ComplaintsforProvident Property Management

• Initial Complaint

  08/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Provident Property Management broke several Missouri laws in the six months that I lived there. They created an unsafe living environment through negligence in taking care of things like bug infestations. They allowed someone to live in one of the units illegally without being on the lease, and even after I informed them that this person was harassing me, they did nothing. This person ended up threatening my life and stalking me, at which point I asked to be out of my lease, but they refused. When I filed a police report against the tenant, she lit her apartment on fire, at which point I learned that the building was NOT up to code. They had no fire extinguishers and half of the smoke alarms were not working. Somebody could've died. They did not offer me another place to stay or any compensation. Another one of their tenants flooded my apartment and purposefully broke all of the water heaters down in the basement in retaliation to being evicted, and the management also didn't offer me any sort of compensation. I was supposed to receive my full deposit because victims of stalking and harassment are entitled to break leases without any punishment, but they told me that there would be charges and if I wanted to do anything about it, I would have to take them to court. Overall, they treated me like vermin, broke multiple laws, and I think they need to be shut down before someone legitimately gets hurt due to their horrible business practices. I doubt I will ever get any of the money I paid in rent back because these people are willing to break the law to avoid giving anyone their money back, but I would like to file this for the BBB's records. This company needs to be investigated. If need be, I can provide evidence of all the police reports I had to file against the tenant living there illegal, documents regarding the arson investigation, and the email correspondence in which Provident disregarded me and my fears of being killed by their tenants.

  Customer response

  08/02/2024

  One thing I would like to clarify about my initial statement, I was let out of my lease. I no longer live there. But originally I was told I would only be allowed to break my lease if I forfeited my deposit (which I could not afford to do) and it took very long for me to receive this information, during which time I was literally trapped in my apartment because I was so afraid to walk outside because of the threats I was receiving. I sent screenshots of the texts I was getting to demonstrate how scary it was for me to be living there, and it did not speed up the process at all. When I told them that they were not legally allowed to keep my deposit, they then tried to charge me for damages that were there before I moved in, as well as charge me for a microwave I left behind even though I had asked the property manager ahead of time if it was okay that I left that because the day I was supposed to pick it up, I got another death threat from the previous tenant. She did not tell me I had to come get it, but also didn't inform me that it would result in an added charge. 

  I am not the only one who has had bad experiences with this company. Their online reviews demonstrate just how exploitative and unfair their business practices are. I am worried that they will try to find a way to keep what little of my deposit they were actually willing to give back to me after they see that I filed a complaint, but I honestly don't know what else to do. They break laws, treat people poorly, and abuse their power as a large property management company dealing with vulnerable renters. 

  Business response

  08/15/2024

  While *********************** did have some issues while she lived in the unit her failure to fully relay the incidents, facts and outcomes is both frustrating and discouraging as she has taken it upon herself to disparage our name without legitimate legal reason. First, no laws were broken and ************** is unable to provide legal reference information to the laws she believes were broken. The unit passed all local municipal inspections and was deemed habitable by the city, which does not require supplying the tenants unit with a fire extinguisher.  If there were unworking smoke detectors in a tenants unit their lease requires them to change the batteries or report the broken detector to maintenance for replacement, no such requests were made.
  
  Second, the bedbug issue was started by the tenant who was evicted from the house, not from Providents neglect of pest control and the issue was professionally handled by a licensed pest control company as soon as the infected tenant was removed from the unit.
  
  Third, we did not allow a person to live in one of the other units without permission, for the ease of communication we will call this person **************. ************** was the significant other of a lease holding tenant and while Provident continuously worked to get ************** out of the property the lease holder was not helpful in the efforts to solve the issue. There were personal problems between ************** and **************** and Provident supported **************** as much as we were able to within the limitation of our scope of responsibilities as the managers and not the owners of the building. Unless **************** has proof she is withholding from the police she is speculating on how the fire started at the building, which was limited to only one corner **************** unit.
  
  Fourth, **************** was allowed to break her lease after the owner approved it. Our agreements with owners do not give us the ability to allow people to break their leases without owner approval. The owner consulted legal counsel and was informed he had no legal obligations to let **************** out of her lease or return her full security deposit without doing a damage assessment. However ultimately with Providents persuasion he inclined to let her break her lease. She had a normal move out inspection where a list of damages was provided to her and while she did not want to pay the $185 charge for the items found, she was ultimately unable to prove why she should not have been charge. **************** was the initiating party that threatened legal action and hiring attorneys, Provident only responded to ****************** legal escalations as she brought them up to ***
  
  Fifth, the tenants unit did get wet from the upper unit spilling water on it, but there was no damage done to the unit that required extensive repairs or for the tenant to need to live elsewhere, and at the time of the tenants move out a few months later there was no sign of any water incident. The owner was under no obligation to credit the tenant for her perceived inconvenience and chose not to do so. Even if the tenant did not like the owners choice it was within his legal rights.
  
  **************** has also said in other online entities that she does not care if she gets her 6 months of rent back just as she has here. It is apparent,her material intentions are to accredit us for her unforeseeable misfortunes in connection to ************** and retaliate for her misperceived slights. No one treated **************** like vermin and we have all the emails, texts and recorded phone conversations showing her nothing but professionalism. 

  Customer response

  08/16/2024

  Complaint: 22083300
  
  I have reviewed the business' response and am rejecting it because: it is in bad faith, as much of their conduct has been over the last few months. It's not worth going point by point, explaining why they are, in fact, breaking Missouri tenant laws or generally behaving unfairly. They have the time to continue fighting this fight, knowing that they are in the power position, and I am just an exploited ex-tenant who can't afford to keep paying a lawyer to look into all of this. The power dynamics between a corporate management company and someone like me make it impossible to actually see justice in these situations outside of a lawyer taking on my case pro-****. I have countless emails to back up everything I've said, which I did send to a lawyer as well as one news outlet, but I will not waste any more time on this via online forums when it's been evident that burden of proof has been put entirely on my shoulders and not theirs. Still, I reject their response and maintain that they have treated me and other tenants terribly. 
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

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