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Old 07-28-2006, 06:10 AM   #1 (permalink)
Misanthropic
 
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Location: Ohio! yay!
I was discriminated against yesterday.

Because of my car!

I have been looking for an apartment now for a good month or so, and I thought I had found a nice one. Literally 30 seconds from work, Nice complex, very nice apartments.

Well, the first time I went to look around, they took me all over the place in a little golf cart, and showed me all the floor plans, and where everything was at. The lady was very nice, and it seemed like this was where I was going to live. She did tell me they had a 'car policy' and that your car couldn't have any rust, large dents, or any major damage. Mine does not. My car does have some sun spots on the roof where the paint is fading. I didn't think it was a problem.

I went back yesterday to talk to them once more, and pick up a credit app, and get some more info, and the woman (different from the first) told me that she didn't think I was right for their apartment complex. I said "Excuse me?" She then told me that my car was not up to the standards of cars belonging to the people that they liked to rent to, and that to be 'considered' to live there, at the very least I would have to get it painted. I said I'll consider it, then walked away, got into my crappy 1993 Geo Storm and drove away.

That sucked. The apt was damn nigh perfect, and now I just can't see myself painting my car just so I can live somewhere. Maybe I'll live in my car...

The other 'close by' apartments I looked at were ok, out of the three I looked at, one had a 4 year waiting list for a 1 bedroom, and the 2 bedrooms were $750 One was nice, but the only one they had until the middle of September was on the third floor the last one that I looked at that was close to work was one of those things, where if I was going to be living by myself I could have only made something like $25,000 a year. I would have had to be like 5 people to live there. The only other one I liked was about 10 minutes away from work, they only had a 2 bedroom. and it was about $650 a month (kind of high, but not too bad)

I still can't believe that I was told I wasn't the right kind of person to rent from them. I have a good job, I make more than enough money to live there, I was seconds from work, I am a good tenant, I don't have crazy parties until the wee morning hours, I have no pets, I am (mostly) tidy... pissed me off.

Is that even legal?
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Last edited by Crack; 07-28-2006 at 06:15 AM..
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Old 07-28-2006, 06:13 AM   #2 (permalink)
Junkie
 
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Location: The True North Strong and Free!
I bet she got duped by the Nigerian Scam and just holds ill will to you because you figured it out.
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Old 07-28-2006, 06:30 AM   #3 (permalink)
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Location: Some nucking fut house.
Remember "I'll paint any car for ninetynine ninetyfive" ads?

I'd be this is the tip of the iceberg though. If they are this anal about your car's finish, what else are they going to use to dictate why you can or can't live there.
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Old 07-28-2006, 06:33 AM   #4 (permalink)
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a 2 bedroom for 750??? Where do you live? I'm moving...
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Old 07-28-2006, 06:33 AM   #5 (permalink)
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sure it's legal. Their house, their rules. Sounds like this is a more upscale community. Why would they want to see some beat up old Storm with spotchy paint parked next to their Acura? You'd agree that they can prevent you from parking your UPS truck or your semi or your dump truck in their parking lot right? They can prevent you from parking anything they want. Hell they can close off the whole parking lot to any cars at all if they want.

The only question is, are you willing to do what's necessary in order to live there? If the apartments are as nice as you say then 1) you can probably afford to get a different car and 2) you can certainly afford to get a quick MAACO respray that will get you in the door.
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Old 07-28-2006, 06:34 AM   #6 (permalink)
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Heh, as a 'non-car' person I find it pretty funny. I can understand their point, but to me a car is just a way to get from one place to another. My car has dents, scrapes, and I wash it once a year maybe once every other year.

Still you can understand that they want to maintain an image and a lot of people judge people/places by the cars there. Hell I know if I were looking for an appartment and when I pulled in the lot I saw a lot of beater cars I'd have a negative impression of the place, and I don't even care what my own car looks like.
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Old 07-28-2006, 06:45 AM   #7 (permalink)
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Location: Ohio! yay!
all good points. still, it angers me

I do the same thing Ustwo, even though my car is basically a POS that gets me from point a to point c (with a small detour to point b for some food) I still look at the other cars parked in the parking lot to get an impression of the standards of the apartments. Elitist bastards.
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Old 07-28-2006, 06:49 AM   #8 (permalink)
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just for grins and chuckles.. check out what residents of the complex say about the apartment -- go to www.apartmentratings.com - just wondering how the management actually treats the tenants
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Old 07-28-2006, 06:57 AM   #9 (permalink)
Misanthropic
 
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Location: Ohio! yay!
Quote:
Originally Posted by maleficent
just for grins and chuckles.. check out what residents of the complex say about the apartment -- go to www.apartmentratings.com - just wondering how the management actually treats the tenants
sadly, it's not listed
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Old 07-28-2006, 07:00 AM   #10 (permalink)
pinche vato
 
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Location: backwater, Third World, land of cotton
It does suck, but it is legal. Grancey and I once tried to rent a house in Ames, Iowa and the owner interviewed potential tenants like it was a job opening. He told us how many applicants he had and that he would pick someone from that "pool." We didn't get it. We, too, were perfect for the place, but we had *GASP* Southern accents.

At this point, you have to ask yourself if you'd have been happy with such shitty landlords and neighbors anyway. May be for the best.
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Old 07-28-2006, 07:01 AM   #11 (permalink)
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it's listed. you're looking under the wrong zip code, i'm sure. http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate...lage-East.html

and for the record, I think they're crappy apartments. definitely not the nicest in the area by far.
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Old 07-28-2006, 07:03 AM   #12 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Location: bedford, tx
you could only make a case of discrimination if you can provide proof that there are cars there that look worse than yours. IF you can do that, you could take a case to court.

I don't know a thing about you (race, gender, etc.) but if this complex is using the condition of your car to pick and choose who it rents to....well, it wouldn't be the kookiest thing I've heard of.
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Old 07-28-2006, 07:06 AM   #13 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shoegirl2219
it's listed. you're looking under the wrong zip code, i'm sure. http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate...lage-East.html

and for the record, I think they're crappy apartments. definitely not the nicest in the area by far.
Review o the place from one tenant
Quote:
If you want to live somewhere that will tow your car because it has a little bit of rust on the side of it be my guest but if this sounds a little bit crazy to you don't live here!!!! Also, there has been many car break-in's and nothing has ever been done about it.
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Old 07-28-2006, 08:09 AM   #14 (permalink)
Junkie
 
When I moved in to my apartment I was surprised they didn't say anything about my 1991 Corsica that I drove at the time that looked like crap. Now I drive a 1998 Malibu that looks brand new. When I get home at night and park next to the neighbors late 80's Mercury Sable that has two windows broken out of it, looks like it has been in about five fender benders, and is riding on two space saver spare tires, I find myself wishing my apartment complex had some higher standards. I know it's hypocritical considering the P.O.S. I drove for so long, but the cars parked out front do convey an image almost as much as the buildings and facilities themselves.
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Old 07-28-2006, 08:24 AM   #15 (permalink)
... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.
 
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They sell Mercedes Benz car covers at the dealership. Just cover your lovely Geo whenever you park, and that will be that. Yes, they're all horrible assholes, but it's a good apartment. Fight for it! WWMD...What Would McGuyver Do?
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Old 07-28-2006, 08:46 AM   #16 (permalink)
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Location: L.A. L.A. land
Think of it as the nice clubs in Vegas or whatever. last year I went there with a group, and we all planned to meet at some new trendy club with *gasp* a dress code! And of course at least one of the guys wasn't allowed in because he was wearing tennis shoes. Also the rest of his clothes were just barely making the cut as well, I'm sure. He was bitching and complaining, but you know what? It was time for the boy to grow up and start wearing clothes that present an appropriate image of him--he's an educated professional with a good job, and a more than decent salary. Its fine to not be materialistic, and want to dress like a high-schooler if one wants to, but don't be surprised to be treated like one.

For the record though, in my mind it's much more about how clean and well-taken care of something is--clothes, car, living quarters, etc. than about superficials. Although I suppose a paint job could be viewed as maintenance.
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Old 07-28-2006, 08:56 AM   #17 (permalink)
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Location: Bay Area, California
What if you parked your car a block or two away from the apartment complex? 30 seconds from work, you could just walk there... carrying groceries mght be a bitch but you could also (quickly) pull up, unload and drive off.
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Old 07-28-2006, 09:05 AM   #18 (permalink)
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Location: Central Coast CA
I wonder if you rent or borrow a nice car, pull up with that and try again, then switch back to your old car. Sorry you got a bum rap.

Quote:
Originally Posted by willravel
WWMD...What Would McGuyver Do?
Something with a toothpick, a rubber band, a gun with no bullets, a sugar packet, some bullets...
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Old 07-28-2006, 06:13 PM   #19 (permalink)
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Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town
Nah... like somebody else said, if they're that anal, you've just seen the tip of the crazy iceberg. You're better off.
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Old 07-28-2006, 08:06 PM   #20 (permalink)
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Location: Out on a wire.
It seems a foolish reason not to rent to someone otherwise qualified, but then again I'm not the kind of person who generally goes to clubs or restaurants, as Sultana described, that have a dress code. I just don't feel comfortable in places like that.

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Old 07-28-2006, 10:25 PM   #21 (permalink)
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I haven't spent a lot of time in the US where face control was much of an issue, but when I lived in Moscow, it was just a fact of life everywhere we went all the time. Restaurants, bars, clubs, stores, hotels. If you didn't cut it, you didn't get in, period. That applied to clothing, grooming or simply how subjectively hot you were in the eyes of the bouncer (or, in our case, how American we looked=money in the bank).

People get cut out all the time for all kinds of fairly stupid reasons if you step back and look at it, but image is too important for businesses. They spend lots of time and pay lots of money to create and maintain their image and if they decide, for whatever reason, that you don't mesh with the image, they're wasting that time and money by keeping you around.

It was strange for me when I first ran into it, as I imagine it felt weird for you when they rejected you, but it's definitely out there and it's not as rare as you'd think, it just sometimes hangs out in places and ways that you don't expect.
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Old 07-29-2006, 05:54 AM   #22 (permalink)
pinche vato
 
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Location: backwater, Third World, land of cotton
Grancey says my memory of the Ames, Iowa selective house is all wrong, so there's no telling what really happened at this point. Somebody give her a yogurt and bribe her to tell how it all went down.

I'm down with that, as the kids say. See, I like kids. Really, I do. i cn evn tlk lik em 2.
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Old 07-29-2006, 02:54 PM   #23 (permalink)
 
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Location: Waterloo, Ontario
Out of curiosity, do you think they would have rented you the apartment if you didn't have a car at all?
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Old 07-29-2006, 09:57 PM   #24 (permalink)
32 flavors and then some
 
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Location: Out on a wire.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frosstbyte
I haven't spent a lot of time in the US where face control was much of an issue, but when I lived in Moscow, it was just a fact of life everywhere we went all the time. Restaurants, bars, clubs, stores, hotels. If you didn't cut it, you didn't get in, period. That applied to clothing, grooming or simply how subjectively hot you were in the eyes of the bouncer (or, in our case, how American we looked=money in the bank).

People get cut out all the time for all kinds of fairly stupid reasons if you step back and look at it, but image is too important for businesses. They spend lots of time and pay lots of money to create and maintain their image and if they decide, for whatever reason, that you don't mesh with the image, they're wasting that time and money by keeping you around.

It was strange for me when I first ran into it, as I imagine it felt weird for you when they rejected you, but it's definitely out there and it's not as rare as you'd think, it just sometimes hangs out in places and ways that you don't expect.
Huh. I've never heard of "face control". I don't think I'd want to go someplace that rejected people based on superficial factors like that. It isn't sour grapes so much as I'd feel out of place going anywhere knowing that others weren't allowed in merely because some bouncer didn't think they were good looking enough.

For example, when we used to live in LA, Grace once got us passes to eat at the Club 33 restaurant in Disneyland where her father's medical office has a corporate membership. I felt very uncomfortable there the whole time, as if it was a place that I didn't belong, knowing that I got in solely because of my association with Grace's family, who are the kind of people who belong in a place like that.

We haven't gone back since, instead using the public access restaurants that anybody can visit. That's where I belong. I don't want to be where I'm not wanted and not welcome.

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Old 07-30-2006, 04:09 PM   #25 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crack
Because of my car!

I have been looking for an apartment now for a good month or so, and I thought I had found a nice one. Literally 30 seconds from work, Nice complex, very nice apartments.

Well, the first time I went to look around, they took me all over the place in a little golf cart, and showed me all the floor plans, and where everything was at. The lady was very nice, and it seemed like this was where I was going to live. She did tell me they had a 'car policy' and that your car couldn't have any rust, large dents, or any major damage. Mine does not. My car does have some sun spots on the roof where the paint is fading. I didn't think it was a problem.

I went back yesterday to talk to them once more, and pick up a credit app, and get some more info, and the woman (different from the first) told me that she didn't think I was right for their apartment complex. I said "Excuse me?" She then told me that my car was not up to the standards of cars belonging to the people that they liked to rent to, and that to be 'considered' to live there, at the very least I would have to get it painted. I said I'll consider it, then walked away, got into my crappy 1993 Geo Storm and drove away.

That sucked. The apt was damn nigh perfect, and now I just can't see myself painting my car just so I can live somewhere.

I still can't believe that I was told I wasn't the right kind of person to rent from them. I have a good job, I make more than enough money to live there, I was seconds from work, I am a good tenant, I don't have crazy parties until the wee morning hours, I have no pets, I am (mostly) tidy... pissed me off.

Is that even legal?
I sense a lot of "Ya can't tell me what to do!" in this.

Being somewhat of an iconoclast myself, I can sympathize. But that attitude has costs as well as benefits. If I liked the place, I would just pay somebody to paint the roof of my car, and let go of the attitude.
I have a 1984 AMC Eagle with 120k+ miles on it. I got it from my granddad who bought it new. It is the epitome of dorkiness, but looks like a two year old car. A couple of years ago the manager of the complex where I lived left a note on it saying that it was leaking oil and if I didn't get it fixed I could no longer park in the lot. Just like you, I was pissed at the unfairness, injustice, and discrimination of it all. Why should he care? It was my car that leaked, not his. But it was his parking lot. I looked in the lease, and leaking oil was SPECIFICALLY mentioned. I pissed, moaned, and bitched for a week. Then I got it fixed. Rear main seal--whatever that is. Cost almost $300.
Discrimination? Yes, but not illegal discrimination. I discriminate every time I choose Diet Coke instead of Diet Pepsi. When I cheer for the Red Sox instead of the Yankees. Owners of crappy cars are not a "protected group," and no one is forcing you to paint the car "just to live somewhere," though you might have to paint it to live in a specific complex. The same way you might have to dress up to go to a specific club. (Great comparison, Sultana.)
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Old 07-30-2006, 08:18 PM   #26 (permalink)
Junkie
 
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Location: In the middle of the desert.
Discrimination is only illegal if it is on the basis of race, religious affiliation, gender, or sexual preference. People with crappy cars are not a protected class. Borrow somebody's car for visits until you get a lease signed...
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Old 07-31-2006, 07:31 AM   #27 (permalink)
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Location: Seattle, WA
I'd initially be pissed that they were 'discriminating.'

But just like clubs that tell me my tie isn't acceptable or that my shoes are the wrong color, I'd remember that I hate being in such close proximity to such elitist close-minded assholes and that it's better for both of us.
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