Well, the leasing company of my boyfriend's apartment, Hendersen-Webb has outdone itself again. We got through the undeserved drama they caused us last month. We decided to be smart, and from then on, send our payments to them delivery confirmation. You'd think a certified post office stamp, delivery confirmation number, and verification from the U.S.P.S. web site that the payment reached its destination April 3 would be enough. Their requirement is that rent reaches them on or by April 5.
We had definitely sent our payment in on time, and the check was cashed. We thought it was a done deal.
Nope. My boyfriend received a brief letter on Friday stating that we owe them a $45 late fee, because the payment was posted April 7. The date they decide to post the damn payment to the bank is NOT our problem. Correct? Our responsibility, in my estimation, is supposed to end as tenants, once our payment reaches them. We can no more influence when they decide to post it, than we can control the weather.
What kind of B.S. is this? He was livid, literally shaking with anger and frustration as he wrote a letter to this (probably fictitious) P.F. Delaney the customer service reps. kept telling us we must address in writing, in order to get any resolution. Again, my boyfriend was refused the right to speak to a manager and told it was their policy. He was so upset, and this agent kept on speaking like a well-practiced drone. Furthermore, the customer service rep. was hostile to him from the get-go and kept stating that he was late on his payment and thus had to pay the fee, refusing to listen to anything he said. She wouldn't even so much as agree to accept and look at his fax with the attached U.S.P.S. proof.
This is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! How can this company continue to get away with blatant wrong-doings? It's obvious to my boyfriend and I, that this continues to happen so much, and to so many people -- that it has to be on purpose in order to pad certain people's wallets in the company. Imagine how much they stand to make, if they do this to quite a few people each month. Maybe they alternate, so that no one can really be sure of their ruse?
Please, for any of you who read this, pass on the word that you should NEVER rent from Hendersen-Webb, a major owner of many apartment complexes in Columbia, Maryland, Baltimore, and other areas. Do your research first. I just want to save others the heartache and headaches.
We are stuck with Hendersen-Webb until the fall, and even then, we're afraid of how things will be once we move out. I did some research and came across the case Spencer vs. Hendersen-Webb, which is about a tenant having paid up on rent and vacated an apartment, thinking she was good-to-go, only to find out later that her credit was lobotomized, because Hendersen-Webb had claimed she hadn't paid all that she owed.
I also suggested to my boyfriend this weekend that we take advantage of our military benefits and seek legal assistance from the office at nearby Fort Meade. Maybe they can advise us. We are gathering our evidence. Recently I researched how to file in small claims court, and the data I found suggested to me that this is another route he can take. He's reticent to go that far, but I think there is no other option than to try to achieve some vindication for what he's suffered by simply being an on-time paying renter and being raped hand-over-foot for extra money, for no cause.
We found out from a lady at the post office that we would be better sending our payments return receipt and certified mail, because although delivery confirmation shows that an item is delivered to the recipient, it requires no signature -- whereas the others do require signatures to take ownership of an item or package, which may hold up in court better.
A search on the free Maryland Judiciary Case Search resulted in this: "The result set exceeds the limit of 500 records. Please narrow your search." Maybe that number of cases is average for any leasing company throughout the years, but I can't help wondering how many of the people involved in those cases were innocent victims like us.
Friday, right after we received the ominous letter that immediately put a damper on our just beginning weekend, my boyfriend wrote a letter, copied the documents of proof from the post office and faxed all of it to Hendersen-Webb. Then, he took the same contents of said fax and mailed them return receipt and certified to this supposed P.F. Delaney (man, woman, who knows - I even researched this person using every tool I had and hardly found more than two phone numbers and an address). In the letter, my guy stated the plain truth, in so many words: That he should not be expected to pay the $45, because our payment did arrive in plenty of time. I mean, facts are facts. Why should it be so hard for him to get treated amicably by a company he makes good with on a monthly basis?
So, now the question is, "What does he do?" Try to get a response on the letter and hopefully get the fee waived, or worry that they will decline his request to remove the late fee and then, on top of that, add a further fee, because the late fee was not remitted on time.
I'd also like to get a lawyer, but, unfortunately, I don't think that is a service we can afford right now.
Complaints from other tenants, past and present.
