Fan Apartments

Name: Fan Apartments
Also Known As: Mason Brothers Investments, Inc.
Location: Richmond, VA

It isn't just that Fan Apartments padlocks the fire escape shut. It isn't just that there isn't a single window in the apartment that both isn't painted shut and which has a screen. It isn't just that the walls "give" in a curious way when you touch them. It isn't just that they didn't prime before they painted the bathrooms, so the latex paint peeled right off during the first year, exposing the mold growing in the walls and doors. It isn't just that the wiring is terrible and there's no functioning phone jack in the apartment and the electrical fixtures are constantly blowing lightbulbs, if they work at all. It isn't just that the maintenance department is only reachable by fax, or even that they consider the lack of a functioning toilet a "non-emergency" that can go four or five days before someone comes out to fix it.

No, the worst thing about Fan Apartments is that they won't let you leave. A year ago, my husband and I sent our required three month advance notice of non-renewal of the lease on time... and it was turned down on the grounds that only one of us signed it. They offered us a deal - if we would pay them a $1,000 fee to sublease and find a replacement tennant ourselves, entirely through our own effort and expense, subject to their approval, and pay all the rent until they approved a new tennant... that's how we could terminate our lease with Fan Apartments. Of course, since the rent is contractually raised by 5% every year, we would be renting our apartment out at a considerably higher rate than the two other vacant apartments in our building (at this writing, our rent is approximately $300 more than the apartment across the hall is renting for - and unlike ours, that apartment has been renovated within the last two years!) A quick perusal of their website showed that we weren't alone - quite a few listings had "call us or tenant" on the contact info. A few calls to fellow tenants revealed a pattern - no excuse was too flimsy for Fan Apartments to use to rope people into another year's worth of rent.

We could not afford to pay double rent, so one year later, we were still living in the same mold and mildew infested fire-hazard. This time we both signed the letter declining to extend the lease, and mailed it by the required date. We even mailed it at the very post office at which Fan Apartments has a PO Box, so the letter would never even have to leave the building before it was delivered to the "good" people at Fan Apartments. We put it in the same envelope as our monthly rent. Unfortunately, we did not send it registered mail.

One week later, we received notice that our letter was not received, that our rent was "late" and subject to a 10% penalty (by certified check only, because we're the untrustworthy ones). Of course, this means that the letter declining to renew was also "not received." But once again, for the low, low payment of thirteen extra month's rent (one year plus the sublet fee) - all told over $15,000 - we could finally escape this Scumlord.

Do not under any circumstances rent from Fan Apartments. Do share your own Fan Apartments horror stories in the comments below. And, if you are a fellow mark of these scam artists posing as landlords, do link to this website to bump it up the google index. Our goal is for everyone who goes to the Fan Apartments website to see this warning.