Archer Team Homes, Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2014/07/19) */
Complainant moved into the property on May 1, 2013 after having signed a one year lease. Prior to move-in the home was painted internally, professionally cleaned, carpets and aggregate flooring professionally cleaned. There was no...

mention in the move-in inspection of a leaking faucet. There was mention of spiders in the garage and the home was treated by a professional pest control company. It was also mentioned in the move-in inspection that the air conditioning unit was not functioning properly (this was not reported by the prior tenant). Consequently the unit was serviced shortly after the tenants moved in. It was also mentioned in the move-in inspection that some of the lights would not turn on from switches and had to be turned on with pull cords. One or two of these lights were installed after the home was built and the owner did not wire them to a switch. Leaves in the rain gutters were mentioned and the gutters were cleaned in July and again in October (it is routine that the gutters are cleaned at least once a year). This is not to say that we were able to respond to every request from complainant, but we attempted to cure any reasonable issue presented by them. It is important to note that complainant was never charged for any of these repairs made or deferred.
After 10 months, complainant informed us that they would be moving to Awahnee, CA. by April 10, 2014. In their 30 day notice they stated "We appreciate and are grateful for allowing us to rent from your company for the past year" . They included a "special Thank you" to one of our employees. There was no mention of any concerns.
Upon inspecting the home after their move-out we discovered that complainant had done considerable damage to the walls of the home. There were large 2" diameter holes in the family room and living room walls for large screen TVs. There were also large holes in the entryway and bedrooms. This was all done without the permission of the owner. Consequently we had to repair the walls and completely repaint the house less than one year after it was previously painted. This is a 2100 sqft. home and the cost of painting was $1500 which we charged to complainant as a result of the damage they caused.
The tenant is responsible to return the home in like condition as it was when they moved in less normal wear and tear. The house had to be professionally cleaned and the cost was $180.00. The carpets and aggregate flooring also had to be professionally cleaned. This cost $465 as aggregate is particularly expensive to clean. There were also some minor repairs including changing the AC filter, replacing smoke and carbon monoxide detector batteries and replacement of non-working light bulbs (all of which are the responsibility of the tenant) totaling $284.26.
As far as complainant's concern that she attempted to contact the President of the company to discuss this issue, the company has staff members including a Client Relationship Manager whose responsibility it is to handle these matters. This person addressed this issue with complainant in a courteous and professional manner.
We are property managers and represent the interests of the owner. We have nothing materially to gain and we believe that these charges are warranted and are required to reimburse the owner for damages caused by the tenant.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2014/07/25) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
When we moved in I did communicate the condition of the home pertaining to cleanliness. I have copies of the move-in inspection document & also an e-mail stating my concerns. If the house was true in fact cleaned by a professional before move-in then why would there be cobwebs throughout the home and had a musty odor to the home? The mention of spiders and cobwebs was not stated solely for the garage it was stated for the entire home. The home was not serviced shortly after it took them several months to have it completed which I had to continuously call to follow up when service was going to be completed.
I did give a special thanks to one of their employees because I called so often checking on status of work orders she knew my voice without having to state the location of property.
As stated in the complaint, we had the aggregate flooring steam cleaned and it was stated by the professional that the floors had not been cleaned in a long time and stated there was a considerable amount of pet dander that was pulled out of the steam cleaner. He in fact showed my husband the amount of dirt and pet dander that was being pulled the floors.
If it is true in fact that the batteries and light bulbs are the tenant's responsibility then why is it when we moved in we had to replace batteries to the A/C units and replace light bulbs throughout the home? We should not have incurred this expense upon move-in if they held the previous tenant responsible and had them replaced upon our move-in.
The statement of us having done considerable damage to the home is inappropriate and unsatisfactory. It is true we did mount our TV's on the walls, but to state because of that the whole house had to be repainted? My husband is familiar with the work that would of had to be done to repair the holes, which would require patching of holes(a kit is available) which are not that expensive at any hardware store & just a spot paint, or just the wall. If the home was painted, prior to our move-in, then why would the whole house require repainting when we did not have TV's on each and every wall? I feel this expense is inappropriate. It is also stated on the invoice that we are being charged for stock paint?
In regards, to the statement that they have someone available to discuss my issues, then why did I never speak to that person(Client Relationship Manager) I spoke to 4 different people regarding the matter in the office and I was told by them all that I would need to talk to Mr. XXXXXX. I had asked if there was anyone else that I could speak to since I made several attempts on contacting Mr. XXXXXX, the response was "Sorry you need to speak to him." I was getting dead-ends and I wanted to discuss this matter but there wasn't anyone able to do this.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2014/08/25) */
Reply to complainant's answer of 7/25/14. Regarding cleanliness of the home, every person's definition of cleanliness is different. The home was professionally cleaned on April 11, 2013 just before tenant moved in and again on April 19, 2014 just after they moved out. I am unaware of a musty odor, and this was not mentioned on the move-in inspection report. However, we are willing to reduce the cleaning fee by half as a sign of good faith.
The aggregate flooring was cleaned and resealed in October, 2012 at a cost of nearly $1000. The house was vacant from that time until the complainant moved in. We were never made aware that the tenant had the floor cleaned again or what they found.
It is our intent that when a new tenant moves into a home, all of the light bulbs will be working, all of the smoke and CO detectors will be working and there will be a clean filter in the AC unit. While living in the home it is the tenant's responsibility to change any light bulbs which extinguish, test the smoke and CO detectors every week and replace batteries as needed and periodically change the AC filter. No where in the move-in inspection which was completed by the tenant does it mention that tenant had to replace light bulbs and batteries. Nor is there any record that they submitted a repair request for us to replace them. If they had, we would have done so at no charge to them.
In regard to painting, as complainant admits there were large holes left in the walls of the entry way, family room, formal dining room and master bedroom. Complainant did not ask permission either from the owner or property manager to make these large holes or run electrical wiring. Complainant states that these holes are easy to fill and that there is a kit for such yet complainant made no attempt to repair them. These rooms had to be completely repainted after one year because of this damage to ensure that the paint matched. There was no such damage in the smaller bedrooms but they were painted nonetheless so all of the paint would match. However, again in the interest of good faith we are willing to reduce the painting charge by $500 which is one-third of the total cost.
In conclusion, the final Disposition of Deposit sent to complainant shows a balance owing to the owner of $934.26. We are willing to reduce this by $90 for the cleaning and $500 for the painting for a total of $590 leaving a balance owing of $344.26.