fun with landlords

so a few weeks ago, i was on my way out of the building, and as i passed by my downstairs neighbor's door, a memo that had been tucked behind the doorknob fell to the floor. naturally, i picked it up to put it back, but as i did so, something in the re: line caught my eye: the words rent special, actually. so i read the memo before i put it back behind the neighbor's doorknob. harmless thing to do, really.

it turns out that this neighbor hadn't yet renewed her lease for next year (her current lease will, i expect, be up within a couple weeks of either may 31 or july 31). and as an incentive to renew, the management company was offering all tenants who hadn't yet renewed a special deal: come in before the end of april, and renew their leases with no increase in rent.

now, these guys had been around in january with memos about how we needed to renew our leases within something (ridiculous) like three weeks, or they'd start showing the place to prospective tenants. my lease is up august 13, but i renewed january 20, because i preferred not to have them show my apartment as i'll still be living here. the monthly rent under the new lease is $20 more than under the current lease. i didn't make a fuss at the time, because rent does increase -- everybody knows that.

but now -- now, you'd better believe i'm making a fuss. ( here's the note i sent to the property manager. )

( and here's his reply. )

( and, finally, here's my latest response. )