A1 Property Management

Do not rent from this company. On move in the house was dirty, the lawn was not mowed, the electricity was not turned on and the hot water heater did not work. We were able to get the water on but later the tank quit working. They left my family to include my infant, three small children and my husband who is a 100% disabled Veteran without hot water for six weeks. A-1 did nothing until our lawyer contacted them and forced them to put in a hot water heater, which was not large enough for the house and we never had adequate hot water. After move out they charged for weeds and landscaping after my husband had mowed the weeds and took care of the two bushes. By the way, this property was in the desert of Chino Valley and the yard was mostly rocks. A-1 charged us a huge amount to move in, we had to use our own money to fix things around the house and then they kept our entire deposit, which was not warranted at all. The place was so dirty when we moved in there was dog hair in the ice maker in the freezer and in the oven! Please do not make the same mistake we did and rent from this company.

Tenant called in to report that there was insulation coming from her stove, so we sent our vendor to assess the situation.  Upon review of the issue, our vendor reported the insulation was due to a mice infestation in the stove and that the whole stove would need to be replaced due to extensive...

damage.  Tenant was contacted and informed that per the terms of her lease, both pest control and appliance repair are her responsibility.  At this time the tenant requested that we call the owner to see if they would make an exception to the lease, to which the owner declined due to the tenants poor care of the unit, such as smoking inside as well as unauthorized pets that have caused damage.  The owner maintains that the stove and pest control will be the tenants responsibility as per her signed lease agreement.  Owner has authorized us to make the repairs at the tenants expense to insure that there is no further damage, however, the tenant has stated that she will not allow anyone in the unit.  At this point we will have to post a notice to enter the unit and will see if the tenant denies access or not.

I rented an apartment from A1 roughly 2 years ago. The place was fine with the exception of consistently breaking bathroom features and a shoddy water heater. However the roommates I moved in with eventually went their own way and we were left with new roommates who had moved in to help with rent.

This is where the ordeal started.

After their annual inspection A1 informed us we had 30 days to remove ourselves from the property. They cited 2 reasons. One being that we had occupants not on the agreement, and another being a failure to maintain hygiene standards. . ( Incidentally this was in reference to mold in the bathroom that had been there since we moved in and had been unable to remove)

I asked if there was any way to resolve the issue by adding my new roommates to the agreement, alas no, we were told that we had 30 days (Actually at this point 26 days since they sent the letter informing us standard post) and there would be no room for appeal.

So we cut our losses and moved out. Only to be slapped in the face with a bill for damages to the property in excess of 5000 dollars. We asked to see a break down of costs, what had to be done that cost so much? We were refused. We were not allowed to send in an independant to assess the cost of repairs, nor were we even able to check if we were the ones responsible for the damages in the first place. We recieved a bill and nothing else.

So we payed, wanted to be done with the whole mess.

Then, as I treid to move to a new location I got some troubling news. My application to my new place was refused since A1 had informed them that the balance for the damages was still outstanding. Which was not true. So I went to their office to request a receipt or other proof of payment. I was denied, firmly. The woman there essentially threw me out of their office. Telling me that if there was a problem it wasn't theirs and I was not entitled to any of the information I was requesting. In fact I was told that the only thing I could do was ask my new place to resubmit their query. Again I received absolutely no support. Blindsided by a bill they STILL refuse to actually disclose the particulars of. All this after being evicted from the property on the grounds of a misunderstanding (Admittedly my own) and an issue that was present with the property before we ever moved in.

Not only has this caused a great deal of undue stress towards me and my roommates after our attempts to find new places to live, any attempt to clarify or request anything has been met with Hostility and outright refusal from every employee there.

I have made simple, reasonable requests and they have responded by seemingly going out of their way to make every aspect of my attempt to move on as difficult as possible.

While renting a property through A1, I made written reports of scorpion infestation, safety issues of water leaking through the rough down through the bathroom ceiling lights, and other issues. A1 Properties was negligent in their follow through of helping me find another property. I would be told in a general meeting in the office I would be released from my lease and they'd help me find another house to rent and then a few days later I would get a call from the owner of A1 Properties who called me names, swore at me and threatened he would sue me for everything and he wasn't letting me out of my lease. After hiring a group to get me out of my lease, A1 Properties withheld almost all of my deposit for things that didn't exist in the home and/or for items I listed on the move in report as issues. I would not recommend this group to anyone.

Terrible Customer Service, I can understand being busy. But when you leave several voice messages, come in and leave a physical message, and the agents never get in touch with you. That s just plain out unprofessional, and this hasn't been just one agent. Don t waste your time this company has NO TIME for you.

Review: A1 Property refusing to replace mice infested oven which is included in lease plus multiple other complaints.Desired Settlement: Fix the issues.

Business

Response:

Tenant called in to report that there was insulation coming from her stove, so we sent our vendor to assess the situation. Upon review of the issue, our vendor reported the insulation was due to a mice infestation in the stove and that the whole stove would need to be replaced due to extensive damage. Tenant was contacted and informed that per the terms of her lease, both pest control and appliance repair are her responsibility. At this time the tenant requested that we call the owner to see if they would make an exception to the lease, to which the owner declined due to the tenants poor care of the unit, such as smoking inside as well as unauthorized pets that have caused damage. The owner maintains that the stove and pest control will be the tenants responsibility as per her signed lease agreement. Owner has authorized us to make the repairs at the tenants expense to insure that there is no further damage, however, the tenant has stated that she will not allow anyone in the unit. At this point we will have to post a notice to enter the unit and will see if the tenant denies access or not.

Review: A1 Properties is wrongfully withholding a portion of my security deposit for erroneous claims.Desired Settlement: Full refund of $245.76

Under the [redacted], I can now demand twice the balance and expenses in attempting to recover my money after 14 days from the demand letter I sent them on July 2, 2013.

This is a copy of my second letter to them:

July 8, 2013

A1 Property Management, LLC [redacted]

To Whom it May Concern,

[redacted] & [redacted]

We recently received your correspondence and returned security deposit check for $56.19. However, we are continuing to dispute the money withheld for "cleaning" and "repair". These claims are under no circumstances our responsibility and are completely excessive on your part.

I am insistent that you return our full security deposit; balance of $116.77. Failure to do so will allow us to also sue for damages"equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld" under [redacted](E), because we "exercised diligence to maintain the premises in as good condition as when he took possession, ordinary wear and tear excepted." [redacted].

Have you reviewed my check-in list? You may have payed someone to clean the condo before renting it but they did not do the job. It is not my fault that you cannot supervise your subcontractors, the place was filthy. Do you have evidence that this work was done? Was the person related to [redacted]? The condo’s condition was immediately brought to your office’s attention with no response or concern. Did you not notice in my first letter that I stated that I had to do a full day of cleaning to make it sanitary and habitable? You have our supporting documentation to support my claim. I am confident that I left the property cleaner then when we got it, so [redacted] applies. A1’s representative, [redacted], was responsible for the horrible condition and did nothing to rectify the situation or respond to our complaints. In fact I was told his mishandling of properties was one of the reasons that he is no longer there. Your office had to send out a new representative to review the properties after his departure. I will not be held liable for A1 Properties mismanagement of their business and rental properties.

With regards to the “repairs”, everything was in working order when we left, including the lights and smoke detectors. You can not charge us for landlord maintenance of the property. If you chose to replace the batteries and lights, then that is your responsibility and actually part of the landlords requirements “to comply with applicable building codes affecting health and safety” [redacted]. You also have supporting documentation for all the lights we replaced because your office did not respond to our inquires.

Again I demand our full security deposit returned immediately. This is obviously landlord abuse.

[redacted] & [redacted]

Business

Response:

To Revdex.com,

In response to the complaint #[redacted], I have attached documentation that these tenants have not been wrongfully charged. From their security deposit, we withheld $34.27 for repairs, which went to replacing the furnace filters and the smoke alarm batteries, which is the tenants responsibility per the attached pages in the lease. We also withheld $82.50 from the deposit for cleaning and removal of items left at the property. I have included photos in the attachment space provided, but I do have over 100 photos of the condition of the property upon move out. If any additional documentation is needed to clear up this issue I will be happy to provide it.

Thank you,

A1 Properties

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

This will be the fourth time I have had to explain why I expect my full deposit back. A1 has never addressed my legitimate claims.

As stated previously, everything was in working order when we left, therefore we upheld the details of the lease(which their attached page only describes light bulbs). The letter dated July 8th clearly explains this:

“If you chose to replace the batteries and lights, then that is your responsibility and actually part of the landlords requirements “to comply with applicable building codes affecting health and safety” [redacted]”. To further substantiate this claim, A1 has in their possession my move in check list that states there were light bulbs out when we moved in, which we replaced and the air filter was black when we moved in, which we replaced and the smoke detectors were working fine upon move-in and move-out.

2. With regards to the cleaning charges I find it appalling that they have the gall to charge me for anything after we moved out. Again, the property was left cleaner then we got it so anything that they did does not apply.

Please review a paragraph from my letter dated July 8th: “Have you reviewed my check-in list? You may have payed someone to clean the condo before renting it but they did not do the job. It is not my fault that you cannot supervise your subcontractors, the place was filthy. Do you have evidence that this work was done? Was the person related to [redacted]? The condo’s condition was immediately brought to your office’s attention with no response or concern. Did you not notice in my first letter that I stated that I had to do a full day of cleaning to make it sanitary and habitable? You have our supporting documentation to support my claim. I am confident that I left the property cleaner then when we got it, so [redacted] applies and I can not be charged for cleaning. A1’s representative, [redacted], was responsible for the horrible condition and did nothing to rectify the situation or respond to our complaints. In fact I was told his mishandling of properties was one of the reasons that he is no longer there. Your office had to send out a new representative to review the properties after his departure. I will not be held liable for A1 Properties mismanagement of their business and rental properties.”

I have also attached a detailed response to their cleaning invoice. Which for some reason they have manually altered from the original provided by Rachael Bogs.

3. In general they have never acknowledged that the property was not properly cleaned and cared for before we took occupancy, which the office was fully aware. We had little choice except to move in and clean it ourselves as our movers were in transit.

As previously stated in my letter dated July 1 and July 8th:

“We request a reply within 10 days of receipt of this letter. Failure to do so will allow us to also sue for damages"equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld" under [redacted](E), because we "exercised diligence to maintain the premises in as good condition as when he took possession, ordinary wear and tear excepted." [redacted].

Regards,

Business

Response:

The attachment pages of the lease detailed both the tenants responsibility to change the light bulbs and the smoke alarm batteries. Since this was not done at move out, it was charged to their deposit. In terms of the cleaning, we have provided the tenants with the bill showing the property was cleaned prior to move in and the bill from cleaning when they moved out. If the property was not to their standards at move in they did not have to take possession of the property and it does not mean they can leave the property in need of cleaning or with items left in the garage and the drawers. We have refunded the maximum amount of their deposit owed to them and think we have been more than fair on getting this matter resolved.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

They have not responded to any of my points, merely repeating themselves.

1. Everything was in working order when we left.

(i.e. The lease makes no mention of smoke detector batteries, and really how would they know if I put in new ones or not and all 5 weren't working?, seems a little excessive. And if that were true, they should have been sounding an alarm that the batteries were out, which they weren't, and if not then they are still at fault for having malfunctioning detectors in the property)

2. The place was left clean.

(i.e. they should be so lucky to have all of their tenants leave properties in the condition I did, which obviously the previous one in ours did not. The cleaning invoice provided upon move out only describes general cleaning that I had already done) and doesn't matter because the property was left cleaner then when we took possession.

3. And everything is non-disputable as clearly stated in my first letter where I clearly quote from the [redacted].

4.As far as their last comment 'if the property was not to their standards at move in they did not have to take possession of the property' epitomizes the attitude we have received from day one. They have my grievances about the condition of the property from phone, emails and my move in check list immediately upon move in, which were succinctly ignored.

If only they held themselves to the same standards that they seem to apply to their tenants. They must however abide by the Arizona law.

Regards,

A1 Properties is wrongfully withholding a portion of my security deposit for erroneous claims.