ComplaintsforOrlando Vacation Rentals Services

• Initial Complaint

  08/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Orlando Vacation Rental Services was responsible for managing my short term rental property in Davenport, FL. They collected funds and rented the property to others, but have never paid out the revenue from those rentals. Further, when we attempted to contact them about status of their management services they were slow to respond and rude, or worse at times entirely unresponsive. When we terminated our relationship with them, they refused to transfer pending reservations to our new management company and instead just canceled them all, costing us thousands of dollars in revenue. To make matters worse when we went by to re-inspect the property after we terminated their services, we found that they had not cleaned or maintained the property at all during their management period. For example the pool had not been cleaned in months resulting in damage to the pool and filter. We now have to spend thousands of dollars to repair what could have been hundreds of dollars in basic maintenance that ORVS assured us was occurring. Stay away from these scam artists.

  Business response

  12/02/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 19, 2022/10/17) */ ***Document Attached*** We managed this property prior to the buyer (complainer) purchasing for 6 years. Upon buying the property the buyers were asked to sign a contract with us so that they could retain pre-existing bookings. We never received a signed contract by the buyers (complainers). We did receive the attached email from them saying if we weren't happy with their refusal to sign a contract we could cancel all bookings and they would find a new company. As with any purchase of a property, the buyers are suppose to transfer the utilities into their names and pay them those utilities themselves. These buyers did not do that, instead left them in the sellers name, using the sellers utility accounts. We deducted the payments we had to make to close these accounts out of the sellers name from any proceeds they were to receive. Those funds were sent to them months ago. To say that we have been harassed and bullied by these two California attorneys is an understatement. We have run a legitimate business for 12 years in Polk Co and never had to deal with anything like this. Consumer Response /* (3000, 21, 2022/10/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This response from OVRS is laughable and demonstrates their unprofessional approach. I have no idea who the supposed (2) California attorneys OVRS refers to here are. I am based in NY and I am not an attorney. Further I am in no position to bully, I am the victim. Funds were stolen from me. If anything I was bullied by OVRS and their Florida attorney, prior to their disappearing and disengaging due to their conflict of interest in this matter. I purchased a property in good condition, and which included a guaranteed transfer of all reservations through the end of 2022; and reassignment of the existing management contract with OVRS from the previous owner to me. No new contract was needed, but I also offered to sign a new contract as long as the term was limited to 2022 and reduced the scope of the power of attorney OVRS requested. This however all became a moot point, as due to OVRS' unresponsiveness and unprofessional engagement with my team and our guests I had to seek alternative management. As such my team and I notified ********** Carter that OVRS' management of the property would end after the last reservation in November 2022. OVRS were not at any time given permission to cancel any rentals and in fact were specifically told that no rentals or reservations could be canceled. If their team has evidence to the contrary, I would be happy to review it. OVRS then collected funds from various renters in June-August and pocketed significant portions of said revenue. They then further canceled all our reservations and transferred those guests to other properties they managed, without our permission and without compensating us. While managing the property, they charged me for pool, lawn and other maintenance that was never conducted. The failure to conduct this maintenance cost me money in that I had to pay for repairs due to OVRS' negligence. These damages did not exist prior to our ownership, as can be confirmed by the inspection report at the time of purchase of the property. I would be happy to provide a copy of the pre-purchase inspection report, and the post OVRS damage report. I have also attached 2 pictures of the pool taken immediately after OVRS left our property. Pools do not turn this green overnight and had the pool had any cleaning done in the months of June, July or Aug it would not have been in this condition. As such I'm confused as to what I was paying for and hope OVRS will clarify. In regards to utilities, all utilities were transferred immediately upon our purchase of the property. Only TV/Internet supplied by Spectrum was not transferred, and this was due to OVRS' refusal to communicate with us. Spectrum could not open a new account at the property until the OVRS closed theirs. OVRS was repeatedly notified and reminded of this situation and I asked them to coordinate the cancellation date so that I could ensure no interruption of service. They failed to do this resulting in a brief gap in cable/internet service, which I was forced to correct. The reason I know OVRS managed this account is because they billed me for cable and internet service for the months they "managed" the property, and as such they knew exactly when they were going to cancel service. The only communication I have had from OVRS in this matter is a letter from an attorney they contracted, who has similarly to OVRS not responded to any communications from me since July 12, 2022. This attorney was conflicted as he represented me in the purchase of the property, which is likely why he has not responded. I have repeatedly requested contact information for OVRS or their new attorney, but I have not received any reply. Their refusal to engage is documented in this BBB complaint. The BBB has been trying to reach OVRS' management team since August 2022. Only after 3 months of the BBB trying to reach OVRS have they finally responded, and even then only to this BBB case. I have yet to receive corrected statements, complete funds, or responses to our direct communications. This matter could have been solved easily and promptly if OVRS would have responded to any of our communications. All they needed to do is pay me the money they owe for renting out our home and to transfer the bookings I purchased with the property. They chose to take the route of ignoring me and stealing my money. Reviews about OVRS on their Yelp and other profiles show this is consistent with their past behavior of the last 12 years managing properties in Florida. So despite their response here that they've never had issues, reviews such as the ones attached here from ************************* and other review sites show otherwise. I again insist that they should: 1) Respond to our communications and engage in an amicable and professional discussion regarding the lost revenue and damages I have incurred due to their behavior. 2) Payout all pending revenue collected for guests they hosted on our property from June - August. 3) Refund for maintenance fees for services not conducted (e.g., pool maintenance) 4) Provide me with the names and contact information for our guests who were reserved with my property from June - December so that I can re-engage with them per our purchase and transfer agreement. OVRS Team, Please let me know when you are ready to be professional and discuss this matter rather than ignore me. I would be happy to have the BBB or another party mediate. Alternatively I am happy to discuss with your new attorney when you find them, just tell me who they are and how to reach them. Business Response /* (4000, 23, 2022/10/19) */ MaruLegal is **************** who is licensed to practice law in CA. She and **** also both use CA cell phone numbers. I guess Mr. *********** forgot his wife is an attorney licensed in CA. Attached is a copy of an exchange between them and my attorney. He points out that she must hire counsel as she isn't licensed in Florida. Mr. *********** might also be reminded that we don't bill for lawn service as his HOA does the lawns in the community where this property is located. There are 3 utilities at the property, electric, water & cable/wifi. They did not transfer over two of them and continued to use the sellers accounts. They refused to sign a limited POA which is standard for all management. It left us unable to do anything with the utility accounts on their behalf. The property closed to these buyers on June 11, 2022. Our last reservation left Jul6 16, 2022. There were no reservations after July 16, 2022. The reservations that were there had to be refunded due to lack of cable/wifi. There are two reviews on yelp. One is from the ***********'s. I don't intend on defending myself any more from these people. They know that the BBB has no actual way of resolving this issue for them so I take this as just another bully tactic like the social media posts. I have conducted business in this area for 12 years. I didn't stay in business by not conducting it professionally.************* **** *********** wife's part owner of this property webpage ********************************** Consumer Response /* (4200, 25, 2022/10/20) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The response here continued to ignore our complaint and seems to focus on unrelated matters, but I will respond none the less in hopes that OVRS chooses to engage in mediation or conversation about how to resolve the matters that are actually relevant to our complaints. This complaint is on behalf of Davenport Florida Rentals LLC and **** ***********. Neither of whom are attorneys. MaruLegal is a law firm we frequently use for purchases and vendor management, but they are not based in California. They are based in Manhattan NY. Your statement that 2 California lawyers are bullying you continues to be incorrect, and responding with MaruLegal's information here is irrelevant as they are not a party to this complaint. If you would prefer to go through lawyers, I would just need the contact information for your representations and we can bring MaruLegal back into the picture. I am hoping however that you will handle this professionally and respectfully and just start responding to my direct requests for accurate owners statements and proof of services. In the meantime we are just happy that the fine folks at the BBB were able to compel you to respond at all, even if the responses are inaccurate personal attacks rather than an attempt to respond to our concerns. The responses provide proof that you are receiving our messages and choosing to ignore them. I continue to be available to work with you and the BBB to setup a mediation call or discussion so that we can achieve a mutually amicable resolution to this matter. Regarding Social Media, when I was unable to reach you by phone, sms, usps, or email - I did indeed try to reach you via social media as you state. Unfortunately you blocked me rather than responding. You also appear to have blocked calls from my phone numbers. The only person I was able to reach in September was a person named Mark. He assured me that Susan would call us back, she did not. All of this however continues to be a distraction, and there is no bullying or CA Lawyers involved. Just attempts to reach you about the funds you collected and kept for stays at our property. The issues at hand here remain: - You received no authorization to cancel reservations, but you did. If you believe otherwise, please upload a copy of the written authorization to this BBB complaint so that they and I can review it. - You still hold funds you collected from guests on our behalf. You did not own the property and those funds do not belong to you. They must be paid out. If you had no contract as you claim you had no right to put guests in our home. If you did put guests in our home then you were providing a service and need to pay us accordingly. - Your charged us for maintenance services that were never completed and their lack of completion caused damaged to the property. If you believe you did indeed perform said maintenance (eg pool and lawn care) please provide contact information for the service you used here in the BBB complaint and/or upload copies of proof of payment for that work. The property was clearly not maintained from the purchase date through your termination based on the findings of inspectors and our new property managers. - We continue to await a list of all guests that were scheduled to stay with us through the end of your services in Nov 2022. WE are happy to mediate this in any way you feel appropriate. We can do it: - Directly like professional adults - Via the BBB here. - Florida Department of Consumer Services offers free mediation services - NY Department of Consumer Affairs - NY Attorney General All of the above have would be happy mediate between us. Alternatively, if you prefer, we can have your own attorney do so. Just share their contact information The ball is in your court to setup the conversation. The only option that isn't acceptable is ignoring me and stealing money from me. I look forward to your response. BBB Team, Thank you for your help in compelling Ms. ********** Carter and OVRS to respond. I would be happy to join a mediation call with them whenever they decide to engage with me.

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