Meadow Creek Apartments

REF: complaint ID [redacted]
January 20, 2016
Dear [redacted],
We treat everyone the same we have printed requirements that we give every one whocomes to apply, or wishes to inquire about our Apartments. Note: we always hand themout personally. We are not required by Law to mail them out, and...

we don't! If someoneis from out of [redacted] we ask them to contact us when they get into town .. .. we do not rentto people over the phone sight unseen. (Please refer to the enclosure for ourrequirements)
The requirements will not change due to race, creed, color, or gender and so on; theserequirements have been the same for fifteen plus years, with only minor changes.I went to great lengths to explain this to the complainant [redacted], this person didnot meet the minimum requirements under Employment!As you know we are not the only apartment in this area.We use a independent screening company so to make sure everyone is treated the same.
 
Sincerely,
Dale K[redacted]/Meadow Creek Apartments

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:Sincerely,[redacted]
 
#1 Mr. K[redacted] did not go to great lengths to explain this to me over the phone.  In fact he gave a very abbreviated and brief description of his requirements and assumed I did not meet the minimum qualifications simply because I was moving from out of [redacted].  He did not even explain that he didn't rent to people out of [redacted] as legally, he can't do this anyway.  If a person has a job lined up in another [redacted] and they are searching for housing, you can't refuse to rent to them are you crazy??? What does he want people to do be homeless when they have a job to pay the rent it doesn't make any sense.  I made it clear to him that I was working in PA, moving from PA and would be starting a new job in Washington on Feb 2nd at [redacted] on Federal Way.
  I had the offer letter from [redacted] as they gave me this to get into apartments.   So instead of him taking the application, the offer letter, and running my credit report just like everybody else does, he ask me why don't I just go to Federal Way, knowing that at 11:50/hr, I would not be able to get into those places on Federal way just yet.  As most apartment complexes want you to make a certain amount, so at the [redacted] Salary this is more than enough to pay his rent of 660.00 month because Washington [redacted] does not tax you, you only pay Federal and I'll break this down later.  I could have even provided him current paystubs for the job I am working in Pennsylvania but his attitude was so dismissive he just wanted me off the phone period.  I was not screened nor provided a copy of his requirements until this complaint was filed, now I get a copy of the requirements and it's almost laughable because I do in fact, meet the minimum requirements. I have been calling around other apartments in Lakewood and actually got approved for one place with the same [redacted] job that Mr. K[redacted] denied me for.  You have to be kidding me.
#2.  First of all it is unethical for any leasing manager, landlord, or property owner to even try to control how a person progresses in life as far as their career is concerned.  You cannot have a requirement that a person has 12 months on the job or previous employment in the same field of work.  He is the only one that has that requirement.  Not on the east coast, mid-west, or even the south has this ever been done.   Since I work in the [redacted] industry, I have some expertise in this area.  Renting is not the same as financing a [redacted] or owing a property, so as long as a person is able to make their rent, that should be his number 1 concern and only concern.  It is none of his business whether a person chooses to switch careers 6 months later.  As long as their rental payments are current, that is none of his concern and it's un-ethical.   He made it clear to me using the plumber analogy that he wanted someone who would stick with being a plumber, does anyone ever stick with anything anymore??? We don't have that kind of economy where a person can just be a plumber for 10 or 20 years and retire that economy is long gone and as I said before, It has nothing to do with someone paying their rent.  He is the only person I have ever talked to even in calling around apartments even in Washington, that has that type of crazy requirement.  The only time a landlord or property owner can make that type of requirement is if the tenant is BUYING the property I.E. taking a loan from a Bank or if it is a RENT TO OWN SITUATION.  Because owning and financing is clearly different than renting and they have different requirements and circumstances. Since I am relocating to Washington, a person doesn't have time to look for a high paying job right off the bat, you have to take what you can get so you can get into an apartment, point blank and simple.  Once I would have gotten into his apartments, I would have found a better paying job because I am an educated person with work experience, so that would not have been a problem.  I can understand Mr. K[redacted] not wanting bad tenants but when you try to stifle someone with this type of requirement, you block out good people and you can't control life.  People switch jobs for different reasons, most of all is pay.  And the fact that these property owners are requiring you to make a certain amount of money, why would anyone stick with a job that doesn't pay the income that the property owners are requiring, however even though [redacted] doesn't pay a whole lot it easily qualifies for this apartment.  Easily.  Here we go.
#3  Now [redacted] pays 11.50 hr.  I am hired full-time to start Feb 2nd 2016.    Mr. K[redacted] advertised for a 1 bedroom apartment for $660.00 on Craigslist.  Now doing the math we see that:
11.50 X 80 = 920.00 Bi-weekly paycheck Gross Income  Now we take that 920.00 X 2 =  1,840.00 monthly gross income.    Since Washington does not charge [redacted] tax, I would have more than enough to pay the rent of $660.00 a month.  This is more than enough.  I would make almost triple that in a month just with the [redacted] job alone.  On top of that, I just got hired for [redacted] in downtown Tacoma for a start date of Feb 22nd.  I have the offer email from [redacted] with an annual salary of $32,000 per year.  So my work as far as qualifying for income is already done and I hadn't even set foot in the [redacted] of Washington yet  ( as I am relocating Jan 28th from Pennsylvania). 
Now as far as his argument of being on the same job for 12 months, how in the world is a person going to accomplish that when they are relocating to Washington???   And this whole requirement for previous employment in the same field of work is B.S.  Never has this been done before in the history of my renting.  It's a tool of gentrification designed to block out certain people and I will not allow it to be used as an excuse to refuse to rent to someone who otherwise is in fact qualified.  It really should be illegal to even require that of a person and more than likely it probably is.  The job at [redacted], and my current employment at [redacted] all are within the same genre.  I hold a college degree in Accounting and Business Administration and all of these jobs fall under the umbrella of Business Administration, all of them.  Mr. K[redacted] would have known this had he not been so forceful and un-professional in getting me off the phone and just proceeded with the application as he should have done, because it was my legal right to apply to the property. 
But the point being again, it doesn't matter whether a person worked in the same career field for 12 months, he doesn't get to decide that because it's not his life.  What matters is that they are working and able to make their rent at the end of the month, plain and simple.
 
#4 Mr. K[redacted] is correct.  They are not the only apartments in the area.  I recently got approved for an apartment in Lakewood for 600.00/month in rent.  This is pretty much in the same ball park that Mr. K[redacted] was charging for his apartment except he charges 660.00 a month.  Same difference if you ask me.  And all I did was use the same job [redacted], with the same offer letter, and explained my relocation situation to them.  We did the online application and I was approved so this is how I know Mr. K[redacted] was wrong in how he treated me and he deliberately refused me the right to apply to the property simply because I was relocating people do this all the time.  Now he is trying to say he explained that he doesn't rent to people moving from out of [redacted], NO HE DIDN'T. 
So in conclusion, the real problem is that Mr. K[redacted] simply didn't feel like renting to a person moving into Washington from out of [redacted].  He's running a business and in a business a customer can come from all walks of life and have different circumstances but if that customer can show he has a job, can pay rent, and provide personal information to you, it's cut and dry.  My circumstances were pretty cut and dry and he should have accommodated me and allowed me to apply for this property, not make up a bunch of excuse about a person not being qualified when in fact clearly I am.