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Can my apartment complex legally do this?

By Amoinete

I rent an upstairs 1 bedroom in a fairly large apartment complex in Oklahoma that is managed by a large property management company. I have noticed a few things and some changes that have been made recently that I’m not sure are legal. 

1. There was a notice sent to all residents a few months back that stated that the late fee would be $100 per day. In my lease agreement, it states that the late fee is a flat $100. The notice was just a standard notice, no addendum to be signed and returned. I’ve never been late on the rent, but still….
2. The pet deposit is $300, with $150 nonrefundable. I know a deposit means that it will eventually be returned, so nonrefundable deposit is very misleading and seems a bit iffy to me.
3. As of November of 2010, the water/sewage/trash bill that is included in the rent is no longer a flat fee. After it kept going up and up each year, they finally decided to charge everyone by their actual usage. Water services are not in my name. But they add a bill processing fee of like $4 or $5 dollars to each bill. The bills average about $32 a month with the fee. I know that’s not a whole lot of money, but I feel like I’m being nickeled and dimed here for something that could be given directly to me if policy would allow me to have the utility under my own name. Can they just add a charge like that? 
I’m already trying to deal with high electric bills as the apartment is totally electric and not very well insulated. 
I’ve had some issues with the complex in the past, as the manager is a total queen B. It took a whole year to get them to replace my leaky dishwasher. I got tired of complaining and just let it leak, they got in gear when the water bill shot up for the building. And the apartment manager was discriminatily spying and harrassing us for a few months, which I have documented. After busting in on the apartment manager while she was getting a visit from corporate and threatening to make a complaint, that came to an abrupt halt.
I’ve tried to read Oklahoma’s tenant laws but the legalese gets a bit murky. Any clarifications?
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Edited on: Wednesday, August 7th, 2013 2:41 pm
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One Response to “Can my apartment complex legally do this?”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

Marianne

February 22nd, 2013 6:20 pm

I would suggest that you take this up with a lawyer. Legal documents can get very confusing so it’s best that you take it up with an expert.

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