Bianca answered with the name of the property and she introduced herself. I told her I was calling to check on availability of the apartments. She asked me what size and when I was looking to move. I told her I needed a one-bedroom for the end of January. Bianca asked my permission if she could ask me more questions. I agreed. She asked for my first and last name. She asked me how many occupants and if I had any pets. She asked me the breed. She wanted to know if I had a car, price range, and how soon I wanted to move.

Bianca went on to tell me about a promotion that would end on 12/31/2020. She gave me the leasing rates which included the promotion. She then invited me in for a tour. I asked if I could come at 3:30 PM that same day. She checked her schedule and confirmed I could come at 3:30 PM. She asked me if I had any apartment preferences. I told her I really wanted hardwood floors or the good laminate flooring. She said she could show me what they have. She asked for my email address. She reminded me they are practicing social distancing and to bring my government ID.

Bianca asked if I knew where to park and she explained where to go. I confirmed her name and we said our goodbyes.

Bianca did not ask me why I was moving.

Bianca definitely was confident and she did lead the conversation. She did not review any community benefits aside from mentioning the guest parking.

Bianca accommodated my schedule for touring that same day as the phone call. There was no need to recommend a virtual tour.

Bianca did not ask nor confirm my phone number. I received the following email from Bianca after our phone call:

Thank you for your interest in The Mount Royal Apartments

Hello Tina,

Confirming that we have you scheduled to tour with us today, December 30th at 3:30PM. Our tours are currently under social distancing guidelines, so we ask that when touring the property and when visiting the leasing office, you are wearing a proper face mask. If you do not have a face mask, we can provide you with one. Also, if you are bringing anyone to tour with you, we ask that only 3 people be in the office and on the tour with the leasing agent at a time.

Please bring your photo ID to your appointment. When you arrive at The Mount Royal, you'll find our two impressive buildings side-by-side... the Leasing Office is located in the larger of the two buildings, 103 East Mount Royal Avenue. You'll find a blue call box at our front entrance, dial #200 for the Leasing Office so we may buzz you in.

You may park in our parking lot during your tour... the parking lot is accessible from St Paul Street, right behind our 101 East Mount Royal Ave building, and directly across the street from the BP gas station.

See you then! I'll be happy to help you settle in to a beautiful new apartment here at The Mount Royal!!

Sincerely,
Bianca Tablada, Leasing Consultant
The Mount Royal Apartments
(P) 410.659.5810

The Mount Royal Apartments
103 E. Mount Royal Ave
Baltimore, MD 21202

I had no problem parking on the lot in back of the building. I approached the leasing office door and called the number provided on the call box. Bianca answered immediately and greeted me in the lobby. She was cheerful and professionally dressed. I followed her to the leasing office. She invited me to have a seat at her desk and she collected my ID. She asked if I had questions at that point.

Bianca reviewed the Qualifying questions during the tour. Towards the end of the tour I had to remind her that my budget was $1,600. She had shown me the smallest of her options. Perhaps if she had reviewed what we would be touring before we headed out, we would have changed course and viewed larger vacants.

I had no problem parking on the lot in back of the building. I approached the leasing office door and called the number provided on the call box. Bianca answered immediately and greeted me in the lobby. She was cheerful and professionally dressed. I followed her to the leasing office. She invited me to have a seat at her desk and she collected my ID. She asked if I had questions at that point.

She mentioned the most recent renovations occurred in 2017. She explained the difference between the two buildings. She pointed out the package room area and the Tide Cleaners. She explained the parking. I told her I would be concerned about the lack of parking spaces since the lot didn’t seem that big. She gave me the price for the outdoor parking rate and the indoor. She said they are flexible in letting the residents switch from indoor and outdoor. She explained the off-street parking for $40 a year through the city. Early in conversation she explained how I could take advantage of the special they had running for December.

We walked into the 1st vacant. Bianca let me walk through and she asked me for my opinion. I said the bedroom was extremely small and I didn’t think I could get a queen size bed in the room. She said I probably could but not a king size bed. I thought the enclave where the fireplace insert would go was odd and dated. She gave me a suggestion to put my dog bed there since she knew I had an animal. I told her I thought the first one bedroom was too small.

As we walked to another option, Bianca asked if I what other places I was looking at. I said I was looking at Waterloo Place. She showed me the community room. The pool table certainly needed to be re-clothed. As we continued our walk to the next building, Bianca asked me how I heard about the community and I told her I saw it online and the price was reasonable.

She described other options such as the one and den; they also offered two and three bedrooms. We walked into the 2nd option which was bigger than the first vacant. The musty smell hit me in the face as I walked in. She said she would have maintenance take a look and see where the smell was coming from. We immediately went to a third option. It was much bigger and it was laid out better; However, the cabinets were beat up and it needed a cleaning. I asked if I could negotiate new carpeting that looked very worn. Bianca said she would talk to management and see what she could do. The washer and dryer were very dated I mentioned. She did say they are more affordable than most places in the area.

As we walked back to the leasing office, Bianca pointed out the trash chutes. She did show me the gym. She stated that getting the contractors out to clean the vacant units was more challenging with COVID. I reminded her that I wanted to stay $1,600 or below so I could afford something bigger. She showed me options well below my price range. She then suggested a two-bedroom after we went back to the leasing office. We headed out again to see the bigger vacant. She said this one would be 1000 square feet.

The two-bedroom vacant also looked like someone just moved out. She continued to ask me where else I was looking. I told her I was also looking at 1111 Light Street but it was more than what I wanted to pay.

I asked Bianca if they had any car break-ins. She said not that she was aware of but it is like anywhere I need to be aware of my surroundings.

We went back to the leasing office to get my ID. Bianca gave me a business card and she hand wrote her name since she didn’t have cards. She tried closing me early in the tour and I told her I was going to look around yet. She explained she would email me a link to apply and the email explained what I would need to apply. She did not attempt to schedule a follow up phone call.

She thanked me for coming in and the tour ended.

Bianca did nothing to discourage me from leasing nor anything that would be perceived as discriminatory.

Bianca did follow up with an email the same day as my visit.