Oh My Apartment

There all sorts of ways to wind up on a renter’s blacklist–a list of tenants that most landlords will refuse to rent to under most circumstances. It can be tough to get your name off that sort of list, even if you didn’t do anything wrong. But it isn’t impossible.

Whether leaving a job or a community where you have built a positive reputation it is never a bad idea to get a reference. Even if you think that you may not need it, you never know when you are in a situation when you wish you had it, and management may have turned over by then. Hindsight is 20/20, so have the foresight to prepare for the future.

As a general rule, landlords aren’t exactly in favor of rent controls. There are plenty of tactics they use to work around rent controls, including trying to force out current tenants so that the landlord can adjust the rent to market rates, thereby leasing to higher-paying renters.

One disadvantage for most apartment dwellers is kitchen space. One advantage for most apartment dwellers is that it makes Pampered Chef parties easy. You are completely honest in saying, “I can only buy the $1.75 orange peeler because it is the only thing that will fit in my kitchen.”

Moving can be such a crazy time — it is so easy to forget the most simple things. The old saying “If my head wasn’t screwed on, I’d forget it” rings true in situations like this. Your overnight bag of essentials that you will need immediately upon move-in really should be packed ahead of time. There is nothing like arriving at your new apartment dying for a hot shower and some sleep, knowing you can only get that as soon as you find a towel and your pillow.

Look in any newspaper these days and you’ll see a whole list of foreclosures. Not all of those foreclosures are just affecting homeowners, though.

Some of those houses were rentals, making life suddenly harder for tenants. If your landlord is losing your apartment, condo or house in a foreclosure, you still have some options.

Doing research for this week’s article, I notice that I am probably living with more roommates than I knew was imaginable. Even worse, I am sleeping with most of them. So, as I highlight the nasty story and prevention methods, I am comforted by the sound of the washing machine and the thought of the book I will be reading tonight while I am unable to sleep in my own bed.

If you turn on CNN, half the headlines you’ll hear will mention the mortgage crisis and the bailouts that the U.S. government is planning for American homeowners facing foreclosures. But there are a couple of numbers that seem to have gotten lost in the shuffle: while the planned bailouts are being paid out of everyone’s taxes, almost a third of Americans rent their homes. They’re paying into the system, but they aren’t benefiting.

When you move into an apartment complex, you get handed a big stack of papers. In that stack is almost always information on signing up with the local telecommunications and utilities companies. Some even include special deals–group rates that your complex negotiated with the company in question.

How about some cool recipes for hot days? Memorial Day is past so unofficially summer is here. The invitations that conclude with “bring a favorite dish to pass” will soon be arriving. This year, I vow that I am not going to resort to picking up the tub of baked beans or potato salad from the deli. I am going to try interesting alternatives and find new favorites.