J.W. Hunter Company, Inc

I was persuaded to sign a year-to-year contract under false pretenses.In September of 2012 my year long contract with [redacted] was to expire. At that time I had applied to a better job in my field in Pennsylvania with the distinct possibility to relocate. However, there was no guarantee I was to get the job so I decided to change to a month-to-month contract.I was persuaded to re-sign a yearly contract which was to save me $40 per month and I was assured by [redacted] that there would be no penalty for cancelling the lease as long as I gave 30 days written notice. I read over my lease and there was nothing written about early terminations so I assumed that [redacted] was being honest and I decided to re-sign the yearly lease.As it happened, I was offered that job that I had applied to in September. I started the job in February after a pretty lengthy interview process. When I gave the written cancellation notice, I was told that I would owe every month's rent until the apartment would be leased again. Needless to say, a young professional who is married and whose household includes one income was greatly distressed by this change of information. Had I known this, I would have kept the month-to month lease and simply paid the extra $40 per month. This was dishonest on their part and they seem relentless in their harassment for the rent money. Now we are in 2014 and they are threatening to take me to court even though it was their fault for pressuring me into re-signing the lease to begin with.If I had been allowed to sign a monthly lease or if the penalty for cancelling the lease early was written clearly in the contract then there would be no misunderstanding. As it is, I am being penalized for a fault of their part.I appreciate your help with this matter as it is really distressing.Desired SettlementI with for them to drop these extra charges and acknowledge that they were dishonest with me in persuading me to re-sign the lease knowing that there was a very distinct possibility that I would need to cancel early. Business Response /[redacted]/The tenant's original lease began September of 2011 and ended October 2012. He was given the option to sign a lease for one year with an increase of $35.00 in rent or to go month-to-month for an additional $25.00 on top of the $35.00 rent increase. We have a no reason to persuade the tenant to sign a lease for a full year, it was completely his option and at the tenant's discretion. The lease clearly states the begin date and end date. The lease also clearly states when a tenant moves out before the end of the lease they are responsible for the rent until the unit is re-rented or until the lease is up, whichever happens first. We were able to re-rent the unit within two month's of his move out date. The tenant moved out in February and the apartment re-rented in April. After the tenant vacated the property we received a voicemail from them stating that their plans had changed and they would like to move back in their apartment, but they elected not to move back in. We have documentation that the tenant was contacted twice concerning this issue. The tenant is responsible for the rent according to the terms of the lease. J W [redacted] Company, as manager, is responsible by law to see that the terms of the lease are upheld for the owner of the property. There is no reason or incentive for J W [redacted] Company to try to persuade tenant to sign one lease over the other and the leasing agent states that the tenant made this decision completely on their own. It is completely at the tenant's discretion. Our goal is to treat all parties fairly according to the contracts. If tenants does not pay within ten days, we have no choice but to pursue the damages in small claims court on behalf of the owner.

In 2011, I rented a duplex apartment and was recently sent a letter demanding $1,124.42 for supposed damages from the lease from over 3 years ago.In the beginning of 2011 I lived in a duplex that I rented from J.W. Hunter Company, Inc. When my roommate and I moved out, they took our deposit of $350 and claimed that we still owed $1124.42 for supposed carpet damages. I requested an itemized list of the damages, the repair costs, as well as photographic evidence, of which I never received despite my many phone calls to the company requesting these documents. After a few months, they stopped returning my calls and I never heard from them again. Now, over three years later, I have received a letter in the mail demanding the amount of $1,124.42. According to my attorney, the statutes of limitations 1-52 for North Carolina states that they had up to three years to collect for damages. This statute clearly states that "unless otherwise provided by statute, for personal injury or physical damage to claimant's property, the cause of action, except in causes of action referred to in G.S. 1-15(c), shall not accrue until bodily harm to the claimant or physical damage to his property becomes apparent or ought reasonably to have become apparent to the claimant, whichever event first occurs". This statute also states clearly that they have three years to file this claim with the courts. After which, their case will be unable to be seen before the court. I feel that they have waited far too long in conjunction with their failed attempts to contact me previously for the amount owed. The letter they mailed to me was mailed directly to my current residence, where I have lived for over a year. They were able to acquire my current address, yet this is the only letter I have EVER received from them notifying me of any balance that was due. They have claimed that they have sent me letters in the past in an attempt to collect this balance; however I have never received any until now. I have recently talked to J.W. Hunter Company and they were not willing to waive the charges.Desired SettlementI am requesting that the charges they claim to be owed by me be dropped. I am seeking mediation for this outside of court. I will be deployed to Korea shortly and I have been saving any extra money to be able to pay for the cost to move my family back to the East coast while I am there. I do not have the money to repay them nor the time to deal with a court case, as I am currently living in California.Business Response /[redacted]/The tenant was billed on May 9th, 2011. Tenants did receive the letter and responded to our office. Tenant filing complaint called our office on May 18, 2011 and talked with bookkeeper and other tenant on lease called our office on May 24,2011 and talked with same bookkeeper. On May 19, 2011 leasing agent called base housing person to see if they could help us collect for the damages. Never heard back. I was not aware that the tenant had unanswered telepnone calls until now. We are emailing all information to tenant today that was requested. The damage is obvious from the pictures and tenant admitted they had a pet. This is not our money, but money owed to the owner of the duplex for which we manage. From time to time we go over old bills make an an attempt to collect for the owner. We are only asking what is far to the owner. We have collected through the court system many times for even up to 5+ years, so we have to disagree with the information provided to you. You did receive the bill and you did respond. We are only asking for damages beyond normal wear and tear, which is our job to do. Thank you for your consideration.Consumer Response /[redacted]/I would like to add that Mr. Hunter called me personally and we discussed the current predicament at length. We have come to the arrangement where I will pay the company $600 instead of $1,124.42. Mr. Hunter was very understanding of the situation and was very personable, which I greatly appreciate considering my current financial situation. I have received an email from the company describing the changes in the amount owed and that I will receive a receipt of payment once the company receives the $600. I will submit another update once I have received the payment receipt in order to close this case out. Again, I truly appreciate Mr. Hunter's compassion; the fact that he contacted me personally to discuss the situation and the manner to which he conversed with me speaks volumes of him and his company.Final Consumer Response /[redacted]/