Aviana at Tuscany

I recently vacated my apartment at Aviana. I did a final walk through with one of the staff members, and she commented that the place looked great. I informed her that I had hired people to clean, and she made several comments on how great that was and how it was never very expensive to do that. She apparently did not document that I had hired cleaners, she did not request a receipt, nor did she inform me that Aviana would be hiring another set of cleaners. When I received my deposit in the mail (the remainder, anyway), I had been charged for several wear and tear items such as painting and maintenance (Im not sure if this is technically allowed, the state I am from did not allow such things) and a cleaning fee. It took a week for someone to finally return the 3 calls I made in regards to this issue (I called 7/8/14, 7/14/14, and 7/15/14 and left messages each time). When the manager finally called me back 7/15/14, she told me that it was a new person that had done my walk through, and sorry but that since they had incurred the cost of a cleaner, I was the one that had to pay for it. She additionally stated that maybe common sense shouldve told you to give us a receipt. She refused to give me contact information for her supervisor, and told me that if I had a complaint, I needed to mail her a letter and she would forward it. [redacted] Apartments apparently manages the property, but they do not have any contact information on their website (nor could I find any using [redacted]): you can only contact them by use of a form that goes to a general email account (the actual email address is not provided). I completed the form, and included all of the details 7/16/14, and have yet to hear back from them. I have never heard of a company forcing a customer to pay for an employees mistake, nor have encountered a company that deliberately disallows for customers to move up the chain of command for concerns.Desired SettlementI would like the cleaning fee refunded.Business Response Contact Name and Title: [redacted], Prop MgrContact Phone: [redacted]Contact Email: [redacted]In response to the complaint: First and foremost, cleaning is very subjective. Surface clean and actual cleanliness and ready for a new tenant to move in, can and usually are, very different. Baseboards, cupboards, niches, etc need to be cleaned prior to a new tenant moving in. Some outgoing tenants actually do this, most do not. Even if (and I still have NOT received an actual invoice from a professional cleaning service) an outgoing tenant provides an invoice, if the cleaning done is not up to our standards, we will, and have the right to charge outgoing tenant, clean it again. This is clearly stated in the lease. I'm sorry about the miscommunication between staff and tenant, but we had to clean and we passed that cost (with zero markup) on to the tenant as per the lease. We will not be refunding that charge.Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)It does not state in the lease that one staff member will approve the cleanliness of the apartment, but that a tenant should allow for another to reverse that decision and so the tenant should simply expect to pay. Nor does it state that a service will be hired as a matter of course. Additionally, you still haven't asked for a receipt, so obviously you wouldn't receive one. What is especially troubling is that there is frankly no recourse for tenants. The staff can simply throw in extra charges and there is nothing to be done. Final Business Response As per Lease Agreement: "Upon move out, the Lessor shall have the right to apply so much of the Security Deposit as is necessary for non-payment of rent, damage to property, expenses (e.g., maintenance, painting, cleaning), and any other reasonable charges as determined by the Lessor. The Security Deposit may not be used by the tenant toward rent, including the last month of tenancy. She is absolutely correct when she stated that "one staff member will approve the cleanliness of the apartment", and no staff member did. Again, I am sorry she disagrees with our procedures, but she should have been aware of them as they are clearly stated in the lease.

This complaint came as a result of Aviana at Tuscany complete disregard for their agreement to refund our deposit and pro-rate our rent. We gave a proper 30 day notice and let them know we would be moving out on 6/5/13. We paid a prorated amount for June through 6/8/13. They then kept our deposit and charged us for the whole month of June. They since sent us a check for $269 but we are still owed $585.83. We are not litigious, but want the public to be aware of these unethical business practices in the hopes that this can be avoided in the future.Desired SettlementRefund the money still owed in the amount of $585.83Business Response Contact Name and Title: [redacted], Prop MgrContact Phone: [redacted]Contact Email: [redacted] has left out some very vital elements in his "claim". First, our lease agreement (which he signed) is very clear about notice and move out procedures. No matter when the notice to vacate is given (at least 30 days prior), tenant's responsibility for rent is through the last day of that month. [redacted] chose to disregard the lease agreement and took it upon himself to pro rate his rent. Yes, he was charged for the full month of June, as per our lease agreement. He also failed to mention that Aviana credited him for 11 days rent (June 20-30) because we were able to turn his apartment and rent it to a new tenant. Another item he failed to mention was that he left his entire apartment filled with rental furniture, which we, in order to make his apartment ready, had to move out, store and then make arrangements with the furniture rental company to pickup...all of which was his responsibility. He also failed to mention the maintenance, painting, cleaning and carpet cleaning charges which were deducted from his deposit. I am highly offended at being labeled "unethical" from a tenant who only tells a part of the truth...I firmly stand by our actions, and suggest that if anyone looks at the truth of this matter, they will see how fair and ethical Aviana has been.