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!