RDNY

Complete waste of money and my valuable time. Every listing I called was a broker who said that the listing was already taken, but for a fee of $7200 they had a similar apartment on a higher floor but I would have to pay 15% of the years rent to get it. Totally bait and switch! I am sure that the owners are involved in this scam. Why? Because they know most people won't bother to sue for their $200 back for invalid listings. Aparently they offer landlords and brokers the opportunity to list their apartments themselves, so what do they then do for you? Nothing. And no refunds as the department of state requires ($15) is all they are allowed to keep. Guess what? They have a NYC Brokers License too! Ok so know I get it they set this up so they could just create a list of active apartment hunters who are stupid enough to PAY for it! Just ask a friend about apartments, and if that doesn't work ask doorman, supers but avoid this at all cost. I wasted a week and go nothing but a higher bill at the hotel i was staying at. As soon as I moved on I found a place 1, 2, 3. Ps: The reason I am writing this is that they even had the nerve to request my rating of their service, even though they should have known I asked and was denied a refund.

There introductary teaser site is well done it sucks you in with promises of fabulous apartments and I did like the RDNY blog, but the reality is that you can spent upwards to $150.00 dollars and come up empty. Once you sign up for the site those fabulous listing disolve into a few nominal apts within a narrow price range. I saw the paltry listings and asked for a refund. I was told my price was not realistic in the areas I searched (yet I found two the following day on Craigs list, no fee and not too bad). And if you change you search parameters too many times you locked out. RDNY lists apartment owners or property management companies, the PM thought I was an agent calling "to show" the listing? I did mention RDNY but there was no acknowledgement on the end of the property owner. For high end listings this might be a tool to use, but if you are a struggling intern, student, or just starting out it is a lot to pay.

I spent way too much time looking at so called no fee websites, but they have old, outdated listings and often, they lead you straight to brokers for big bucks. Looked at craigslist, one scam followed another. Finally asked a friend who had used RDNY and I called, somewhat cautiously. Excellent service, all valid listings, tons of help when I had questions, and can't beat the price. I found an amazing apartment in lower Manhattan through a private owner. This company also has the most amazing blog and renter's guide- so helpful. 5 stars!

I signed up for RDNY.com and on the email I received there are links to the log-in page, some sort of renters guide, etc. All of those links are broken. What is this?

OK, update: I got a call from the company within a few hours, and they were migrating servers this morning, and now the log-in works ok. Let's hope there are some good apartments listed.

Can i give zero stars? This is the first review i've ever made time to write about anything… but I will copy into as many sites as I can.
PLEASE TAKE NOTE. RDNY IS A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY. Despite what you might be told, you will not get your money back unless you cancel IMMEDIATELY. This service was completely mis-sold to me as a risk-free option, which it is not. I was told I would get my money back if I did not find somewhere after 2 months. The apartments offered were terrible, but I waited anyway in case something better came up. It didn't and I was told I should have cancelled on the first day to get my money back! I strongly believe you WILL NOT find your home here, Craigslist is far better – or a broker if you can afford. Though admittedly, I learned my lesson – ALWAYS read the damned sneaky terms and conditions (even when they are not pointed out to you).

RDNY has bad professional ethics. They seduce people into paying for their services by flooding them with apartment listings to make it seem like they have a lot of offerings. Once you sign up and pay there is a dramatic drop in listings. They don't screen brokers and landlords sufficiently and there is poor communication between them and landlords. For example, one of the first apartment owners that I called denied that he even knew what RDNY was and said that he sells his own properties.He forwarded me to his web site. So, it seemed to me that at least that one apartment was listed without permission by landlord. Furthermore, he said the apartment in question was a full $100.00 more than the RDNY listing.

Some of the brokers listed are really shady and engage in bait and switch. They tell you that an apartment is available, collect all of your personal information on an application, collect your deposit----all to appear legit. However, at the same time they have already received an application on the apartment, or, it was never available. They call you back and tell you what a good applicant you are but that someone else got their app in before you. This is true even when they tell you that there are no other applicants on no one has made a deposit. Once they think that you are really interested in the apartment they offer you a slightly upscale apartment that costs more money but also that the apartment that you want is still available. They keep you on hold for a few hours telling you that they are waiting for owner approval. Then they call you and tell you that the owner has another application that came in right before yours from another broker. In my situation, according to the super of the building, there was no other broker. So, I was scammed by the broker listed on RDNY. I cancelled my check and complained to RDNY who called the broker and was given a bunch of lies about me. When I wrote RDNY back with proof/evidence for my side of the story they were uninterested and took no responsibility for the broker. They covered themselves by insisting that after talking with the broker they were sure that he was a legitimate agent. How would they be able to tell from talking to someone? That is not a lie detector test. I have a professional background that requires high business ethics and I know that the denial of the professional re the consumer's complaint is never proof that he is ethical. He has to prove himself with some form of evidence.

RDNY takes no responsibility for bad listings and whenever you complain about a landlord or broker they come up with an excuse. For example, in the above instance when I complained that the landlord denied knowing RDNY they explained it away saying we used to be called Rent Direct and maybe he didn't know... This would work for the born yesterday consumer.

Aside from significant ethical problems, RDNY itself has some shady practices. Once you sign up the level of activity re apartment listings drops dramatically. Sometimes they send you a lot of listings on one day but they are repetitive so it looks like you are getting flooded with possibilities but they have already sent the same apartment several times.

Yes, on Craig's list you will run into a lot of scams but with careful scrutiny you may do better. Also, don't forget the good old fashioned pave the pavement. There are a lot of apartment buildings in NYC. Find them and go to the rental offices and find yourself an apartment.

I've used RDNY.com more than once. I even used them back when they were called Rent-Direct.com. Overall, they've always come through for me with apartments that I didn't see on any other site and I didn't have to worry about getting scammed. Sometimes the apartments I've called on were already rented, but usually "just" rented, so they didn't know about it yet. But by far, the information was accurate, without puffing up or hyping places. The listings were factual, and well supported with pictures, maps, street views, and other information about neighborhoods and businesses. They also have a very good renting guide that I learned a lot from. When my current lease is us, I'll use them again. I don't see any reason not to - I've also gotten expected service and good apartments.