Beztak Properties

I gave a partial deposit of $750 to move into colonial village apartments in columbus ohio. Due to the extreme crime rate in the complex I no longer want to reside there. Ex on August 15 at approximately 5p.m. a young man was shot and killed in broad daylight and that made I believe murder number 16 just in the complex. As a result of them not giving me my money back I am now homeless and sleeping on the street with my son. I suffer from depression and this situation has taken me into a deep depression to where I barely function. All I want is my money back. I never signed a lease nor did I recieve a key to the property. I should not have to go through this when I never moved into the property.

This is an email that I sent to corporate.

"My wife and I have leased with the Oaks for the last year. Today (july 15 2018) was our move out and lease end date with the Oaks in Athens, GA. I have attempted to resolve my issue with the property manager Emily Hurling over the last 48 hours, however, her responsiveness has been sorely disappointing. Please allow me to explain the issues, that are both severe and resulted in us having to involve the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

My wife and I signed a lease last year that was supposed to end today, July 15th 2018. We provided written notice several times informing management that we did not intend to renew our lease, and at no time did we indicate that we would move out before the end of our lease. Yesterday, Saturday July 14th, 2018, my wife attempted to enter our apartment, however, the key would not fit into the lock. My wife contacted me at work. She met me at work so that she could attempt to use my key. Again, the key would not work---the locks were changed before the end of lease.

My wife went to the back-sliding door and saw that our unit storage closet had been broken into, boxes opened, also that our actual unit had been entered, our items moved in the kitchen, and that some of our items had been taken. At this point, we contacted Emily via email (due to the fact that she could not be reached by phone) stating the issues at hand (please see the email thread below). The responsiveness from Emily was inadequate and cryptic. It took roughly two hours for her to respond to us. She only called the one phone number and sent an email stating that we could get into our apartment now. I responded to her email that we provided both of our phone numbers, and that we needed to speak with her as soon as possible.

When we entered the unit, it was apparent that management was responsible for the movement or items and the destruction of padlock that was used in the outside storage unit. The reason I state the padlock issue with certainty is that whoever broke our padlock brought it into the kitchen, inside the locked unit. We noticed that the following items were missing: 2 beer mugs, 4 margarita glasses, bourbon glasses (souvenirs from a family trip with my late mother), $35 in rolled change, souvenir magnets, but could not be sure of other items. It was not necessarily the expensive items that were missing, but mainly bar items. As we could not reach management, or corporate for that matter, we contacted the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

The Athens-Clarke County Police Department wrote up the event as a burglary. They noted that Mountain Dew cans were cut and used to attempt to pop padlocks. However, when management could not remove the padlock to the outside storage unit, they ripped it off instead. Finger prints were taken from the can to be used as evidence of the crime. While the officers took our statements, they simultaneously tried to contact the Oaks management or facilities personnel. However, management has not provided the police with emergency contact information, therefore, Emily was not reachable at the time the police were at the unit. The police report should be available in the next 7-10 days.

Also of note, whoever went through our belongings, found it interesting enough to pull out personal papers such as my high school ACT scores from ~12 years ago. This is incredibly unprofessional and I see no reason why management or facilities management would need to go through individual papers in my unit which they had no reason to be in, as our lease was still active and we had not formerly moved out yet.

Again, we tried to reach Emily as to find resolution: at minimum have our things returned in the same condition in which they were taken, or be compensated for them. It was not until later that we were informed that we could speak to the Assistant Manager Lakisha at 12:00PM on July 15th 2018. Now, this in itself is highly concerning. Emily should have made every effort to speak with us, especially since she was involved with the issue and Lakisha was not.

I spoke with Lakisha today at 12:00PM. She was incredibly professional and explained that the lock issue, as well as the taking of our belongings, were the result of miscommunications with facilities management. She quickly took me to the back office where our belongings were in a blue recycling bin. She explained the Emily told her that facilities was told to take out our “valuables” and put them in the office---as Emily informed them that we had moved out prior to the end of our end of lease date. Now, this point is questionable as there were items of more value in the unit, but also that the theme was consistent---the items were all bar items. The only item that was not returned, that was specifically mentioned in the police report, was the $35 dollars in rolled changed---this was stolen.

Of the items returned, one of our margarita glasses was damaged (please see attached photo). Seeing as it was not supposed to be removed from our unit in the first please, we need to be compensated for it.

There is a significant question that we have: If Emily instructed that valuable items be put in the office, and our items were there today July 15th, 2018, then why did she not simply state that she had our items yesterday July 14th 2018 when this whole incident started? I personally do not believe that these items were in the office, and that she was reluctant to speak with us as she needed to collect the items from whomever had taken them. Additionally, anything less than a sincere formal apology from Emily is entirely unacceptable.

I would like to note, that throughout the year of living there, we have had numerous instances in which our unit was entered without permission. I have emails with Emily in which we discussed several times that management has to provide a 24 hour notice (as seen in our lease agreement) before they can enter the unit. This has been a source of strife with management. Several times were given less than a 24 hour notice or no notice at all. It became such an issue that we installed cameras in the unit, however, unfortunately they were removed before this incident.

Seeing as we were unable to speak with Emily, who made the most meager attempts to contact us, we would like to speak with someone in the Beztak Corporate office. At the moment, the police case is still open, and we would like to see all of this come to a close. Please let us know a time that we can speak with you---preferably Monday between 8:00AM EST and 4:00PM EST."

After this email was sent (and several phone calls to the corporate office) we received a return call. The corporate office skirted the issues at hand, but did apologize (which is more than I can say for the property manager Emily...). They said it "IS their policy to remove items from units that they believe to be vacated EVEN IF it is still under lease." Let's revisit this...they will take your stuff AND you will pay for it. I have never in my life heard of a company say that they will remove your items from a unit if they believe you are not there (even if you are paid up/through and under lease). What if you leave for a week on vacation? You vacated for a week! So are they going to empty out your place?

Now, this brings me to the next point. The office has five points of contact for us: three emails addresses and two phone numbers...we were NEVER contacted before the went through our unit. Additionally, we were NEVER informed that things were removed. We were NEVER apologized to by the property manager Emily.

Areas of particular concern: whoever took most of our items, went through my box of high school papers (circa 2007). They pulled out papers such as my ACT scores! Now I am thoroughly concerned that my identity has been compromised. Why in the world would they need to look through my ACT scores and high school papers!

Corporate kept it to this: somehow its just a miscommunication...ya right; they are sorry; and they will give me 35$ (the amount of rolled change that was not returned with my items). This is a joke. The still broke my padlock, they still broke the terms of our lease (that they wrote nonetheless), and I am not sure what else they took. My warning to everyone reading this---if they thought they could get away with taking my stuff, then they probably have done this before AND have gotten away with it. Please do not fall victim to these people.

This is an email that I sent to corporate.

"My wife and I have leased with the Oaks for the last year. Today (july 15 2018) was our move out and lease end date with the Oaks in Athens, GA. I have attempted to resolve my issue with the property manager Emily Hurling over the last 48 hours, however, her responsiveness has been sorely disappointing. Please allow me to explain the issues, that are both severe and resulted in us having to involve the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

My wife and I signed a lease last year that was supposed to end today, July 15th 2018. We provided written notice several times informing management that we did not intend to renew our lease, and at no time did we indicate that we would move out before the end of our lease. Yesterday, Saturday July 14th, 2018, my wife attempted to enter our apartment, however, the key would not fit into the lock. My wife contacted me at work. She met me at work so that she could attempt to use my key. Again, the key would not work---the locks were changed before the end of lease.

My wife went to the back-sliding door and saw that our unit storage closet had been broken into, boxes opened, also that our actual unit had been entered, our items moved in the kitchen, and that some of our items had been taken. At this point, we contacted Emily via email (due to the fact that she could not be reached by phone) stating the issues at hand (please see the email thread below). The responsiveness from Emily was inadequate and cryptic. It took roughly two hours for her to respond to us. She only called the one phone number and sent an email stating that we could get into our apartment now. I responded to her email that we provided both of our phone numbers, and that we needed to speak with her as soon as possible.

When we entered the unit, it was apparent that management was responsible for the movement or items and the destruction of padlock that was used in the outside storage unit. The reason I state the padlock issue with certainty is that whoever broke our padlock brought it into the kitchen, inside the locked unit. We noticed that the following items were missing: 2 beer mugs, 4 margarita glasses, bourbon glasses (souvenirs from a family trip with my late mother), $35 in rolled change, souvenir magnets, but could not be sure of other items. It was not necessarily the expensive items that were missing, but mainly bar items. As we could not reach management, or corporate for that matter, we contacted the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

The Athens-Clarke County Police Department wrote up the event as a burglary. They noted that Mountain Dew cans were cut and used to attempt to pop padlocks. However, when management could not remove the padlock to the outside storage unit, they ripped it off instead. Finger prints were taken from the can to be used as evidence of the crime. While the officers took our statements, they simultaneously tried to contact the Oaks management or facilities personnel. However, management has not provided the police with emergency contact information, therefore, Emily was not reachable at the time the police were at the unit. The police report should be available in the next 7-10 days.

Also of note, whoever went through our belongings, found it interesting enough to pull out personal papers such as my high school ACT scores from ~12 years ago. This is incredibly unprofessional and I see no reason why management or facilities management would need to go through individual papers in my unit which they had no reason to be in, as our lease was still active and we had not formerly moved out yet.

Again, we tried to reach Emily as to find resolution: at minimum have our things returned in the same condition in which they were taken, or be compensated for them. It was not until later that we were informed that we could speak to the Assistant Manager Lakisha at 12:00PM on July 15th 2018. Now, this in itself is highly concerning. Emily should have made every effort to speak with us, especially since she was involved with the issue and Lakisha was not.

I spoke with Lakisha today at 12:00PM. She was incredibly professional and explained that the lock issue, as well as the taking of our belongings, were the result of miscommunications with facilities management. She quickly took me to the back office where our belongings were in a blue recycling bin. She explained the Emily told her that facilities was told to take out our “valuables” and put them in the office---as Emily informed them that we had moved out prior to the end of our end of lease date. Now, this point is questionable as there were items of more value in the unit, but also that the theme was consistent---the items were all bar items. The only item that was not returned, that was specifically mentioned in the police report, was the $35 dollars in rolled changed---this was stolen.

Of the items returned, one of our margarita glasses was damaged (please see attached photo). Seeing as it was not supposed to be removed from our unit in the first please, we need to be compensated for it.

There is a significant question that we have: If Emily instructed that valuable items be put in the office, and our items were there today July 15th, 2018, then why did she not simply state that she had our items yesterday July 14th 2018 when this whole incident started? I personally do not believe that these items were in the office, and that she was reluctant to speak with us as she needed to collect the items from whomever had taken them. Additionally, anything less than a sincere formal apology from Emily is entirely unacceptable.

I would like to note, that throughout the year of living there, we have had numerous instances in which our unit was entered without permission. I have emails with Emily in which we discussed several times that management has to provide a 24 hour notice (as seen in our lease agreement) before they can enter the unit. This has been a source of strife with management. Several times were given less than a 24 hour notice or no notice at all. It became such an issue that we installed cameras in the unit, however, unfortunately they were removed before this incident.

Seeing as we were unable to speak with Emily, who made the most meager attempts to contact us, we would like to speak with someone in the Beztak Corporate office. At the moment, the police case is still open, and we would like to see all of this come to a close. Please let us know a time that we can speak with you---preferably Monday between 8:00AM EST and 4:00PM EST."

After this email was sent (and several phone calls to the corporate office) we received a return call. The corporate office skirted the issues at hand, but did apologize (which is more than I can say for the property manager Emily...). They said it "IS their policy to remove items from units that they believe to be vacated EVEN IF it is still under lease." Let's revisit this...they will take your stuff AND you will pay for it. I have never in my life heard of a company say that they will remove your items from a unit if they believe you are not there (even if you are paid up/through and under lease). What if you leave for a week on vacation? You vacated for a week! So are they going to empty out your place?

Now, this brings me to the next point. The office has five points of contact for us: three emails addresses and two phone numbers...we were NEVER contacted before the went through our unit. Additionally, we were NEVER informed that things were removed. We were NEVER apologized to by the property manager Emily.

Areas of particular concern: whoever took most of our items, went through my box of high school papers (circa 2007). They pulled out papers such as my ACT scores! Now I am thoroughly concerned that my identity has been compromised. Why in the world would they need to look through my ACT scores and high school papers!

Corporate kept it to this: somehow its just a miscommunication...ya right; they are sorry; and they will give me 35$ (the amount of rolled change that was not returned with my items). This is a joke. The still broke my padlock, they still broke the terms of our lease (that they wrote nonetheless), and I am not sure what else they took. My warning to everyone reading this---if they thought they could get away with taking my stuff, then they probably have done this before AND have gotten away with it. Please do not fall victim to these people.