ComplaintsforCapriotti Properties

• Initial Complaint

  09/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I paid a total of $3,375 resulting in $675 payments on the first of each month spanning 4 months and security deposit of $675 starting March 1 of 2022. I am filing this complaint due to the negligence of repairs after a huge leak was repaired lasting from March 14-April 27 and failure/refusal to replace the panelling in the wall, resulting in a mold issue lasting until the date I moved out on July 31, 2022. Repair notices were given digitally March 14, 24, and 25, April 6, and 7, and by phone (text) directly to the landlord March 29, May 31 and to the office on April 19, 20, 21, 27 and May 31, as well as multiple phone calls. A mold sample was taken 6/11/22 and received by the testing company 6/22/22, coming back positive. This was then used to give a code violation on 7/25/22. A letter of intent of payment was also given on July 31, 2022, and has gotten no response. This business committed to safe and livable housing attune to NYS law, and failed. 

  Business response

  11/02/2022

  In response to ******* *******’s complaint (ID# ********). On February 1st 2021 ********* lease to rent *** **** ****** ****** in Elmira became effective.  Shortly thereafter, she complained of mold in the bathroom and maintenance addressed it. In October of 2021, ******* communicated that she was unhappy with the neighborhood and that she wanted to move. She was shown an apartment located at *** **** ***** ****** and ultimately relocated to that unit. About the same time that she informed us that she was unhappy with the neighborhood and wanted to move, she also completed another work request regarding mold in the bathroom and it was addressed.  In March of this year, ******* notified maintenance that there was a water leak into the bedroom wall at her new place **** **** ***** **). The leak was promptly repaired and the bedroom wall was inspected. The water caused a portion of the paneling to warp.  Maintenance assessed the situation and determined there was no mold present. The paneling was merely cosmetic and it would be repaired at a later date. The issue was thought to have been resolved. Early in July a message was received from ******* stating that she was moving out at the end of the month. She stated that she would not be paying the last month’s rent due to the “unlivable conditions”. ******* claims she contacted code enforcement with positive tests confirming mold was detected but the results were never shared with us. A company representative met with ******* at her place of employment to offer her another apartment and/or to see if there was anything else we could offer her. She said she was moving in with her parents and there was nothing else we could do. Her attitude was pleasant and it was assumed the issue was resolved amicably. After ******* moved out, the apartment was updated and remodeled including the removal of the paneling. No mold was found. We provide above average housing and we are proud of our outstanding reputation in Elmira and all the surrounding areas. We go out of our way to accommodate tenants’ requests. Complaints are rare and its uncommon for us to not be able to resolve every issue. It’s unfortunate this has escalated to this level. 

  Business response

  11/15/2022

  As our previous letter states, in February 2021 while Ms ******* was a tenant at *** * ****** ******* *** *, ****** ** *****, she complained of a mold issue in the bathroom. It was promptly addressed by our maintenance crew. In October 2021, Ms ******* informed us she was not happy with the current neighborhood and preferred to move. We began looking for an apartment within her budget at that point. Ms ******* referred two tenants to us in which a $100.00 referral credit was applied to her account on 11/10/21. As of December 2021, Ms ******* claimed utility costs were high. Beginning December 15, 2021, we provided her with a monthly credit of $50.00 to offset the costs for a total credit of $250.00. In January, we showed her an apartment located at *** * ***** ******* *** ** ****** ** ****** She decided to move to this unit February 1, 2022. Prior to signing the rental agreement, she asked for a six-month lease opposed to our required annual lease. We granted her request. In March 2022, while residing at *** * ***** ******* *** ** ****** ** ***** she informed us of a water leak. Our maintenance team made the repairs expeditiously. Ms ******* requested that she is present whenever anyone from maintenance enters her apartment. To comply, our maintenance personnel scheduled their work to be done, after our regular hours to accommodate her request. Repairs were made as follows: -April 18, 2022, the roof was repaired. -April 21, 2022, Ms ******* confirmed there were no more leaks.                 -April 28, 2022, maintenance repaired, cleaned and then painted the wall. Ms ********* states that repairs were made in mid-April. In her letter dated 07/31/22 she wrote “even though it had been repaired in mid-April”. The wave in the paneling was a cosmetic issue, and a repair/replacement was planned for a later date. There was a delay due to conflicting schedules caused by her demand to be present. Also, her March 2022 rent payment was late. In accordance with the lease a $25.00 late fee is charged. In this case, a credit of $25.00 was applied to her account. Ms ******* vacated the premises July 31, 2022, and informed us she would not be paying July 2022 rent. Failure to pay last month’s rent constitutes non-compliance of our rental agreement. As specified on page 1 of our lease agreement, “The security deposit in the amount of $675.00 in NON-REFUNDABLE unless tenant fulfills all terms and conditions of this agreement.” As stated in Ms ********* letter to the BBB dated 11/2/22: “After letting him know that I was moving because the issue had not been resolved (and continued to not be resolved the rest of the time I lived there, up until July 31, 2022),” By Ms ********* own admission, she lived in the apartment until July 31, 2022. At no time was the apartment deemed uninhabitable. The Code Enforcement Department ordered resolution by August 12, 2022. We complied with this deadline. A new tenant resides in this apartment with no complaints. Per Cdc.gov: “Molds are very common in buildings and homes. Mold will grow in places with a lot of moisture, such as around leaks in roofs, windows, or pipes, or where there has been flooding. The most common indoor mold are Cladosporium, Penicillium, and Aspergillus.  We do not have precise information about how often different molds are found in buildings and homes.” Per New York State of Opportunity Safety and Health: “It is impossible to ‘mold proof’ your house. However, you can manage mold growth by controlling indoor humidity levels and fixing water leakage problems. To prevent mold from coming back in the future you must fix the underlying source of moisture.”Per epa.gov: “It is impossible to get rid of all mold and mold spores indoors; some mold spores will be found floating through the air and in house dust. The mold spores will not grow if moisture is not present.”Cladosporium is described as being olive green to black in color, depending on the species, forming colonies with a slightly powdery texture.  These fungi also produce compounds associated with the characteristic sharp mold smell. Neither of these characteristics existed inside the apartment. The first time we’ve seen the demand letter dated July 31, 2022 was when it was sent to us when we received a reply by the Better Business Bureau on November 2, 2022. Capriotti Properties provides exceptional housing in ****** and the surrounding areas, and we uphold a stellar reputation. We do our best to accommodate tenants’ requests. Complaints are rare and it is highly unusual for us to have an issue which has escalated to this level. We believe this is a financial issue and not a health issue. In addition to the multiple credits we’ve already given her (tenant referral, late fees reimbursement and utility reimbursements), we will offer a refund of two month’s rent in the amount of $1,350.00 ($675 x 2) as a goodwill gesture even though we are prepared to go to court. Sincerely, JNC James N C******** Owner 

  Customer response

  11/21/2022

  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.  Regards,  ******* *******  Regarding my stay at the previous apartment a* *** * ****** *** there was an ongoing mold issue on the bathroom ceiling that had been painted over on multiple occasions (never cleaned), as well as a sink that held off repair for a month, also resulting in a mold issue. These images are attached to show the damage, though this has nothing to do with my initial concern. Also regarding the high utility costs, there was an ongoing issue of extremely high reports of gas use amounting up to $4000 from NYSEG, obviously just a mistake in the meter reading at the time since I was then presiding in the apartment alone after the person I had co-signed the lease with had left. Upon moving into *** * ***** *** I was given the opportunity and choice to rent month to month and chose to sign a six month lease since I didn’t see myself moving from the location as recently as I had to because of the conditions that had sustained there. I will also note that the price of this apartment and the previous one was $675 a month, so nothing had been made cheaper to alleviate any financial hardships. Again, I had let them know that the leak had started on March 14th, 2022, and it was not resolved for more than a whole month, seeing as the repairs were made April 18th, 2022. Once again, during this time I had to move all of my belongings out of the one bedroom (the one and only bedroom I had, as it was a one bedroom apartment) to avoid everything getting wet since the leak had sustained through the wettest part of the year and I kept repeatedly waking up in the middle of the night with my pillow, bed, and floor soaked (seeing as my bed was placed right against the wall where it had been soaked repeatedly throughout the whole month). My belongings were not moved back into this bedroom for the rest of the time that I lived in the apartment through July 31, 2022. I requested to be home for these repairs because a distrust was built with the first mold issue being handled the way it was, and saw that I needed to be present to ensure that the problem was resolved as much as it possibly could be upon seeing them, seeing as their response time was lacking and it was so hard to get a hold of them to make the time for the repairs in the first place. I also just wanted a general time frame as to when they would be there because of a previous bad experience in the previous apartment where the day was established for repairs, but never a time, and resulted in the maintenance man walking into the apartment and trying to get into the bathroom immediately following a shower I had taken, probably unassuming that I was there, but still a bad experience nonetheless. “Regular hours” as stated by Mr. *********, were never stated to me directly. As far as the March rent being late, there had been technical issues with the online payment system that had never been withdrawn from my bank account, even though I was set up for automatic payments. After a couple of days to ensure that I was not to be charged twice for my monthly $675, and a phone call to the office to ask about the seemingly pending payment, I was told to wait another couple days by the woman I spoke with in the office. After doing so,  a holiday weekend fell over the next few days and obviously the office and bank was closed. A late fee was applied during this time because of these difficulties, and I let the landlord know of this issue after the rent payment had been made as soon as possible on the next weekday, seeing as it could not be resolved with the same woman I had spoken with before. There was no issue, and the landlord came to understand the situation, and graciously removed the late fee caused by these online difficulties. In the whole 18 months I had rented from Mr. *********, this was the only time a late fee was applied. I agree on the terms that I went against the agreements of our contract, and the $675 deposit can be used as the last month's rent for my month early evacuation of the apartment. This action of my leaving early was due to the violation that had been applied per Code Enforcement, confirming that the living situations were no longer ideal. To state again, I left an exact copy of the demand letter and all documents attached to my BBB complaints with my apartment keys on July 31, 2022 to the woman at the front desk named Diane. In hindsight, I should have sent these documents via certified mail to ensure Mr. ********* had seen them, but if he received the keys to the apartment, he should have also received the demand letter and following documents. No receipt was provided or offered by the office for this transaction. None of the decisions made on my living situation were financially motivated, nor does Mr. ********* know of my finances. As far as tenant referral, all tenants were given an opportunity of  $100 credit on their rent per referral at this time. With the understanding of the breach of contract, I am now asking for the amount of $2,800 amounting through 4 months rent total and the $100 necessary purchase for 2 mold tests to confirm the Code Enforcement Violation. One month is to account for the one month's time it took to resolve the initial leak, and three months for the time that the mold issue progressed and was never resolved, making the conditions of the apartment unlivable. Sincerely, ******* *******

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