My family and I wanted to lease a home close to our previous home. I paid the $35 application fee and the $400 deposit. After receiving third-party links from Payscore and Persona to invade my personal life, it began to make me sick to my stomach. The cherry on top was all of this scrutiny: "But I was denied permission (outside of photos) to actually look at the house before signing a lease. Would you buy a car without test driving, or do you buy clothes without seeing if they fit? Well, my family wasn't allowed to see if the house fit. The question is, why? We weren't allowed to go inside and physically see the home before we signed a lease. What's wrong with the house? Florida law allows exceptions for third-party vendors like Conservice for legal reasons. I told Progressive that I would not sign a lease with Conservice included. Couple the issues together, and I have a strong case here. I have an existing account with the city for utility services. Why would I close my accounts and allow Conservice to charge a $25 connection fee and up to $9.95 per month to manage an existing account? It screams fee-gouging. I have a trail of documentation via email and texts that clearly shows we wanted to physically see the home before signing a lease. Progressive tried to push me into signing the lease and paying lump sums. All of this, combined, was the reason we refused to go further. We did not ask Progressive to remove the home from circulation. It appears that other applicants would be deprived of an opportunity to apply. Progressive charges an application fee, rigs the system, and keeps the deposit,"win-win."Since Progressive Residential wouldn't permit us to enter and inspect the home"until the application was approved," we rightfully had second thoughts. After several emails and texts it was clear they had no intention of returning the $400 deposit.
Desired outcome: Refund the $400 deposit to my credit card. The state of Florida allows cancellations due to buyer's remorse.