Chesterfield Gardens II

Review: I rented a storage unit on September 7,2013 and paid this vendor 60.00 in advance (50.00 for the storage unit and 10.00 for a lock rental). I was quoted a rental fee of 50.00 per month for the size of the unit I rented. My month should have ended on Oct. 7, 2013. The key to the unit was returned to the place of business on September 30, 2013. I received a letter in the mail dated October 6, 2013, from Enon Self Storage. The letter informed me that I was in default of a lease agreement. Within the letter was a breakdown of how my supposedly past due amount was calculated. It is as follows. 50.00 for rent due on 10/1/2013 25.00 late feeI was also informed that if a payment was not remitted within 10 days, I would be charged an additional 162.50 lien fee and preparation for auctioning the contents of my storage unit will begin. The storage unit (#[redacted]) was emptied before the end of September and this business establishment is aware of this, because the key was returned to them before my month was completed. So they already know that there is nothing in that unit to be auctioned and they know that I don't owe them any storage fee for the month of October.Desired Settlement: I want Enon Self Storage to clear this account of this unjustifiable balance and I want written documentation stating that I don't owe them anything.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

I would like to formally dispute this case and provide details of the situation. I am enclosing a copy of the original complaint, the tenants application, lease agreement, payment receipt, past due notice for Octobers's rent, correspondence requesting the intent to vacate notice and zero balance letter to be sent to the tenant on October 21,2013.

The facts of this case are as follows:

1. The sister of the complainant rented a unit in the complainant's name on 9/7/13. The sister was to be a lease holder with the complainant but the contract was written in the complainant's name only. While the rental contract is not being disputed by the complainant, I do feel that the complainant was not made aware of the contract terms and as such, was unaware of the move out procedures.

2. The receipt from move in clearly states the tenant paid a $20 administration fee and $40 rent from 9/7-9/30.

3. When keys were returned on 10/4/13, not 9/30/13 as stated, I asked if the tenant had submitted her intent to vacate since there was nothing in the file and explained the terms. I was told the tenant had complied with the lease terms. I told her I would research the situation and contact the tenant directly if there were any questions.

4. I spoke to our weekend employee and he confirmed the tenant did not request the intent to vacate be entered at move in or at any time that he was operating the facility.

5. I left a message for the tenant, letting her know the terms of the contract had not been met and the rent for October was due in full before the 6th to avoid late fees.

6. Standard late notices were printed on Sunday, 10/6/13 and mailed Monday, 10/7/13.

7. On 10/10/13, Tenant left an irate voicemail stating she received the notice and did not owe rent for October and was not paying. It was clear she did not understand the lease terms and thought she was paid through 10/7/13, which would have been a full 30 calendar days.

8. On 10/11/13, I mailed copy of the tenant's contract highlighting the terms of move out so she would see we were justified in our request for October's rent and late fee. I included a statement requesting the intent to vacate be signed and returned.

9. On 10/15/13, I received another irate message in which the tenant still claims she does not owe us anything and would take us to court rather than pay the $75 we were requesting.

10. It was decided prior to receiving this notice to waive the $75 at month end when moves outs are conducted. A $0 balance letter would have gone out at that time. Our standard procedure is to only send balances of $300 or more to our attorney for collection as we do not benefit financially by pursuing smaller amounts. I am obligated to attempt to collect all balances for at least 30 days and feel I followed proper procedure with this tenant when doing so.

11. Since this case a new policy not states all parties must be present in efforts to prevent a reoccurrence.

I would appreciate a letter for our files verifying this case has been updated and closed with a satisfactory status that benefits our company in every way.

Thank you,