Got ripped on my apartment lease

[Pyramix]

Just this Sunday I signed a 1 yr. lease for a 1-bedroom apartment. Today I find out that my neighbor signed a similar 1 yr lease last month for an exactly similar aparment but are paying $125 less per month than me. Question now is, what can I do? Do I ask them to lower my rent? Is there anything I can do legally? Looking for some advice.

 

[guyver01]

Prices and promos change per month... life happens.... you didn't get "ripped off"... this isn't a supermarket with price-match guarantee.

3 months ago.. i resigned a 1year lease on my townhouse... now they're advertizing "Free Steam Cleaning" for all lease renewals.

You can ask them to 'lower' your rent... but don't be surprised if they tell you "Get Bent, you signed a lease"

 

[Mike Gayner]

404 rip-off not found. The price you signed was perfectly acceptable to you last week, what's different now?

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

You agreed on a price, what difference does it make to you what someone else is paying?

 

[JEDIYoda]

Just this Sunday I signed a 1 yr. lease for a 1-bedroom apartment. Today I find out that my neighbor signed a similar 1 yr lease last month for an exactly similar aparment but are paying $125 less per month than me. Question now is, what can I do? Do I ask them to lower my rent? Is there anything I can do legally? Looking for some advice.

You can do nothing!
You were wiulling to pay what you signed the lease for. End of story.
There is no written law that says that because you live in similar flats that you have to pay the same amount as the other person!

That`s life...suck it up!!

 

[Anonemous]

Was apartment hunting the last few weeks and I noticed that the complexes had deals one week but not the next. Some were even shady to do the bait and switch to get you out there to their leasing office. At one complex I talked with a tenant who was moving in and they got $200 off their lease for a 1 bdrm. When I talked to the leasing office they offered a similar room but without the $200 discount. Some were even heavily pushing the apts saying that rooms would go fast if you didn't leave a deposit.

 

[0roo0roo]

like buying a car or bidding on ebay, it doesn't matter what someone else paid, you paid, u are stuck with the price.

 

[rcpratt]

Learn to negotiate better.

 

[DayLaPaul]

First of all, that's part of the game. The property manager's job is to try and get max value for any property, so there's nothing you can do.

Second, have you been inside the other apartment? How can you be sure it's exactly the same. Yours might have newer carpet, newer appliances, slightly better amenities, etc. These would all factor into the increased cost.

I have two 2 bedroom condos from the same complex in my portfolio. They are both 700 sq ft, but that's where the similarities end. One of them has new flooring, paint, appliances, etc. You can be damn well sure I charge more for the nicer unit.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Around here, the big apt. complexes change their rates daily, if not even more often.

They do pull the bait-and-switch a LOT too. My friend was apt hunting recently and it was driving him crazy....."Oh, I'm sorry, that rate was for ground-floor floorplan A units with views of the dumpsters. We don't have any of those available. We do have a different floorplans with lake views available for an extra $400 per month."

Anyway, sorry OP. You're SOL.

 

[Numenorean]

Well is it one of those based-on-income places? Section 8?

 

[gorcorps]

Uh... you signed a contract locking you into a certain price. There's nothing you can do about it, and there's nothing you SHOULD be able to do about it. If you could weasel out of any contract the world would go to shit.

 

[Gibson486]

Uh... you signed a contract locking you into a certain price. There's nothing you can do about it, and there's nothing you SHOULD be able to do about it. If you could weasel out of any contract the world would go to shit.

isn't it shit now?

 

[Crusty]

Every time I looked at an apartment that wasn't owned by some shady dude the rates changed daily based on current inventory and demand. I could only ever lock in the rental price for 24hrs, after that the quote is invalid and a new one would have to be made.

I don't see what the problem is.

 

[nageov3t]

shit happens... your option is to move and try to negotiate your lease next time.

a few months ago, I found out that the guy living in the apartment above me (which is a bit bigger and also has attic storage space) is paying $200/month less than me. that's when I decided to start looking for a new place and I will not be renewing my lease when it's up.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Suck it up.

 

[bobdole369]

what can I do?

You can ask to renegotiate.

Do they have to - Nope.

Is there anything I can do legally?

Legally - you can do anything that is not illegal. SO you can ask them for a new contract, you can tell them that you know ur neighbor got a better deal. You can beg them to resign and pay less rent, etc. You could file a frivolous lawsuit (while technically not legal the punishment is fairly benign). Essentially you are stuck. I'm certain there is a provision in the lease regarding how to break it. Usually both sides need to agree, possibly there is some payment or penalty involved. I'm betting it isn't worth your money to go this route.

Lessons:
1. Rent is always negotiable.
2. Never sign a year long lease if you don't want to or cannot afford the rent/ aren't secure financially
3. Suffer.

 

[invidia]

You most likely miss out a deal. You can try talking to them but they have done nothing illegal. You won't win anything if you take them to court, etc.

It's like this: "Hey Newegg, this video card was 50 bucks less last week, give to me at that price."

 

[Legendary]

 

[Bignate603]

If you thought the apartment was a good deal at the price you paid why are you upset?

When I still lived in apartments the prices would change daily as their availability changed. If there were a bunch of empty apartments they'd drop the price. As things filled up the prices would go back up. Also, they were willing to drop the price for good tenants that were renewing their lease.

 

[waggy]

Just this Sunday I signed a 1 yr. lease for a 1-bedroom apartment. Today I find out that my neighbor signed a similar 1 yr lease last month for an exactly similar aparment but are paying $125 less per month than me. Question now is, what can I do? Do I ask them to lower my rent? Is there anything I can do legally? Looking for some advice.

do you know what a contract is? is there anything legally you can do? FUCK NO. and thank goodness for that.

 

[nick1985]

You didnt get ripped, you got owned.

 

[edro]

You didnt get ripped, you got owned.