Complaint Review: Wendy Wasserman of uwmrentals.com

     On July 14, 2012 I visited a property on Brady St in Milwaukee belonging to Mrs. Wasserman. Myself along with my boyfriend of 8 years arrived and waited with a few other interested parties. Mrs. Wasserman arrived a few minutes past schedule, no big deal, it is a busy area. We went in and were shown the apartment's interior. It did NOT match the pictures that she put on her website. She must have taken those pictures of a different apartment within the building, which was mildly disappointing, but not illegal. She did however go through and talk about her tenants by their first names, mentioning both where they went to school and who they worked for. All I could think was, "Why would you mention this to us?" and "Isn't it illegal to disclose that information? And if not illegal, then at least dangerous? Stalkers are something we have no lack of here in the midwest." In addition to these lovely gems of information she also said that she and her husband make so much money that she buys properties and dumps money into them for tax purposes. For the renters I could see that going in either direction. Regardless, we were interested so we all toured and talked and parted. I put in our applications later that evening with a cover letter.
     Now let me explain something, for the last 3 years I have been a dancer in a gentlemen's club. All I do is dance around prettily. I am going back to school full time this semester. I do not participate in any disgusting or illegal things. My boyfriend does freelance web design and attends school. In addition to my application I wrote a cover letter explaining what I do, who I and my boyfriend are, and what we're about. We're not noisy, we don't do drugs, and we have never had any problems renting from anyone, nor have we ever caused any problems. My income is legal and I do my taxes just like everyone else. When I called Wendy on the 16th about if she had received our applications she said that she had and that she had another property if I wanted to look at it. I saw it and was thrilled. It looked perfect and adorable, a little far north of what I was looking for, but no big deal.
     My boyfriend and I arrive before everyone and wait. Wendy shows up a few minutes after the scheduled time at 4. Apparently she had read my cover letter. This is where I thought I fell off the world into fantasy land, namely hers. She informed me that after reading my cover letter, "it didn't look good" for me. She said that she flat out would not rent to me. She said that she knew what my kind, 'pole dancers', were about and that she had rented to two of them before. Let me preface this by saying that allowing any two women who work together in any field to live together is a recipe for disaster. I've worked for several companies in the past that discouraged coworkers becoming roommates because it breeds drama like crazy. There are exceptions to that rule but few from what I've seen. She said that the two girls had been a nightmare on her property, at this point she hadn't mentioned they'd been doing anything illegal, so I asked her if they worked together and she replied yes. I told her there was her problem. Then she launches in to that they were prostitutes and their pimp came around and all this other crap about dancers being disgusting and implying that I was a prostitute. I told her that I wish I hadn't have told her I was a dancer because I could have just told her I was a waitress, but I did share that fact with her in the interest of full disclosure.  In fact, when I told her the first time that I worked for cash as a waitress, she was totally fine with it. She told me then that should would have known I was a dancer because she would have run a CRIMINAL background check. Because me dancing means that I've had a run in with the law? Are you kidding me?
     I invited her to run all of my background, including criminal, credit, and rental. She said she hadn't but she would (yeah, ok lady). Then she implied that we were lying about my boyfriend's freelance work, which is irrelevant since his student loans factored in his living expenses including rent anyway. She went on to say that it was easier for me to live where I live (in a VERY nice set of artists lofts in a largely Hispanic neighborhood  ) because the neighborhood was bad, and essentially implied that I belonged there. She continued to imply that because her husband was head of OBGYN in Milwaukee that he dealt with all sexual assault (again implying that I would somehow have something to do with this). Like being a dancer immediately equates to me being raped? My god this woman. On top of it, my boyfriend, in a VERY sarcastic manner, said "As a renter you just have to assume all people are bad, right?" and she, not even understanding the sarcasm said, "Absolutely!". He also said, "That's why you rent month to month so that if you don't like someone you can just kick them out immediately, right?" to which she replied, "Well, yes but they have 60 days".  Just utterly unbelievable. 
I told her that denying me fair consideration for my legal income was discrimination. She replied that it wasn't and that "it only seems that way".  I told her "No, it definitely is discrimination". 
    So I made a call to the local police department who referred me to a number. I called the number and was told that they receive complaints about her ALL THE TIME and that she is a bully and a terrible landlord. I am now filing a formal complaint against her. I'm glad I dodged her bullet of crazy.
    All you students seeking housing should know what she's really like. This is Wendy Wasserman. Chances are, you might not have any issues with her. However, I think if you have half a conversation with this woman you'll quickly realize that she has a narrow minded scope of the world and people. Be warned. This is why she rents month to month. If she doesn't like you, she can dump you off in two months. 
    I will also say that there is nothing wrong with dancing. In this economy it is not uncommon for some very intelligent women to pay for their tuition and bills by dancing. If they find clean clubs with respectable staff then there is nothing wrong with it at all. I will say that there are those people out there that earn the stripper stereotype, however, I am not one of those women. Those like myself, who are trying to better themselves and their lives with dancing as a stepping stone, do not deserve this treatment. It is unfair and blatantly a violation of fair housing.