When you move into an apartment you're taking plenty of gambles.
There's only so much you can know about about your new home. For all you know you may be walking into an apartment with a portal to the underworld in the bathroom.
But in all seriousness, one of the biggest gambles you take when moving into a new apartment is your landlord.
You really don't know anything about your landlord until you've been settled into your place for a bit.
If you're lucky you'll have one of those perfect, problem-free apartments that we all hear about but have never actually seen, and you'll never need to contact your landlord.
Sadly, the reality is that we'll all have to talk to our landlord at one point or another. Fortunately, help is on the way.
DNAInfo reports that Yale Fox, an advocate for housing rights and income equality, has developed a new, RentLogic, that allows you to search apartments by neighborhood ranked from best to worst.
The apartments are ranked based on a variety of eight years worth of data, including vermin infestations, mold problems, and construction violations.
The apartments are rated on your classic middle school letter grade scale. Fox developed the website in hopes of leveling the playing field between renters and landlords.
Landlords will do their best to keep rents high in buildings that definitely aren't up to snuff with their outrageous price tags, and RentLogic does it's best to break this down and get renters the prices these apartments deserve.
The website is still in beta mode, but is still definitely worth a try if you're about to start apartment hunting. Don't walk into an apartment with a landlord who hasn't told you about your new homes old roach motel, get the facts.
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On the other hand, when it comes to identifying shady landlords, there's safety in numbers. So squad up, so to speak, and find a roommate using Roomi.
Roomi’s an incredible free app that helps you afford living in a city you can’t on your own by helping you find roommates and housemates that aren’t sketchballs.
You should never leave an apartment you love because you can’t fill the space, and you should never sacrifice a solid friendship for an easy fix when it comes to your apartment.
Download Roomi, and find a roommate that’s actually good for you.
[via DNAInfo] [Feature Image Courtesy The Sheriffs Office ]