The Complicated Morality of Application Fees

Julianna always thought of herself as a kind, generous person, and she never intended to own and run an apartment complex. But, when she inherited the place from her father, who she knew was a horrible miserly man, she just didn’t have the heart to sell the place. She just couldn’t think of what would happen to those poor tenants.

Also, she thoroughly enjoyed the income. It allowed her to quit her awful receptionist job and focus full time on her art. Since acquiring the place, she actually hadn’t spent much time on her art, but that is completely beside the point.

Anyways, it seemed to be just a normal day for Julianna. One of her favorite tenants, Mrs. Winslow, had to move out due to some health issues affecting her ability to walk up all the steps, so Julianna was showing her old apartment to a lovely young couple.

After walking out of the guest bedroom, Julianna said, “So, that’s it. What do you think?”

“It’s just lovely,” said Jessica who went by Jes.

“It’s nice,” said Patrick who went by Pat.

“Thank you,” said Julianna. “Mrs. Winslow kept great care of it.”

“And the rent is $1,500?” asked Pat.

“That’s right.”

After mumbling, “Not bad,” Pat asked, “How much is the application fee?”

“The application fee?” asked a confused Julianna.

“Yeah, is it $250?” asked Patrick as he reached for his checkbook.

“Oh, um—”

“My bad, it’s $500. Right?”

Julianna didn’t know what to do. She had never heard of an application fee, but Patrick seemed so sure of himself, and $500 was $500. So, she just nodded her head, and before she knew it, Patrick had given her a check for $500.

“How long until you’ll be able to tell us if we got it?” asked Patrick.

No one else had looked at the apartment, and she had been prepared to ask them if they wanted to move in before Patrick had brought up the whole application fee thing. So, to avoid looking like she didn’t know what she was doing she croaked out, “A few days.”

“Ok, but we are looking to move in as soon as possible.”

Julianna nodded her head unsure that she could say anything appropriate. Then, Jes said, “It was a pleasure to meet you,” and Julianna somehow managed to say, “you too.” And, they were gone.

After a few flummoxed moments, Julianna called her best friend Barbara who everyone naturally called Barb.

“Barb, you want believe what just happened to me?”

“What?”

“I had just finished showing this nice couple Mrs. Winslow’s old apartment, when the guy asked me how much my application fee was.”

“What’s an application fee?”

“I don’t know, and before I could ask him, he had given me a check for $500.”

“And, you took it?”

“They left before I could say anything. So, now I’m just standing in the apartment holding a check for $500, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Do you think it was a bribe?”

“A bribe for what? I was going to let them have the apartment.”

“Where are they from?”

“Somewhere in California. I think they said San Francisco.”

“Ah, that’s it. It’s a San Francisco thing.”

“Really? You think this is common out there?”

“I bet it is, and I bet the application fee out there is more than $500.”

“You think?”

“I’m sure of it. You remember when Patti told us about that cousin of hers who moved out to San Francisco. She was paying nearly three thousand dollars for a little studio apartment.”

“I forgot about that.”

“And, I bet she paid more than $500 for an application fee.”

“So, I should just keep the money?”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t charge application fees.”

“You could start.”

“I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem right. Why charge people something for nothing?”

“Because they’ll pay it.”

“But that doesn’t seem like a good answer.”

“You could use the $500. Right?”

Julianna really could use the money. It had been ages since she had been on vacation, and she could use the break. But, it still felt wrong to her.

After thinking it over for the next couple of days, Julianna decided she would let Jes and Patrick have the apartment, but she would return their application fee.

When she tried to call Patrick to tell him that, he didn’t answer, so she called Jes. After Jes answered and she explained who she was, Jes said, “Oh, Julianna. I’m so sorry. We meant to call you, but we have actually decided to rent a home.”

“You have?”

“Yes, and our application has already been approved.”

“That’s great. Well then, I’m sure—”

“Yes, it’s very nice. Three bedroom with a huge yard. We didn’t realize how cheap it is to live out here.”

“Oh.”

“But, I don’t want you to think that we didn’t like your place. It is lovely. It’s just that since the rent is so cheap, we figured we could get something bigger.”

A slightly bewildered Julianna said, “I understand. Best of luck to y’all,” and ended the call.

After taking a moment to try and comprehend the conversation she just had, Julianna called Barb and said, “You are not going to believe the conversation I just had.”

“Tell me.”

“I called to tell Jes, she’s part of that couple from San Francisco who was—”

“Yes, yes, I remember that couple. What happened?”

“I called to tell her that they could have that they could have Mrs. Winslow’s, but before I could even get that out, she told me they were actually renting a house instead.”

“Makes sense. Even house rentals are probably super cheap for them.”

“But, the even weirder thing is that she didn’t even care about the application fee.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was planning on returning it to them, but I didn’t even have a chance, and crazy enough she didn’t even ask for it.”

“I told you this is just normal for those sort of people.”

“I know you did, but it still just seems so odd to me.”

“You don’t have to cash the check.”

“That’s true…”

“But, since they don’t seem to have any problem giving you the money, I think you should keep it.”

“Really?”

“This is capitalism. Their market said application fees were a thing, so now our market will change to match that market. It’s how the world works.”

“I’m not clueless. I understand capitalism, but I thought capitalism was about paying for good and services, like rent. Rent I understand because they are paying me to use my apartment, but an application fee? What are they paying me for?”

“Jules, you’re missing the complexities of capitalism. Capitalism is all about markets, and what the market will allow. In this case, the market will allow people to pay you for an application fee. It doesn’t matter that the application fee isn’t actually anything. Think of all the random fees your bank charges you.”

“That’s true.”

“And, speaking of markets. Have you checked out the going rates for apartments recently?”

“No, should I?”

“I think you should.”

A few days later, Julianna had just finished showing Mrs. Winslow’s old apartment to a sweet local couple, when she said, ““So, that’s it. What do you think?”

“It’s really nice,” said Hannah.

“I think it’s actually nicer than my brother’s place,” said John.

“He lives in 5a, right?” asked Julianna.

“That’s right,” said John.

“I do think this has a slighter better view, but I do like them both.”

“Oh yeah, they are both really nice…Now the rent. You said it’s $1,850.”

“That’s right.”

“That’s more than I was expecting since, Damon only pays $1,500.”

“Oh yes, he signed his lease when the market was down a bit, but things are picking up. So, I had to raise the rent.”

“The market is picking up?”

“Yes.”

“Well, $1,850 will stretch us, but I think we can still afford it.”

“Great, I will also need a $500 application fee.”

“What’s an application fee?”

“It’s so I can process your application.”

“What do you need to process?”

“Your application and everything that goes along with it like your background.”

“What do you need to know about my background? My brother has been a tenant for years. He can speak to my background.”

“It’s just a new industry thing. I’m sorry. I just have to do it.”

“I don’t think we have an extra $500 with the rent being $1,850.”

Julianna felt bad. She had known Damon for a number of years, and he was a great tenant. So, she said, “I can drop the application fee to $250.”

John looked at Hannah and said, “We may have to think about that.”

“You will need to think fast. I’ve already had a few other people look at the apartment, and they had no problem with the application fee.”

After John and Hannah had left, Julianna felt a little bad, but she quickly thought about what Barb had said. It’s just the markets. It’s not personal, and it’s not wrong, which made her feel much better.