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Apartment locating in Texas is a big business. Houston and Dallas have some of the largest apartment markets in the entire country. Its a great business as the startup costs are minimal and there is no inventory. Apartments communities will simply pay a referral fee to the apartment loctor who sends them the business. Most properties have policies in place including when and how apartments pay locators. Normally to be paid the referral fee the locator or business name must be listed on the application or guest card. This actually can be quite confusing at times, however if you follow the rules of the apartment community in question, you should get paid in a timely manner. Sometimes we will run across apartment communities/management companies who have no intentions of paying the locating fees. Most apartment locators will simply give up. But if you know what to do, you can normally get paid. However, we would recommend not sending any referrals to these apartment communities in the future. Here is a simply process where you can usually get paid. But you will want to make sure you are the listed locator on all the appropriate documentation. The Demand Letter Ok you will need to write a well crafted demand letter. You can usually find a sample on the Internet and rewrite it to focus on your specific needs. Of course you will want to include why you are writing this letter, and what you will do if you don’t receive payment. You can figure that you are probably not the first person who is not able to recover a fee from this apartment community. They probably have a long list of vendors who are not able to secure payment. And it will be your job to jump in front of the others to get paid. Small Claims Court If your demand letter does not do the trick you will need to show the property that you mean business. Of course make sure that you were listed as the referral on the application and other necessary paperwork before doing so. It will just take a quick trip to you local county courthouse branch. You will have to pay a filing fee. However if you have an invoice that is several hundred dollars it will be worth it. The apartment community will be served within a week or so. Someone will contact you from the legal department and who will most likely be paid.
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demand letters, real estate, commission,
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