On May 6, 6:48 pm, jXwXeXrXmXoX...@sonic.net wrote:

Well, good news.  I talked with the Community Relations person, and
she said that I was
indeed allowed to have two cats. However, I have to do the whole pet
lease/money thing
for the 2nd cat, too.  So I need to get vet papers, a pet lease, a
picture, and pay an extra
$150 deposit and $25 a month for the 2nd cat.  Phew.  They don't even
have a picture of
Rita yet, because I never got around to changing over from Fin to Rita
when the cats
changed. I guess I'll take care of them all at the same time.

Now to call the shelter at 10am and let them know.

Rita's getting a kitten!   I hope, anyway.  (Depends a lot on how she
reacts when
she sees him at the shelter.)

Jane
- owned and operated by Princess Rita

As I'm learning to my dismay (although it doesn't involve
pets - I have a nice official sticker in my front window
confirming that I'm paying rent for them).  I rented an
Arizona apartment which provided concierge service (for
accepting parcels, referring new tenants to area stores,
recommending people who perform maid service, etc.).  They
had a nice (clearly identified) "Recreation Building" for
tenant use, with billiard tables, card tables, kitchen and
meeting areas, and the complex (of 1220 units) sponsored
semi-monthly dinners for residents to socialize.  There were
nine heated swimming pools, a well-equipped fitness room and
a small movie theater which showed weekly matinee's for the
kids and at least one screening a month for grown-ups.  (An
ideal situation for an able-bodied retiree who knows no one
in the area.)  A month after I moved in, the complex changed
hands.

The concierge service was promptly discontinued. Now if you
get a parcel by mail, it goes back to the post-office (about
ten miles away) unless it will fit in the standard
mail-boxes in your area of the complex. (Because the complex
provides central mail-boxes, the postman is not allowed to
bring the parcel to your door - understandable, since the
entire complex must occupy at least a square mile, probably
more.) The December dinner was cancelled with no advance
notice to those who'd made reservations.  (We arrived in our
holiday finery to find the building locked, unlit, and a
hand-written note on the door announcing the cancellation -
no reason given.)  The recreation building was promptly
turned over to the maintenance department for storage.
(Although the "Recreation Building" sign is still
prominently visible to prospective tenants being shown
around the property.)  Because they are visible to
prospective tenants, the swimming pools exist and appear
well-maintained, but the "heating" is purely theoretical.
The fitness room is still there, but most of the equipment
is not functional (and they're "not sure" when it will be
replaced).  The movie theater is still scheduling movies,
but they can't show them until they replace the burned out
bulb in the projector.  (Apparently a major project, since
it's been "burned out" for three months, now!)Unfortunately,
none of these amenities were written into our leases, so we
have no recourse.  (Of course, there was no reduction in
rent when the amenities disappeared, even though they were
the reason many of us chose to pay a much higher rent than
the apartments themselves warranted.)

What has me most concerned, though, was that they sent
around a notice that they would be inspecting our smoke
alarms, checking for leaks, and replacing air-conditioning
filters.  The notice plainly stated that this was a REQUIRED
semi-annual inspection, and that we could not refuse to
allow the inspectors access.  (Actually, I think the
smoke-alarm inspection is required by law for all rental
property - it certainly was in California.)  I'm retired, so
I was present for the alleged inspection (which of course
took place during the normal business day, when most
residents were at work).  They went directly to the
air-conditioning unit, changed the filter, and left - must
have been here all of five minutes!  When I called the
office of the building to ask when the smoke alarm
inspection would be performed, I was told they showed the
inspection was complete!  (Why believe ME, when I told them
no-one went anywhere NEAR the smoke alarm?)  I was upset
enough to write a letter to the management company's main
office (with a copy and covering note to the Phoenix Fire
Department) but so far no one has bothered to reply to that,
either!

I've begun looking into "senior housing" (where I can rent
an apartment plus maid-service, all utilities paid, three
meals a day, a full schedule of recreational activities, an
emergency call system and a twenty-four hour staff trained
to respond to emergencies).  It costs a lot more than I'm
paying here - but not really, after figuring in the cost of
utilities, groceries, etc. (Oh yes, if I decide I no longer
want to drive, they provide transportation for medical
appointments, shopping, etc. - all part of the basic
package.)  When my lease expires, hopefully I'm outa here!

I was eager to rent a house from a woman I'd rented from before, but I
knew from my previous experience that, although an excellent landlady, she
believed animals belonged in barns, not in houses, and had in her leases a
'no pets' clause. So whe I was enquiring about the new place, I said up
front 'Since I lived in your apartment on X street, I've gotten two cats.
Is that going to be a problem?' She wanted a tenant who paid regularly and
was unlikely to have the kind of parties the previous tenants had had, and
said 'not at all'. When I got my copy of the lease to review, she had put
in 'Tenant may have two (2) cats' in place of the 'no pets' clause.

I think that it's probably easier to negotiate this sort of thing when the
landlord is an individual or at a small business. The employees of the big
management companies who run a lot of the bigger apartment complexes don't
seem to have as much leeway in such matters.