So, the landlord who said he'd call me "Monday, regardless" didn't.

[eyesroll]

Apparently, getting an apartment in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee is like applying for a job -- there are often multiple applicants, and they're weighted against each other (whereas my experience in other parts of Wisconsin has been, if you apply for an apartment first, your application is weighed on its own merits, and usually unless there's something awful about your credit, rent or criminal history, you'll get the place). Sure, they're technically not allowed to discriminate based on certain factors (family status being the most relevant one here), but there are plenty of legitimate things you can find in ANY rental application if you want to justify giving it to someone else . Because, let's face it -- if you had to choose between us (man and woman, not married, early 30s, one with excellent credit, one with average credit, plus small child, plus cat, plus two birds) and, say, my parents (man and woman, late 50s, semi-retired with excellent teacher's pension and additional income, no pets, no kids at home, impeccable credit), you'd pick my parents in a heartbeat. And there would be plenty of legitimate and legal reasons to do so.

Anyhow.

We applied for this super-cool apartment last week, and we were led to believe that our chances of getting the apartment were pretty good. (The sister-in-law of the LL showed the place: "Cats? No problem. The other applicants right now are frat boys, and Bob'd prefer to rent to someone else if he can."

When I finally talked to "Bob," (who travels a lot and was not around to show the apartment) I found out he was reluctant about cats (I offered to pay an additional pet deposit), and there were multiple other applicants.

He said he'd hoped to make a decision by Monday, and he'd call me after work regardless, even if he hadn't yet decided, or decided to go with someone else.

It is Tuesday morning now. No message on my phone. No message on my SO's phone. Nada. What happened?

(Note: I will wait until a decent hour and call him for an update. I'm still looking for an apartment, and will continue to do so until I have a signed lease in hand somewhere. I also should add: He is NOT the person in charge of repair/maintenance, so I do not have to worry about his responsiveness in that context. If offered the apartment, I will take it unless he asks for an enormous non-refundable deposit or wants the cat declawed or something.)

[billyskank]

1. I think lazy

Like the telephone job interview I had a few weeks ago (I hate telephone interviews) and the agency never got back to me. Clearly the client wasn't interested in me, and the agent couldn't be arsed to tell me. Why should he care, after all? He only gets paid when he gets a candidate to accept a job. :eyes:

[eyesroll]

2. I don't like telephone interviews either.

I do plenty of them for my job (editor), and that's OK, but I hate being on the receiving end of one for any reason.

So much of communication is body language.

[Magrittes Pipe]

3. What an assbag.

:hug:

[eyesroll]

6. Eh, I'll deal.

We applied for another apartment this weekend, and we'll see. It's not quite as nice a place, but it's still in good condition with respectable kitchen and bath and a lot of space. We genuinely like these landlords, too. If we don't end up renting from them, we think they'd be fun to hang out with (a couple with a 4-year-old son). (And suck-up me sent a thank-you e-mail.) This one, I think, will be a straightforward "who has the best credit" decision, and we'll know mid-week.

Tomorrow, though, if we don't have a firm offer, we go driving around and pulling phone numbers from "for rent" signs, as there are lots of those that are unadvertised.

Thanks.

[GalleryGod]

4. I Think that the Cats

eliminated you...it was close,but,that could be a deciding factor.

[eyesroll]

5. We'll see -- but that is what I am figuring.

It really depends on who the other applicants are. If they're frat boys and criminals all, the cat won't be a big deal. If they're my parents (or even us without the pets), they'll win.

He's well within his rights to prefer people without cats. (He's OK with dogs. I guess he's had bad luck with cats.) I just wish, if that was the case, he'd instructed his sister-in-law to say NO CATS upfront rather than waste everyone's time.

Actually, as it is an owner-occupied duplex (he lives upstairs), he's within his rights to prefer white people, straight people, childless people. Fair housing laws don't apply if you're renting space in your own duplex or triplex. (And rightfully so -- you shouldn't be forced to invite someone into your home if you don't want to.)

[GalleryGod]

7. That's a "Mrs. Murphy's Exception" to the law

refers to Mrs' Murphy's Rooming House....