Apartment Seekers

I don’t understand the low reviews other people gave. I had a great experience with Rich.
I needed an apartment on very short notice and a very tight budget, and Rich found me the perfect place with all the things I wanted: good location, hardwood floors, high ceilings, big windows, and a spacious kitchen. Not easy on a small budget, but he found a place in my budget and then got it down to $ 50/​month LESS than the landlord’s asking price. He even negotiated for me to be able to have a cat with no extra deposit, even though the complex doesn’t usually allow any pets.
He was friendly and efficient throughout the whole process and was able to help with all the little details and issues that seem to come up. He took the time to find out the kind of apartment I wanted, and he made sure that he showed me places that fit my needs. He works 7 days a week, usually 10 hours a day (I don’t know how he does it), so he was always available to make time to meet with me.
His office is a little old-​fashioned. They deal mostly with paper instead of online forms, and they don’t do texting. But for a low-​cost apartment, I’m not complaining at all.

We are moving out and again I had to deal with the slimy Richard Sommese again. I have a 6 month old baby and a dog. Despite explaining this to him, he was shamelessly relentless in pursuing appointments during inconvenient hours. He must have shown the apartment to at least 20 parties so far and in the end complained to the owner that we are being uncooperative. What a slime ball! I hope I never see him or have anything to do with apartment seekers ever again.

Where to begin? I’ll skip the tedious details here and give you the gist of it. If you want a more in-​depth explanation, read further below.
***Basically, If you’re looking for an unreliable, prejudice, possibly racist, possibly sexist agent, than Richard is definitely your go-​to guy!***
I’ll give you the pros and cons of what happened (Who am I kidding? There will be nothing positive about the review).
Here it goes:
About 1.5 months ago, my friend/​roommate and I went to Apartment Seekers in Garfield. Upon entering the place, we were shot judgmental glances by a man named Richard. Strike 1 in my mind. My friend didn’t catch it, but I did.
We were about to begin, but the phone kept ringing. Now, I completely understand that the phone will ring, and that Richard should answer the phone. It doesn’t bother me. Obviously, any business will get calls. But, the WAY he was answering the phone and how he was speaking to his other paying clients was very unprofessional. He acted annoyed, cut the calls short, and then complained to us, POTENTIAL CLIENTS. As a potential or current client, I would want some respect and some attention when I speak to you, REGARDLESS of whether I am in the office, or contacting you via phone call. If he politely answered them, I wouldn’t mind, but he was flat out rude. Strike 2.
Phone calls aside, the obvious questions were asked like price/​location. Then came the topic of pets. My roommate and I preferred an apartment that allowed dogs: a 1 year old, obedient and friendly rottweiler. Immediately, his response was negative, saying that finding an apartment that allows this breed of dogs is difficult, and that pet insurance would probably be needed so that the tenant could be okay with it. We willingly agreed saying it’s fine, and that we have no problem doing whatever is necessary, we can afford it (We are both aware of the stigma that rottweilers, german shepards, pitbulls, etc have). Apparently, this answer is not good enough, because he continued ranting about aggressive/​fighting dogs. Strike 3. I don’t care about your personal judgement of dogs, its unprofessional.
Then the discussion of price came up again. Richard starting mentioning how a tenant would want a security deposit. My roommate and I told him that we understand and again, have no problem with it (we are both more than familiar with the definition of a ‘security deposit’). He then proceeded with an unpleasant tone, to unnecessarily explain the term, as if we were idiots: «Are you sure? Because a security deposit means the tenant would want a month and a half worth of money. And that is seperate from rent so you know. Not with it. Plus the month’s rent, plus our 1 month fee. Blah blah blah. Are you really sure you have that kind of money?» YES. We are sure. You ALREADY told us your fee and terms, and we ALREADY agreed to them. At this point, I was extremely agitated but I remained professional and polite. Strike 4.
More annoying things happened. We filled the applications out. He disrespected my roommate by making fun of/​questioning his full-​time job, a well-​paying one at that. Disrespected me, by insinuating that my job was irrelevant. I’m a successful, self-​employed, professional makeup artist. I make more than enough to pay rent, the extra fees, and still have a good time. Had he let us elaborate, he would’ve known that we are both financially stable. But considering that he was prejudice from the moment we stepped into the door, he wouldn’t care to ask. It seemed to me that he was clocked-​out from the start of our discussion. Strike 101.
Then came the time for the contract. He waived the $ 50.00 fee, and told us he would call as soon as he found some apartments, within a few days. And from that day, we have YET to hear from him. A month and a half has passed.
How can I say that he is prejudice? Well, my roommate was dressed straight from work (which he mentioned), sweats and a hoodie. He is 21 years old, spanish. I was dressed perfectly fine. Black denim, nice top, leather jacket, nice boots (no, not uggs), pretty scarf. I was polished enough. I’m 22 years old, white. For whatever reason, apologizing for your work attire isn’t good enough. For whatever reason, our forms of employment were not good enough. And for whatever reason, our appearances were not satisfactory enough for him. Oh, but I know the reason. I understand that at the end of the day everyone judges, but you, Richard, take it to a strange level. Don’t be so damn obvious.
Again, if you’re looking for an unreliable, prejudice, possibly racist, possibly sexist agent, than Richard is definitely your go-​to guy!