California Realty Group, Inc.

Hi Bertha, I am responding to the complaint submitted by *** *** against California Realty Group, the complaint ID is In the complaint, *** *** asserted several items that are factual untrue so I will be responding to each of her points in sequence. *** claimed
that we deducted $to “reseed the lawn and clean front planter”, asserting that this was incorrect as the lawn was “well documented on [her] moinspection sheet and no ‘front planter’ even existsI’ve attached below copies of the invoice that was charged to Lori, as well as her signed move in inspection and photos of the property shortly after she took possession of the home in May of You can compare these photos to those taken after she vacated the propertyIt is important to note that *** was only charged to repair the front lawn, which was marked as satisfactory on her move in inspectionNo charges were placed against her account for the back yard. Landscaping Photo Link You can clearly see the front planter does in fact exist, and was filled with dead plants and weedsWe actually informed *** that this would need to be corrected during a pre-move out inspection on 6/19/prior to their move out on 6/30/17. At *** request, I also informed the owner of the property that *** was unhappy with the charges placed against her account for the landscapingThe owner responded with the following in an email to me on 7/26/17: "Honestly, this is upsettingWe allowed them to extend their lease for yearsWe never once raised their rent the entire or so years they've rented our home I know they used to take good care of our front lawn (We drove by several times to check on the house.) but it seems as though they stopped caring for the lawn after they were told we were moving back in after their lease was up." *** was additionally charged to replace two blinds and replace a dirty AC filter*** has acknowledged that the blinds were not notated on her move in report, and that she last replaced the AC filter months prior to her move in in JuneBoth of these items were found needing to be replaced upon her move out. *** claimed that she had many issues with our company during her tenancy in having repairs done in a timely mannerWe keep records of all maintenance requests that are submitted to our officeSince October of 2015, there have only been two maintenance requests by the tenantThe first was for an issue with the AC system, submitted to our office on 10/19/The solution was to replace a significant portion of the AC system, at a cost of $1,The parts were ordered, scheduled with the tenant, and installed on 11/2/The second issue was to repair a light fixture that the tenant submitted on 3/24/This repair was approved and we had a vendor available for a same day repair, however the tenant’s schedule required the repair take place on 3/30/The repair was completed on 3/30/I have documentation, internal office work order history, and invoices that support this. *** claimed that we inappropriately charged her a late fee and that our online payment system violated state law*** is referring to a payment made by her in January of Rent is, and always has been, due on the 1st and late on the 5th per their lease agreementIn January of 2016, *** submitted payment to us electronically on the 8thThis is time stamped by our online payment system and reflected on her ledger attached belowEven though the tenant paid rent on the 8th and was technically late, I agreed to waive her late fee as a courtesyHer statement that our online payment system violated state law is simply not trueWe recently changed payment processors to better comply with the California Bureau of Real Estate’s guidelines for electronic payments, but never has our payment system violated state lawI’m not really sure how that would be possible. *** claims that our office was rude and yelled at her numerous timesI cannot speak to every interaction that *** has had with our office, and I’m sorry if she ever got that impression from any of my employees. *** claims that she disputed the “bogus” charges above and has yet to get a response*** and I have exchanged no less than emails over a period of daysI personally have responded to every single one of her emails well within hours, with the vast majority of her emails being responded to within the hourI have provided her with all of the requested photos, lease agreement documents, move in report, etcand contacted the owner to ensure that the owner was well aware that *** was displeased with her depositSimply because *** was not happy with the charges to her account does not mean that she did not receive a response from our company. At the end of the day, *** is unwilling to see that there was some damage done to the home, specifically to the landscaping that the owner requested that we charge her deposit forMy office has attempted to be as transparent as possible with *** every step of the process, however *** continues to assert that we are being deceitful, untruthful, and unwilling to work with herIf you need me to provide a more concise response without any of *** information, please let me know and I’d be happy to summarize the above in more general termsThank you. Best, *** *** California Realty Group, IncEnterprise Circle North Ste Temecula, CA Phone: ###-###-####

I am rejecting this response because:
[redacted]’s response to this matter is nothing but
half-truths, deflections, and false statements.
 
I am still waiting for a detailed accounting of the $250
charge for the front lawn (a conveniently round number). There were no bare
spots on the lawn, so re-seeding would not be necessary. Any alleged “dry
spots” on the lawn were due to the faulty sprinklers that they refused to
repair. As for the “planter,” we removed the weeds as requested. Interesting
how that area outside the front door was never a priority for anyone (including
the owners, who were apparently driving by regularly to keep tabs on the front
yard) until we moved out, and it then became a convenient way to deduct money
out of our security deposit.
 
I am also still waiting for an explanation as to why the
entire blind in the loft was replaced when it worked fine when we moved out. In
addition, I am still waiting for an explanation as to Mr. [redacted]’s lie about
needing to replace A/C filters every 3-4 months, when our lease clearly states
that filters are to be changed every 6 months. We changed all three in
February, so we should not have been charged for this. He is simply avoiding
those issues on which he cannot justify his actions.
 
In addition, I find it deeply troubling to learn that the
owners of the house drove by regularly to keep tabs on us. Regarding their
concern for the front lawn, their assertion that we stopped caring for it once
we learned our lease would not be renewed is absurd. That defies logic; we
became even more concerned about taking care of things for fear that we would
be cheated out of our security deposit (which is exactly what happened). This
is why we made continued requests to get the sprinkler system repaired, but
that request was continually ignored and/or refused.
 
As for the owners’ response regarding our lease renewals and
rent, that is irrelevant to the issue at hand. I resent the implication that we
should somehow be grateful that they allowed us to live in their house. We had
a contractual obligation to pay our rent on time (we did), and to care for the
property (we did); nothing else. However, we did not have a contractual
obligation to help them get their children enrolled in school, and this burden
should have never been placed on us. For the record, we never requested a lease
extension. Each time, they requested it, and each time, we were told by CA
Realty that “the owners really want you to stay.” As for the rent, it’s not our
fault that they chose not to raise it.
 
Regarding the other repairs, I’m happy to know that Mr.
[redacted] has some records, but he either does not have a full accounting of
requests or is refusing to provide documentation of our requests for repairs
that were denied and/or ignored. Proving that necessary repairs were made (such
as the A/C in 2015, after we had to threaten legal action to get this basic
repair made) does not mitigate their lack of professionalism in how they
handled the matter. At one point, they tried to claim that the owners could not
afford to fix the A/C. If a landlord cannot afford to make basic repairs to a
property, they should not be renting it out. Also, Mr. [redacted] is lying when he
said that we refused a same-day repair for the light fixture in the family room
last spring. My husband scheduled a time with their office, and no one showed
up. When he called CA Realty to ask why no one showed up, he was told that no
appointment had been made. He then contacted the repairman directly to schedule
a time. Dropping the ball on simple matters like this, and then lying about it
later, is part of the standard operating procedure for this company.
 
Mr. [redacted] is also not being truthful regarding our rent
payment for January 2015. It was their malfunctioning online payment system
that caused the problem. [redacted] told me on June 19th that CA
Realty was forced to stop using it. In addition, the company incurred thousands
of dollars in fines (see here: http://www2.dre.ca.gov/PublicASP/displayonlinedocument.asp?filing=H04762SD)
and several of their agents had their real estate licenses suspended (see here:
http://www2.dre.ca.gov/PublicASP/pplinfo.asp?License_id=01938281
and here: http://www2.dre.ca.gov/PublicASP/pplinfo.asp?License_id=01012684).
These regulations and penalties came through the California Bureau of Real
Estate. Violating a state “law” versus a state “regulation” through the agency
that maintains oversight is a distinction without a difference.
 
The bottom line is this—we firmly believe that CA Realty has
been dishonest, unprofessional, and grossly unfair in how they handled our
move-out and the refund of our security deposit. They have failed to take any
responsibility for their shoddy business practices and negligent property
management. In addition, Mr. [redacted]’s claim that we caused damage to this
property is patently untrue. We are owed a full refund of our security deposit.