Can I dispute a charge with the Credit Card company?

[CandleontheWater]

You guys are all so savvy in all matters finance, so I thought I would ask this question here and maybe one of you could help with some advice.

We are moving to Charlotte NC at the beginning of Feb, so three weeks ago I started searching for a rental property. I found the perfect rental house on line, and I contacted the property management company that listed the property. I talked to (I think ) the receptionist who told me the property was available and to submit an application on-line (which I did). She also told me they contract with a separate company to process the application, run the credit check, check references, etc, which is all pretty normal.

Two days after submitting the application I got a call from the application processing company telling me that my application was approved, and that the property manager for the leasing company would be contacting me.

I waited a day, no call, so the next day I called the leasing agency and left a message. I also checked on-line and mysteriously the property I applied for had disappeared from the website. I assumed it was because I had been approved and the property was ours.

Two more days went by, with me calling and leaving messages and no response, finally four days after being approved I got a call back from the receptionist, who told me that my application was with the leasing manager and that the house had not been leased to anyone else. She also said (and this was when things started to get fishy), that if the property was leased to someone else that I would be free to transfer my application to another property managed by their company.

Well its been 10 more days since I talked with the receptionist and I have heard nothing. I have been calling every day and leaving messages, telling that I still want to rent the first property, but if it was not available any longer that I wanted to transfer my application to another property.

Yesterday I gave up and signed a lease with a different company on a different property, because we needed a place to live and I can't wait any longer.

I paid $90 to the property management company as an application fee, can I call and dispute those charges with my credit card since the company will not get back in touch with me? They basically took my money and disappeared. They won't contact me, they won't let me switch my application and I'm completely getting the run around.

I've never tried to do anything like this before, and I was wondering if it was possible to dispute charges in a situation like this one.

 

[supersnoop]

Call the property management company; leave a message if you have to. Tell them that, because of their lack of response, you want your money back. Don't mention that you had to move on because of your timeframe. If they don't respond, then dispute with your credit card company.

 

[sweetdana]

You can dispute it, but even if you win, it doesn't mean the prop mgt may not still state you owe the fee. Assuming you owe it (no opinion), they can put a collection on your credit report, take you for a judgment if they choose and honestly charge you 10000 times more in fees/interest if they are deemed in court that you owed the funds. So I would actually take it up with them.. not the credit card co.

 

[tvguy]

The process to start disputing a credit card charge is simple. Just call your card company and tell them.

Reading your note, not sure this is disputable. It is not uncommon for landlords to charge a non-refundable application fee. They justify this by pointing out it does cost them money to do a credit check, etc.

I have dealt with this with my adult children as they moved out on their own. Most landlords also charge you to clean the carpet after you move out.

I haven't rented in over 30 years, but those kind of things used to be a cost of doing business for landlords, but now they are a cost the renter must bare.

 

[Sadie22]

I'm not sure that the amount of time is unreasonable. However, if you decide to proceed, write a letter demanding your money back. Describe what you have done and what you consider to be lack of response due to your time frame.

The procedure for disputing a charge will be on your credit card bill and on the issuer's website. It usually states that a telephone call is not sufficient and that disputes must be in writing to a particular address. Follow whatever procedure your credit card company requires if you decide to dispute the charge.

 

[wiigirl]

The process to start disputing a credit card charge is simple. Just call your card company and tell them.

Reading your note, not sure this is disputable. It is not uncommon for landlords to charge a non-refundable application fee. They justify this by pointing out it does cost them money to do a credit check, etc.

I have dealt with this with my adult children as they moved out on their own. Most landlords also charge you to clean the carpet after you move out.

I haven't rented in over 30 years, but those kind of things used to be a cost of doing business for landlords, but now they are a cost the renter must bare.

 

[njmom47]

This point of view is from the merchant (I respond to disputes as part of my job):
When a dispute is received by a merchant they have to respond with a reason why credit should not be issued. That would give their reasoning why you shouldn't receive credit. Also a merchant has to follow certain policies set by the credit card companies to be able to deny funds being credited back to the cardholder. They have to prove that the cardholder did not follow their policy, or that the timeframe expired, etc.
I would keep track of all phone calls, copies of letters (sent certified so you get a receipt), emails, etc. to prove that you did follow the rules set forth in the contract between the PM co and yourself.

 

[eliza61]

Most credit card companys are very easy and helpful when disputing a charge. simply call them or go on line. I know all of my cc's have on line bill dispute options.

I personally love Amex because when you dispute a charge they will actually do a pretty thorough investigation.

But.... I agree with the others. most places that I've looked into renting (a very long time ago) charged a non refundable application fee. heck, when I was shopping mortgages, they app fees where outrageous even if you didnt pick a particular lender.

90 bucks? I'd probably just write a note to cc and then drop it.

 

[CandleontheWater]

Thanks everyone, I am certainly going to call the property management company first and ask to be refunded, but since they haven't been calling me back, I'm not to optimistic about hearing from them.

Thank you also for your advice, I wasn't sure if this situation was even the type where you could file a contest. I just knew that I was out the money and if there was anyway I could recoup the loss, I figured it was worth a try.

I guess this is just one of those things that stink about moving, running into scammer landlords and poor property management companies. Hopefully this will be our last rental property ever, and even though it has been a huge hassle, I'm glad we can take the next year and search for a house we really love and find the perfect neighborhood for us. Once we get into that house, I'm never moving again!

 

[MomToOne]

Once you move there, I'd file in small claims court against the Property Management Company. Document all your calls so that you have evidence of their non-responsiveness. If you by any chance made them with a cell phone, contact your cell phone company for a call log if they don't have one handy online.

Yes, it' s only $90, but I hate being taken that way and will fight these types of things tooth and nail, more on principal than anything else.

In the meantime, you could also try filing a dispute with the area BBB.

 

[supersnoop]

Once you move there, I'd file in small claims court against the Property Management Company. Document all your calls so that you have evidence of their non-responsiveness. If you by any chance made them with a cell phone, contact your cell phone company for a call log if they don't have one handy online.

Yes, it' s only $90, but I hate being taken that way and will fight these types of things tooth and nail, more on principal than anything else.

In the meantime, you could also try filing a dispute with the area BBB.

I understand the idea in principle, but a small claims case will cost you $25-35 to file, plus $100-$150 to have the party served. If you win, you can recoup those costs if (and that's a big if) the other party every actually pays you.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Once you move there, I'd file in small claims court against the Property Management Company. Document all your calls so that you have evidence of their non-responsiveness. If you by any chance made them with a cell phone, contact your cell phone company for a call log if they don't have one handy online.

Yes, it' s only $90, but I hate being taken that way and will fight these types of things tooth and nail, more on principal than anything else.

In the meantime, you could also try filing a dispute with the area BBB.

I don't understand why you think the OP was taken. She was told in advance of the application fee, she paid it and her application was accepted. She decided to rent elsewhere. Why would she get a fee refund?

It is in no way worth the time, effort, or money to pursue this in small claims court.

 

[tvguy]

Once you move there, I'd file in small claims court against the Property Management Company. Document all your calls so that you have evidence of their non-responsiveness. If you by any chance made them with a cell phone, contact your cell phone company for a call log if they don't have one handy online.

Yes, it' s only $90, but I hate being taken that way and will fight these types of things tooth and nail, more on principal than anything else.

In the meantime, you could also try filing a dispute with the area BBB.

Like posted earlier, this is probably a non-refundable fee, so legal action or contacting the BBB would not be appropriate.
http://blog.tenantverification.com/...the-dos-and-donts-of-rental-application-fees/

 

[MomToOne]

I understand that the fee was presented as non-refundable. And the third party is not at fault - they did what they were paid for. So recouping from them is not valid.

HOWEVER, the Property Management Company did state that the application could be transferred to another one of their properties should the first fall through. That's where they are failing on their end, and where you can say they are defaulting on their contract by not being reachable and not returning calls that would allow for that transfer. For that reason, I believe the fee could very well be recovered from them in small claims court. And why a BBB complaint is valid.

 

[tvguy]

I understand that the fee was presented as non-refundable. And the third party is not at fault - they did what they were paid for. So recouping from them is not valid.

HOWEVER, the Property Management Company did state that the application could be transferred to another one of their properties should the first fall through. That's where they are failing on their end, and where you can say they are defaulting on their contract by not being reachable and not returning calls that would allow for that transfer. For that reason, I believe the fee could very well be recovered from them in small claims court. And why a BBB complaint is valid.

Well, but there are potential consequences of going to court too. A future prospective landlord will see that on a background check and pass on you, all over $90.
I mean most of us check out contractors and businesses ourselves, and if we see something like court action, we may move on to someone else. Just human nature.

 

[starwart]

To the OP. I believe you can dispute this. You mentioned that you submitted an application on line but you did not mention that they gave you a confirmation e-mail. Instead someone just gave you a call saying that you were approved. Usually when you submit an application on line you will also receive a confirmation e-mail stating that they received your application (which you did not get). This could be a scam.

 

[magicaddict]

A friend has a rental property and when people apply, a third-party contractor does the background check. The tenant can get a copy of this report so you should be able to ask this company (if you ever get them on the phone) to provide you with a copy of the background check. If they can provide it then I don't know if you can really contest the charge since the report was run. If they have the report run after you call them on it then you should be able to contest it since they hadn't actually done it when first contacted by you but only under duress. I do feel for you being jerked around and it certainly is fishy that they won't get back to you. Good luck.

 

[tasha99]

I would take it to small claims court provided the deal was that if you passed the background check, they would offer the property to you (read the fine print.) Talk to them first and write a letter, sent both registered and regular mail. If it was an honest error, they'll repay you willingly; if not, they probably got $90 from multiple potential tenants. Taking multiple fees is a common scam and $90 is 3x the typical rate where I live. I'd write a complaint to the Attorney General as well.

Btw, any offers to transfer the report made after payment wouldn't be acceptable to me anyway--what if you didn't want another property of theirs?

 

[tasha99]

A friend has a rental property and when people apply, a third-party contractor does the background check. The tenant can get a copy of this report so you should be able to ask this company (if you ever get them on the phone) to provide you with a copy of the background check. If they can provide it then I don't know if you can really contest the charge since the report was run. If they have the report run after you call them on it then you should be able to contest it since they hadn't actually done it when first contacted by you but only under duress. I do feel for you being jerked around and it certainly is fishy that they won't get back to you. Good luck.

I don't think it costs $90 for one. I recently paid $30--my guess is the property management company took a cut.