LightHouse Properties of Virginia, Inc.

I rented off of them and had no problems. Once I moved out and inquired about my security deposit, they never answered one email. They did return one phone call and said to give it another 2 weeks for my deposit (they had 45 days to return it). Well, it has now been 52 days, and nothing. They also have ignored my recent call. Pretty disappointed since they were great in the beginning.

We use Light House to manage a little home we have in Lynchburg since we live out of town we needed a management company. They never return our phone calls. We went to Lynchburg and told them we wanted the rent raised and it looked like they did but we never saw the extra money, according to the statements and now the tenant is paying the original rent. The monthly statements do not make any sense. We were told an inspection would be conducted on the property and to my knowledge that still has not happened, about a year ago. Now we are being charged for repairs to the front door and don't even know why. The communication from the company is horrendous.

Review: On April 1st I submitted in writing a 30 day notice to be out of the property managed by Lighthouse Properties by the end of the month 4/30/14. According to the lease agreement the deposit that placed on the property was to be refunded to me within 45 days. A walk-thru of the property was conducted with the broker on 4/30/14 and she pointed out 2 issues that she saw which was also emailed to me. I received pictures from broker and an email on 5/6/14 stating that the only damages that would be deducted were for the window pane and the bedroom door. I also received an email on 5/16/14 letting me know that all of the repairs were made and that an open house would be held on 5/18/14. Open house was held and still no deposit, I called on 5/2/14 just to check on deposit. I was told it was being processed and should be receiving something soon. I then called again on Friday 6/13/14 I was told that they did not have my forwarding address, I then reminded them that the address was on my notice. Receptionist then told me in a very rude way that they had 45 days to send my my deposit, as of today 6/17/14 I still do not have my deposit which is actually 48 days.Desired Settlement: I want Lighthouse to return deposits as specified in the lease agreements.

Business

Response:

With regards to the attached, we submit the following.

The security deposit, minus damages, was remitted June 17th, received and cashed on the 18th.

The owner of the property chose to handle the repairs personally, which is his right. We received his final invoice June 16th and finalized the disbursement process as soon as we could. Combine this with the fact that the 15th fell on a non-business day, the delay appears to have been two days, which I am sure added to the upset.

We are truly sorry for this delay.

With regards to the tone of our Resident Relations Representative, I have addressed the complaint with the individual in question. On her behalf, I apologize for any negative tone that may have been conveyed. I have also spoken with the entire staff to be sure, no matter the situation, they remain calm, positive and communicate with our customers in a friendly and professional manner.

We wish Ms. [redacted] all the best in her new home, and hope she will have positive memories of her long tenancy with LightHouse Properties.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Broker

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I am not satisfied with the invoice that was actually dated 5/25/14 for materials and labor for a bedroom door totaling $175.00 and for the glass pane that totaled $75.00. I was repeatedly reminded of my lease terms and the fact that Lighthouse Properties had 45 days to have my deposit to me. Not only was my deposit mailed and dated on 6/17/14 which was beyond the legal agreement but $225.00 was deducted. I do not feel that Lighthouse Properties held up to their own standards and I am therefore asking for reasonable charges for repairs.

Regards,

Review: I contracted with Lighthouse Properties to manage a rental property for me. I was assured when I contracted them that they would provide me with a renter that had been thoroughly checked. During my contract with Lighthouse I had numerous calls from neighbors in the area of my rental house describing activities that were going on. There was supposed to be a woman and her two children residing there, but I was informed by several neighbors that there were four adults and three children living in the house. My house is approximately 900 square feet with one bathroom. I was also informed that my neighbor had called the police about alleged fighting that was occurring on the property. When I called Lighthouse and to ask them about these things I was told that they would check it out and get back to me immediately. They never called back. I called them back about another issue and asked them why they did not call me back. I was told by [redacted] Martin that they were not in the business of sitting outside of properties to see who was living there. I asked her if she had called the tenant and asked her about it and she responded that she had not. I also had an addendum to my contract with Lighthouse that they were to call my heating and air person when there was a problem. They did not do this and charged me a large sum of money to put Freon into my unit. When I called to ask about this I was asked where they were supposed to find this information concerning the heat and air and I informed Ms. Martin that it would be in my file. I was charged for quarterly preventative maintenance work which I did not authorize and in one instance a large sum of money for installing five smoke detectors in this small house. They were to change the air filter as one of the preventative maintenance items, but when I went to my property the same air filter that I had installed a year ago was in the return. When I contacted Lighthouse about this they said that since I let the charge occur for the preventative work that I was agreeing to it and she assured me that they did indeed change the filters, but that they become dirty very quickly. There was a preventative charge on November 22, 2013 and I checked the filter at the beginning of January 2014. During the time the tenant left until January no heat or air had been on in the house. I have pictures of the filter and I feel certain it was never changed. I don't believe that a filter can become that dirty in a few weeks with nothing going through it. I asked them to not renew the tenants lease and the tenant moved out in December. They have not refunded me a $250.00 maintenance reserve as of yet.Desired Settlement: I would like reimbursement for the preventative maintenance charges( $211. 20 which is less $56.10 they charged for the smoke detectors), the unauthorized charge for the work on my air conditioner($210.00 for the Freon) and the return of my $250.00 reserve.

Business

Response:

With regards to the above referenced complaint, I submit the

following.

To be sure I address all points of concern, I've outlined my response below.

1. Screening Tenants.

LightHouse Properties has the most thorough screening process, to our

knowledge, in Central Virginia. The Tenant paid the rent on time, left

the property in good condition, and had no unnecessary maintenance requests.

2. Neighbor complaints and police involvement.

We were never notified by either, that there were events occurring that would constitute

Breach of Lease, and/or Threat to Health and Safety. It is clear in the

Virginia Landlord/Tenant Act, that the Tenant has the Right of Possession, and

Quiet Enjoyment, unless either of these issues are called into question.

3. [redacted] Martin's Comment.

Has been paraphrased in a more negative light than originally

communicated. [redacted], merely stated the above, along with a statement, that

driving by properties without just cause, is not a part of our management

duties.

4. Addendum to use Owner's HVAC Tech.

This is our error. When we began our management company, we agreed to

some individual requests. However, as we've grown, we've found that these

have become difficult to facilitate, and we no longer offer individual

requests. I pulled the HVAC invoice in question, discussed the charges

with 3rd party Vendor who performed the repairs, and with 2 other HVAC

Tech's. 2lbs of Freon were added to the unit, which would have been a

charge regardless. I have authorized a $100 credit to the Owner's final

disbursement as a concession for our error.

5. Non returned calls.

During this time our office was in constant communication with Ms. [redacted] due

to a serious Sewer Line issue. If she was not called back about the

compliant regarding neighbors and police, it was definitely discussed during

other communications. As evidenced by item #3 herein. I believe the

timeline of these issues has been misunderstood.

6. Smoke detector charges and Preventative Maintenance.

October 18, 2013, All Owners, including Ms. [redacted] received a Letter that

LightHouse Properties would be performing Quarterly Maintenance. Owners

were given the option to "opt out" of this service. Ms.

[redacted] never expressed her interest to "opt out". Quarterly

Maintenance has occurred on her property prior to the complaint, without any

questions or resistance. Smoke detectors are of major concern, of late,

city and county inspectors are randomly inspecting properties and are focusing

on safety concerns, and subsequently fining property owners. LightHouse

Properties provides this service, again, above and beyond our competitors, in

order to better serve our Clients and their properties. Ms. [redacted]'s

property now has the appropriate smoke detectors installed, as per uniform

statewide building code.

7. Air filters.

As per Quarterly Maintenance letter and subsequent program, the 3rd party

Vendor we employ to handle these inspections, changes the current filter as

part of their inspection - this system is now improved from our original

program and we install a Special Ordered 3 month filter. I spoke with my

staff, and all members of the 3rd party Vendors staff, and they have a check

and balance system that ensures All duties are completed prior to their leaving

the premises. I can assure you that the filter was changed by the Vendor

during their October inspection. A photo

of the filter upon our Tenant Move Out Inspection, Dec 17, 2013 (attached herein), shows no

unusual amount of dirt. I’d like to mention, of the 250+ properties we

manage, this is the only complaint of this kind.

8. Maintenance Reserve Reimbursement.

Maintenance Reserve refunds are processed After the Tenant's move out

inspection and Security Deposit has been reconciled. Once that process is

completed, we can process the Owner's Maintenance Reserve. I've

authorized my staff to expedite Ms. [redacted]'s refund. This should be

completed within the next ten (10) business days.

In summary, we will be returning Ms. [redacted]'s $250.00 Maintenance Reserve,

minus any applicable charges or fees. As a result of our office, calling our

authorized HVAC Technician, as opposed to the technician specified by the

owner, we will provide a $100 credit. With regards to reimbursement for

Quarterly Maintenance charges, we were never given notice the Owner was

"opting out" of this program. The work was completed and

charges are justified.

Please inform me of the outcome of this complaint. If you should have any

additional questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,

Broker

LightHouse Properties

"Guiding You Home"

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

LightHouse has yet to send me my $250.00 deposit or the refund on the charges for the HVAC work they were not authorized to do. It has been over three months since the tenant moved out and I do not understand why this is taking so long.

Thank you for your help in this matter.

Regards,

Business

Response:

We are in receipt of the clients response.

Please be assured we will expedite Ms. [redacted]'s reimbursement, and our formal reply should be expected by the end of business tomorrow, March 27, 2014.

Broker

LightHouse Properties

"Guiding You Home"

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I have received the check from Lighthouse and consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Review: I paid this company 30 dollars for me and 30 dollars for my girlfriend ( total of 60 dollars). This money was suppose to be the fee for them to run a background check on us as we were applying to rent one of their properties. We completed this application on Sunday February 16. On Monday we were informed that the property had been rented on the previous Friday but they hadn't received the security deposit yet so it wasn't removed from the application website. The lighthouse properties employ informed us that they would not be performing the background check, and also informed us that they would not be returning our money even though we did not receive the service we had paid for. I asked for that employ to provide me with contact information for her supervisor and I was not provided that information. I understand if multiple people has applied and they just didn't select us that we wouldn't get a refund. However we paid for them to preform a background check and we were informed that the property had been rented and they would not be performing the background check. Therefor for them to leave that property on the website like that seems very fraudulent for them to continue to take people's money on a property for which they already have a signed lease. I would like some assistance getting a refundDesired Settlement: I would like them to return our money, and to stop takings other peoples money for a background check on a property for which they already have a signed lease.

Business

Response:

I am sorry, I did not receive the first complaint sent in February.I am now in receipt of the above referenced complaint, and will investigate and respond to you prior to end of business this Friday, March 7, 2014.Thank you for your patience and understanding.[redacted]BrokerLightHouse Properties[redacted]

Business

Response:

With regards to the above referenced complaint, I submit the following.After investigating the incidents sited in the customer complaint, I have authorized a refund of their full $60 application fees. This has been ordered through our accounting department and will be processed within the next five (5) business days, and mailed to their address provided on the complaint.I would like to take this opportunity to explain the application process. When an applicant pays the application fee, they are asked to acknowledge this is a non-refundable fee. It is standard practice in our industry to continue to market properties, and accept subsequent applications, until such time as an Approved Applicant pays their Full Security Deposit. This is so, because many applicants, never appear with the Deposit, or to sign a Lease. Many applicants apply for numerous properties, with different companies and individual landlords and then chose the one they truly want.These folks applied online, over a weekend, when our office was closed. On Monday morning, our staff received the Security Deposit from previous Applicants, which triggered the property no longer being available for rent. It is highly unusual that these events occurred in this timeline. It is the only incident like this in our almost 3 years in business, and we don't anticipate it occurring again. The complaint says we entered into a Lease and then accepted their payment, this simply is not true. Once the Security Deposit has been paid, we schedule a time to have the new tenant sign their Lease, prior to move in. Sometimes they do occur simultaneously, but not in this case.I've agreed to the refund, since the background checks were not performed. However, we've been advised by counsel that we are well within our rights to keep these funds, as they were acknowledged as non-refundable.Please inform me of the final outcome of this complaint, and feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.Sincerely,[redacted]BrokerLightHouse Properties[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Terrible service, and extremely rude. Ever since they took over our properties I have had nothing but negative experience. Talked to a few neighbors and they have had the poor experiences as well. I still live here and am posting to warn people about moving here. The most recent issue is in the bathroom; the shower handle broke. I filled out a maintenance request and they came over and put the handle back on. The next day I go to take a shower and the handle just spins around and will not shut the water off so I had to take the handle off and use vise grips to turn the water off. This was on a Saturday so I had to call the emergency maintenance line to fix it. They just came and put it back on and didn't fix the stripped part that keeps it from simple spinning around. I called again on Tuesday because my roommate had told me they were on vacation until Monday and they still had not fixed it. When I called I found out that they were on vacation until the following Monday. The person I was talking to put me through to the manager, [redacted], and he started the conversation by saying "what are you guys doing to that shower." I tried to explain the situation to him about how the bolt was stripped but he kept cutting me off saying we shouldn't have touched anything and we wouldn't be having this conversation if we hadn't messed with it. I told him I had to take it off to shut the water off and the problem was no the handle being put on, it is the bolt. He said he had it on good authority (his maintenance guys who are about to go on vacation) that we took it off, which I told him I had taken it off to shut the water off. The conversation ended with him saying he was not going to pay anyone else to come out until his maintenance staff got back from vacation. I have to get up an hour early to go to the gym to shower for work now until they get back. I honestly don't mind doing this, it really is just how they have handled it. If he just said, "Hey sorry about the inconvenience; my guys are on vacation for the next week but we will fix it when they get back," I would have been fine. The fact that he said if we didn't touch the handle this would not be a problem and blamed it on us is the reason I am writing this. Anyhow I would caution anyone who is thinking about living in these places. I had been with the prior company for that they took over for 3 years and never had a problem. I would say Lighthouse has been "managing" them for about 6 months now and this is the second problem with them.

I'm a property owner, and was looking for a company to manage my little Lynchburg home when I moved out of state. Tim and his team (Lisa has been my main point of contact) have taken great care of me and my property from day 1. They found me some great tenants and have managed all communications with them. They send me monthly and annual reports so my taxes are easy. They provide repair and maintenance services from their network of professionals, and I have been very pleased with the timely communications and quality and value of services (ceiling repair, bathroom flooring installation, gas heater automater installed, and deep clean for new tenants!). The peace of mind I have knowing they are close and on call is incredible. I would recommend them to anyone!