Gymastic Academy of Boston

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 8, 2017/06/19) */ Ms [redacted] 's story is not quite accurate, nor is she apparently aware of customary leasing practices for single-family housesWhen applicants indicate to us they definitely want to rent our property and are absolutely sure they will be approved as a tenant, we require a non-refundable [redacted] holding depositThe future tenant must sign our holding deposit agreement on the back of our application which clearly states this and that the holding deposit is non-refundable if the applicant backs out and chooses not to lease the property after allThis is standard practice in our industry, since this means the property owner or manager immediately stops marketing the property and begins turning down other applicants who request to applyWe do this because, unfortunately, we have suffered financial loss and additional personnel time spent when applicants have abused the process in the pastThey tell us they are definitely committed to leasing the property and ask us to hold it for them and not allow any other applicant to apply, and then back out, and then, in effect, we have lost the chance to lease the property to other qualified applicants who we agreed to turn away, since it was now "already rented." The following is the holding deposit agreement on our rental application, verbatim: "HOLDING DEPOSIT GUARANTEE IF APPLICANT DESIRES TO HOLD PROPERTY OFF THE MARKET FOR MORE THAN DAYS, HOLDING DEPOSIT OF ONE-HALF OF ONE MONTH'S RENT IS REQUIRED It is understood that this security deposit of $________ to hold the rental unit for which the applicant(s) is applying, will be returned, in full, less application fees, if the applicant is NOT approved or accepted as a tenantIf the applicant is approved and accepted as a tenant and moves in within two weeks from this date, this deposit amount, less any application fees, will be credited toward the required security deposit for this rental propertyIf the applicant is approved and accepted as a resident and FAILS TO MOVE IN WITHIN TWO WEEKS, it is understood that this deposit WILL NOT be returned unless tenant(s) signs lease and begins paying full monthly rentThe rental unit will only be held for up to two weeks from date this deposit is paid." In this case, we started advertising and marketing this property as soon as our current tenant gave her days' noticeOur listings included detailed descriptions and an abundance of good quality exterior and interior photos of every room; this was especially important, since we couldn't show the property immediatelyWe then began taking calls and answering emails and text messages about the property almost immediately after the listings posted, as this area of Springfield is underserved by decent rental houses Almost all the prospects who contacted us were serious about the property and were pre-screened successfully to our standards, so appeared to be solid, qualified candidatesI told each one that it would be available to move in June 1, but in consideration of the present tenant's wishes, I would not show it until she was finished vacating the premises, around the middle of the monthEach one agreed to wait and asked to be called immediately when it was available for showingSeveral went ahead and sent their applications in to us, though none requested holding, nor included their earnest holding deposits By the time Ms [redacted] called us, I had a good solid candidates who were waiting for me to give them a call back as soon as the property would be available for them to viewMichelle then drove by the property and called to tell us she DEFINITELY WANTED THE PROPERTY, SIGHT UNSEEN, and she and her husband both loved the house based on the pictures and would fill out our applicationWe received their applications back with her personal check for $as [redacted] holding deposit; she had filled in the blank in our holding deposit agreement with that amount, and signed it When I called her to confirm her intentions, she said she sent the check to show she was "dead serious" and that they would move in on June I again explained that this was non-refundable, unless her application was denied and she understood and insisted this was fine, since they wanted the houseI then called the other applicants and told them the house had been rented sight unseen; their application fees were returned and their applications set aside to shred We began the process of screening [redacted] and her husband's applications , verifying their identities, calling references, verifying income and employers, job histories, criminal and eviction records, etcWe were completing the approval of the [redacted] s' application the day Michelle called and told us she had found another house much cheaper and implied we were over charging for our house (hers was in rural [redacted] , a totally different market) and that she now wanted her [redacted] money back I reminded [redacted] that she knew this was non-refundable, but she became very aggressive and demanding on the phoneI explained our positionWe would have to start from scratch all over to locate another tenant our marketing and advertising process, taking calls and phone screening, appointment-setting and showing, application taking and approval processSometimes we get or calls on one property(Answering questions, giving descriptions, getting information regarding the viability of each candidates takes time on the phone, sometimes up to minutes each call.) I told her that BY LAW WE ARE NOT REQUIRED TO RETURN ANY OF THIS HOLDING DEPOSIT TO HER, but OFFERED anyway, that if I could reach any previous applicant who I could approve and move in by June 1, I would refund as much as I could to herI didn't need to do this, but honestly, to make her happy, I decided to tryI still had the text numbers from some of the previous applicants, so I would start on that right awayThis did not satisfy Michelle and she continued her aggressive behavior on the phone She called again with the same hostile attitude but with two ideas to back up her demand that technically, she had not been "approved" (though I had told her the day she called that she would get the house) and also that she noticed we had not de-listed our Zillow ad which she said PROVED that she was not approvedI told her we routinely let the listings just expire by themselves after days, which was approachingAfter restating our company position, I resolved not to speak with her again, though she did call again and again, leaving angry messages Since I was certain she was educated enough to understand the agreement she had signed, but just wanted to bully me to get her money back, I did not feel it was necessary to return the call and subject myself to further stressful encounters The irony of this futile effort is that, in fact, I did send a text message to [redacted] on 6/5/17, informing her we were able to approve an acceptable tenant who moved in on June 2; and, as promised, we would be sending her deposit back, less one day's rentI asked her to please confirm her mailing addressAs of today, I have not received her reply from this text messageHowever, in checking my mobile phone today, I cannot confirm that she received the message; it was sent to the number she was calling from, which was assumed to be her cell phoneIf you will, please advise [redacted] to provide you with her new mailing address I am one of the few landlords that would give back a holding deposit and I believe I am one of the most honest and compassionate, and I believe our tenants would agreeThis is yet another unseen and unappreciated cost to small business people covering our time in preparing our defense to frivolous complaints like this oneThank you for alerting us

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2017/06/19) */
Ms. [redacted]'s story is not quite accurate, nor is she apparently aware of customary leasing practices for single-family houses. When applicants indicate to us they definitely want to rent our property and are absolutely sure they will be...

approved as a tenant, we require a non-refundable [redacted] holding deposit. The future tenant must sign our holding deposit agreement on the back of our application which clearly states this and that the holding deposit is non-refundable if the applicant backs out and chooses not to lease the property after all. This is standard practice in our industry, since this means the property owner or manager immediately stops marketing the property and begins turning down other applicants who request to apply. We do this because, unfortunately, we have suffered financial loss and additional personnel time spent when applicants have abused the process in the past. They tell us they are definitely committed to leasing the property and ask us to hold it for them and not allow any other applicant to apply, and then back out, and then, in effect, we have lost the chance to lease the property to other qualified applicants who we agreed to turn away, since it was now "already rented."
The following is the holding deposit agreement on our rental application, verbatim:
"HOLDING DEPOSIT GUARANTEE
IF APPLICANT DESIRES TO HOLD PROPERTY OFF THE MARKET FOR MORE THAN 3 DAYS, HOLDING DEPOSIT OF ONE-HALF OF ONE MONTH'S RENT IS REQUIRED
It is understood that this security deposit of $________ to hold the rental unit for which the applicant(s) is applying, will be returned, in full, less application fees, if the applicant is NOT approved or accepted as a tenant. If the applicant is approved and accepted as a tenant and moves in within two weeks from this date, this deposit amount, less any application fees, will be credited toward the required security deposit for this rental property. If the applicant is approved and accepted as a resident and FAILS TO MOVE IN WITHIN TWO WEEKS, it is understood that this deposit WILL NOT be returned unless tenant(s) signs lease and begins paying full monthly rent. The rental unit will only be held for up to two weeks from date this deposit is paid."
In this case, we started advertising and marketing this property as soon as our current tenant gave her 30 days' notice. Our listings included detailed descriptions and an abundance of good quality exterior and interior photos of every room; this was especially important, since we couldn't show the property immediately. We then began taking calls and answering emails and text messages about the property almost immediately after the listings posted, as this area of Springfield is underserved by decent rental houses.
Almost all the prospects who contacted us were serious about the property and were pre-screened successfully to our standards, so appeared to be solid, qualified candidates. I told each one that it would be available to move in June 1, but in consideration of the present tenant's wishes, I would not show it until she was finished vacating the premises, around the middle of the month. Each one agreed to wait and asked to be called immediately when it was available for showing. Several went ahead and sent their applications in to us, though none requested holding, nor included their earnest holding deposits.
By the time Ms. [redacted] called us, I had a good 6 solid candidates who were waiting for me to give them a call back as soon as the property would be available for them to view. Michelle then drove by the property and called to tell us she DEFINITELY WANTED THE PROPERTY, SIGHT UNSEEN, and she and her husband both loved the house based on the pictures and would fill out our application. We received their applications back with her personal check for $700.00 as [redacted] holding deposit; she had filled in the blank in our holding deposit agreement with that amount, and signed it.
When I called her to confirm her intentions, she said she sent the check to show she was "dead serious" and that they would move in on June 1. I again explained that this was non-refundable, unless her application was denied and she understood and insisted this was fine, since they wanted the house. I then called the other applicants and told them the house had been rented sight unseen; their application fees were returned and their applications set aside to shred.
We began the process of screening [redacted] and her husband's applications , verifying their identities, calling references, verifying income and employers, job histories, criminal and eviction records, etc. We were completing the approval of the [redacted]s' application the day Michelle called and told us she had found another house much cheaper and implied we were over charging for our house (hers was in rural [redacted], a totally different market) and that she now wanted her [redacted] money back.
I reminded [redacted] that she knew this was non-refundable, but she became very aggressive and demanding on the phone. I explained our position. We would have to start from scratch all over to locate another tenant our marketing and advertising process, taking calls and phone screening, appointment-setting and showing, application taking and approval process. Sometimes we get 40 or 50 calls on one property. (Answering questions, giving descriptions, getting information regarding the viability of each candidates takes time on the phone, sometimes up to 20 minutes each call.) I told her that BY LAW WE ARE NOT REQUIRED TO RETURN ANY OF THIS HOLDING DEPOSIT TO HER, but OFFERED anyway, that if I could reach any previous applicant who I could approve and move in by June 1, I would refund as much as I could to her. I didn't need to do this, but honestly, to make her happy, I decided to try. I still had the text numbers from some of the previous applicants, so I would start on that right away. This did not satisfy Michelle and she continued her aggressive behavior on the phone.
She called again with the same hostile attitude but with two ideas to back up her demand that technically, she had not been "approved" (though I had told her the day she called that she would get the house) and also that she noticed we had not de-listed our Zillow ad which she said PROVED that she was not approved. I told her we routinely let the listings just expire by themselves after 30 days, which was approaching. After restating our company position, I resolved not to speak with her again, though she did call again and again, leaving angry messages.
Since I was certain she was educated enough to understand the agreement she had signed, but just wanted to bully me to get her money back, I did not feel it was necessary to return the call and subject myself to further stressful encounters.
The irony of this futile effort is that, in fact, I did send a text message to [redacted] on 6/5/17, informing her we were able to approve an acceptable tenant who moved in on June 2; and, as promised, we would be sending her deposit back, less one day's rent. I asked her to please confirm her mailing address. As of today, I have not received her reply from this text message. However, in checking my mobile phone today, I cannot confirm that she received the message; it was sent to the number she was calling from, which was assumed to be her cell phone. If you will, please advise [redacted] to provide you with her new mailing address.
I am one of the few landlords that would give back a holding deposit and I believe I am one of the most honest and compassionate, and I believe our tenants would agree. This is yet another unseen and unappreciated cost to small business people covering our time in preparing our defense to frivolous complaints like this one. Thank you for alerting us.