Grand Rapids Apartments

Policies and Business Information and F.A.Q.

This section of the Grand Rapids Apartments website includes information about our company’s policies and business information about our company. The page also includes Frequently Asked Questions for local apartment seekers and apartment property owners who visit our site.

This is a list of the information included on this page. If you click on each item, you will connect to that subject.

Business Information

Apartment Property Owners and Sponsors

Apartment Seekers

Business Information

The grand-rapids-apartments.net website was created in 2006, with the official launch in August 2006. The website was created by a local entrepreneur who saw a need for a complete listing of apartments in the Grand Rapids area. She did extensive research about local apartments for the lists included on this site and she designed this website to present the information for local apartment seekers and apartment property owners. The business has been registered with Kent County (as a Sole Proprietorship), with the official name “Grand Rapids Apartments”. The business also has a federal tax ID number for record keeping, tax payment, and other business purposes. To learn more about this website, please visit the “About Us” section under the “Home” tab on the main menu.

There is no business location or office hours. There is a post office box available for payments by check (P.O. Box 140231, Grand Rapids, MI 49514-0231). You can always contact us by e-mail and receive a response within 24 hours. Property owners and other local businesses who choose to advertise on the site will be given a local phone number they can use if they need to contact us by phone.

Policies

Visitors to the grand-rapids-apartments.net website are required to access the information here for their personal use only. Apartment seekers may print out and photocopy the informational materials included on this site for their own use in their search for an apartment. However, the materials and information on this website may not be reproduced and/or sold for any fees or profits, to anyone, in any format. You may not include any of the information found here on another website or on any other apartment lists. If you have any questions about this policy, or would like to request permission to use the information for anything other than personal and/or non-commercial use, you should contact us.

If you would like to share any of the information you find on this website, we suggest that you tell people to visit us, and/or provide a link to our site on another website.

General Disclaimer

Although we have tried to provide information that is as complete and as accurate as possible, Grand Rapids Apartments assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information included on this website. All information is provided “as is”, with all faults without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, and we cannot guarantee the accuracy, sufficiency, correctness, veracity, completeness, or timeliness of any such information. In all cases, you should contact apartment property owners directly for any information about their apartments.

Links to Other Sites

This website includes links to many other websites, both apartment communities and other resources. These links have been provided for the convenience of, and as a service for, our site visitors. We can not be, and are not, responsible for any of these websites and their contents, and we do not endorse any of the material you might find there. If you connect to an outside website from this website, you are subject to each site’s own rules and policies. We cannot guarantee the safety of any of these outside websites and if you choose to connect to them, you do so entirely at your own risk.

Fair Housing Law

All property owners and managers must comply with the regulations of the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits “any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make such preference, limitation, or discrimination”.

The Grand Rapids Apartments website supports Equal Housing Opportunity and will not knowingly include information for any apartments or property owners who violate Fair Housing legislation.

If you suspect discrimination – or would like further information about fair housing law – you should contact the following:

Fair Housing Center of West Michigan

20 Hall Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49507
616-451-2980

web link – www.fhcwm.org

E-mail: contact-us@fhcwm.org

Chicago Regional Office of FHEO
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building
77 West Jackson Boulevard – Room 2101
Chicago, IL 60604
312-353-7776, ext. 2453
or 1-800-765-9372

web link –

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

www.hud.gov/complaints/housediscrim.cfm

F.A.Q.

Apartment Property Owners and Sponsors

What marketing opportunities does this website offer for local apartment communities?

Local property owners can advertise their properties on this website. They can work with us to create their very own site within this website. Communities that choose that option will also be able to add photo(s) and/or text next to their apartment listing on the primary list of apartments. Eight local apartments may also elect to become one of our “Featured Apartments”. To learn more about these marketing options, please click here or on the “Our Services” link under the “Property Owners” section on the main menu. All fees, and special rates, are subject to change at any time, without prior notice.

What are the fees and payment options for apartment property owners?

Since our intent was to provide a website with comprehensive information about all local apartments, the basic information is included free of charge to property owners. That basic information includes: apartment name, address, phone number, and website link. You can learn more about fees for the additional marketing options by clicking here or on the “Fees and Payments” link under the “Property Owners” tab on the main menu.

Other web-based apartment services have a different pricing method than yours – they only charge apartments after a tenant is found. Why do you have monthly fees instead?

In order to implement their system, other web-based services have to “track” their users. And, in order to do that, they require users to give out personal information, including an e-mail address. It is also often necessary for apartment seekers to log-in to view information about apartments. And, there is a required procedure for apartment seekers to “report” that they have found an apartment by using a particular service in order for the service to know when to charge a fee to the apartment complex. When we set up this website, we didn’t want to have any requirements for people to view the information included here. Without that requirement, of course, we aren’t able to charge apartment owners when tenants find an apartment there.

Other web-based services also limit the apartments on their sites to only those apartments that choose to work with them, and agree to their terms. It was very important for us that this website be different than that. We wanted to offer apartment seekers a comprehensive list of nearly all the apartments in the greater Grand Rapids area. Which is what we have done. The basic information is listed for all major apartment complexes, and many of the smaller ones. We have had first-hand experience with the frustration involved in the need to search within multiple sources of information, and the most important feature of the new website was to include as much information as possible, all in one place, for the convenience of local apartment seekers.

We also wanted to include the option for local apartments to add more information about their apartments, and for that we decided to charge a fee. We know that in some cases apartments pay a fee to advertise, particularly in the newspaper and rental publications. While those media have their place, they are quite expensive, and the information they are able to include is much more limited than an online presentation. We hope that as this website becomes more well known locally, that more apartment seekers will use this resource, and enhance the value to local apartments.

I have a single apartment available for rent. May I advertise on your website?

This website was originally intended as a resource for local apartment property owners that have at least one whole building of apartments. The marketing options include the creation of pages designed to showcase their apartments and would not be appropriate for landlords with one apartment available at a time. However, if there is any interest in providing an option for smaller landlords, please contact us, and we will probably be willing to add a section where you can list your apartment. Of course, the information you would be able to include would be much more limited than that available on a longer term basis for larger apartment communities.

There are other local resources available for you that you might want to consider. The rentGR.com business has listings for single apartments; while we cannot endorse this company, it appears to be a good option for individual apartment ads. Also, apartments that are located in the Heritage Hill historic district can advertise on the neighborhood association’s listing/website. If your apartment is within the Heritage Hill boundaries, you can call them at 459-8950 or visit their website at www.heritagehillweb.org for more information. We are personally familiar with this association and do recommend them for landlords who have property within the district.

I have a local business that I would like to promote to local apartment seekers. May I advertise on this website?

Yes! We offer an opportunity for local companies to place an advertisement on this website. Click here or on the “Advertise with Us” link under the “Sponsors” tab on the main menu for more information.

If I have questions that are not answered on the website itself, how can I contact you for more information?

You may e-mail us or visit the “Contact” page under the “More Information” section on the main menu for more options. We will respond by e-mail, or by phone if you prefer (if so, please include that request, along with your phone number, in the message).

Apartment Seekers

I am looking for an apartment in the greater Grand Rapids area. What information can I find here about local apartments and how can this website help me during my search?

Welcome! You’ve come to the best place to visit during your apartment search! We have the most comprehensive list of apartments in the greater Grand Rapids area. For every apartment on our list, we’ve included the apartment community’s name, address, and phone number. For those apartments with their own website, the website name is also included – just click on the name and you will be connected to their website. Some apartments do not have their own website but do have some information included within the website of their management company. For those apartments, you will see the word “website” after their contact information. If you click on that word, you can connect to that information.

Some local apartment communities have chosen to advertise with us. For those apartments, you will find much more complete information and we encourage you to learn more about these communities by visiting their sections here on our website.

How do I find information on this website?

If you look at the main menu along the top of every page, you will see the main website sections. For an overview of the whole website at any time during your visit, you can always refer to the Site Map. The main sections are described briefly below:

1. Home

Home: The site’s introductory page, with a short description of what the site offers for apartment seekers and local apartment property owners. This page also shows a photo montage of our eight featured apartment communities.

About Us: Why and how this website was created and a bit about what visitors can find here.

2. Apartments

This section contains four lists of local apartments. Each list is described in the next question. The four lists are:

By Location

Alphabetical List

Senior Living

Pet Friendly

3. Featured Apartments

Eight local apartment communities will be featured on this website. They will have one photo included in the montage on the home page and have a photo gallery you can link to in this section of the main menu.

4. Resources

These pages are included for the benefit of apartment seekers who visit this website and include the following:

Local Information: Links to a variety of websites related to living in our community. Links include: local governmental jurisdictions, tourism and local business, shopping, entertainment and leisure, culture and museums, education, parks and recreation, sports and fitness, media, and transportation.

Renters Resources and Tips: Links to information that you can use during your search for a local apartment and later during your move to your new apartment (including tips for moving with pets).

Website Links: These links will connect you to utilities and services related to your move.

Our Sponsors: Information about the local businesses that advertise with us.

5. Property Owners

This section includes information for local apartment property owners about the options we offer to advertise their apartments on this website.

Our Services: Describes the marketing opportunities for property owners.

Fees and Payments: Lists our advertising fees as well as payment options and terms.

Resources: Links to resources for local apartment property owners and managers.

6. Sponsors

Advertise with Us: Information for local businesses about the advertising options we offer for them.

Information: Fees and payment information for local businesses.

7. More Information

Policies: Business information and company policies and F.A.Q. for visitors to our site.

Site Map: An overview of our website, with links to the major sections included here.

What are the different lists of apartments that will help me with my search for a local apartment?

This site has four different lists of local apartments. You can access each of these lists by clicking on the links under “Apartments” on the main menu. The primary list is in the “By Location” section. All the apartments are listed here – except for senior only communities. The By Location list includes the apartment name, address, phone number, and website link. The “Alphabetical List” is a listing of all the apartments that have information on this website, in alphabetical order. The “Senior Living” section lists all communities for seniors, in alphabetical order; this list includes only those senior communities that have at least some independent living options. The “Pet Friendly” section lists those apartments that permit tenants to have at least one cat; some apartments also allow at least one dog.

Do you have any information about moving resources or local communities?

Yes, we have included that information for local apartment seekers who visit our website. Resources include Local Information about the Grand Rapids area, such as local governments and entertainment and culture. Whether you’re a lifelong resident, or just moving to the area, this information will help you to learn more about what is available in our metropolitan area. And there’s also some tips and other Moving Resources to help make your move a bit easier.

Do I have to share any personal information with you in order to take advantage of the resources included on this website?

No! Our website is a “no hassle” experience for you! You don’t have to give us your e-mail address or any other information in order to use the resources here. And you won’t receive e-mails from us like you do when you register at other apartment list sites. No fuss, no bother, no strings.

What should I do if I find any information on your website that is not accurate?

Please do let us know! We have tried very hard to make all the information presented here as accurate and as complete as possible. However, if you find any information that is not correct, we would very much appreciate it if you would contact us. And thank you!