Westwood Apartments

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Is there ever an appropriate time for a building manager to threaten a
visiting students visa status?

My friend wanted to back out of a lease with Westwood apartments. When we
asked the management office they originally said she would be fine to do
so, as long as the rent was paid through August, so we went out and found a
place for my friend to move to. Then when we contacted the manager about
drafting paperwork for the new tenant and to schedule a move out date, the
manager totally changed her story and told my friend that she "could not
move out" (not that she had to continue paying rent until a suitable new
tenant was placed on the lease, but that she simply could not move out) and
that if she did it would affect her visa status.

I called the manager, Laura Pedroza, to ask her to clarify and explain to
her that this was completely contrary to the original verbal statement we
got from their offices. She was totally irate and used a very threatening
and unprofessional tone. Laura refused to allow me to speak with her, and
would not fully explain what she meant in bringing up my friends visa
status, and more importantly what her intent was in bringing up my friends
visa status. Furthermore, she said that she had a problem with my friend
putting an application in at a new residence and told me that she would
make sure that she didn't get a good reference, even though my friend has
always paid her rent on time and did everything she could to back out of
the lease responsibly.

Laura also kept saying that she would rather deal with the tenants
directly. I tried to explain to her that my friends english isn't so
great, especially when someone is speaking quickly and using a threatening
tone, but she would not make an appointment to discuss the issue with the
two of us. She told me that my friend fully understood what she said, but
my friend insists that she threatened her visa status.

Is this acceptable behavior for a husky affiliate? They have the UW logo on
the building and I can't see how this kind of disrespect fits in with the
university's goal to train and support future global leaders. Can you
explain what is going on here? Are international students usually bullied
like this? Do they commonly receive threats regarding their visa status
from Husky affiliate housing managers?