My experience with this company was absolutely terrible. My boyfriend and I were looking to get an apartment with his sister and her boyfriend. We responded to an add in the newspaper for a 2 bedroom apartment, only to be told that they wouldn't rent an apartment to 4 adults living together as roommates. They only rent to parents with children, or couples.
I was explaining to the woman on the phone that it was illegal for her to discriminate against us that way, when my other line rang. It was another representative from her office who told me that I was right, that it was illegal. She offered to show us a 2 bedroom 1 1/2 bathroom townhouse for only $740 a month. She said we could get our first month free and only pay $100 for our security deposit. I made an appointment to see the apartment in 2 days.
Before going to our appointment, my boyfriend and I called the rep back to tell her we had exotic pets and make sure that they would accept them. We told her that we had 2 cats, a 3 foot iguana, a 4 foot snake, and a tarantula. She said that shouldn't be a problem, so we went to see the apartment.
When we got there, she showed us an apartment that was $840 a month, not $740, then claimed she'd never told us that amount, even though I verified it with her 3 times and wrote it down during the initial phone call. She finally showed us a slightly smaller apartment for $795.
That was when she told us about the$100application fee, which was non refundable unless we were turned down. While filling out the applications, we called to ask about the criminal background check, and were told that so long as we didn't have any felonies or misdemeanors, we were fine. So, once again we took her word, finished the applications, and gave her the $200 for applications fees and a security deposit. She called back saying we could move in on the first.
A day later, she called back frantic that my boyfriend had a "drug charge, " even though it was nothing but an ordinance violation. He took a pot pipe from his little brother and got pulled over with it in his car. It was the legal equivalent of a parking ticket, but we had to spend almost an hour on the phone reassuring her that we weren't potheads.
The next day she called about the pets. She was frantic again, saying that they didn't take any reptiles besides turtles and that we couldn't keep the spider. We told her forget it, to send our money back, but she said it wouldn't be refunded because we were turning them down. If we got rid of the animals we could move in. We told her that we never would have applied if we'd known about the pet policy, and she said she'd mail us a check.
The first check was only $100 dollars and came with a letter explaining that they were only refunding the security deposit and that it wasn't their fault that their rep hadn't known about the pet policy before we applied. We had to threaten to sue to get the rest of our money back and the entire process took so long that we couldn't find another apartment. We only had two weeks to move and we ended up stuck in a tiny one bedroom trailer because it was all we could find on such short notice. My boyfriend's sister and her boyfriend couldn't find a place and had to move in with other family members.
Although the property itself was beautiful and well worth the money they charge for it, the business practices of the company itself are absolutely deplorable. I can't imagine the service being any better for the actual tenants. Stay far, far away from any property owned by Trike.
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