Home Rental Services Inc.

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Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:First off, the conversation with myself and David C*** when I was applying for a rental, was only between usI never called my dogs just "mixed breed"I specifically told him they were Pit Bull mixes since I know there were restrictionsHe specifically told me there was no concern with the dogs being at this addressWe came from the east coast so we weren't familiar with the town/county regulationsHe told me he was putting Lab Mixes on the lease which was for the owner's insuranceI was fine with that since I know some insurance companies have different restrictionsNOTHING was said about them being illegal in Kansas City! I would have NEVER agreed to live in that home if that was the caseWe had other rentals that we were considering so I'm not sure why this one was pushed on us.In regards to the move out, I never said I didn't receive itI clearly stated that I never received a response from the multiple contacts to the Home Rental office about itThe move out report said everything was satisfactory yet I'm getting charged cleaning feesThe one thing that was marked off in the kitchen, which was the burn mark on the counter, was included on my Move In Inspection that it was there prior to us moving inWhy would I be responsible for something existing and why would it be noted if you compare the reports? There's a lot of contradiction with the reports and what's told to meThroughout the whole lease, the staff has been less than helpfulI love how it's omitted constantly how we asked for things from the office, like the garage transmitter and that was ignored after multiple attemptsWe never received one after months of askingAlso, not having the mailbox keys was unacceptableYet, they're going to charge us for things that were broken or missed during the move in inspection prior to us getting there like the light bulbs and other things out of orderThe office has constantly made excuses for their behavior and lack of interest in the renters best interestThe recent reviews from myself and other renters over the last couple months speaks volumesI know it's not an isolated issue with how myself and significant other have been treated, but rather an overall lack of respect or concern with any of their customersThey take as much money as they can, without reason, and write it off as it's acceptable and accounted for.In regards to the appliances not working, that's unacceptable that there was no sense of urgency or willingness to help after multiple appliances and features were not in acceptable working conditionI know the owner was frustrated as well but that wasn't until months after we were dealing with the Home Warranty company alone that Home Rental even got her involved! After the first couple times where things weren't being repaired, and with us inconveniencing our work schedule to be available for these appointments, the owners should have been brought in to get involved or the office should have assistedIt wasn't until months later that the owner was helping contact them as well to push to get the issues resolved
Regards,
Jessica M***

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Assumed Answered]
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:As stated before, there's an excuse for everything and the people who were responsible in conversations with myself and Eric just ignore or won't comment on what's being reported by myselfKeep your assumptions to yourself since you weren't part of ALL the conversations taking placeThere are a lot of conversations that took place not via e-mailRegardless, the company won't take any responsibility for anything and still ignores the lack of commitment and follow through on their teamStill nothing is mentioned about the requests we had for their group that were never resolved - such as the garage transmitters that was requested multiple times over multiple monthsMy dogs are mixed breed but I also said they were pit bull mixesRegardless if I call them pit mixes or mixed breed doesn't alter the fact that it was stated and I expressed uttermost importance in my conversations with David that I needed a safe home for themAgain, there were more conversations over the phone than e-mail so stop assuming that everything was discussed via e-mailHe still knowingly put me in a place that RESTRICTS all pit/pit mixesWhy else did he put lab mix on the lease? Obviously he was aware of the situation and masked itBut it's okay - keep making excuses to cover your staff and their lack of responsibilityBy looking at reviews of Home Rental on FB and other websites, including Google, MANY people have made similar complaints about the company and their experience so I know it's not just an isolated incidentYou've been masking issues and making excuses for multiple families for a long while nowI'm a hard working, responsible individual with excellent credit and a wonderful relationship with all businesses that I work withI have NEVER been treated so horribly and have dealt with a company that doesn't take responsibility for anythingAgain, you ignore a lot of the points I brought up in my previous post - including the "damage" or "dirtiness"In the move out inspection, there's "carpet stains" but NOBODY can tell me where or what they areI still haven't received pictures or explanation of what's thereWe were there for the carpet cleaning and there weren't any stains - as noted on the carpet cleaning report that we paid for! I'm not repeating myself again since obviously I'm being ignored but all my concerns have been reported to you multiple timesYou're not doing anything to rectify the situation and aren't apologetic for your lack of responsibility for everything we went for so I won't accept your response
Regards,
Jessica M***

In November of the ***s signed a two year lease on a property that Home Rental Services manages. In that lease it clearly states that rent is due on the 1st of the month and late if not actually received on the 1st. It also clearly states the late fee that must be paid when
the rent is late. The renters can pay rent in multiple ways but the easiest way to pay is to pay online. When a renter pays online there is NO additional cost to the renter when using a checking account and the renter has total control of when the rent gets paid. The other great thing about paying online is that you can pay rent at say 11:P.Mon the 1st of the month and the renter’s ledger will show that the rent was paid on time on the 1st of the month (even though in that example we all know the actual money did not transfer at that moment). The renter can set this up to recur on the 1st of every month OR they can log into their online account and pay it each month on or before the 1st. Again, there is no cost to pay rent in this manner when using a checking account. Mr*** has paid his rent late times over the past several months. Each time rent was paid late he was notified in writing. Also, when a late fee does not get paid with the next rent payment then the next dollars into the account go to pay the oldest late fee which then leaves a balance of RENT owed. When multiple late fees continue to remain unpaid the property manager must issue a day notice to quit for non-payment. At late fees the past due amount owed by the ***s was over $1,100. Mr*** thinks it is unfair that that as long as he pays his rent within a day or so after it was due that we won’t forgive the late fees. The owner hires HRS to manage the house which includes enforcing the terms of the lease. Had the ***s wanted a different due date on the rent or more lenient terms for the late fee to apply that should have been asked for/negotiated at the time the lease was written years ago. Lease terms can only be changed in writing with agreement by all parties. The ***s never asked HRS to change the lease terms. HRS uses several hundred different vendors for getting work done at the properties that we manage. We do not have control over scheduling these independent companies but typically they prioritize the work from HRS because of the volume of work that we give them. I have gone back through all the maintenance requests from the ***s and response times from the vendors. Here is what I found: 12/29/8:a.melectrical problem reported with some kitchen outlets Work was dispatched to the vendor moments later Work was completed by Wirkin Electric on 12/305/18/9:a.mgarage door spring broke Radio Controlled Garage had replaced the spring on 5/226/26/9:a.mAC not working *** Heating and Cooling did not get the work done until 7/16 I cannot, at this time confirm what the delay was. I will say that that long of a delay is highly unusual and most likely is attributable to an issue that I am currently unaware of. However, when *** arrived at the property they found that part of the issue was that the HVAC had been running without ANY filter in it at all. Running HVAC without filters can actually destroy the HVAC system itself. 8/24/HVAC problem again *** was notified and work was completed the same day (8/24/2015)10/8/HVAC renters reported a very loud noise but unit was still functioning properly *** came out on 10/and could not get unit to make the noise. Filter and pad were changed by *** while they were there.5/11/2:p.mGarage door seems to be straining to open. It is still functioning but looks like might have a problem soon. Dispatched to Radio Controlled Garage at 2:33 Work completed 5/by replacing a roller5/18/9:leak under kitchen sink Dispatched to Snake n Rooter at 10:58 Technician arrived at property at 2:same day 5/authorization to replace disposal received from owner. Disposal replaced on 5/at 2:p.m.So….other than the one delay on the AC back two years ago I see no delay in response times for any of the maintenance calls for this renter. Regarding *** *** having been to court several times. Having been in business 26+ years owning a company that has written over 10,(ten thousand) leases in those years....yes I have been to court several times. 99.5% of the time those cases were to defend my owner clients when renters dispute the charges applied to their security deposits. Even though we do extensive move in and move out inspections with photographs renters sometimes want to argue that the charges are not correct and that is their right. It would be outstanding if we never had to apply any charges to a deposit. Renters would be happy because they got all of their deposit moneys back. Owners would be thrilled because that means that there was no damage (beyond wear and tear) to their house. That would be a perfect worldSo basically it comes down to this…..the ***s have paid their rent late times (according to the terms of the lease they signed two years ago). They have not paid the late fees associated with those late payments and are angry that HRS will not waive the late fees

Mr. [redacted],   I would like to correct a few things we disagree on. You did lease the home for 2.5 years, but there were two late payments over that time.   The cleaning was not just for pet odor, but also just a normal cleaning (oven was dirty, hood was dirty, debris on lower level...

entry floor, showers dirty, etc). The inspection, which is done by a third party, marked the house and carpets as dirty. As of this moment, no carpet cleaning receipt has been provided to HRS as required in the lease and the carpets did not appear to have been cleaned.   The move in inspection was provided to you when you picked up your keys. You signed a form, which we are happy to provide, showing that you received the inspection. You were given 2 days to review the inspection and note anything you felt was incorrectly documented and return it to us with changes. You did not return any changes so the inspection stands as originally noted.   Regarding the volunteer tree, linoleum tears, damaged wood trim and doors, and carpet stains: We have photographic documentation of the before and after condition to support these charges. We are happy to provide them to you via methods mentioned below.   We have no records of you ever reporting mold of any kind, or electrical issues. A couple of water issues did occur during your residency and they were handled by appropriate reputable vendors. Proper drying and treatments were all used to remedy these situations. We cannot fix something that is not reported to us.   Air conditioner: It was reported as not working well on 8/17/16 at 9:17 am. We had it dispatched to our vendor at 11:08 am the same day. They replaced the air conditioner on 8/19/16. The high temperatures on those days were 91/90/88 not over 100 (per the farmer's almanac for zip code 64063). While we would like for an a/c to be repaired or replaced on the same day, the vendor's schedules do not always allow for that. We dispatched as quickly as possible and monitored.   Doors and trim: many of the doors and trim were badly damaged by dog scratches and items hung on the doors. Scratches like these cannot always be filled, especially with hollow core doors. One of the doors was scratched so badly there was a hole in the door. It is often more cost effective to replace items like this than spending time and multiple trips repairing, which is in the best interest of the owner and renter.   Carpet: the carpet was not new when you moved in, that is correct. However, it was in good condition and free of stains. At your move out there were not only pet stains, but also pink, purple, and blue colored spill stains. The subfloors had to be sealed because of the pet urine. Also, you were only charged for the removal of the carpet and sealing of the subfloors, not for replacement.   We did a thorough review of your maintenance history for this response. There were 13 work orders submitted, and with one exclusion the average time from submission to completion was 2.69 business days. The bathroom light did take longer than it should have to be fixed. We have since revised our processes to prevent this from happening in the future.   Regarding the documentation being provided: We said that the 307 pictures were not able to be sent via email because of the quantity. The pictures can be viewed in our office or picked up on a disk in our office if you wish. We also do not provide copies of work orders to renters as a general policy. Should a renter want access to these they are documented in their portal and it is their responsibility to keep records if they wish.   The damages are overwhelmingly clear in the photographs that were taken at the move out walkthrough.  The amount owed needs to remain as it was stated in the security deposit disposition.

We hire a third party company to perform a cosmetic inspection of the property to document its current condition at move in and move out. The renters are then given several days to inspect the property at their leisure and add any notes that they feel the inspector missed. At move out we compare the...

move out inspection to the move in inspection that has the renters’ notes added.   Because no specific information was provided I don’t know what the lies are that she is referencing.  I know that there was a misunderstanding over the breed of dog that the renter has, and a city law forbidding that specific breed. It was disclosed that she should look into city restrictions if they were concerned prior to the lease being signed. The dogs were always disclosed to us as mixed breeds prior to the lease being signed.   The renter is correct that they had a difficult time with vendors. The owner has a home warranty company and, of course, expected HRS to have all maintenance be routed through the home warranty company. The home warranty company was slow to respond and canceled service on the renters several times. We spent many hours on the phone with the home warranty company as did the owner. We kept the renter updated, but the repairs did not go how we normally expect them to. We and the owner are very disappointed with how poorly the home warranty company performed, but it was not because of lack of effort at HRS.   The move out inspection was performed by the same third party that did the move in. It is not always possible to get the third party booked on the exact day a renter moves out. The inspection noted that the bathrooms and kitchen appliances were dirty and needed to be cleaned. The deposit was charged for cleaning those areas, replacing burnt out light bulbs, the rekey fee (per the lease document, pg 2), and two vendor fees (per the lease document pg 6). The complaint states that the renter received the inspection but also that we never provided it. It was provided and it noted which areas were dirty, what light bulbs were out, and that the yard was in poor condition. The renters were not charged anything for the yard.   The heater, water heater, and dishwasher were all inspected by at least one if not two vendors and found to be in working order. No problems could be found to be fixed. While they may not have worked as efficiently as other homes the renter has lived in, they were found to be in proper working order. Short of replacement (which was not necessary), there was nothing to be done. It would be great if we could return 100% of every deposit.  That would make renters and owners very happy and less work for the property management company which would be great for all parties.    It would be great if we could return 100% of every deposit.  It would mean happy renters, happy owners and less work for the property managers which would be great for everyone.

I cannot speak to a conversation that I was not included in (conversation between you and David C[redacted]).  I can and have read through the series of emails between you and David prior to leasing this property through HRS.  Your dogs were referenced by you as being large dogs, mixed breed dogs.  In one of your emails you said “Both my dogs are mixed so not sure what they are but people are so quick to label everything a pit bull. Just don’t want to deal with a headache when I get out there especially since we’re traveling from so far away. “.  David’s response to that email was “Having mixed breeds is generally not a problem, but there would be a pet deposit equal to half of one month of rent.  The deposit would be fully refundable, as long as they don’t do any damage to the home.  “  From the email chain it looks like you were always referring to your dogs as large dogs or mixed breed dogs.  It looks like from the email chain that you were looking for a short term rental with 2 large dogs.  Those two factors were likely was the limiting factor of choices of places available to you through HRS.    The copy of the move out inspection that was sent to you clearly states, among other things, that some light bulbs were out, the stove was dirty, the house was dirty and the bathrooms were dirty.  You were charged to clean the house and to replace burnt out light bulbs, dirty furnace filter etc.  You were not charged for any burn mark on a countertop.  (You have a copy of your security deposit deposition which accompanied your check for $872.)  Prior to a renter moving into a property we do a lengthy inspection (NOT a mechanical inspection…this is a cosmetic inspection).  Renters are given a copy of that inspection at move in and given 2 additional days to add anything that the inspector missed.  That inspection report is then compared to the move out inspection report to determine damages.   I see that there were 4 maintenance items submitted during the term of your lease via your renter portal.  We have a maintenance response team that responds to all of those requests 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  24 hours a day you can speak to our maintenance department who disburses all maintenance calls and written maintenance requests.  Every call and every portal submission is logged with date and time.  I can see from the communication logs every call and email that was done on each of those work orders.  I can also see that some of them took longer than I would have expected but the issue was that we had to work through the home warranty company that the owner had in place and that always slows the process down.  For instance, there were some faucets that one vendor worked that needed parts.  Part of the communication log states:  Vendor Follow-up 12/28/16 (GLH) I called A Moore Service who the home warranty company contracted with on the faucets. They advise that they were able to get the needed parts ordered on 12/21, however the supplier advises that there is a 7-10 business day delivery wait. So hopefully they should be in tail end of this week or first part of next week. Once they have received the parts, they will ensure they are correct and then contact you to schedule the install of these parts. 3-Vendor Hold 12/26/16 LAL LVM for vendor to call back with update   (All of these logs are written documentation of phone calls made or received regarding that work order.)  ALL calls are recorded and all recordings are stored for several years.    You make a reference to “taking as much money as they can without reason”.  If damages are charged to a renter the money for the damages is paid to the vendor and/or the owner not HRS.  We would much rather give the entire deposit back on every renter.  It would make our job much easier and would mean that the renter left the property just as they should have.    I do see notes from vendors about different issues that you reported with the property.  For instance, the vendor report about the hot water heater not working properly the vendor reported that “ I was advised on 12/22 by the home warranty vendor that they were there at the home for the hot water tank and found no mechanical issues”  When a professional technician reports that information to us we have no choice but to trust their judgement.  Regarding the issue with the dishwasher one vendor said “Custom Home looked at it when they were there doing other items and said it was fine after they cleared the kitchen lines and garbage disposal.”    Mailbox keys are done via the US postal service.  At your move in appointment here in our office when you come in to pick up keys to the property the property manager explains how to get mailbox keys.  Occasionally the outgoing renter will leave the mailbox keys but not always.  Going to the post office to get a new key is always recommended because then you know that the lock has been changed (by the post office) and the previous renter cannot get into your mailbox.  HRS cannot change/rekey a mailbox lock.    We have actually considered not taking any more properties where there is a home warranty because it almost always means the renter is frustrated and the property manager is frustrated and things move so so slowly regarding maintenance but we understand how having a home warranty can lift a financial burden for the owner.      I am sorry that you did not feel that we had your interests at heart.  Our duty is to the owner but part of that duty is helping the renter as much as possible so that the renter is happy and stays longer and takes care of the property.  It is a multifaceted relationship.  Clearly communication with HRS had some holes in it even though we have developed systems and teams to avoid those holes as much as possible.  As I said earlier, we would love to return the full deposit every time.  It would be so much better for everyone, the renter, the owner and HRS.