I wrote the ************ of ************** the following letter Thank you. Dear members of the ************,I reside at Road and I am writing to share my experiences with you regarding The Crescent, an apartment building in **************, located at the corner of *************** and **************************. The corporate owner is known as Aimco.I visited the apartment and applied for a place to live there. As part of this process, the building required me to make my deposit in advance. This seemed irregular but I went ahead and paid them $1,000, and then got my application approved. A few days later, I found my current residence and decided to forgo living at the Crescent. I informed the agent that set up the meetings, but they referred me back to the leasing office. My deposit payment was never returned to me. Eventually, I decided to dispute the deposit charge with Mastercard. I never signed a lease and did not commit to staying at the Crescent, but my application was accepted. Mastercard reviewed the dispute and I lost the case, initially. Crescent said that the $1,000 was a fee, not a deposit. This is so untrue! It was made very clear to me at the start that this would be the deposit. And, the agent in the leasing office, copied here, explained to me that I would get the money back if the lease did not go forward. It did not, but the company vigorously fought my claim when I made it. But, just this past week, Mastercard ruled in my favor and returned my $1,000 deposit to me. I felt vindcated. I wanted the Council to know that there are companies doing business like this in **************. Even for my current residence, my lease application fee was $50. It was not binding. While I learned a ****** to never make a payment like that up front again, why didn't this company give me my money back after I notified them? I never came back there, I never turned in any papers, and I notified the company's representative that I would not be moving there. Why did I have to file a dispute, and do all of this work to get my money back? I ask that the Council please look into this company's business practices. How many others have been harmed by these despicable and dishonest business tactics? Thank you for your time. *********