RPM property managment letdown

I'm sorry that happened to you. It sounds fustrating. I Couldn't imagine not being able to move with my cats. Don't they have to let you have the pet if it's on the lease? Did you already pay the pet deposit?

I'm having issues with RPM too, though not as serious as yours. Every time I talk to them I'm told something different and contradictory to what they said before. I'm not even moved into my apartment yet, and I'm pretty convinced they're incompetent and completely unorganized.

I also had a horrible experience with RPM. Last winter break when I stayed up here alone to work, I came home during the night and noticed that someone had been in my apartment. Both of my roommates' doors were wide open which were never once opened and the heater was on which I didn't turn on. Although it looked like no one was in the apartment with me or nothing was taken, I was absolutely still in panic zone. So I called the police and they came over and took a look. Right after they left, I finally found RPM's emergency number and called them to tell them what had happened. The lady who picked up said that they had maintence people come in to turn on our heaters because the pipes were freezing up. THEN she said that they were going to email RPM residents the next day to tell them that they were going to enter our units. She also sounded like I had distured her and that my call wasn't important.

Now although I highly respect RPM's safety concerns for the pipes to not burst, I was also consumed with anger of why they couldn't email the residents earlier to warn us (so like me, I wouldn't have to go through the trauma of thinking someone broke into my place...) or at least they could've left a note, you know.

Also avoid Stebner Real Estate aka Copper Mountain Real Estate.
Derek Stebner (who owns both companies, and several other groups of properties around Bellingham) has a serious record of screwing college students (and other residents I'm sure, but I only hear it from college students). It got bad enough with us that we had to sue (which is really easy to do in this county, by the way!) and won. The judges around here are wise to the sneaky/crappy/underhanded landlords, and they're pretty much on your side so long as you're polite, respectful, and make a coherent case. While it takes a while to get a court date, you can bring bad landlords to small claims court without a lawyer, and the whole process only costs you $25.

Oh my gosh, same thing when I was renting from stebner/copper mountain! They tried to evict us because they charged us rent twice on accident, and then tried to make us pay late fees! They suck pretty hard. good for you for standing up for yourself!

that is very good information to know :)

Just so everyone knows, Western has a Legal Information Center on campus at VU 528 to help with issues like these and really any other issues regarding the law.  They're very helpful and know their stuff; I had my own share of problems with Apex last winter with the storms and I went to them for advice.  

Here's the link: 

legalinfo.as.wwu.edu/

Yeah, be careful with Copper Mountain! My roommate and I thought we found our dream apartment for next school year. The lady gave us a good summer special so we said singed the lease, got our background check, etc, etc. Finally when we thought everything was settled, they said that we weren't qualified for the special. My roommate and I are pretty intelligent and cautious buyers and we knew what we signed up for. We were angry that they gave us the wrong information and what's even more pathetic is that they wouldn't give us back our money (which was around $1000). We had to keep chasing them down about the situation for several weeks to a month because they either never picked up their phones or ignored our phone calls! It was a nightmare...

For all of you who have had issues with RPM, Stebner, or any other of the property managers or nightmare landlords that have properties around Bellingham, Get your hands on a copy of the Landlord-Tenant Act (it's online), review it, and exercise your rights.  Quote it when arguing your case.  Nothing lights a candle under a property manager's ass like someone who knows their rights.  The reason they f*** with college students is because they know most young adults don't know their rights and that they can probably get away with it.  Landlords and their employees cannot enter your rental unit without at least 24 hours notice, if there are agreed upon terms in a lease and they don't live up to the CONTRACT, you are no longer bound by the lease (which consequently goes the other way, but they have to give you a minimum amount of time's notice before eviction).  Also, avoid a landlady named Maggie Hanson, she claims she doesn't rent out properties as a professional, but she was managing over a dozen properties and was the president of the Northwest WA Rental Owner's Association when some friends and I rented from her.  She broke several terms of the landlord tenant act and sent us a bad check for a fraction of our deposit without any good reason why she was screwing us over.  She was an example of some of the snake oil charlatan landlords that prey on college students here in Bellingham. We wish we would have known our rights before it was too late.  I'd also recommend avoiding Chuckanut and Protocol property management if at all possible, I've had friends with similar bad experiences to others listed here.

This is all great information!  I'm a first time renter, and renting from RPM.  I've heard mixed reviews so it's really awesome to hear from people who have been in awkward situations with these companies.  I hope I never have to, but it's great to know all this and have the resources to fight back.  Thanks a lot everyone!

The Parberry's are amazing folks to rent from and Bayview Property Management is pretty solid (as far as property management places go).  I also rented from a realtor (his name is Monte Young) who has homes and apartments on the side.  He is a really good guy to rent from too. 

Some advice - talk to your landlords as if you were interviewing them for a job.  I have turned down places based on poor first impressions of managers.  Remember, they want you to rent from them and if they aren't cordial to you in the beginning or show a lack of interest, what do you think your renting relationship is going to be like?

Second, don't be so anxious to get the first nice place you see.  Bellingham is full of nice places to rent for reasonable prices.  Do some research and you will save yourself a headache in the long run. 

I have lived in mainly apartments for most of the last fifteen years and a couple of these places were barely above slumlord status, but the managers were really cool and always respectful.  Despite the doom and gloom from the apartment management circuit, there are good situations out there.  Be patient.

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