Tag: Rental services
Another rental service trawls for suckers
We've posted repeatedly about the perils of filling out an online rental application. Supplying your Social Security Number and other personal informa [...]
Urban Lux irresponsibly solicits suckers
Are you naïve enough about the realities of identity theft to send your Social Security and Driver's License numbers, and other personal informati [...]
Rent an unavailable apartment from an unlicensed agent
This Craigslist ad is a classic of the Chicago apartment rental service genre, illustrating several of the time-wasting traps that anyone foolish [...]
Renting from site signs – DePaul edition
The most desirable apartments often rent quickly from site signage without ever being posted on Craigslist or being listed with one of Chicago's s [...]
Craigslist is an apartment liars’ list
As of 9:30 last night, 17,511 ads had been posted yesterday in the Chicago > housing > apts/housing for rent section of Craigslist, almost all of [...]
More landlords eliminating use of rental services
It's anecdotal data only, but what I've been hearing during the past month is that a number of major landlords have been reducing or completely el [...]
Chicago rental service offers golden shower
What's there to be said about this Craigslist ad from My Place Apartments, other than that it's an almost perfect metaphor for what you can expect fro [...]
Searching for a River North 2-bedroom with an indoor pool
If you were searching for a River North 2-bedroom with an indoor pool you might start by filtering Craigslist on 2+ BR apartments and typing the f [...]
215 West apartments paying top dollar to rental services
Anticipating a slow Mother's Day, the 215 West apartment tower in the Loop sent an email blast on Saturday reminding rental services that it's pay [...]
EnV apartments offers steep rent discounts
Discount is a dirty word in the world of new rental high-rises, where price-cutting takes the form of "free rent" specials limited to new renters. [...]
Apartment Savvy targets the dumbest renters on the planet
Apartment Savvy, one of the rental services on our do-not-call list, has been reviewed 85 times at the Google Places page for its 2835 N Clark St [...]
My Place Apartments gussies up Google Reviews
When we last checked in on Crazy Steve and My Place Apartments they were soliciting deadbeats, felons and strippers as clients. As you can see fro [...]
Urban Lux – rental spam as search bait
Chicago-based Urban Lux promises to "change the way people find apartments" as it expands "throughout the US and Europe" – but delivers the bait-a [...]
Gold Coast studio apartments with in-unit washer / dryers
If you're looking for a studio apartment in the Gold Coast with an in-unit washer / dryer, you can stop looking: there aren't any. Ditto for one-, [...]
Condo – a dirty word for apartment rental services
A while back we wrote about 2-bedroom, 2-bath units in a full-amenity condo high-rise renting for the same price ($1,950 a month) as a convertible [...]
Supplementing the Trib’s apartment hunting tips
Today's Chicago Tribune has an informative article about apartment-hunting strategies in what's currently a landlord's market. It's generally good [...]
Will Illinois ever crack down on unlicensed rental agents?
Chicago renters and landlords have been plagued for years by a rental services industry that operates as if there were no law enforcement in Illin [...]
Attorney General’s office declares war on Chicago rental services
Late Friday the Illinois Attorney General's office announced the formation of an inter-agency task force to combat what AG Lisa Madigan referred to as [...]
Avoid MLS rentals that don’t disclose an address
In order for a real estate broker to list a property for rent in the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) it must have a written exclusive right t [...]
Go directly to the landlord when renting an apartment
Finding an apartment in Chicago through an apartment rental service can be a time-wasting and frustrating experience.
When renters go directly [...]