Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On July 21st 2023 we moved out the house we were renting for over 3 years from Equityteam, we decided to not to renew the lease as we were presented with a rent increase of almost 10%. Not one late payment in the 3 years and after enduring multiple ongoing issues with animals in the house, trees falling on the property, flooding in the basement which stemmed from a crack in the foundation which resulted in water pouring out of the electrical outlet during heavy rains. It was disappointing to say the least. Once I reformed EquityTeam of our notice to vacate, I feared the fight that would come in getting my security deposit back. I had read the reviews online as well as looked into the civil cases against EquityTeam of others to whom they defrauded but I wanted to give EquityTeam the benefit of a doubt. Almost 30 days after moving out, I received an email stating we were getting a refund of our security deposit and thanks for taking great care of the place. Only to read further and see they were deducting $389.40 from my security deposit. I immediately disputed all but 3 of the charges. The 3 charges, I took responsibility for were for the strike plate on one of the bedroom doors as well as the two electrical outlet covers, totaling $42. I received an email about a week later saying I was getting a refund for $120 more as they dropped the broken blinds in bedroom caused from raccoons falling through the ceiling and a missing exterior globe. I had pictures of the day we had toured the place proving this globe was missing prior to us even putting an application in. But they supposedly have pictures of the place prior to move in day. Should never have seen the charge for it in the first place. They refused to give me the $215.40, I am still owed. They never once mentioned or adjusted a refund of the 10% coordinating repairs fee as well. I have included pictures of the sink on move out day that shows no clog was present that I was fraudulently charged for.

  Business response

  09/12/2023

  The following email was sent to this tenant to try and resolve this dispute.

  *******,
  
  I'm writing in response to your BBB complaint about your refund.
  
  First, I'm sorry this has caused you stress and frustration. From reading about your tenant experience, I see why this has just added to your frustration with the property you called home for 3 years.
  
  Please keep in mind we do not own the property, we just manage it. Some things are because the owner didn't want to make improvements, some things are acts of god (like the large tree limb falling on the driveway in a storm that had every tree company in town busy for days). We do our best to solve problems as they occur.
  
  You have already received a report of the tenant responsible damages totaling $354 + 10% admin per the lease for a total of $389.40. Of this amount, $120 has been refunded to you in good faith to settle the deposit disposition, meaning $269.40 is what was withheld from your SD.
  
  However, you do not feel that is fair enough so you went the BBB, which is your right. I wish you would have asked to speak to a manager here first, but I'm happy to help you resolve this now.
  
  Overall, you obviously took pretty good care of the unit, and we're grateful for that. However, we have a job to do for our owner client, and that is to report these things and charge accordingly for them.
  
  In reviewing the tenant-responsible repairs, I see the main charges are for some broken blinds, doors not shutting, a clogged sink, and other very minor things. If you notice, there are also a number of items that say "clean...." but don't have an amount assigned to them when they certainly could have.
  
  The things we DID charge for are hard to prove unless we really dive into the inspections and ask the inspector to recall their notes on these items. This is something we certainly can do, but before we spend the time doing that, my question to you is what do you feel is fair?
  
  I don't believe it's fair that you write a review of us saying that we are "defrauding" people because that is not who we are. We are always in a difficult position between the owner and the tenant, and do our best to be as fair as we feel a judge would be based on the evidence we have. Many people don't like our opinions, but they are our best efforts to be fair to all parties. I hope you can understand that.
  
  I see where you took responsibility for $42 of the $269.40 that remains. In good faith, I propose we save each other time and headache (us investigating this with our inspector only to get the answers that we almost certainly reaffirm our position, and you from writing letters and making your case), and let's split the amount in dispute; $134.70. That would be about $92 more than you feel you are responsible for, and it would be $137 less than we feel the owner should get (again, keep in mind we did not put charges on there for any cleaning).
  
  I hope you can see this shows we're fair and reasonable, and I hope you can agree to this so we can settle this and both move on.
  
  If you agree, I will make sure we send the funds as soon as we see the BBB complaint is marked as resolved.
  
  Sincerely,
  Mark T*******

  Customer response

  09/12/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ** ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* ******
  

• Initial Complaint

  05/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My husband and I put in a 101$ application to rent a property. When we applied it turns out that to property had been rented out for weeks but the company still showed it as available. They cheated us out of money. I called to get a refund and they said they one give us one and they never did.

*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. ↩