My Place Apartments Shaw real estate group Took $665 and left me homeless! Chicago, Illinois

You use these guys because if you have an eviction, bad credit, or low income, these guys help you get into a spot without the hassle of paying a bunch of landlords to check your credit and say, "no" because they THINK you cant pay. I mean, just because you have bad credit doesn't mean you don't have a job or enough money to pay your rent.

They are the ones that call you if anything is a problem or you call them if you have a problem, basically you don't have to deal with the landlord really.

Every business has to make money. They take your first months rent, but for whatever you say. They don't make up numbers. Like, everybody knows that a studio or 1br is $500 - $700; a 1br is $600 - $750, etc etc. So you pay like that. BUT, you don't have to pay first months rent again, you start paying the landlords from the 2nd month. The landlord doesn't pay them either, I found out. So, its like I get an apartment for no hassle and I don't have to pay all those landlord application, move-in fees/securtiy deposits, AND credit checks. I don't have money like that, especially in Chi!

So, they are pretty legit. They are like in your corner. But I mean, you know, not everybody is going to be happy, I guess. They try to work with you too. Like they gave me a courtesy extension because my deadline hit and they helped me see that it was kind of hard because I had an eviction before, and bad credit but wanted to live in Lincoln Park, Lakeview, or Wicker. They got me into a spot close to the CTA but not those areas, BUT they asked me first. That's legit! I could've taken my money back, but I knew that by myself I was going to have to pay a lot more to go alone. 

So, they work people! You just got to work with them too sometimes. You got to let them help you. It would be different if I had perfect credit, a stable job for over a year and no eviction. 

This is my experience with My Place Apartments and from what I saw they treat everyone the same. I came into the office in a fairly desperate situation. They informed me of their services and for me the price was a little steep however, I give them money. No one ever sold me on anything. I was explained that this service was NOT for shoppers they were only going to bring me to one to two properties and that I needed to bring in first months rent before I saw the properties.

At first I thought to myself...are they insane?! what kind of scam is this? I was very nervous, reluctant, and I asked for my money back, which with NO hesitation gave me back my money. They suggested I read the hundreds of positive reviews on the wall, sleep on it, search for myself and if I changed my mind to come back. A month later I came back, I searched by myself and I couldn't find anything. At this time, their fees went up but, they honored the original agreement when they didn't have to. 

They explained the whole process to me again. Fees, process, and consequences. They were upfront and at no point did they pressure me into going any areas. They suggested an area that I did not originally circle only because I needed an apartment right away and the landlord would accept me right away. I refused and that was the end of it.

I was read the contract and read the contract on my own and for the most part it was straight forward and to the point. I took my time to read the contract and there was no pressure on their part, even though I came in at their closing time.

I then was scheduled for a viewing a few days later and was told to bring in my first month's rent, which I did. They read over the contract and went over the contract one more time before I handed them the rent. They explained to my they wanted me to be crystal clear of the agreement and then they went over my map, my criteria, and my issues to  be sure nothing changed. When I was comfortable I handed them my 1st mo rent and they gave me a receipt.

They took me, to my surprise, 3 apartments. ALL of which were nice, rather beautiful and more than I expected. For measure they applied to all three locations as a safety measure, just encase I was denied...I was accepted to all three and had the opportunity to chose which one I liked the best. They got me out of a jam and prevented me from being homeless. Their policy is stern but very fair.

I don't get it, you got a service to find you a rental home? you could have just bought a newspaper

and been done with it.