Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/27/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Previous rental company is stating that we owe for the last months rent $925 plus damages that weren't done to the property by us, however the lease has a clause about needing to move due to a job. The landlord is stating that they don't have to abide by that clause. The lease states: If the tenant is under the term of the lease contract and needs to break the lease contract, there are special circumstances in which the tenant can be placed into a "life changing event." For example: A job takes the tenant out of state. We had to move for my wife's job needing her to move to an area 2.5 hours away from where we were living.
  
  Moved out with one month remaining on lease, which would owe $925 for the last month
  Also stating that damages that were done prior to move in are now our responsibility with the last months rent stating that we owe $ 1,636.04.
  
  Landlord sent an email stating: Your current balance is $ 1,636.04. There were quite a few repairs which have been completed. We have pictures of before and after your tenancy. To help keep your record in good standing with us, the owner has agreed that, if you pay the September rent amount of $ 925.00, the owner will sign a release of the total balance.
  
  We did advise them that several of the repairs that they did were issues that we weren't responsible for and they stated that we would just need to pay the last month's rent, which based on the lease we should not be responsible for due to the clause about needing to move for relocation. When we brought this up to the landlord, they advised that they didn't have to abide by that clause.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/29/2023

  My name is ***** ******, and I am the Real Estate Broker and
  Owner of Rubey Realty in Red Oak, Iowa. I am licensed in the state of Iowa as a
  Real Estate Broker. Broker License * *********. Our goal is not only to abide
  by the state law, but I go a step further because I am a realtor. This comes
  with a higher standard of ethical responsibilities. We are required to maintain
  continuing education courses and stay current with our laws and regulations.
  My company does specialize in rental management.  We are in a rural area and we manage
  approximately 300 commercial and residential properties.  I have managed properties for approximately
  25 years. Our goal is professional and consistent service.
  Complaint ID # ********. 
  Please send future correspondence to me directly at [email protected]
  Response to complaint:

  I would like to resolve any confusion
  the tenants have in regard to the amount owed to the owner of the property, which
  they vacated a few months ago.  Most of
  my verbal and written correspondence has been with **** ******* *** **** *********.  I have had very little
  interaction with **** *********.
  There should be no confusion as to whether or not the
  September 2023 rent is due.  I will
  attach the original “notice to vacate” from the tenants. The tenants’ exact
  words in the notice to vacate are: “Due to not giving a proper 30 days’ notice,
  and realizing our lease actually runs through the end of September after
  looking it over (we originally thought end of August), we do not expect our
  deposit back and surrender it willingly.” 
  The original notice to vacate was sent by email on August 15, 2023 at
  4:46 PM.  There is nothing in the
  residential lease contract that exempts the tenants from paying rent for
  September.  In the beginning, I was told
  by the tenant that funds were exhausted but it would be paid. I agreed to give
  them a month or so to get caught up and send payment. These tenants have a good
  track record of paying so I was agreeable.

  We do work with tenants in “life changing events” to show
  good relations but there is nothing in any provisions that would exempt a
  tenant from the obligations of paying rent when giving a 16 day notification to
  vacate, and still under an obligation of term on the lease contract. The notice
  to vacate actually starts at the next time rent is due and, in this case would
  have been September 1st and runs through September 30th.  The tenant was originally confused about the
  verbiage in the informational guidelines. I spoke to the tenant by phone and
  sent emails to explain and the tenant, at that time was clear with my
  explanation. I will also attach the email with the explanation.

  Otherwise, once the tenant vacated, the property was
  cleaned, repaired and put back in the original condition as when the tenant
  moved in.  This process, as always is
  documented and itemized.  The tenant did
  point out a few items they felt were not fair, so we made adjustment to the
  report and reduced the amount owed.  I
  will attach a copy of this report which was also emailed previously to the
  tenants.
  
  To show further evidence of working with our tenants, the
  owner decided to offer the tenants an option of simply paying the September
  rent balance of $ 925.00 and in doing so, the tenants would be relieved of all
  other charges.  This is quite generous of
  the owner.
  I am not speaking for the owner, but the owner will continue
  to pursue this resolution.  I took the
  liberty of speaking with the owner about this complaint and we both are in
  agreement to go one step further to work with these tenants.
  The owner and my company would agree and encourage the use
  of arbitration in this situation so that a resolution can be met by using an
  outside source to make a judgment. Then, maybe the tenants would feel more
  comfortable with the decision.  If
  arbitration is used, I believe the tenants will end up owing more than just the
  one month rent balance that is being offered, based on the facts, but we are trying
  to show good relations.
  
  Thank you for your time.
  
  ***** ******
  Broker/Owner/Property Manager
  Rubey Realty
  1000 N Broadway, Ste 1
  Red Oak, IA 51566
  Cell Phone 712 621 1818