Kenmore Development

April 11, 2016To Whom It May Concern,I am responding in regards to complaint ***.*** *** first applied to our Sheridan Residence apartments on October 13, At the time of application we require a reservation deposit equal to one month's rent $642.00, along with a
$35.00 application feeThe reservation deposit becomes the security deposit once the tenant has been approved It becomes non-refundable business days after the tenant has been notified of the approval*** wrote a check for $on October 15, which was to be used for her reservation deposit and application fee *** had requested the apartment for November 9, A lease was sent to her on October 16, 15. On November 2, *** had called and spoke with me about switching her move in date to mid December. On November 18, she was notified that the apartment would be ready for her to move into on December 9, During this time, we held a vacant unit for her for a month, resulting in a one month rent lossThen, on December 2015, I spoke to ***'s daughter who informed me *** would not be able to take the apartment on December because she had broken her hipShe told me that she would still be interested in renting a unit for January It wasn't until December 22, that I was informed by ***'s daughter that she would no longer be moving into an apartment, which in return resulted in another month's rent lossAt this time I explained that the deposit was non-refundable as we had been holding an apartment since October. It wasn't until February 8, that *** sent us an email regarding her depositShe was informed again that her deposit was non-refundableShe was also provided with a copy of the signed propertychecklist that states the policy in regards to the reservation depositThen on April 7, we received notice by *** that she was going to filing a complaintMy office manager Brian Z*** replied to notify her we will still not be returning her depos it.I have attached all email correspondence between myself and ***Along with her original application, the signed property checklist, a copy of the check for $677.00, all email correspondence between myself and Kenmore Development employees in regards to ***, and the email correspondence between *** and Brian.I hope you find this information suitable to defend our position in regards to the complaint fil ed against us.Sincerely,Kenmore Development

April 22, 2016To whom it may concern,I am responding in regards to complaint IO ***Kenmore Development requires that each applicant signs a property checklist when they hand in an application for any of our apartmentsWe also require a reservation deposit at the time of applicationThe reservation deposit is in place to hold the unit for the tenant until they move inOnce the tenant moves in, this becomes the security depositAfter business days of the tenant being notified of approval, this becomes non-refundableThis policy is clearly stated in paragraph of the property checklistWe do not force anyone to sign off on any part of the applicationMs*** expressed concern in regards to how she can submit the application being that she did not want to fax anything with her personal information on itShe did not express any concern in regards to the reservation deposit or property checklist before she signed it or submitted her application.We worked with Ms*** from October 2015- December in order to hold an apartment for her while she was out of the state visiting family and while she was in the hospitalHer original move in date was November 9, We were not informed until November 2, that she did not want the apartment until December 9, 2015, because she was visiting a family member out of stateAt this time we had held the unit for month, costing us a total rent loss of $Then on December we were notified that she had broken her hip and would not be able to move in until JanuaryWe were understanding and again held an apartment for another month making our total rent loss$ $It was not until December 22, that we were informed she would not be taking the apartment at allAt this point we expressed that Ms*** would not be receiving her reservation deposit back as we had lost month's rent and had been holding an apartment since October.I attached another copy of the property checklist signed by Ms***Again, this is part of our application and at no time was Ms*** forced to sign, nor did she express any concerns in regards to this part of the application.I hope you find this information suitable to defend our position in regards to the complaint filed against us.Sincerely,Staci H***Kenmore Development

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Regards,
[redacted]
Hello, I am rejecting the business's response because it is against the New York state Tenant's rights to keep a deposit when an individual is not given a contract, key or access to the apartment.  Ken Dev required that I sign an agreement, not a lease contract, and forced me to sign before accepting my "deposit".  circumstances did not permit me to follow through with taking an apartment, but keeping earnest money is illegal.  I followed through on each step to let them know, and they were quite willing to work with me, and when I broke my hip and landed in the hospital I had my daughter contact them immediately.  I would appreciate a response on the legality of keeping "earnest money" and a review of the document I was forced to sign.  It was enclosed with my original complaint. I have also filed a complaint with the attorney general of New York State.  thank you.  Sincerely, [redacted]