When I first applied for my apartment, I applied for a unit that was listed on the management site for something like $860/month.

They then told me that the unit had already been taken and then promptly redirected me to another unit for $1021/month and they gave me some excuse about "upgraded appliances" (there is absolutely nothing special about the appliances in this apartment). Whatever. I needed to move so I took it.

Fast forward 10 months. My lease is almost up, and management emailed me about renewing. Well I looked at the property website and found that another unit is coming up available for $865 a month, with MORE square footage than the one I am currently in. So I went ahead and immediately applied.

The management then cancelled my application because I am an existing resident and has counter offered to lower my rent to $973/month. And here's the crazy part. I checked the website today for the unit I applied to, and the advertised rate was suddenly increased to $907/month.

I am now convinced that they are actually shelving these units and advertising them for a much lower rate than what they are willing to rent them for. I imagine every applicant goes through this same bait-and-switch process where they apply for a seemingly inexpensive unit, only to be given some excuse for why it is not available, and then redirected to another unit with a higher rent.

This has to violate some kind of law right?

Is this illegal?