Fletcher Granite Company, Inc.

I would like to respond to the complaints and allegations against *** *** Property Management and its employees by the former tenantThe Former Tenant says she turned in a MoInventory and Condition Form when she moved in back in March of 2013, however our office never received it from the
Former TenantWe request all Inventory and Condition Forms be turned in to our office within days of move inOur standard process is to make a copy of the Form and give it to the tenant and we put the original in the tenant's fileFormer Tenant is accusing us of "misplacing' it when the truth is she did not turn one in or she would have had a copy of itShe did not have a copy to show us and we did not have one in the fileThe tenant was not told by *** Praesel or any of our staff the Form “must have been misplaced”It is the tenant’s responsibility to fill out the Inventory and Condition Form and return it to our officeThe burden of proof is on the tenant not the landlordThe Former Tenant signed a Residential Lease Agreement that states “if Tenant fails to timely deliver the Inventory and Condition Form, the Property will be deemed to be free of damage”The tenant also signed and agreed to the Special Provisions of the Texas Association of Realtors Lease Agreement which states: “Tenant agrees upon move out to have interior and exterior cleaned, including all appliances, fixtures, walls, floors, etcand the yard maintained.” The Former Tenant did not clean the home when she moved out and our office has over pictures taken when she moved out that show how dirty the home was and the condition of the homeIt looked like the tenant neglected to clean on a regular basisThere was a broken window in the front bedroom, excessive nail holes in all walls, broken and missing blinds, missing smoke detector batteries, missing toilet paper holder rod, storm door closer was broken, and a flooring piece was damagedAlthough the Former Tenant would like to place the blame on *** *** Property Management for the condition of the Property after she moved out, the tenant is clearly to blame for the condition she left the home in when she moved out, and she is responsible for the costs associated to repair, clean, and maintain the homeThe tenant also falsely states that she had a $Security Deposit when in fact she paid a $Security Deposit as shown on the Residential Lease AgreementThe Texas Association of Realtors Residential Lease Agreement states: “Landlord may deduct reasonable charges from the security deposit for: damages to the Property, excluding wear and tear, and all reasonable costs associated to repair the Property, costs for which Tenant is responsible to clean, deodorize, exterminate, and maintain the Property and If deductions exceed the security deposit, Tenant will pay to landlord the excess within days after landlord makes written demandThis is the basis for our office standard operating principles concerning security deposits and this is the process we followedThe Security Deposit was $The following damages to the Property, beyond wear and tear were repaired and the tenant was charged: broken window-replace single strength glass $112.89, cover fill many nail holes/paint interior $625.00(We only charged the former tenant a portion of the cost to paint as we took into consideration the length of time she lived in the home), replace broken blinds/vertical blinds, smoke detector batteries, toilet paper holder rod, storm door catch, flooring strip came to a total of $The charge for cleaning the home was $The total deductions were $1,After deducting the charges from the Security Deposit there was a balance owed of $which the Former Tenant has paid to our officeAdditionally, the Former Tenant states “almost two months after I moved out I received a bill”This is not trueShe moved out on September 30, We completed an Itemization of Security Deposit and mailed it to the Former Tenant within the days allowed by us to do soAgain this is standard operating procedures for our officeWe have a copy of the Itemization dated October 29, The TAR Lease Agreement states: “The Property Code does not obligate a landlord to return or account for the security deposit until the tenant surrenders the Property … after which the landlords has days in which to account” The former tenant’s accusation that it took two months for her to receive it is a accusationI feel the accounting for the Security Deposit and the Deductions and Balance owed and paid was fair and will standI would be glad to download all of the pictures of the Property after Former Tenant moved out onto a disk and send to youWe will not refund any amount to the Former Tenant *** ***

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:The fees charged to us lack foundation, substance or evidenceOur initial inspection upon monoted the poor condition that the garage door was in alreadyThe loose bracket that holds the garage door panel together continued to deteriorate over the year that we lived in the houseThis is a maintenance item and not a repair itemWe should not be charged to maintain this old house The photo provided (which I had not seen until now) shows the door coming apart at the mentioned brackets from useThere is absolutely NO EVIDENCE that the door was dented as the property management company claims.The $charge for cleaning the house is absurdWe cleaned the house thoroughly before moving outIf the cleaning company charged $to clean the house AGAIN, that fee should not be passed on to us. The "owner" charged $to trim the bushesUpon moving out I mowed the yard and trimmed the bushes, yet I am being charged $25.00? It is clear that this is an effort to bilk as much money out of tenants as possible.I will address the water line once again for the benefit of the management companyThe leaking water line was installed in the house when we moved inTo have running water in our kitchen, the water line MUST be connected (without leaks) to our refrigeratorWe did not request the water line simply to have an ice makerWe requested the water line be repaired to so we could turn the water on in our kitchenThis is the 3rd time I have had to explain this. It is clear that the property management company had no idea what condition the house was in upon our move out and are simply passing on these unsubstantiated fees that they have been charged on to us
Regards,
*** ***

The following deductions were made from Mr. and Mrs. [redacted] Security Deposit of $800.00$449.30 was deducted for replacing the bottom two sections of the garage door that were damaged. Please see the attached picture of the damage. When the tenant moved in the garage door did not have this damage,...

and the tenant listed the condition of the garage door as "holes, cracks, windows are broken/brackets loose" on the Inventory and Condition Form. The damage was not present at move in or the tenant would have noted it as such.We deducted $190.00 for cleaning the house. The tenants made an effort to clean but the house was not clean upon inspection. The pantry shelves, and drawers and cabinets in the kitchen and in both bathrooms had to be cleaned as well as baseboards, blinds, and window sills. This was the cost the cleaning company charged us.We also deducted $30.00 for replacing light bulbs in the master bedroom, hall, master bath, dining room and bedroom that were burned out but not replaced by the tenants. This is what our make ready contractor billed us.There was also a deduction for $25.00 tor trim the hedges. The owner did this and this is what they charged us. We are sorry the tenants feel they have been cheated out of their deposit. These items had to be addressed and we feel we made a fair itemization of the security deposit.Regarding the water line, it was the line to the ice maker on the tenant's own refrigerator. The house did not come with a refrigerator. The owner did not therfore provide a line to an icemaker. We complied with the tenant's request to put one in at their expense.