The Villages at Carver Dubious Withholding of Deposit Atlanta Georgia

I write on account of the inconsiderate manner in which I was treated by Villages at Carver, from whom I recently applied for a four-month, short lease, one-bedroom apartment. When I made the application, I made it clear to the agent I talked to, Kelly Mullins, that I needed an apartment by the 15th of August, 2016, since I would start teaching at Morehouse College (Atlanta) on the 17th. When I first spoke to Kelly, I also informed her that I had been out of the country since 2011, and therefore did not have a recent rental history. She indicated that this wasn't a problem and commenced to receive my application and required documents, and also showed me an available one-bedroom.

Later, she informed me that I was denied rental because my salary was insufficient. However, my salary was wrongly reported by Morehouse College, but was immediately corrected and resent to Kelly. Kelly would go on to inform me that I was required to pay the full four months' rent, but later agreed that I could pay two months plus a third month as down payment. I agreed. Surprisingly, Kelly then went ahead and demanded information about my family's mortgage, since we had bought a house in July of 2015 on returning to the US from abroad. (This house is currently being rented following my family's relocation to Michigan.) The mortgage would serve no purpose for me, since it is in my wife's name. This is because she earned the bigger salary at the time, which we therefore used to secure a loan.

I believe that I should have been rented the apartment at Villages after agreeing to pay the equivalent of three months' rent out of the four months that I would be staying at the apartment. What are the chances that I wouldn't pay for one month after paying for three months? In general, I am disappointed at the insensitive manner in which I was treated by Villages at Carver. Because I was assured that I would be rented an apartment, I went ahead and paid a $53.05 application fee and was sent a receipt by Villages at carver.

Villages at Carver was aware, based on the information I had initially provided about being out of the country in the past four years, that they wouldn’t rent to me. They should have therefore discouraged me from applying, rather than encourage me to apply just so that they could keep my deposit.

On August 18 and August 25, I sent emails to Villages at Carver indicating that I was withdrawing my application as I had to seek accommodation elsewhere, and demanded a refund of my $53.05. Villages at Carver never responded to my emails. After reporting them to the BBB, they responded through one Mr. Jamie McKee who claimed the Villages at Carver had not received my emails—an absolute lie.

Mr. McKee claimed that my application was denied because I didn’t qualify for rental. This is false; Villages at Carver never denied my application. I decided to stop pursuing the process as they kept giving me excuse after excuse as to why they wouldn't rent out to me, and as I needed a place to stay because I had begun to teach at Morehouse College. I have proof of this in a text message I sent to Kelly Mullins. If, as Mr. McKee claims, my application was denied, he should provide documentation to that effect, indicating the reasons for the denial.

The fact that Villages at Carver refused to respond to my emails requesting a refund (but eventually responded because I brought this to the attention of the BBB), demonstrates the inconsiderate manner in which they treated me after securing my deposit.

Except Villages at Carver refunds my money, I intend to institute legal action against them and will not cease to expose them through as many consumer agencies as possible. I think one of the major problems is that businesses like Villages at Carver are allowed to get away with fraudulence since we often fail to challenge them. In this instance, I am determined to keep challenging and exposing this one.