Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/12/2024

  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.

  I moved out of my townhouse on November 30th. I call and have everything shut off or switched to my new address. At that time I had a credit on my account with ******. Because ********************* did not have the utilities switched back to his name I was charged for the month of December. I reached out to try to get this resolved and he would not remedy the situation. He also owes me money which he had said he would pay and is withholding that as well. I dont live there any more everything was paid I just want the money owed and to be done.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/01/2024

  Good Morning,
  
  I tried to respond using the code above and it said it was not found or had expired. January brought 2 deaths in my family, including my brother a week or so ago. My family has been my primary concern all month. Things have recently calmed down and *************** to the complaint.
  
  I have been in real estate all my adult life and have owned and managed real estate rental properties since I since I was 21. I have never had a complaint filed against me personally for any reason. I have previously been a member of the Better Business Bureau and have never had a complaint.
  
  ****** was a tenant for around 2 years. He gave me notice around September of 2023 that he would be moving at the end of November 2023. The ************************* paid his rent for most of the time he was a tenant and he was paid up until the end of November. I thanked him for giving us ample notice and asked if he would give us access to see what we would need to do a quick turn around on the unit and order the necessary supplies in *********** agreed it would be no problem. We tried to make arrangements all the way up to the weekend before he moved, and he refused to let us in.
  
  I have always had arrangements with NIPSCO to automatically transfer utilities into our name when the utilities are turned off, even if the turn off was a failure of the tenant to pay. This is to avoid a lapse in service that could cause damage.  ****** told me he had notified NIPSCO to turn his utilities off on November 30th.  ****** left the apartment in good condition, and I returned his deposit with only a deduction for professional carpet cleaning that is our policy when a tenant moves out.  I also gave him a $50 credit for reasons described below. He reminded me when he received the statement, that I had agreed to $100 credit and I agreed to send him an additional $50.00.
  
  At one point, ****** had been working out of town without returning to his apartment for quite a while.  His refrigerator went out while he was gone and he reported it to us, We immediately offered to give him a replacement. He demanded that we compensate him for the food he had lost. I explained to him, as per the lease, that we were not responsible for the loss of any personal property and that if he had been able to notify us of the breakdown when it happened, we would have replaced or repaired it immediately.  He claimed he had over $200 worth of steaks in his freezer and thought he should be reimbursed for them.  I told him that I had never done this in my career, but I would give him $100 credit on his rent. I had no way of verifying what, if anything, he had lost, but I agreed to do it to help him with his loss.  Since the state was paying his rent, there was no rent to credit. 
  
  At some point, ****** had called me and was angry that I had not put the utilities in my name. I informed him of my agreement with ****** to transfer them into our name automatically when the utilities are shut off. He insisted that he ordered them shut off and demanded that I call NIPSCO and have them put in my name. I called NIPSCO. I did not have an account number but the agent was able to look it up by the address. She would not give me any information about the status of the account since it was not in my name. Another agent confirmed that we had an "auto turn on" agreement with our buildings but would not confirm that anyone had ordered a shut off to activate the auto turn on. 
  
  I next received a hostile call from ****** accusing me of not doing my job as an owner because I had not called NIPSCO to solve his problem. I explained what happened, that I couldn't order his utilities turned off, and all he had to do was order them shut off and they would go into our name. He basically started calling me a liar and suggested I was trying to do something unethical or illegal and started threatening me. 
  
  It was his responsibility to have his utilities turned off. I received the attached letter from ****** saying that he did not call to turn them off until December 28th and they were transferred into our name as agreed. 
  
  I always work with people as long as they talk to me in a civilized manner.  I'm tired of his demands and threats to be compensated for something that I have no control over. With my help and co-operation with the ************************** he did not pay his own rent for almost 2 years although he was obviously working most of that time. Now he wants me to somehow to compensate him for things that I had no control over and that would not have been a problem if he had done what he needed to do. 
  
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