The Hardy Boys and the Fuckers at Fountain Court

Fountain Court is the overpriced apartment complex that despite being one of many properties owned by a larger corporation doesn't accept direct deposit (or really any modern method of payment that is not a scam) located in Belltown, home to some crackheads and a lot of drunk people that are a bit too old for my interest.

Sometime during the bronze age, or maybe during the reign of the Roman Empire, people paid rent using paper checks that they had to drop off in a deposit box at the beginning of every month.  My failure to adequately grasp this ancient relic of money transfer is the reason I was frequently late on payments and had to pay an extra 10 percent.  That was my fault.

The apartment complex has twice gone back on verbal agreements.  That is their fault.  One time, it was a girl in the office accepting my payment.  Some other bitch called me a week later telling me that even though they found nothing wrong with my personal check and even though they had accepted it in person, they were choosing to not accept it as a matter of policy and I had 12 hours to scramble together a money order for an amount far larger than standard ATM transfer limits.

The second time, I talked to a guy in the office about moving out on September 10th, me being tired of this history lesson with the paper checks.  He said he was new and he'd have to ask his managers.  This guy called me later to say that it was fine;  I could pay $X which was the prorated rent for 10 days of September and if I could just bring the check and a written notice of moving out I would be all set.  So I dropped off the check Friday afternoon.

Friday night, I nearly put down $1000 on another apartment starting September.  I was pretty pissed that the guy showing the apartment didn't tell me someone else had already put money down before I drove all the way up there.  Turns out, if I had gotten the apartment, I'd have some financial issues with the apartment double booking.  Then on Saturday I received a phone call from someone else in the Fountain Court office saying that her boss said "no way."  WHAT THE FUCK.

My renewal agreement from last year does say it can only be modified in writing, but who hands out verbal agreements they intend to break?  The person to called me on Saturday offered me 12 and 8 month contracts (both better than the 15 month I'm currently getting out of) for a higher price than I pay now, sounding kind of surprised that I didn't want to stay there.  I mean, who doesn't like being lied to?  I made it clear several times that I will be going month to month and moving out as soon as I can do so without violating a contract.

The office screwed up the renewal offer for the end of my lease this year.  They normally send out an "offer" that raises your rent by like $200 if you don't sign a new lease and just go month to month.  This year, I first received a renewal offer for someone else (who has lower rent than I do) and then I received one for me but a month early and with the wrong information regarding the end of my lease.

I've talked to friends elsewhere.  They have all said that after the first year, their rent does not go up when the lease lapses into month to month.  I find that interesting.  Also, the renewal offer has text like "if you do not reply, we will take that as acceptance of the [higher] month to month rate."  This reminds me of something in business law 101.  I checked the terms of my renewal agreement.  It doesn't say anything about them being able to unilaterally raise the rent on you.  It is my theory that they use these "renewal offers" to jack up the price (since you accept the price without replying) and no one realizes they have the option to respond and say "I don't accept the jacked up price, you scheming fuckbags.  I'll take the month-to-month rental price I earned by being stuck here for 15 months."

I have not tested this theory.  My current place is to find out how much I need to pay month-to-month for September, write my last check, and get the fuck out of here come October 1.  If they try to prevent me from doing that, I will lawyer up.  I really want to avoid that though.  Not only is it expensive, but lawyers always make you sign paper agreements which require stamps to mail.

Fountain Court has a facebook page...I'm tempted to post this story there shortly before I move out.  Ooh, and the better business bureau.  Admittedly this story isn't that bad--mostly just possibly-deliberate incompetence and sharp businessmanship on their part.


Moral of the story:  Seriously, I need to read Hardy Boys again.