Obligo — Local services in New York

Obligo - Local Office and Association is connected to Affinity Management And nepotism relationship with owner Dave Lynch.

They advertise : “ Rent with Confidence We only work with trusted property managers who pass our qualification process. Your information remains private and secure. “ But in fact Affinity Management has several goggle reviews that they are practicing unethical business practices and past tenants have legitimate complaints and concerns about their move out - expense that Affinity Management are predatory charging. Now as of 2023, are using Obligo as a predatory company to entrapping unaware renters/ tenants into a ambiguous contract and false promises.

They do not protect or assist in your dispute with Affinity Management discrepancies. Be advised and aware . If I was you, to not use them as for they have others writing reviews with offers to receive a $100 gift electronic visa for your review. Housing4strong made review for this offer. And noted that there’s a dispute with said company when offered the services.

Other influencers are using it on low income, tenants affected with lower credit scores, limited funds for move in and needing their security deposit not to be taken in questionable situations from landlords, and Obligo company in Iowa are joining the Lenders/ Real Estate Management Company to prey on these tenants/ renters.

“So what are their qualifications for accepting these property managers ? “ their process appears to strictly be adverse to the tenants.

Their company representative wrote : “ In our dispute resolution process, it's our protocol to engage with property managers to streamline communication, especially when renters wish to dispute charges*

In your case, I successfully reached out to your property manager to promptly explain the situation. You can continue disputing with your landlord while making { these payments aren’t the money payments but a full payment to the dispute amount of being illegally charged for move out } ——-…payments to Obligo*

If your landlord agrees to refund you at any point, your balance with us will be adjusted accordingly. the ambiguous terms.

NOTE: When you signed up for Obligo's services this summer, you authorized us to cover any move-out charges when you your security deposit was applied to your rent as outlined in our terms of service. { Check your contract Queen signing up *} as a result I’m in legal dispute for contract ambiguity and breaches.

…..Failure to commence payments may result in your bill being sent to collections, potentially affecting your credit score. Your cooperation is essential in finding a resolution, and I'm here to assist you throughout this process. Best regards, Robert | Obligo Support Team Robert Obligo

Also, We strive to provide amazing support. I kindly ask that you rate our interaction or provide any additional feedback. ​ Have a great day! -Robert | Obligo Support

I rate the company and service at the least star of 1 because can’t do zero.

Reasons: This local company will not have your best interest or intentions to assist but actually assist in affecting your credit/ ability to rent afterwards as being listed adverse to other property management companies in your credit report.

This is predatory lending

And if you do not have contract law or lawyer read this ahead of time they will bind you to these terms:

THESE TERMS CONTAIN AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, WHICH WILL WITH LIMITED EXCEPTION, REQUIRE YOU TO SUBMIT CLAIMS YOU HAVE AGAINST US TO BINDING AND FINAL ARBITRATION. UNDER THE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, (1) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO PURSUE CLAIMS AGAINST OBLIGO ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING, AND (2) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO SEEK RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR LANDLORD WILL CONTINUE TO BE GOVERNED ACCORDING TO THE TERMS OF YOUR AGREEMENT WITH...

When they say that landlords get paid instantly if they submit a claim, they really mean INSTANTLY, with no need to provide proof that the claim is actually valid. When you, as a tenant, can prove beyond doubt that 1) the claim that the landlord made was illegal and violates your lease agreement as well as applicable law, and 2) Obligo actually violates their own terms and conditions by accepting and paying out the claim without your consent, they will still do nothing to help you in rectifying the situation. They will continue feeding you the same line of "Obligo takes no part in landlord/tenant disputes, you must get your landlord to reimburse you" and then hound you for the money that you "owe" them, even when you have told them repeatedly that the claim is illegal and you will be disputing the claim in court.

If we had a traditional security deposit with the landlord, it would have been easier to get our money back in full. While the claim isn't quite enough to go to court over, we have now paid almost twice as much as we would have if we had just a traditional cash deposit if we add in the fees paid to Obligo for using their services. Landlords love using Obligo and companies like it because they can exploit the above loophole and get their money instantly without having to go through the red tape that surrounds security deposits.

I do not recommend using this service if you are able to go the traditional cash deposit route as there would be one less company to fight with. If you are a tenant, they'll happily take your money. But know that they are a business that deals with money, and they are not...

My old apartment complex used Obligo to return security deposits with simplicity. However, my experience was anything but simple.

After receiving an email from Obligo with a link to enter my bank information or a forwarding address, I elected to enter an address and receive a check by mail. But the site would not let me click the ‘continue’ button after entering my address. I tried on multiple devices and platforms with no luck.

As any reasonable person would do, I next contacted the support team. They were quick to respond and offered a couple different ways to try entering the address before escalating to their tech team. After more than a week wait, I got an update that I needed to use Google autocomplete to enter my address (what the hell kind of solution is this???) However, by this point, the option to claim a security deposit had expired. I let them know and they said they would look into it further with their tech team.

The next day, Obligo followed up by basically saying there is no solution, and I need to work around them and contact the landlord directly to find a way to get my deposit back.

So, to summarize, Obligo never found a solution to their own technical problem, wasted my time with back and forth emails, and ultimately shoved me back towards the abysmally incompetent property management company that drove me away from their complex.

I will never understand why companies involved with property rentals are so vastly incapable of doing anything right, ever. It’s...