Negotiating amenities and lease changes
I applied and was accepted into an affordable apartment which I am moving into in less than three weeks. Before I signed the lease, I was in communication with the housing specialist who requested my documents and signed the HPD paperwork and submitted it.
I negotiated to have all the building’s amenities fees (they have a gym, lounge, bbq rooftop deck, etc.) waived as well as guarantee a handicap parking spot for my car in the garage that’s attached to the building as well as approval to alter the apartment by painting the walls, drilling into them, installing cabinetry and wallpapering as well as have free bike storage for two bikes.
The housing specialist agreed to my terms in writing via emails and told me that they would not be reflected in the lease but to keep copies of the emails and that the terms would be honored.
After I signed the lease, I was then shuffled off to the building’s assistant general manager who has been helpful but not responding to all my questions/requests.
Now I’m having trouble conforming the parking spot with the garage and so far have been ignored. And now I come to find out they are charging me fees to use some of the amenities but not all of them? It’s really strange because other people in this building are paying all the amenities fees but I’m getting charged for only one of them and it is so random the one they are charging me.
I think because I’m in a high AMI they are treating me differently. They also gave me preferential rent below the market value and “one month’s rent free” and the option to not pay the security deposit if I pay through this app they use as long as I am signed up for auto pay the whole time.
Has anyone ever had any issues enforcing agreements made outside the lease with the housing specialists? And how do I get the building to enforce them?
Posted Aug 13, 2026, 4:48 PM UTC