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:11/18/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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 received an itemized letter yesterday, 16Nov22, from my landlord with a list of charges that are not covered in my $650.00 security deposit. I moved out 31Jul22. I lived there for 5yrs. I attached the letter I received. He is charging me for paint and chipping when I was not permitted to paint in my lease so I could not fix on my own. He is charging me for new carpeting throughout the house and pet cleaning. I paid an additional $150.00/mo on top of my rent so why is this not factored in? He raised my rent due to water/sewer over the time of my rental but never provided me with a new lease or even a copy of those receipts to know that what I was paying every month was going towards that. I know entire families that paid less for water/sewer than my and my 2 children could of possibly used.
  He is charging me for mowing when the grass was higher when I moved in than it was when I moved out. He said he would take care of it before I moved in but never did.
  Please let me know if there is any additional information you need from me or if these charges are legit and should be paid.
  
  Thank you for your help!
  ******** *******

  Business Response

  Date: 12/21/2022

   

  This letter is in response to the above numbered complaint.
  

  I had to clean the house before even beginning to start repairs. In the $400 figure was also included items to be hauled to garbage from the garage and basement. The breakdown in cost was cleaning $250 and hauling away garbage $150. Photos will show condition of house.
  

  The new flooring was charged for the living room, hall and back bedroom. There was no charge for the front bedroom replacement, it was just dirty and would have been able to be cleaned. The flooring in the living room was stained beyond getting it clean as I washed the carpeting 4 times and the stains crept back. This is called wicking and residue, and means the carpet was severely stained beyond the top surface. The bedroom carpet in back was also stained. The cost to replace approximately 400 sf. of carpeting was $900. That is a cost of $2.25 per square foot which includes the removal and disposal of existing, new flooring, and installation of new flooring. All this is the cost of replacement. I have attached pictures with the significant staining of the carpets. I had to repaint all rooms at a cost of $600. We used 5 gallons of paint @ $32/gallon and brushes and rollers. The cost of the paint and supplies was $180, which left a balance of $420 for painting walls, ceilings and trim. It took one week to paint the entire house or 40-man hours, which boils down to a cost of $10/man hour. Quite a low cost to restore a tenant’s damages. Looking closely at the photos, you will see significant nicking of the trim and a hole in the bedroom wall that needed patched along with dirt and scuffs on the walls.

  The bath towel rack was bent, we fixed it with a part we had in stock. New one would have been $30.
  

  We actually replaced one total door and (2) not (1) door slabs. The back bedroom door was destroyed and the other bedroom door was busted. Neither could be fixed. We changed the bathroom door to match the others, hence no charge. We like our units to be cohesive throughout, and further quite the deal for these replacements.
  

  The CO2 detector was missing as well as one smoke detector needed replaced at a charge of $40. CO2 detector was the main cost.
  

  The original lease was for one year with a one-year automatic renewal. After that lease expired it is considered month to month.
  

  Along with her monthly rent, ******** also paid for two cats and had a lease increase in that timeframe. The water/Sewer average billing is just that, an average billing. 
  

  As you can see in the photos, ******** damaged the house significantly in 5 years. Being a landlord for over 25 years, I would have expected this from a tenant of 20 years, not 5 years. ALL THESE CHARGES ARE FAR LESS THAN HAVING A CONTRACTOR HIRED TO DO THEM, as we perform the work ourselves. Had we been able to do inspections during COVID, ******** would have been evicted, but we knew the damage was already done. 
  We will waive the curtain rods, but you can see she destroyed the blinds. We will also waive the mowing, but you can also see the mowing and trimming as required by the lease was not done.
  

  We feel the costs are justified as evidenced by the photos and could have been in the $5000 range had we not performed the work ourselves in lieu of considering some cost for depreciation although the repairs were necessary to rent again. There were other things damaged or broken in the way she lived as the pictures show. 
  

   

   

  Sincerely,
  
  Cheryl R******
  Landlord
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/21/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  
  Hi *******,
  
  I thought it might just be easier to email you directly. I'm not understanding the reply from my dispute over additional damages charges from my landlord. I paid a pet security deposit fee of $150 a month for the 5yrs I lived there. What is the point of it does not cover anything? One of the pictures is leaves in the garage. Is there no wear and tear allowance? And how can I fix scuff marks from furniture if I'm not allowed to paint? And the high water bill cost over the years that a flat cost was added into my rent but I never saw a bill and paying more than families when there were only 2-3 people living here. I'm not sure where to go from here. Please call me if it's easier to discuss my next steps.
  
  Thank you,
  ******** ******* 
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