ComplaintsforHelene's Property Place LLC

• Initial Complaint

  08/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My wife and I rented from Helenes Property Place. They were selling our house and we had a move out date of 05/24/23. We spent hours cleaning that place and even had it cleaner than when we moved in. (My wife moved in first during COVID and they would not allow her to see the unit before she signed for the unit.) We were expecting a bill for the carpet cleaning since we never scheduled that. More than 30 days later, we received a bill $712.50. Immediately, I went in to speak with someone and nobody would talk about the situation with me. They just kept telling me I needed to email someone. Not too long after, my wife called and got the same response. She asked to speak with Helene and they said she wasnt there. She left a voicemail and we still have yet to hear back from her, yet they keep contacting us to pay our bill. Its like they are dodging our calls and dont want to talk about it. They want to take our money and run. Apart from the money thing, they also dont run their business professionally. I get a call from my wife one day, and after dropping my son off at school she comes back and theres two guys on the property painting the house. And they didnt even give notice! That is illegal and completely ignorant to not even give notice. Wed like Helene to to refund us our deposit. We would have liked to resolve this in person, but unfortunately we had to resort to this since nobody seemed to call us back or want to talk with me in person.

  Business response

  08/07/2023

  I am sorry that **** is frustrated.  We do not discuss these issues on the phone.  We communicate by email so that there is no confusion on what was said.  I am looking at the move out report.  The lawn had not been mowed., it was quite tall and the grass needed to be cleaned up after mowing.  I have attached what items we had to clean in the house.  It is very detailed.  Also attached is the mowing bill and Carpet cleaning bill.  All of the charges we feel are justified.

  Let me know if you have any further questions.

  Helene Hopkins

  Designated Broker

  Helene's Property Place, LLC

   

• Initial Complaint

  01/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My husband and I cosigned with our son to rent an apartment from Helene's Property place. He lived there for 2 years. When he moved out, all three of us cleaned the apartment spotless and took a video of each room before we left. They sent us a bill stating that we owed them over $587.00 for cleaning, and that they would apply the $300 cleaning deposit to the bill. The itemized cleaning bill was for room 27. Our son ************* 20. When we brought this to their attention, they resent the same itemized cleaning bill with "room 20" at the top. They admitted to sending us a bill for the wrong room but still billed us for ***** hours worth of cleaning even though the four pictures they sent us were items not requiring more than 2 hours time. When I questioned this they said that to clean an oven takes time for the cleaner to sit on the surface first. The oven in our son's apartment was spotless when we left. This wasn't our son's room. The bill itemized fixtures not found in our son's apartment like a fireplace and ceiling fans. They sent the bill to collections when we refused to pay it. We left a review on YELP and ****** reviews. Dozens of other tenants wrote similar reviews saying that Helene's was not honest in their charges. Our son didn't want this bill to go to collections so he paid the bill even though it was dishonest. We want Helene to refund us what we paid over the $300 cleaning fee.

  Business response

  01/05/2023

  The account was turned over to collection.  What she describes was a clerical error, we corrected it.  She told the collection agency what she wrote above, or something similar.  They asked for documentation, we sent it, and they have upheld the collection.

• Initial Complaint

  09/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I lived at an apartment that was managed by Helenes. To give some context, it was a two-bedroom unit that was less than ***** sqft total. Upon move-out this summer, I received a bill from Helenes stating a $700 cleaning fee after we moved out. The fee stated that it took 23 hours to clean a ***** sqft unit. When I reached out to her office multiple times, they said she wasn't in, and forwarded me to her voicemail-box. I then wrote her multiple emails, and she responded once and all she said was she would look into it. Now, a month later, I get an email from her accountant saying I owe her this money and have 3 weeks before I get sent to collections. I am not sure what to do here, as she seems to arbitrarily decide things, becomes unresponsive and hides in her office, and then threatens to send you to collections if you don't pay her the money she is "owed".

  Business response

  09/13/2022

  We have been communicating with *****************  On August 2, 2022 I responded to his email.  I explained that we would look into the situation.  The employee that looks into the issues, had to leave.  Because we were short handed it was placed on the back burner, and looks like, it slip through the cracks.  We were in no way hiding from the tenant.  We billed the tenant the amount of hours that we paid the employees to clean the apartment.  We did reduce the bill by 6 hours.  The cleaners work, in hot conditions and sometimes do not clean as fast as we would like them to.  The tenant did say that he knew he did not clean the apartment.  We hope he will be satisfied with the reduction of the cleaning bill.

  Customer response

  09/13/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. No further action is required.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Maccabee ********

• Initial Complaint

  06/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Helene Properties showed me an apartment located at ******************************************************** on Friday June 10, 2022 @4pm. I wanted to lease the apartment but was told I must pay (by money order) a $100 holding fee in order to receive an application & have the apartment held until I was approved. I immediately paid the fee. You can't read app without paying 1st. MY mother, *****************, was present during this transaction. My mother questioned the employee that took our money & had showed us the apartment..."So we get the application and as long as his application clears he can get the apartment." The employee replied "YES. It is the weekend and no one else can put a fee or process an application today." We explained to her we would fill out app over the weekend and be in on Monday to put lease money down etc. She replied "Just call the office on Monday." My mother asked her more than once "He's good. He should get the apartment." She replied yes & took our money order to office. I received the application and filled it out on Sunday evening. On Monday, I called to make arrangements to pay & sign lease but was told the apartment was given away to someone else even though I paid to hold it. My *********** tried calling but was told there was no manager at all. We then went into the office & was told someone filled an application online on Thursday June 9th. My parents questioned "How did they fill out an application online without paying a holding fee? Our son had to pay the fee just to RECEIVE THE APPLICATION." The lady KAYCEE had no explanation. She told my mother that the employee did not ever agree that the apartment was mine. Basically she called my Mom a liar. My mom asked "Why would we pay the holding fee if it wasn't being held for him?" Again no answers. They asked us to leave because my parents wanted the owner's contact information. Kaycee THEN WANTED to return my holding fee but we left it as proof they accepted it.

  Business response

  07/05/2022

  When ******************** decided that he would like to rent the unit, he came into the office and dropped off a holding fee on Friday June 10th. He was given a link to fill out the application. He was told that he needed to fill out the application as soon as he received the link.  On Monday morning, he had not filled out the application.  Another party completed the process before ******************** did.  We screen tenants on a first come first served basis.  After our explanation to him and his mom we thought he understood.  We offered to show him a different unit.  He declined that offer and picked up his holding fee.

*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. ↩