City Closers Real Estate

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: We have filed a small claims case against our landlord and City Closers, and will let a mediator determine the outcome Sincerely, [redacted]

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because: Everything City Closers mentioned in their response is false There is too much information to dispute from their response, but it all has to do with their findings and the ridiculousness of their accusations
Here is what it all comes down to After four years of living in a house that never had any updates or maintenance done to it by the previous owner and landlord (i.eresurfaced hardwood floors, roof maintenance, deep cleaned carpets, new paint all around, etc) our landlord wanted to use our deposit to make those updates to the house and get his property management company (City Closers) to make it look like all the "damage" was done by us There were many items that we documented about the house, both before we moved in, as well as throughout our stay at the house, that have never been included in any of this Things like damaged blinds (which we notified our landlord, and he told us not to worry about it...that they were all custom made and he didn't want to replace them), stickers in the bathtub (which were there when we moved in, as well as stickers in children's bedrooms), and many other things we had to fix on our own because the landlord didn't know how to fix or refused to fix Our landlord didn't replace the toilet seats or take down/clean any shades or blinds or curtains from his own use before we moved in...everything he left for us was the original fixture when we moved in There were never any screens on some of the upstairs windows (which the landlord refused to install) and there was never any talk of removing the satellite dish from the house once we moved out (there is no record of him telling us anything about the dish, as I combed through all emails I have saved from our landlord) so City Closers is making this all up...or, if there was communication between the landlord and City Closers, it was never relayed to us Also, the house was filthy when we moved in, and like I mentioned before, we documented things like dirty carpets, dust on all blinds, issues with various rooms in the house However, Kelsey never sent us a copy of the paperwork we submitted with our handwriting and the things we documented Instead, she sent us HER paperwork with HER handwriting, and for all we know, she added to this list after the fact, because we had signed off on the agreement that there were issues that needed to be known, as well as the issues we also saw
We were the first people to rent from our landlord, as he was doing all of this for the first time, so it's clear he doesn't understand that when a tenant rents a property, there is going to be wear and tear To expect a property to be updated to exactly how it looked when someone first moves in is unrealistic We did a wonderful job of cleaning, touching up the paint, cleaning carpets (again, wear was seen, as expected) etc and we took photos of every room in the house, and everything City Closers is saying with regards to the condition of the house upon vacating is untrue I can prove what the house looked like once we left, and that it was in great shape
So, all this to say, I reject everything City Closers mentioned in their response, and will still be taking legal action to ensure we get most of our deposit back based on other issues not yet mentioned and photos we have of the house after we moved out that prove our case
***
Sincerely,*** ***

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
We have filed a small claims case against our landlord and City Closers, and will let a mediator determine the outcome.
Sincerely,[redacted]

On December 8, 2015 City Closers, LLC was hired to take over Property Management services of the Landlord’s rental property in accordance to the pre-existing lease agreement between the Landlord and Tenants. An initial walk-though and introduction to the Tenants of this new relationship was...

conducted with the Landlord and City Closers, LLC that week. During this walk-through the Landlord pointed out several items needing to be addressed and requested that City Closers, LLC, as the new property management company, take over to ensure those were handled. City Closers, LLC performed research, requested bids and scheduled contractor appointments to check out the property to determine the extent, from a professional’s point of view, of the neglect & damages. Action items provided to City Closers, LLC include but were not limited to the following:
1.       Gutters need to be cleaned
2.       Dead bush in front/side needs to be removed
3.       Berry vines on side fence need to be trimmed
4.       Moss on roof needs to be removed
5.       Flooring refinish
6.       Two boards on back fence need to be replaced
City Closers, LLC requested bids from several companies to address the main action items - roof/gutters buildup/neglect & flooring neglect/damages (as well as provide the Tenants a basis for repair to plan accordingly) and included those with a Tenant Notice of Repair which was mailed and dated February 12, 2016.  Discussions between the Landlord and City Closers, LLC took place and in accordance with the Lease Agreement, the Tenants were determined responsible to keep and maintain the House and appurtenances in good and sanitary condition and repair. A three month period was given for the Tenants to make these necessary repairs. The Tenants refused to perform the required repairs despite the clear verbiage as outlined in their lease agreement between the Landlord -- section 17a: “Tenant will, at Tenant’s sole expense, keep and maintain the House and appurtenances in good and sanitary condition and repair during the term of this Lease. In particular, Tenant shall keep the fixtures in the House in good order and repair; keep the furnace clean; and keep the walls free from dirt and debris. Tenant shall, at Tenant’s sole expense, make all required repairs to the plumbing, range, over heating apparatus, electric and gas fixtures, other mechanical devices and systems, floors, ceilings and walls whenever damage to such items shall resulted from Tenant’s misuse, waste, or neglect, of that of the Tenant’s family, agent, or visitor.”
City Closers, LLC discussed with the Landlord about the refusal and recommended that the roof and gutters be addressed by the Landlord to prevent any possible issues of the Tenants falling off and getting hurt. As far as the Hardwood floors, two licensed flooring professionals were hired to scope out the extent and cause of the flooring damages and advise our firm of their recommendations to restore to the original condition. Both contractors advised that the floors were severely worn out and needed attention soon to prevent further unrepairable damages. The wear and tear was fairly normal due to no maintenance or upkeep. These findings were relayed to the Landlord.
The Tenants reached out to City Closers, LLC and notified that they were interested in breaking their lease early to purchase their own home. The information was relayed to the Landlord who notified City Closers, LLC of his conditional approval to allow this given they find a new Tenant to move-in and address the damages: “If we are able to lease the property before the expiration date - tenants should not have the obligation to pay rent otherwise they will be on the hook for full rent and forfeit deposit.
Move Out Inspection - I will appreciate your diligence to ensure the tenants get the hardwood floor repaired as well otherwise please schedule completion and we will deduct from deposit. At move out inspection, please get the carpets cleaned (tenant responsibility) and any other repairs done including any repairs needed to the outside due to the Dish TV installation. [redacted] had taken responsibility to not damage the siding back in 2012.”  City Closers, LLC notified the tenants of the Landlords approval and inquired on the status of the repairs to ensure those were handled prior to move-out. Through communications with the Landlord and market analysis of rents in the area, a current market price of $2150 was determined and relayed to the Tenants who agreed to search for a new prospect in hopes to terminate their lease early with minimal ramifications. The Tenants responded with a very aggressive email as they had already listed the home for rent and refused to change the price as it was listed incorrectly claiming that this task is better suited for City Closers, LLC to take care of so they aren’t the middle man despite the agreement made allowing them to find a new Tenant in order to break their lease. They also refused to perform any repairs or maintenance: “All this to say, we will not be paying for any maintenance on the floors or roof, as maintenance is the responsibility of the landlord.”
City Closers, LLC notified the Landlord of the refusal and recommended that the Landlord address the flooring and roof maintenance. The Landlord relayed that he would prefer that the Tenants carry out the full term of their lease and he would make the repairs the Tenants refused to do upon their move-out. City Closers, LLC sent a Repair Waiver & Sublet notice to the tenants on March 9, 2016 advised them that the owner will assume the costs for the damages and waive those repairs originally required of the Tenants in addition to rescinding his approval for a sublease. [redacted] immediately called our office and spoke to the Designated Broker in which everything was explained in detail of the reason for the latest notice. [redacted] then sent another aggressive email in follow-up to the phone conversation which included insults of our company and an empty threat to consult an attorney: “If you say (name deleted) "doesn't have the time" to deal with the business of his own rental property, or is constantly changing his mind about things like the floors and roof, the new rental payments for the new tenants, the agreement to find someone to sign a new lease, then why does he have a rental property in the first place?  As a professional property management company, we would expect you to either help (name deleted) with his decisions or at least explain to (name deleted) that he can not say something one day, then change his mind a few days later.  It reflects poorly on your business and shows very little integrity.” After discussions with the Landlord and a new conditional agreement to find a new Tenant to avoid dealing with this disappointing and unnecessary behavior, City Closers, LLC notified the Tenants of the approval to find a new prospect to assume/start a new lease to minimize the consequences of terminating their lease.
After successfully finding a qualified and approved applicant to take over the property, the current Tenants were notified and a move-out inspection was set for April 24, 2016 -- one week before the new Tenants would move in. It was assumed that the home would be in good order and that all repairs and cleaning (if any) could be done in less than a week which would allow the new Tenants to move-in earlier (aimed for Friday, April 29th) and the now previous Tenants would get a few days of pro-rated rent back. However, upon arrival to the move-out inspection at 6:00PM, which was more of a pre-move-out inspection as the Tenants were not even ready, the extent of the damages and amount of cleaning and repairs necessary to return the home to the original condition were expansive and overwhelming. The carpets were soaked as [redacted] was still shampooing them upon arrival, several items were still left scattered throughout the property and it was apparent that the home was not finished being cleaned. Regardless, City Closers, LLC performed the inspection carefully documenting and notating all inconsistencies from the original move-in inspection which stated the property was practically in like-new condition with very minimal existing damages. All items of initial concern were pointed out to the Tenants in hopes that they would complete these remaining items that night as they clearly would need several more hours to finish up.
City Closers, LLC revisited the home on April 26, 2016 to inspect the updated condition of the home. Unfortunately, very minimal repairs and cleaning were done from the last inspection despite the time spent notifying the Tenants of items that needed to be addressed. Updated pictures and thorough documentation was made in order to compare the differences from the original move-in inspection, the “pre-move-out inspection” and the latest inspection. Action items to return the home to the original condition (as well as rentable condition) include but were not limited to:
·         Carpets were heavily stained in every single room, the non-professional carpet cleaning [redacted] performed did very little to remove these. A professional was hired to scope out the damages and through discussion it was determined that a professional cleaning would salvage the carpets rather than having them all replaced. Each room had dark staining along the edging in addition to random colored stains throughout the living rooms and bedrooms.
·         Walls were visibly filthy from a distance. The few touch-up paint repairs did very little to address the high traffic areas which should have been wiped down and then repainted due to the extent of dirt buildup.
·         Air Filters were not cleaned in what appeared like months.
·         Satellite Dish was left attached to the home despite being told previously by the Landlord that they would need to remove from the siding and make any necessary repairs.
·         Wood Window Sill in Laundryroom was damaged from what appeared to be long-term soaking of laundry detergent.
·         The Toilet seats in each bathroom were coated in crusted urine that over time stained and damaged the seats.
·         Vertical Blind slats were missing and or damaged (Tenants taped them at the top to fabricate a hole)
·         Refrigerator Light Cover Damaged (Tenants placed an incorrect sized light bulb which cracked and burned through the cover and melted it)
·         Sliding Screen Door screen was torn off completely (Clear masking tape was placed over in what appeared like an attempt to disguise this damage from a distance)
A 25 page detailed description of the home’s condition which included photos was provided to the Tenants that outlined all of the damages and items that were not addressed. The move-out summary was accompanied by the original move-in inspection, the bids/receipts from contractors as well as a security deposit notice which clearly outlined the items the Tenants were charged for per Washington State Law: RCW 59.18.280. City Closers, LLC did not charge for the labor or mileage for the time spent purchasing and installing replacement items or cleaning of vents. Tenants were also not charged for waste disposal of the Satellite Dish and leftover items, the missing shower curtain included at move-in or the refrigerator damage. All repairs to bring the home to rentable condition were completed by April 30, 2016 and additional items (window sill damage & house siding damage from satellite dish) have been tentatively scheduled as City Closers, LLC has made reasonable efforts to keep the costs of damage repairs as low as possible and has enlisted several contractors to provide bids.
All items charged to the Tenants were for damages; professionals were enlisted to clarify normal wear & tear versus neglect/damage. The carpets and walls were the main items needing to be tended to since less than a week was given to find contractors to provide a bid and complete work prior to the new tenants moving in. The original move-in inspection on file was resent to the Tenants on March 24th, 2016 to outline the expectations for the move-out. This inspection was signed by [redacted] and City Closers, LLC.
The Tenants have claimed that there are items that they were charged for that were pre-existing yet there has been no documentation provided to that effect. City Closers, LLC has remained professional despite these allegations and attacks on our firm’s integrity and business operations. [redacted] has made threats on several occasions and our firm has made every reasonable effort to maintain a healthy working relationship with our client, the Landlord, as well as the Tenants. We have been more than accommodating to facilitate this move-out process. The hardwood floors, roof and gutter cleaning were all costs assumed by our client in hopes to mediate the tension. The Tenants have no grounds or basis for this complaint.
In the latest notice provided to the Tenants, it was advised if they had any questions or concerns to contact us directly. Instead we received the following: “[redacted] and I received your documents through the mail today, and needless to say, we are appalled by what we read.  The inspection agreement that [redacted] and I wrote and signed when we first moved in was not included in the documents you sent to us, as well as many other things that are not our responsibility.  To inform us that we actually owe money after inspection is ridiculous and taking our down payment without notifying us to make improvements is very corrupt and illegal.  
     Needless to say, we will be taking legal action against City Closers and (name deleted) if we are not refunded the majority of our deposit in the coming weeks.
     Please respond with how you will be sending us our deposit by Friday at noon or we will schedule a small claims court date for all of us, including (name deleted).  In the meantime, we will be reporting City Closers to the Revdex.com, our contacts at KOMO4 News, as well as other business related websites for your corrupt way of performing business.”
It is disappointing that the Tenants have decided to retaliate in this manner but frankly, everything was done in according to Property Management Law and in accordance to their lease agreement. There were significant damages to the property and a detailed report was provided to them outlining all of the damages and charges. This report was sent within the required fourteen days per Washington State Law. We understand that the move-out process is stressful but the guidelines for the home condition were provided up front and reiterated on multiple occasions but by no means does it give the Tenants authority to deface our firm’s reputation since they clearly disagree yet have furnished no proof.
Please contact us should you need additional documentation and/or records - thank you.