I'll try to make a long story short, but there's really no shortcut.
A couple months back, my roommates held a cocktail party for a couple of close friends that was not to get out of hand, and the party itself didn't get out of hand. I wasn't feeling well, so I just stayed in my room for the evening. There was no loud music, yelling, etc. It was just some friends sporting their latest fashions and some mixed drinks. It probably went until about 3 AM when everyone decided to head out or crash at our place.
Apparently, one female came back to our place, helped herself to our balcony, and threw up all over the car parked below. No one was informed of this until the next morning when the neighbor came knocking on our door. Uninformed of what had happened, my roommate and I quickly took full responsibility for what had happened. We immediately apologized, offered to help clean everything up (he declined our offer), provided him the owner of the car with a free carwash card and $20 to take care of everything. We also told him that we'd see that it never happened again and that we'd take care of any paint damage which may occur. He was very understanding and confident that everything would be handled appropriately. Before he contacted us, he immediately contacted the apartment complex and voiced his complaint, and rightfully so. We were issued a warning for our actions, and we deserved it.
Fast forward about a month. We were snowed into our apartment complex because of the blizzard unable to go anywhere, so we decided to have a small get together which included my roommate's girlfriend and her roommate - a grand total of five people. This time, there was no music at all. Just a few drinks and some friends playing some board games. That's it.
The next business day, we received another notice and a $50 fine from the apartment complex claiming that we held another party with loud music, litter thrown from balcony, and cigarette butts covering the same guy's car. We were all immediately surprised, confused, and certain that there was a misunderstanding, so we contacted the leasing office. They said that the same guy complained again that we did the abovementioned actions. We knew we were innocent, so we asked the office to arrange a meeting with the other tenant to set things straight, and they agreed to arrange the meeting. On top of it all, the notice also said that a third violation would commence the eviction process, so we started walking on eggshells. Note: There was NO investigation by the leasing office before the assessment of the notice and fine.
A few days passed by, and we heard nothing, so we'd call or stop in periodically to check on the arrangement of the meeting. When we finally talked to the head honcho of the leasing office, he mentioned that the tenant claimed that we urinated on his vehicle and filed a police report for said events. At this time, we became even more eager to set up this meeting to set things straight. Time kept passing, and they kept ignoring us, but they finally said that they gave our contact information to the tenant so he could contact us for a meeting.
1) We wanted a meeting with the apartment complex AND the tenant to get rid of the fine and second violation.
2) If a police report was filed, wouldn't the police have contacted the alleged guilty party to get our side of the story? (The apartment complex claims the police said their was urine on the automobile).
Still, no one contacted us, so back we went to demand a copy of the police report. We were told to contact the tenant for a copy of it. Later that day, we received a call from the office saying that the complaint was dropped by the tenant. It's just funny that everything was dropped when we stood up for ourselves.
All this leads to us wondering what we can do? No one can provide a police report, and we're left wondering where we stand. Are we entitled to any sort of compensation from the leasing office for arbitrarily assessing a fine for a violation of lease agreement without investigation? We changed our lives for weeks for fear of a third violation, only to find out there was never a second.
Oh, let's complicate things even more. Turns out the tenant who reported us is an employee of the apartment complex.
I'm confused, upset, and in search of any advice in such a situation.
Thanks!
A couple months back, my roommates held a cocktail party for a couple of close friends that was not to get out of hand, and the party itself didn't get out of hand. I wasn't feeling well, so I just stayed in my room for the evening. There was no loud music, yelling, etc. It was just some friends sporting their latest fashions and some mixed drinks. It probably went until about 3 AM when everyone decided to head out or crash at our place.
Apparently, one female came back to our place, helped herself to our balcony, and threw up all over the car parked below. No one was informed of this until the next morning when the neighbor came knocking on our door. Uninformed of what had happened, my roommate and I quickly took full responsibility for what had happened. We immediately apologized, offered to help clean everything up (he declined our offer), provided him the owner of the car with a free carwash card and $20 to take care of everything. We also told him that we'd see that it never happened again and that we'd take care of any paint damage which may occur. He was very understanding and confident that everything would be handled appropriately. Before he contacted us, he immediately contacted the apartment complex and voiced his complaint, and rightfully so. We were issued a warning for our actions, and we deserved it.
Fast forward about a month. We were snowed into our apartment complex because of the blizzard unable to go anywhere, so we decided to have a small get together which included my roommate's girlfriend and her roommate - a grand total of five people. This time, there was no music at all. Just a few drinks and some friends playing some board games. That's it.
The next business day, we received another notice and a $50 fine from the apartment complex claiming that we held another party with loud music, litter thrown from balcony, and cigarette butts covering the same guy's car. We were all immediately surprised, confused, and certain that there was a misunderstanding, so we contacted the leasing office. They said that the same guy complained again that we did the abovementioned actions. We knew we were innocent, so we asked the office to arrange a meeting with the other tenant to set things straight, and they agreed to arrange the meeting. On top of it all, the notice also said that a third violation would commence the eviction process, so we started walking on eggshells. Note: There was NO investigation by the leasing office before the assessment of the notice and fine.
A few days passed by, and we heard nothing, so we'd call or stop in periodically to check on the arrangement of the meeting. When we finally talked to the head honcho of the leasing office, he mentioned that the tenant claimed that we urinated on his vehicle and filed a police report for said events. At this time, we became even more eager to set up this meeting to set things straight. Time kept passing, and they kept ignoring us, but they finally said that they gave our contact information to the tenant so he could contact us for a meeting.
1) We wanted a meeting with the apartment complex AND the tenant to get rid of the fine and second violation.
2) If a police report was filed, wouldn't the police have contacted the alleged guilty party to get our side of the story? (The apartment complex claims the police said their was urine on the automobile).
Still, no one contacted us, so back we went to demand a copy of the police report. We were told to contact the tenant for a copy of it. Later that day, we received a call from the office saying that the complaint was dropped by the tenant. It's just funny that everything was dropped when we stood up for ourselves.
All this leads to us wondering what we can do? No one can provide a police report, and we're left wondering where we stand. Are we entitled to any sort of compensation from the leasing office for arbitrarily assessing a fine for a violation of lease agreement without investigation? We changed our lives for weeks for fear of a third violation, only to find out there was never a second.
Oh, let's complicate things even more. Turns out the tenant who reported us is an employee of the apartment complex.
I'm confused, upset, and in search of any advice in such a situation.
Thanks!
