Heatherwood Apartments, LI, NY Liars, theives New York

My husband and I applied for an apartment at Spruce Ponds in Holbrook, NY. We gave the $150 check for the credit check, and a separate $300 binder check to hold the apartment upon running the credit check and offering us the apartment. They ran our credit and required a three month security because we have "bad credit", which we do not. We have fair credit. When speaking with the representative about getting my binder check back she explained that the check was already deposited and I would receive a refund within two weeks.

I contacted the main office yesterday and spoke with Don who told me that the binder takes three weeks to be refunded but he will call the accounting office and call me back leaving a message of the outcome. 24 hours later when I did not receive a call back, I called him again. When he picked up the phone he was annoyed to hear from me, and immediately defensive. When asked why he didn't call me back he said, "I have more important things to do." He explained that this was company policy and there is no way to go around it. I told him I didn't like my money being floated by the company in an interest bearing account for a month. He said that it wasn't in an interest bearing account; but back peddled when I said that NYS law requires that ALL tenant deposits are required to go into an interest bearing account. Don told me he is trying to help me, and that he called accounting to make sure that my check was going to be issued in the three week period, which tells me that the refund could take longer.

Then I received a call from Kim, the property manager who told me the same thing, but explained, "We have this policy because of the clearing house. It has happened to us in the past when people get their refunds and then stop checks if it's within a three week period." First of all, this insinuates that I am a criminal who intended steal from Heatherwoods. Second, I told her the same thing, that this was just a way for the company to float my money in an interest bearing account, and she told me that the money isn't put into an interest bearing account; and again back peddled when I cited law to her, and then had the nerve to say that she never said it wasn't in an interest bearing account.

Beyond all that, I have the agreement signed between myself, my husband and Terri Lemquist which says, "...all monies paid by the Applicant hereunder, except the credit check fee, will be refunded..." with no indication that the refund would take the better part of three weeks. It is reasonable to assume, based on the verbiage of this agreement, that upon the lease not being signed, a refund would be issued immediately.