Real Property Management Three Rivers

RE: Complaint# ***Please see response to complaint listed below.Applicant responded to an ad for a rental property which was listed for $1350/month. Applicant contacted us regarding price of the unit and we did confirm that the price was listed as stated at $1350/month. He wished to place an application so that he would be "first in line" on the property. At the time, applicant failed to alert us to the fact that they had 2 separate bankruptcy filings, the most recent occurring in 2018. Had that information been disclosed at the time of the inquiry, we would have instructed the applicant not to submit an application, as a recent bankruptcy is a valid reason for disqualification of an applicant per our industry standards. Based on the credit score and the bankruptcies, we declined the application.As a real estate brokerage, we are a 3rd party provider of rental properties. We do not own the properties. We are contracted by individual property owners to handle this process. At the same time this person was submitting an application, we received an overwhelming response to the ad we had placed. So much so that the property owner felt that we had perhaps listed the property under market value. That property owner instructed us (as is their right) to increase the listing price on the rental from $1350 to $1500/month. Since our client is the property owner, we have a fiduciary duty to that owner to comply with their requests, and to market the property to the highest and best use. At that time, since the person lodging this complaint had applied and paid their application fee based on the lower price, we did the right thing and returned their application fee to them in full, even though they had been declined based on the quality of their application. That happened before any threat of complaint had been stated to us. We did it because it was the right thing to do.As a side note about the ethical behavior here, I feel it prudent to provide this additional information regarding our industry. We are contracted by the property owner directly, to operate in their best interest. We have a fiduciary duty to that client to maximize the return on their investment and maintain the property in the best condition possible. Since they are our client, not the person applying to rent the property, we are frequently placed in a difficult situation, balancing the demands of the tenant, with those of the property owners. Further, until an applicant signs a lease for a property, there is no contract or client relationship between our agency and that applicant. As a final note on the changing of the price, I pose the following question:If a property is listed for a price that is too high for the market, then the marketplace will not show interest, and the property will sit vacant for an extended period of time. The property owner then has the right to lower the price in order to bring it in line with market equilibrium. If a property is listed below market equilibrium, there will be a great demand for that property, and in contrast the property that was listed at too high a price, many people will inquiry to rent it. Why then is it ok to lower the price on a property that was listed at too high a price, but it is "unethical" to raise the price when a property was listed for under market rate.