Within the e-mail I again clearly stated that I had not authorized the charge, that I felt there was a serious lack of communication, and that I felt that I had been stolen from. I relayed that light of their behavior I would definitely not be renting from them and asked them clearly and directly to reverse the charge that I had not authorized. I received a response later that day informing me that 'unfortunately when you cancel an application, you do forfeit the deposit as was stated' to me the day prior during my tour (again, this was NEVER stated at all let alone made clear). No mention of cancelling the $300 charge was made and there were no apologies for any miscommunication or wrong-doing on their part.
As a young professional who has moved many times and worked with a multitude of rental companies, I have NEVER worked with a rental company who won't allow an applicant to apply for an apartment without first making them commit to a deposit immediately upon approval, especially without ensuring that they are clearly aware of this. In my opinion, this is extremely poor business practice. Furthermore, it is theft. Not only did they charge me without my authorization and not communicate effectively, I cannot possibly understand how they lost business or money (at least not enough to total $300) from taking an apartment off the market for less than 12 hours. The entire situation is completely absurd. As a result of Bigos management's behavior and response to this matter, in an attempt to prevent them from stealing money from others in an attempt to force those others to rent with them, I ask you to please not do business with this company. Their tactics are predatory, disgusting, and criminal. read more