HOUSTON: A Senior Facility with a built-in activity

Big Bass Resort: A Senior Facility with a built-in activity

A Senior Facility with great prices and fishing. Wow, what a concept! Even better than the idea are the prices*:

Type...........Price /mo.......Size (sf)....Washer/Dryer

1 Bedroom...$304-695..........668........Full machines.
2 Bedrooms..$508-815.........928........Full machines.
† Plus Electric

*Want more info...call John at 866-285-2100 & earn a free Gift Card when you lease. Prices are set by the apartment management company and are subject to change.

GENERAL INFORMATION: The Dirty Secret about Evictions

The Dirty Secret About Evictions

Chances are, before you even go to court to fight your Eviction, the apartment complex has already marked your Rental History with "Evicted" on it.

This act can cause most complexes not to rent to you. Some will rent to you after you have paid off the complex. Some will rent to you after a couple of years of good rental history (but where are you going to get "good rental history" when most places won't rent to you).

My suggestion is you rent from family or a friend and document everything - your lease, your payments, EVERYTHING. So when you want to move again, you will have the documentation ready. If your eviction was due to a job loss, medical problem, or natural disaster (like Hurricane Ike) then you will have an easier time finding subsequent housing but you will need a great apartment locator in your corner.

What happens if you are Evicted a second time. To quote one of my favorite movies "Mickey Blue Eyes" - 'forget-about-it'. You are toast. You better go private and hope you can find somebody to rent to you.

The dirty secret about Evictions is an eviction causes the complex about $5,000 to process the paperwork (attorney expense, court costs, lost rent, time and trouble) and the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

Get evicted once and you could have a reason. Twice - 'forget-about-it'.

GENERAL INFORMATION: Gift Card Policy

My Gift Card Policy

I've had a lot of questions lately on my Gift Card policy. I do list on the notes I send out what is required for you to get a Free Gift Card and I'll repeat them here:

I would appreciate it if you let me know as your status changes - that is my reason for

providing the FREE GIFT CARD. I send out periodic e-mails so you can report your status to me.

3 STEPS FOR YOUR FREE GIFT CARD...

1. Fill in Apt. Guest Cards & Applications with JOHN AT THE APARTMENT STORE in the

referred by block.

2. CALL OR EMAIL JOHN AT THE APARTMENT STORE when you sign your lease; I need to know

the complex, the unit, and projected move-in date.

3. At move in, call or e-mail JOHN AT THE APARTMENT STORE with your new address (some

times the unit number changes and I don't want to send a gift card to the wrong address).

TO DOWNLOAD & PRINT MY BUSINESS CARD WITH THESE STEPS ON IT - just copy this link below & paste it in your browser:

http://www.24x7aptfind.com/uploads/PDF_24x7AptFind_Biz_Card.pdf

The Free Gift Card comes out of my pocket; I do it as a way of saying Thank You for your business. I do wait until the complex pays me my commission (I'm not made out of money and I have to wait). Some complexes pay promptly (within 10 days). Most pay at 30 to 45 days. A few take 60 to 90 days.

GENERAL INFORMATION: Administration Fees: commonly called Admin. Fees

What is an Admin. Fee anyway?

I get this question all the time. People know what a deposit is, a pet deposit, and an application fee but the practice of an Administrative Fee is somewhat newer. The fee was designed to add "non refundable" dollars to the complexes bottom line. I feel that the privacy requirements caused some of these fees.

But these administration fees or admin fees have created an "industry joke". The joke is "what's another name for Admin Fees?". The person usually responds "Administration Fee". Then you say "No - Profit".

HOUSTON: No Soup For You!

A Famous Seinfeld Episode, The Soup Nazi, coined this phrase.

I could have quoted "Mickey Blue Eyes" and 'forget-about-it' but this seemed to fit my list of apartment things never to do or many complexes will never have any apartments for you.

In order of bad to worse are these:

• A Broken Lease
• Two Broken Leases
• An Eviction
• A Misdemeanor
• A Violent Misdemeanor
• A deferred adjudication for a felony
• A bad check or DWI Felony
• Any other felony but one causing harm to another person or property
• More than one non-violent felonies
• A felony causing harm to property
• A felony causing harm to a person
• A felony resulting in the accidental death of another
• More than one violent felonies
• A felony resulting in the death of another
• A sex crime
• A child crime
• A child/sex crime

Is my list 100% correct - probably not. I'm sure there are circumstances that would cause your problem to move up or down in this list. But I'm sure of one thing, if you have any of these, you need a trained apartment locator helping you.

I can be reached M-Saturday at 281-681-3434 or at 866-285-2100. Felons should check out my site devoted to Apartment Locating for Felons - www.aptfindfelons.com and other issues should be directed to my other site - www.24x7aptfind.com.

DALLAS: What's worse - a Felony or an Eviction

Both mean NO DON'T BOTHER US to about 90% of Apartment Complexes

It's like asking you - which is worse, a broken leg or a broken arm -- both hurt. Both will hurt your chances of renting in the future. I really think less places will accept you with an unpaid off Eviction than with a felony. If you pay off the Eviction and you have a good story (like a roommate skipped out on you or it was caused by medical problems) then many apartment complexes will work with you.

But if you owe an apartment complex money, then you really only have the 3rd tier of properties that will accept you UNLESS YOU HAVE SIGNIFICANT GOOD RENTAL HISTORY AFTER THE EVICTION AND A GOOD STORY TO TELL.

At least that's the story in the DFW Metroplex. If you do have an Eviction or a Felony (deferred adjudication or conviction) then you do you the help of a trained apartment locator, like myself. I offer this service Free to my clients, the apartment complexes pay for my services.

You can contact me at my e-mail or at 866-285-2100.

GENERAL INFORMATION: Be careful what you Blog or Tweet Part 3

Twitter Lawsuit by Horizon now considered one of the top 10 PR blunders of all time.

Do I need to say more? I didn't think so, but the real issue isn't who was right or wrong, it is how to deal with negative publicity. Is a very public lawsuit the way in the world of social networking?

Apartments get a bad rap all the time. If you read the reviews of most apartment complexes on the Internet, they are unfavorable - BECAUSE USUALLY THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT REVIEW THE APARTMENTS ARE THE ONES THAT ARE TICKED OFF ABOUT SOMETHING.

GENERAL INFORMATION: Be careful what you Blog or Tweet Part 2

When in a Hole - STOP DIGGING!

The original TWEET was seen by 15 to 20 people. Now comes the lawsuit and the news will hit 15 to 20 million or more.

Am I the only one that thinks the property management company BLEW IT - BIGTIME. No, I'm not, read this excerpt:

The Tweet in question -- "Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it's okay." -- originally reached about 15 or 20 of Bonnen's Twitter followers, according to reports. Considering that the story about the landlord's lawsuit is now in top-ranking news clusters on aggregator Web sites like Google News and Techmeme, one has to suspect that, well, quite a few more people are now seeing the words "Horizon Group Management" and "moldy apartment" in fairly close proximity.

But another lesson from this fairly ridiculous affair may be the one about finding yourself in a hole -- at this point, Horizon Group Management's Jeffrey Michael just may want to reconsider the wisdom of digging.

Speaking to Lisa Donovan of the (Chicago) Sun-Times, Michael had this to say about his company's decision to seek $50,000 in damages from Benen: "We're a sue-first, ask-questions-later kind of an organization."

Probably not what most renters are looking for in a landlord.

IN MY OPINION, HORIZON BLEW IT. I think it is time for Horizon to drop the case and get this off the front pages.

GENERAL INFORMATION: Be careful what you Blog or Tweet

Be careful what you Blog or Tweet - The Apt May Sue You!

Be careful and factual when you put it in writing. Even on Twitter - maybe especially on your Blog or on Twitter.

See the following news excerpt or click on the link below:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/landlord-sues-tenant-after-tweet-about-moldy-apartment.ars

Those 140-character "microblog" posts to Twitter don't constitute much more than links, dinner recipes, and bitching, right? Be careful with the bitching, though—a property management company in Chicago has filed a lawsuit against a tenant who tweeted an off-the-cuff comment about the company. The company, Horizon Group Management, says that the Twitter user in question sent the message maliciously, and is now asking for $50,000 in damages.

Yikes $50,000! That's no bird feed.