Apartment Ratings :: Question - How do I protect myself from apartment managers that scam?

How do I protect myself from apartment managers that scam?

Asked 253 days ago

I'm being charged to replace the carpet in my apartment after I called them repeatedly about water leaks and got ignored every time. Of course the carpet is ruined, and the walls are moldy from standing in water. Now they want to charge ME FOR THE DAMAGE!!! They want over a thousand dollars for carpet. I would spend that much on a lawyer defending myself, what can I do to protect myself and others from this kind of scam? There are many testimonies like mine on the apartments that I lived in, just check out the site for Virginia, Midlothian, Old Buckingham Apartments.

Report as Inappropriate

One Answer

Answer by tonestar on Mar 26, 2008 at 9:06AM

Document your calls to the office. Take pictures of the leak. Make sure everything has a date and time as well as who you spoke with. Was the carpet damaged otherwise? If there was other damage/stains to the carpet, they have every right to charge you for it. Remember, you are required to return the carpet to them in the same condition you received it in-minus normal wear and tear. Stains/damage are never considered normal wear and tear. You would not need a lawyer to fight this but you do need documentation.

Add Comment Report as Inappropriate

Click here to close this window

You must be a registered user to use this feature.

Please choose a username:

By clicking 'Create' you acknowledge that you have read and agree to the terms of the User Agreement.

User Agreement:

Welcome to ApartmentRatings.com! This User Agreement (the "Agreement") describes the terms on which ApartmentRatings.com, a division of Internet Brands, Inc. ("ApartmentRatings") offers you an account on the Web site located at www.ApartmentRatings.com (the "Site"). BY REGISTERING FOR AN ACCOUNT, YOU INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS AGREEMENT AND ITS TERMS AND ANY MODIFICATIONS THAT MAY BE MADE TO THE AGREEMENT OR ITS TERMS FROM TIME TO TIME. All uses of your account are governed by this Agreement. ApartmentRatings shall not be liable to you for any breach of the terms of this Agreement. If you have any questions about your obligations under this Agreement, email staff@aptratings.com.

If you are under 13, ApartmentRatings may not receive Content from you; please do not post to the Site. By posting Content on the Site, you represent that you are 13 years of age or older.

1. Modifications To Terms Of Agreement. ApartmentRatings reserves the right to revise, amend or modify the terms of this Agreement (the "Terms") at any time and in any manner at its sole discretion. Notice of any revision, amendment or modification of the Terms will be posted in this section of the Site, and any such revisions, amendment, or modifications will be effective upon the posting of such notice. Continued use of the Site by you constitutes your binding acceptance of such revisions, amendments, and modifications. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Site. Please check this section of the Site before using the Site to determine whether a change has been made to these Terms. If you do not agree to any changes in the Terms as they may occur, please arrange to terminate your registration with the Site immediately (i) by notifying ApartmentRatings of your unwillingness to accept the changes to the Terms by emailing staff@aptratings.com; and (ii) by discontinuing your use of the Site. Your continued use of the Site will signify your acceptance of any change in the Terms set forth herein. From time to time ApartmentRatings may supplement these Terms with additional terms ("Additional Terms"). You understand and agree that such Additional Terms are hereby incorporated by reference into these Terms.

2. Submission Of Content.

a. DEFINITION. ApartmentRatings allows you to provide a review in the form of an opinion about apartment rentals (an "Opinion") and a question, answer or comment about apartment rentals and other topics (“Discussion Content”). The Opinion, Discussion Content and any photographs, videos, and other materials you provide to ApartmentRatings (by uploading such Content to the Site or otherwise) is defined as your "Content."

b. LICENSE. You retain all rights of ownership to your Content. By submitting Content to the Site, you grant to ApartmentRatings a royalty-free, perpetual license to display and reproduce your Content online and offline and permit others (including without limitation., syndication, co-brand and content partners) to do the same.

You are free to use your Content offline in any manner you choose. However, ApartmentRatings attracts visitors to the Site by promising users high-quality content they can't get anywhere else. In order to sustain this traffic draw, by submitting Content to the Site, you grant to ApartmentRatings (and its sublicensees) the exclusive right to display your Content anywhere online, except for the following circumstances:

i) You may post your Opinions and/or Discussion Content on USENET newsgroups. If you do so, you must include the following attribution: "You can read this review information at http://www.ApartmentRatings.com."

ii) You may also display your Opinion and/or Discussion Content on any site which contains content contributed from 9 individual contributors or less, but you must include the following attribution in the display: "You can read this information at http://www.ApartmentRatings.com"

iii) You may display your Opinion and/or Discussion Content in a forum other than those described above with express written consent from ApartmentRatings. To request additional online rights to your Opinion and/or Discussion Content, you may email staff@aptratings.com. ApartmentRatings reserves the right to grant or deny permission on a case-by-case basis as ApartmentRatings deems appropriate in its sole discretion.

In all other cases, ApartmentRatings' exclusive display and reproduction rights apply even if you initially post the Opinion and/or Discussion Content somewhere else online and then desire to post it to the Site; such dual posting is not permitted, although if you have the right to do so, you may be able to delete the Opinion and/or Discussion Content from the other site and then repost it on the Site (you should check with the site where you initially posted the Opinion and/or Discussion Content to determine if this is permissible).

(For purposes of this section, the word "display" covers all copyright and other intellectual property rights necessary to effectuate the foregoing intent.)

c. PURSUIT OF INFRINGERS. If ApartmentRatings identifies someone who is displaying your Content online in violation of this Agreement and ApartmentRatings wishes to take action against the infringer, ApartmentRatings may contact you to seek your help with the action. However, ApartmentRatings may also directly enforce your ownership rights in the Content against the infringer, and you authorize ApartmentRatings to take any actions on your behalf that ApartmentRatings reasonably deems necessary or appropriate to protect the parties' respective rights. If ApartmentRatings decides to sue the infringer, (1) ApartmentRatings may join you as a co-plaintiff to the action, and (2) any resulting damages or settlements attributable to online uses of your Content shall be solely ApartmentRatings'.

d. REMOVAL OF CONTENT. Currently, ApartmentRatings allows you to edit and delete your Content. At any time, without further notice, ApartmentRatings may restrict your ability to edit or delete your Content. Please note that, irrespective of the foregoing, ApartmentRatings may not be able to propagate changes you make to the Content to the corresponding version being displayed somewhere other than on the Site.

Even if you delete your Content from the Site, the provisions of Section 2(b) still apply. Thus, once you've posted Content to the Site, you may not post the Content anywhere else online (other than as permitted in Section 2(b)) without ApartmentRatings' permission, even if you delete it from the Site.

e. USAGE GUIDELINES. You agree not to use the Site to: (a) upload, post, email, or otherwise transmit any Content that is personally identifying information (such as actual names, physical description, phone numbers, mailing addresses, email addresses and URL), unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; (b) harm minors in any way; (c) impersonate any person or entity, or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity; (d) upload, post, email, or otherwise transmit Content that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements); (e) upload, post, email or otherwise transmit Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights ("Rights") of any party; (f) upload, post, email, or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other forms of solicitation; (g) upload, post, email, or otherwise transmit any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; (h) interfere with or disrupt the Site or servers or networks connected to the Site, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Site; (i) intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law; (j) "stalk" or otherwise harass another; (k) write comments that in refer to person(s) under 18 years of age in an indecent or prurient manner; or (l) collect or store personal data about other users.

You acknowledge that ApartmentRatings does not pre-screen or filter user comments, Opinions, Discussion Content, or general Content, but that ApartmentRatings and its designees shall have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to refuse or remove any Content that is available via the Site. Without limiting the foregoing, ApartmentRatings and its designees shall have the right to remove any Content that violates this Agreement or is otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Content. In this regard, you acknowledge that you may not rely on any Content submitted to the Site.

To report alleged violations of the Site Usage Guidelines as set forth in this Section 2e, please visit http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/abuse

You acknowledge and agree that ApartmentRatings may preserve Content and may also disclose Content if required to do so by law or if ApartmentRatings believes in good faith that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process; (b) enforce this Agreement; (c) respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third-parties; or (d) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of ApartmentRatings, its users or the public.

f. OTHER FILTERING. Parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software and filtering services) are commercially available that may assist you in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors. If you are interested in learning about these protections, information may be obtained from http://www.worldvillage.com/wv/school/html/control.htm or other sources.

3. Your Registration Obligations. In consideration of your use of this Site, you agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Site's registration form (such information being the "Registration Data") and (b) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or ApartmentRatings has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, ApartmentRatings has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse to offer you any and all current or future use of the Site (or any portion thereof).

4. Privacy. Because your privacy is very important to ApartmentRatings, the Site offers you a number of choices to facilitate decisions about how you'd like ApartmentRatings to use and disclose your personal information. By accepting this Agreement, you expressly consent to ApartmentRatings' disclosure and use of your personal information (including using email to communicate with you) as described in The Site's then-current Privacy Statement, which is incorporated herein by reference.

5. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify and hold ApartmentRatings, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, co-branders or other partners, and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of Content you submit, post to or transmit through the Site, your use of the Site, your connection to the Site, your violation of this Agreement, or your violation of any rights of another.

6. No Resale Of The Site. You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the Site, use of the Site, or access to the Site.

7. Termination. You agree that ApartmentRatings, in its sole discretion, may terminate your password, account (or any part thereof) or use of the Site, and remove and discard any Content within the Site, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if ApartmentRatings believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of this Agreement. ApartmentRatings may also in its sole discretion and at any time discontinue providing the Site, or any part thereof, with or without notice. You agree that any termination of your access to the Site may be effected without prior notice, and you acknowledge and agree that ApartmentRatings may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all related information and Content in your account and/or bar any further access to such information or to the Site. Further, you agree that ApartmentRatings shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to the Site.

8. Dealings With Advertisers Or Partners. Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, advertisers or partners found on or through the Site, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such advertiser or partner. You agree that ApartmentRatings shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers or partners on the Site.

9. Data and Links. ApartmentRatings may provide access to third party data as part of the Service. In addition, ApartmentRatings may provide, or third parties may provide, links to other World Wide Web sites or resources that are beyond ApartmentRatings' control. ApartmentRatings makes no representations as to the quality, accuracy, suitability, functionality or legality of any sites to which links may be provided, or any data. You rely on any such sites or data at your sole risk, and you hereby waive any claim you might have against ApartmentRatings, with respect to such sites and data. APARTMENTRATINGS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT ON THE INTERNET OR WORLD WIDE WEB PAGES THAT ARE CONTAINED OUTSIDE THE SITE.

10. RSS Feeds. ApartmentRatings offers various parts of the Service in RSS format so that users can embed individual feeds into a personal website or blog, or view postings through third party software news aggregators. ApartmentRatings permits you to display, excerpt from, and link to the RSS feeds on your personal website or personal web blog, provided that (a) your use of the RSS feed is for personal, non-commercial purposes only, (b) each title is correctly linked back to the original Content on the Service and redirects the user to the Content when the user clicks on it, (c) you provide, adjacent to the RSS feed, proper attribution to 'ApartmentRatings.com' as the source, (d) your use or display does not suggest that ApartmentRatings promotes or endorses any third party causes, ideas, web sites, products or services, (e) you do not redistribute the RSS feed, and (f) your use does not overburden ApartmentRatings' systems. ApartmentRatings reserves all rights in the content of the RSS feeds and may terminate any RSS feed at any time.

11. No Warranty. THE SITE AND APARTMENTRATINGS' SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS," AND APARTMENTRATINGS AND ITS SUPPLIERS AND CO-BRAND PARTNERS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND (EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY), INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Without limiting the foregoing, ApartmentRatings does not promise or warrant to you that any aspect of the Site will be accurate or work properly or will be available continuously. Some states do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties, so the foregoing disclaimer may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other legal rights, which vary from state to state.

12. Liability Limits. IN NO EVENT SHALL APARTMENTRATINGS OR ITS SUPPLIERS OR CO-BRAND PARTNERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (HOWEVER ARISING, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE, ITS SERVICES OR THIS AGREEMENT. FURTHER, IN NO EVENT SHALL APARTMENTRATINGS OR ITS SUPPLIERS OR CO-BRAND PARTNERS BE LIABLE TO YOU IN AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN $500. Some states do not allow the foregoing limitations of liability, so they may not apply to you.

13. Access Limits. Without ApartmentRatings' express written consent, you may not (a) use any automated means to access the Site or collect any information from the Site (including without limitation robots, spiders or scripts), or (b) frame the Site, place pop-up windows over its pages, or otherwise affect the display of its pages. This means, among other activities, that you agree not to engage in the practices of "screen scraping," "database scraping," or any other activity with the purpose of obtaining lists of users or other information.

You agree that you will not use the Site in any manner which could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Site or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of the Site.

14. Governing Law And Arbitration. This Agreement is governed in all respects by the laws of the State of California  as such laws are applied to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within California between California residents. Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the Site shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in Los Angeles County, California, and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered into any court having jurisdiction thereof. The award of the arbitrator shall be final and binding upon the parties without appeal or review except as permitted by California law. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may seek any interim or preliminary relief from a court of competent jurisdiction in Los Angeles County, California as necessary to protect the party's rights or property pending the completion of arbitration. By using the Site, you consent and submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in Los Angeles County, California.

15. Entire Agreement. This Agreement (and any addenda or statements expressly incorporated into this Agreement that you enter into) constitute the entire agreement, and supersede the provisions of any other agreements or understandings (oral or written), between the parties with respect to the subject matter of such documents. In the event of any conflict between the terms of this Agreement and an addendum, the provisions of the addendum shall control.

If you have registered to use the Manager Center, then this Agreement and the Manager Center Agreement entered into between you and Apartment Ratings (and any addenda or statements expressly incorporated into such agreements) constitute the entire agreement, and supersede the provisions of any other agreements or understandings (oral or written), between the parties with respect to the subject matter of such documents. To the extent there is any conflict between the terms of this Agreement and the Manager Center Agreement, the terms of the Manager Center Agreement will control.

16. General. You shall comply with all laws and regulations applicable to your access and use of the Site and your publication of your Content. If any portion of this Agreement is deemed unenforceable, that portion shall be enforced to the maximum extent possible and the remaining portions of the Agreement shall be given full effect. ApartmentRatings' failure to act in a particular circumstance does not waive the ability to act with respect to that circumstance or similar circumstances. ApartmentRatings shall be excused for any failure to perform to the extent that its performance is prevented by any reason outside of its control. No agency, partnership, joint venture, employment or franchise relationship is intended or created by this Agreement. ApartmentRatings may change, remove, or require registration or payment to continue use of any aspect of the Site at any time without further notice to you. ApartmentRatings' suppliers and co-brand partners are third-party beneficiaries of this Agreement. Except as provided in Section 1, this Agreement may be amended only by a writing physically signed by both ApartmentRatings and you.

17. Other Disclosures. The Site is provided by ApartmentRatings.com, a division of Internet Brands, Inc., 909 N. Sepulveda Blvd., 11th Floor, El Segundo, CA 90245. At present, ApartmentRatings does not charge you any fees to use its Site or services (although this may change at any time). However, any expenses (such as hardware, software and Internet access costs) or taxes you incur to access the Site shall be your sole responsibility.

For purposes of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, you may contact ApartmentRatings' agent for service of notice at the foregoing address or by emailing staff@aptratings.com. Please make sure that your notices fully comply with the requirements of such act.

	Find a Roommate
	Moving Quotes
	Truck Rentals
	Rate an Apartment
	Advertise a Unit

data:visible_url

Quick Tools

Moving Resources

	Remember me