verify if a poster has been evicted
If someone is evicted than naturally they are going to try and diminish the property's reputation because they are disgruntled. I am sure that many people read the comments but have you ever thought of the people who actually write the comments? This website reminds me of ratemyprofessor.com because only people who had the absolute best or absolute worst experience are going to comment, and usually it is the ladder. If you ask an individual whose fault it is that they are or have been evicted, the majority of them will say that it is the landlords fault. Perhaps you could try to verify a commenter’s credentials by running their name through the public court access websites that exist in many states in order to see if they have been evicted or filed on for eviction. I understand that an idea of this magnitude would require far more diligence on your behalf but the accuracy of your content would improve dramatically. I am sure this will not happen but if there is a slight chance that somebody in your organization happens to read this than some good may come of it.
Here is a link to Manager Center: https://www.apartmentratings.com/manager/register/userinfo
You can respond to reviews but ApartmentRatings doesn’t get involved in management-resident disputes.
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Sandy Virga commented
I agree! We own a beautiful community of Folsom that we purchased 6 years ago. In 2002 - yes 2002 - 15 years ago, there was a disgruntled woman who was evicted, that threatened the then manager with bodily harm from what I understand, and made up several accounts or had her friends post 1 star reviews - very obvious what happened. 15 years later, we are still trying to dig our way out to make it to 2 stars. This is not right and should be evaluated by Apartment Ratings.com. We were not the management company, nor the owners, nor the on-site staff that had the dispute with the evicted tenant, so why can these reviews not be removed?
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Anonymous commented
I don't understand why 1 bad comment can take you down 3% when it takes 5-6 good comments to go up 1%.
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Ggggggg commented
I must say this is HILARIOUS! And I am biased towards the tenant- here are my reasons- I've never been evicted - ONLY because I HAD to stay and put up with slumlords (much like the ones that patrol these apartment rating sites) because to have a broken lease and/or eviction on your record pretty much boycotts one from ever being able to afford a decent place to live again. It's a classic case of Corporate America squashing the little man to turn a penny. And why didn't ANY of you offer up the option to let a tenant run a personal screen on not just the little leasing agent but the management comany as well as the owners, before signing your farce of a lease - which is designed to protect YOU and only you. You guys are not stupid - you know exactly how this game is played, and you hate the bad reviews because you catch all kinds of static if you fall below 100% occupancy.
I have a suggestion to all you Leasing staff/managers/owners Etc.... Why don't you spend even a quarter of your time doing what your suppose to be doing - such as following through on work orders, addressing your tenants complaints, etc. instead of stalking your bad reviews and just maybe you will have people that like to live at your property and you won't HAVE to worry about what you already know is being said about your property and its shortcomings or you wouldn't be on here checking it out ! Just as you said "most" people that post on these sites are "disgruntled" tenants.... Well then indeed the same could be said of you, "most" apartment complexes that know they have wronged tenants ----- are disgruntled employees trying to right their wrongs--- and sock it to the tenant again! Geez - you people are psychopaths - do your research - Corporate is FULL of psychopaths - then look up what that entails - and then try to purchase a conscience- lol- pfffff good luck with that
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Linda K. Frick commented
"You're welcome to respond to the tenant's comments on the site"? What kind of response is this to the suggestion that YOU verify whether or not the tenant was evicted? Wow! Just Wow.
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Tany commented
Why don't you as the property manager or leasing professional pole your tenants. Check to see whose making the complaints. And if you find anything warranted.. address the issues immediately.
I find it hard to believe your theory that ever one writing a review has been evicted. Some of us are current residents living in substandard conditions. And we are tired of landlord such as yourself making excuses opposed to addressing our issues.
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Anonymous commented
rate my professor was great then it got ruined by teacher union lawsuit threats but that website was necessary for teachers who spell "latter" LADDER, just like apt complexes need to be held responsible for being crappy
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Kathleen Clohessy commented
Just want to reiterate what a lot of other people said..Sometimes people get evicted for withholding rent even though no one in their right mind would continue to pay the slumlord they were renting from. There are two sides to everything.
Besides, I discovered today that MY landlord is paying people $25.00 a pop for positive reviews...I was wondering where they all suddenly came from. So there's dishonesty on both sides. Eventually it's up to the reader to sort it out. My advice, though, after being badly burned, is that where there's smoke, there is always fire. If the reviews are bad, there is always a good reason for it..Always. -
Anonymous commented
Evictions DO NOT necessarily make a tenant in the wrong.In one case which the management company and the manager felt extremely threaten by a resident who knew his rights and the law.So heres what management did.Got another resident to make a fake complaint then put a notice on his door.This guy questioned the manager and the fake complainer,management then served a second notice of the Termination of his lease.No eviction here just the deceptive practices which management use everyday as a tool in their favor.They management know the poor tenant can,t afford an Attorny cause a Landlord tenant Attorny will not take cases on a contention base.Therefore The resident must front$2.000 up front for legal representation.So once again The poor tenant gets the short end.
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J commented
No. 1 : Freedom of speech, (also the first amendment; G.E.D, Mr. Clark Gregg?)!
To continue, I honestly cannot believe these are statements coming directly from those that I, myself, would actually trust to lease from. I am shocked and underwhelmed. The constant misspellings and atrocious misuse of punctuation, ( do any one of you know what a semi-colon is?! Use it!), are utterly horrifying; not to mention your lack of ethics and humans morals.
Yes, perhaps these are posts written by people scorned. But logging on as a false 'happy tenant/s,' and posting your own 4-5 star comment does not make the scales of justice swing in your favor. There is a pot and there is a kettle; you should all know by now that they are both the same color! And that Carma can be a b*tch. -
Frangipan commented
Lots of people who have been evicted have excellent reason for posting a critique, and in case their claims happen to be valid, I'd like to hear them. Besides, repeated claims can tell a lot. If more than one evictee faults the same feature or conduct, I'd like to know about it. We all know how to take something with a grain of salt.
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M commented
Just because someone is evicted doesn't mean they were in the wrong. When I was wrongfully evicted, I tried to fight it but it was "them against me". I didn't have money for a lawyer, and just wanted to get out of there! Just remember that rental agencies and landlords aren't always "perfect" or truthful.
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grrr commented
Hmmm...you posted your idea as anonymous, does that mean we should question it?
I've known people who are evicted for the wrong and illegal reasons. Their feedback is important. Also, if your place is really great than eventually the good reviews will out weigh the sour grapes.
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Shadowridge Park Sucks commented
Look at the comments on here. Just what I suspected. Most are from leasing agents at the properties. This site is becoming worthless. The reviews are mostly from property managers pretending to be tenants. If I ran this site, I would have a "Certified" option, where the residents can answer an online survey. Otherwise, this is just becoming a site for managers to pat themselves on the back and tell each other how great they are.
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Tennis39 commented
Sure it would be great if you could identify a writer who was evicted. Probably many of the very bad reviews are written by them, as they would be eager to get even with mgmt., they would take the time to find the website and spout off.
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arose4yu commented
The problem with this site is that you don't get a fair picture of an apartment because disgruntled tenants only post negative reviews. There are a few who will rate positive/negative but those are few and far between. it would be more helpful if you have a system in place that requires the poster to give a more well-rounded review.
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Melissa Wheeler commented
And how are we to know which resident is posting? Almost all do it anonymously.
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NeverAgain62 commented
The simple fact of the matter is that if your apartment complex is so pristine then one bad review by a disgruntled tenant isn't going to affect you very much.
The evidence for this is everywhere. There are apartments that have and deserve a high rating (the one i live in for example) but they will still get bad reviews. The effect? minimal.
I notice that the OP didn't mention the complex being hit by a bad rep. Probably because they have a average (50%) or lower rating to begin with.
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Brayzen commented
Get a law book, you fools. That is a violation of the constitutional rights.. OOPS, look who I'm commenting to. Apartment staff.. anyone get a GED yet? You all have no clue about the law, just how to break it and get away with it by manipulating fine print on lease's that should be burned and rewritten under new legislation.. Things WILL change, not overnight, but they will. People have a right to comfort, safety, and to not be violated constantly in their own homes.. Yes, a rented apartment is still that person's personal living space. And the Law needs to recognize that and redefine it.
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Citrus Heighty commented
I disagree! And no I'm not a tenant that's been evicted. I just don't want my private information ran just to post a comment on a website that prides itself in anonymity. Hense the "anonymous " post from the originator. People have to take into considerations that comments are open to the public and therefore going to have a certain percentage of bad or false comments. I worked in the rental industry for 7 years when I was going to college and I learned that you just take the bad with the good and do your job the best you can. If you do your job right, who flipping cares about the comments. So many people get sooo upset over it. It's obvious there's going to be false comments, it's when there numerous comments similar in nature over a prolonged period of time, there's a problem. If there's just a couple here and there slandering the manager, it's probably an angry tenant or former tenant trying to stir the crap pot, ignore it than. Smart people know when stupid people post a false comment. I think it would a violation of someone's privacy to verify eviction. Also what if someone was evicted in the past due to financial reasons of loosing a job? Or what about the high cost involved to Apartment Ratings to run just checks. How will that affect their operations? I think people need to think fully before making such suggestions. While it may make sense for one person, doesn't mean it makes sense for the greater population. You have to be open minded and objective to truly utilize this site.
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Clark Gregg commented
Absolutely. It's amazing how easily a reputation can be damaged because you have a crappy resident who got evicted and wants to slander you because of something they did (or didn't do - like pay rent) and got evicted.