Woodside Apartments

What an unpleasant three months.
Oh no, wait; 3 months do not equal 90 days, but 117 days.
I planned to remodel
our home. If we decided to live in the house during the remodel, we would be
without a shower, maybe doable, but without running water for weeks,
electricity for days, in the winter, no thank you.
I looked on
line to see which local apartments offered month to month. I found the Woodside
Apartments on Haas Avenue in San Leandro. However when I got there I was
informed by office manager Ms. Le Gail Murphy ?We only lease?. I also found
this to be true of other apartments. False advertising, maybe, but they do say
not to believe everything you read on the WEB. Because it was a few blocks from
the house and I could sign a lease for 3 months, I decided to say OK. Besides contractor
was going to tear the bathrooms apart in two days so I did not have much time to
look further.
That is when
the most unpleasant 117 days began. The rent began on the move in day; but the 3-month
lease began starting the 1st of the following month. Oh, by the way
?because you are signing a 3 month lease the rent will be an additional $150.00
per month. And there is an additional $50.00 per month for the dog, too.? Le
Gail announced. She also demanded payment of the entire lease amount, up front
with a money order or a cashier?s check. (Yup, more that 3 months worth of rent
paid in full). Even though Le Gail specified, only the first month needed to be
a secured form of payment with the following months by personal check, but when
we went to take possession, her orders changed. (What a pain).  I had a cashier?s check for the first month
and planned to write a personal check for the balance. The banks closed at 5:00
pm; so we ran around trying to get money orders for over $5500.00 for the total
lease amount. (We discovered most places have $250 limits per money order.) We
arrived back at the Woodside Apartments on Haas Avenue at 5:59 pm; Le Gail was
long gone even though she knew we wanted to take possession that day and the
posted hours were until 6:00 pm.
We had lined
up few men were waiting for us at the house to help us move furniture. My
family needed seamless and stress free. What we received from Ms. Le
Gail Murphy - demanding, righteous, uptight, and downright difficult for the
entire 3 PLUS months.
With any question asked the answer
from Le Gail ?Can?t?, or unyielding and defiantly unhelpful was she.
Within the first week here, the
buildings fire alarm went off, evacuating most of the residents; Le Gail
appeared long after the fire and rescue arrived. (False alarm, someone burnt their
dinner). We all got a note on our door instructing us not to open our door to
the hallway if we burnt our dinner.
Another week, another letter, ?Do not
feed the cats?, and ?pick up after your dog? was the message.
Month two of living
here, Le Gail flags me down as I drove into the tenant parking lot. ?Don?t park
in the Disabled spot near the door its van accessible.? I have a disabled
placard. So I doubled checked with the San Leandro Police Department, I was legal
to park there. But Le Gail didn?t think so. She cornered me in the hallway with
her saccharin sweet squeaky voice ?I told you, You can?t park there!? But when
asked, Am I parked legally? She regurgitated ?YOU can?t park there, I?m telling
everyone.? The next time I parked there, I found a florescent notice glued to
the windshield. ?Warning your car will be towed?. To avoid further interaction
with Ms. Le Gail Murphy I parked in another spot.
We thought we made it perfectly clear
that we would be moving out on April 1st, however, Le Gail did not
see it that way. My husband went to remind her that we were moving; ?You need
to give me thirty days notice? His response was we gave you 3 months notice! She
redelivered ...?30 days notice? He walked away; wrote a note.
That very afternoon, another note
taped to our door, a notice to vacate. Le Gail Murphy dictator of the Woodside
Apartments in San Leandro announced our move out date and the additional rent we
owed.
I suppose after 3 months, I should
not be surprised at Le Gail Murphy?s immovable, domineering, uncooperative, controlling
attitude.  Anyone that knows me knows
that I do not intimidate, and I do not cower to power over.
I have never encountered a single
person like her and hope I never do again!