Meridian Group Real Estate Management

Complaint: I am rejecting this response because: Meridian group has decided to ignore what I am actually disputingThey keep pressing the fact that our subleasers left the apartment in bad conditionWe are aware of this and have never tried to argue that pointHere is part of an email that I sent to the Meridian employee who I have been in contact with (Karen)"With regards to the dispute, I have never once said that the apartment was in good condition or that it should not have been re-painted/have the carpet replacedI realize that our subleasers trashed the apartment and we are dealing with them separatelyHowever, that fact is completely irrelevant here since the whole point of my dispute was that we were charged for year old paint and carpet when they were actually years oldIn the lease it says that if paint and carpet need to be replaced before years and years, respectively, then the tenants will be charged for the remainder of the time that they should have lastedSince they were each years old, we should have been charged 1/the cost of the paint and 3/the cost of the carpetInstead we were charged 2/the cost of the paint and 4/the cost of the carpetThis is not a matter of opinion over whether or not they were damaged/dirty enough to be replacedThis dispute has to do with the fact that your company overcharged us based on the terms of the lease that we signed." This information was given to them in my original dispute letter and I have also repeated it numerous times to them via phone and emailThey still refuse to address itInstead they keep bringing up the condition of the apartmentMy former housemates and I are seeking financial restitution from our subleasers, but that should not mean that Meridian should not be held responsible for their mistake which would cost the four of us almost $just for the carpet and paintAs I said earlier, the only time this group ever initiated contact with me was after I filed a complaint with the Revdex.com, and even then they simply sent me the same response as before.As a final note, after I contacted the Revdex.com asking them to reopen my case, I sent an email to Meridian (via Karen) letting them know that the case had been reopenedhours after I sent that email, I received this response as part of the email:"We will submit the same response to the Revdex.com as we did earlier; however, we are going to add in the fact that you (and all original tenants) had sub-leasers in your apartment It was your sub-leasers that left the apartment in horrible condition." Even after reopening the case, Meridian still did not address what I was actually disputingThey have done their best to avoid the subject altogether by focusing on the state of the apartmentI am not asking them to pay for the "excessive wear and tear and horrible condition of the apartment." I am simply asking them to rectify their mistake by refunding us the money we were overcharged Regards, [redacted] A As a side note, my real name is Jessica AyersI did not feel comfortable having my name, phone number, and email address all available on the internet so I gave a fake nameThe email address was real and, after being emailed by Meridian (L [redacted] ), I immediately responded

The business not only did not return back any of the deposit (total deposit held back total of $for tenants @ $per tenant) of $but is asking for total of $(@ $/ tenant for tenants) for cleaning after tenants left after year In other words they are saying they spent $15,in cleaning up the apartment after tenants left after year The company did not return any of my multiple phone calls to them or respond to my emails This company is cheating all the tenants

If you rent from this company, you will lose your moneyGuaranteedMeridian decided to withhold our entire security deposit and then tried to tell us we owed an additional $They deducted $from our security deposit illegally (literally did their math wrong and charged us the wrong percentage of some charges)After months of calling, emailing, and finally threatening to take them to court, they 'gave' us back 1/of the money that they owed usThey still refused to give back the other 2/and are now, months after move out, claiming that they had to replace the vinyl flooring in our kitchenWe were not given any receipts or proof of this, it was not on their original security deposit reconciliation form, and it was never even mentioned until I threatened them with a lawsuitAt this point, neither me nor any of my former housemates still live in SB so we decided to just accept this and break even since we at least didn't owe them anything anymore, meaning they kept $of our security depositThey will screw you overThey will avoid your callsI can't tell you how many times I left messages or emailed them and just never even received a responseDO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANYThey go out of their way to screw you over because they know that the majority of their clientele are college students and therefore don't have the time/resources to fight them on itIf you rent from them it will come back to bite you

Meridian managed a small complex of apartments for me I was beyond disappointed with this company Property owners beware: Meridian will have full control of all your rental income before it hands you any net rent You will always be a month or two behind in Meridian’s presentation of charges against your account, and by then Meridian will have paid the bill Heaven help you if you conclude that you have, through Meridian, paid something that Meridian shouldn’t have billed to you, or that you have, through Meridian, footed the bill for something that you believe Meridian paid too much I’ll remember Rob Kooyman especially fondly as he went from soft-talking nice guy when soliciting my business to stereotypical attack attorney when I finally got him on the phone to discuss the expenditures with which I had been concerned (some starting as long as four months’ beforehand) He raised his voice, tried to take control of the conversation, and discounted EVERYTHING I had to say in a “the best defense is a berating offense” way that would make any attorney stereotype proud Examples of my experience with Meridian: I had to ask repeatedly for the FIRST (!) accounting, which I finally received a month overdue; I had to repeatedly ask for copies of invoices charged to my account; I discovered that Meridian had unilaterally taken $5,of my initial rents and re-characterized them as security deposits WITHOUT asking, discussing, or telling me (they apparently didn’t realize the previous owner had given the deposits to me, just that they were missing on Meridian’s books – so why not just take it from the new owner’s rents without asking?); I found out the hard way that Meridian’s expense-tagging processes apparently are poor enough that when a tenant moved out and left the unit filled with trash, Meridian billed me for hauling the trash out (despite me saying such removal needed to be billed to the tenant's security deposit) and then failed to deduct same from the tenant’s security deposit Having already refunded the tenant’s deposit without this deduction, Meridian would not credit me back the charge So I paid for removal of the tenant’s trash when Meridian had plenty of opportunity to deduct it from the security deposit Additionally, despite our contract that stipulated that prior approval from me was needed before any expense over $would be made, Meridian billed me nearly $2,for a paint job that I specifically did NOT authorize It doesn’t get more black & white than this, but did Meridian admit it was in the wrong, and refund maybe even a part of this amount to me? Not a chance! The bottom line is that, if you are the property owner, you hold the short end of the stick All the facts, evidence, logic, breaches of contract and breaches of fiduciary duties can be on your side, but Meridian controls the money And, I have concluded based on my experience, Meridian is not about to pay for its own mistakes You can be professional, courteous, and polite as I was, and Meridian may appear to you to be the same while it promises to respond to your concerns, but in the end the mask comes off, and the true nature of the business beast is revealed It has your money that it paid or reimbursed itself, and it is NOT giving it back, period So be prepared to go to court if you find yourself in the same position – it looks to be your only recourse

I am responding to your request for review of your Security Deposit Reconciliation
dated September 29, In the request you asked about the carpet and the pest control and referenced http://dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/sec-deposit.shtml as your Source that you based the appeal onI will respond to each item in order:
California Tenants - California Department of Consumer Affairs
dca.ca.gov
Refunds Of Security DepositsCommon problems and how to avoid themThe most Common disagreement between landlords and tenants is over the refund of the tenant'sCarpet: You are stating it is illegal to withhold from your security deposit for carpet cleaning stating that this is routine cleaningHowever as noted in the first paragraph of the publication you referenced: California law specifically allows the landlord to use a tenant's security deposit for four purposes:
The second purpose quoted is as follows: "for cleaning the rental unit when the tenant moves out, but only to make the unit as clean as it was when the tenant first moved in”Your carpet was new when you moved in So the only way to make it as clean as it was when you moved in (new) was to professionally clean the carpet upon tenant vacancy which is allowedFurther, in the cleaning instructions sent to you in response to your day notice to vacate it StateS:
“Upon move out you are expected to leave the unit in the same condition it was in when you moved into the unitSince a steam cleaning company professionally cleaned the carpets or the carpets were new before you moved in, it is required that the carpets will be cleaned before a new resident moves into the apartmentShould the vacating residents not have the carpets cleaned upon move out, the management will have the carpets cleaned and the cost will be deducted from the Security depositShould you decide to schedule the carpet cleaning yourself, please be sure to provide a copy of the invoice from the steam cleaning company at the time you vacate the apartment, otherwise we will assume that it has not been done.”
Pest: It is well know that fleas are a problem in Santa Barbara and every veterinarian strongly recommends year round flea control for both inside and outside animals because all pets are subject to fleasOnce the pet moves from an apartment, the fleas no longer have a host and they therefore go after the next best thing availableThis is the next resident to move into the unitIn this instance, to make the unit as clean as it was when the tenant first moved in, we need to remove all traces of pets, pet odors, and pet pests which would include flea treatmentAfter review I do not find that you are entitled to any further security deposit and no additional money will be returnedThank you,
J*** ***

The business not only did not return back any of the deposit (total deposit held back total of $10000 for 4 tenants @ $2450 per tenant) of $10000 but is asking for total of $5200 (@ $1300 / tenant for 4 tenants) for cleaning after tenants left after 1 year.
In other words they are saying they spent $15,200 in cleaning up the apartment after tenants left after 1 year.
The company did not return any of my multiple phone calls to them or respond to my emails.
This company is cheating all the tenants.

Complaint: 10937630
I am rejecting this response because: Meridian group has decided to ignore what I am actually disputing. They keep pressing the fact that our subleasers left the apartment in bad condition. We are aware of this and have never tried to argue that point. Here is part of an email that I sent to the Meridian employee who I have been in contact with (Karen). "With regards to the dispute, I have never once said that the apartment was in good condition or that it should not have been re-painted/have the carpet replaced. I realize that our subleasers trashed the apartment and we are dealing with them separately. However, that fact is completely irrelevant here since the whole point of my dispute was that we were charged for 1 year old paint and carpet when they were actually 2 years old. In the lease it says that if paint and carpet need to be replaced before 3 years and 5 years, respectively, then the tenants will be charged for the remainder of the time that they should have lasted. Since they were each 2 years old, we should have been charged 1/3 the cost of the paint and 3/5 the cost of the carpet. Instead we were charged 2/3 the cost of the paint and 4/5 the cost of the carpet. This is not a matter of opinion over whether or not they were damaged/dirty enough to be replaced. This dispute has to do with the fact that your company overcharged us based on the terms of the lease that we signed."
This information was given to them in my original dispute letter and I have also repeated it numerous times to them via phone and email. They still refuse to address it. Instead they keep bringing up the condition of the apartment. My former housemates and I are seeking financial restitution from our subleasers, but that should not mean that Meridian should not be held responsible for their mistake which would cost the four of us almost $900 just for the carpet and paint. As I said earlier, the only time this group ever initiated contact with me was after I filed a complaint with the Revdex.com, and even then they simply sent me the same response as before.As a final note, after I contacted the Revdex.com asking them to reopen my case, I sent an email to Meridian (via Karen) letting them know that the case had been reopened. 2 hours after I sent that email, I received this response as part of the email:"We will submit the same response to the Revdex.com as we did earlier; however, we are going to add in the fact that you (and all original tenants) had sub-leasers in your apartment.  It was your sub-leasers that left the apartment in horrible condition."
Even after reopening the case, Meridian still did not address what I was actually disputing. They have done their best to avoid the subject altogether by focusing on the state of the apartment. I am not asking them to pay for the "excessive wear and tear and horrible condition of the apartment." I am simply asking them to rectify their mistake by refunding us the money we were overcharged.
Regards,
[redacted] A As a side note, my real name is Jessica Ayers. I did not feel comfortable having my name, phone number, and email address all available on the internet so I gave a fake name. The email address was real and, after being emailed by Meridian (L[redacted]), I immediately responded.

Complaint: 10937630
I am rejecting this response because:
I have been informed that this complaint is closed even though Meridian has done nothing about the situation. They did not properly review my case. I know this because in the letter that they sent both to me and to the Revdex.com, they did not even address everything that I had included in my dispute letter. Meridian is trying to illegally retain at least $868.93 from myself and my former housemates. They have avoided any contact with me. It has been over a month since I initially filed a dispute with them. During that time they have never once called me and only emailed me after I filed my complaint with the Revdex.com. I have called 14 times and left multiple messages. I have still received no further contact from them. After again contacting them through email, they still will not actually review my case. I spoke to Karen Quinn on Wednesday, November 11. She said she would review my letter and call me either later that day or the next day (November 12). She never called. I left a message for her on Monday, November 16 and still did not get a response. Finally, today, I called and was given her email address. I emailed her asking about the dispute and she simply forwarded me the letter that Meridian sent to the Revdex.com. This company has done literally nothing to try to work with me on this problem. I personally believe that they are simply trying to delay it and do so little in the hopes that I will eventually give up and they will be able to keep the money. I have attached the dispute letter that I originally sent them so that it may be attached to this complaint. I would appreciate if you could re-open this case as it absolutely has not been resolved and this company has not actually reviewed it at all. 
Regards,
[redacted] A

Meridian managed a small complex of apartments for me. I was beyond disappointed with this company. Property owners beware: Meridian will have full control of all your rental income before it hands you any net rent. You will always be a month or two behind in Meridian’s presentation of charges against your account, and by then Meridian will have paid the bill. Heaven help you if you conclude that you have, through Meridian, paid something that Meridian shouldn’t have billed to you, or that you have, through Meridian, footed the bill for something that you believe Meridian paid too much. I’ll remember Rob Kooyman especially fondly as he went from soft-talking nice guy when soliciting my business to stereotypical attack attorney when I finally got him on the phone to discuss the expenditures with which I had been concerned (some starting as long as four months’ beforehand). He raised his voice, tried to take control of the conversation, and discounted EVERYTHING I had to say in a “the best defense is a berating offense” way that would make any attorney stereotype proud.
Examples of my experience with Meridian: I had to ask repeatedly for the FIRST (!) accounting, which I finally received a month overdue; I had to repeatedly ask for copies of invoices charged to my account; I discovered that Meridian had unilaterally taken $5,000 of my initial rents and re-characterized them as security deposits WITHOUT asking, discussing, or telling me (they apparently didn’t realize the previous owner had given the deposits to me, just that they were missing on Meridian’s books – so why not just take it from the new owner’s rents without asking?); I found out the hard way that Meridian’s expense-tagging processes apparently are poor enough that when a tenant moved out and left the unit filled with trash, Meridian billed me for hauling the trash out (despite me saying such removal needed to be billed to the tenant's security deposit) and then failed to deduct same from the tenant’s security deposit. Having already refunded the tenant’s deposit without this deduction, Meridian would not credit me back the charge. So I paid for removal of the tenant’s trash when Meridian had plenty of opportunity to deduct it from the security deposit.
Additionally, despite our contract that stipulated that prior approval from me was needed before any expense over $500 would be made, Meridian billed me nearly $2,000 for a paint job that I specifically did NOT authorize. It doesn’t get more black & white than this, but did Meridian admit it was in the wrong, and refund maybe even a part of this amount to me? Not a chance!
The bottom line is that, if you are the property owner, you hold the short end of the stick. All the facts, evidence, logic, breaches of contract and breaches of fiduciary duties can be on your side, but Meridian controls the money. And, I have concluded based on my experience, Meridian is not about to pay for its own mistakes. You can be professional, courteous, and polite as I was, and Meridian may appear to you to be the same while it promises to respond to your concerns, but in the end the mask comes off, and the true nature of the business beast is revealed. It has your money that it paid or reimbursed itself, and it is NOT giving it back, period. So be prepared to go to court if you find yourself in the same position – it looks to be your only recourse.

Complaint: 11811345
I am rejecting this response because:
[redacted],
It is obvious that you have not read my emails to you. I do not appreciate your disrespect nor do I appreciate you taking the information I sent you out of context to benefit your argument, which is in the wrong. I suggest you contact your attorney to clarify things for you. I also suggest you read my response thoroughly; I deserve the respect especially since I was an upstanding tenant even when you did nothing about the cockroach problem at Hope Gardens. You are illegally holding my security deposit for (1) normal wear and tear, (2) routine charges in order to prepare the unit for the next tenancy and (3) pest treatment without proof of necessity or proof that any pest was introduced by me.
As I stated before, it is illegal to withhold my security deposit for your carpet cleaning:
 "2. Carpets and drapes - "useful life" rule
Normal wear and tear to carpets, drapes and other furnishings cannot be charged against a tenant's security deposit.243 Normal wear and tear includes simple wearing down of carpet and drapes because of normal use or aging, and includes moderate dirt or spotting. In contrast, large rips or indelible stains justify a deduction from the tenant's security deposit for repairing the carpet or drapes, or replacing them if that is reasonably necessary."
M[redacted] clearly stated that the carpet was in good condition and there was no damage. You are charging me for normal wear and tear. This is illegal.
 If you need further information:
 "1. Costs of cleaning
A landlord may properly deduct from the departing tenant's security deposit to make the rental unit as clean as it was when the tenant moved in.241
A landlord cannot routinely charge each tenant for cleaning carpets, drapes, walls, or windows in order to prepare the rental unit for the next tenancy."
M[redacted] clearly stated that Meridian Group routinely charges their tenants when she said "it is Meridian’s policy to always have the carpet cleaned by a professional carpet cleaning company prior to a new tenant moving in". Like I said before, you cannot routinely charge a tenant for cleaning carpets in order to prepare the unit for the next tenancy. I'm not sure how you can continue to argue this fact.
While it may be true that there is a flea problem in Santa Barbara, it is not my obligation to pay for you to keep your flea treatment policy. M[redacted] stated "It is quite possible that your cats did not have fleas but there is no way for us to determine that, therefore we take the precaution of spraying before a new tenant moves in." This is a routine charge in order to prepare the unit for the next tenancy, which I've already explained is not legal. Meridian Group is responsible to pay to exterminate pests that the tenant has not introduced. While eradicating infestations caused by the tenant can rightly be put on the tenant's tab, you have failed to provide proof that I have introduced fleas or even proof that fleas existed to begin with.
Again, I would like the remainder of my security deposit. If you fail to comply, I will take you to small claims court.
Regards,
K[redacted]

Meridian managed a small complex of apartments for me. I was beyond disappointed with this company. Property owners beware: Meridian will have full control of all your rental income before it hands you any net rent. You will always be a month or two behind in Meridian’s presentation of charges against your account, and by then Meridian will have paid the bill. Heaven help you if you conclude that you have, through Meridian, paid something that Meridian shouldn’t have billed to you, or that you have, through Meridian, footed the bill for something that you believe Meridian paid too much. I’ll remember Rob Kooyman especially fondly as he went from soft-talking nice guy when soliciting my business to stereotypical attack attorney when I finally got him on the phone to discuss the expenditures with which I had been concerned (some starting as long as four months’ beforehand). He raised his voice, tried to take control of the conversation, and discounted EVERYTHING I had to say in a “the best defense is a berating offense” way that would make any attorney stereotype proud.

Examples of my experience with Meridian: I had to ask repeatedly for the FIRST (!) accounting, which I finally received a month overdue; I had to repeatedly ask for copies of invoices charged to my account; I discovered that Meridian had unilaterally taken $5,000 of my initial rents and re-characterized them as security deposits WITHOUT asking, discussing, or telling me (they apparently didn’t realize the previous owner had given the deposits to me, just that they were missing on Meridian’s books – so why not just take it from the new owner’s rents without asking?); I found out the hard way that Meridian’s expense-tagging processes apparently are poor enough that when a tenant moved out and left the unit filled with trash, Meridian billed me for hauling the trash out (despite me saying such removal needed to be billed to the tenant's security deposit) and then failed to deduct same from the tenant’s security deposit. Having already refunded the tenant’s deposit without this deduction, Meridian would not credit me back the charge. So I paid for removal of the tenant’s trash when Meridian had plenty of opportunity to deduct it from the security deposit.

Additionally, despite our contract that stipulated that prior approval from me was needed before any expense over $500 would be made, Meridian billed me nearly $2,000 for a paint job that I specifically did NOT authorize. It doesn’t get more black & white than this, but did Meridian admit it was in the wrong, and refund maybe even a part of this amount to me? Not a chance!

The bottom line is that, if you are the property owner, you hold the short end of the stick. All the facts, evidence, logic, breaches of contract and breaches of fiduciary duties can be on your side, but Meridian controls the money. And, I have concluded based on my experience, Meridian is not about to pay for its own mistakes. You can be professional, courteous, and polite as I was, and Meridian may appear to you to be the same while it promises to respond to your concerns, but in the end the mask comes off, and the true nature of the business beast is revealed. It has your money that it paid or reimbursed itself, and it is NOT giving it back, period. So be prepared to go to court if you find yourself in the same position – it looks to be your only recourse.

The business not only did not return back any of the deposit (total deposit held back total of $10000 for 4 tenants @ $2450 per tenant) of $10000 but is asking for total of $5200 (@ $1300 / tenant for 4 tenants) for cleaning after tenants left after 1 year.

In other words they are saying they spent $15,200 in cleaning up the apartment after tenants left after 1 year.

The company did not return any of my multiple phone calls to them or respond to my emails.

This company is cheating all the tenants.

Review: I leased an apartment controlled by Meridian from 7/14-9/15. During that time, they did not respond to any of our maintenance requests in a timely manner but besides that, we didn't have to deal with them much. After moving out, we received a statement saying that they were keeping our entire security deposit and charging us an additional $300 for damages. My former housemates and I decided to dispute these charges with Meridian as many of them were unfounded and some actually went directly against what was specified in our lease. It has now been over a month since we delivered our dispute letter to the Meridian office. They have not made any attempt to contact us regarding the dispute. I have called them multiple times and each time, I was told that the disputes were being handled and I would be contacted. Finally, today, I called again and asked for confirmation that my letter had been received as well as an estimated time that I could expect to be contacted by. I was told that they couldn't give me either of those things. Additionally, there is only one person handling disputes from my former property, and she has decided to take a week long vacation. When I asked for someone higher up so I could get confirmation, I was told that he was also not in the office. So either this office is completely empty except for one receptionist, or (much more likely) they're trying to give us the runaround. This is also not the first time I've been told that the person I need to speak to is inexplicably not in the office during business hours. Not only did this company overcharge us by over $1,000 for made up damages, they are also making themselves as unavailable as possible when dealing with disputes. Do not rent from them. You will lose your security deposit and then some in addition to overpaying for a mediocre apartment. Absolutely horrible customer service.Desired Settlement: Essentially, Meridian overcharged us for paint and carpeting. According to our lease we should have paid 1/3 the cost of the paint and 3/5 the cost of the carpet. Instead we were charge 2/3 and 4/5 respectively. These charges total almost $900. There were some other charges that should not have been our responsibility as well including almost $300 for checking lightbulbs and smoke alarms. To resolve this, they would need to refund us all of that money (almost $1,200).

Business

Response:

Please see attached response to ID #10937630 which includes reply letter (dated November 11, 2015), copy of original Security Deposit Reconciliation form (dated September 28, 2015) and move out photos of the unit.

Sincerely,

MERIDIAN GROUP

Real Estate

Management, Inc.

R[redacted], CPM®

President

Consumer

Response:

Review: 10937630

I am rejecting this response because:I have been informed that this complaint is closed even though Meridian has done nothing about the situation. They did not properly review my case. I know this because in the letter that they sent both to me and to the Revdex.com, they did not even address everything that I had included in my dispute letter. Meridian is trying to illegally retain at least $868.93 from myself and my former housemates. They have avoided any contact with me. It has been over a month since I initially filed a dispute with them. During that time they have never once called me and only emailed me after I filed my complaint with the Revdex.com. I have called 14 times and left multiple messages. I have still received no further contact from them. After again contacting them through email, they still will not actually review my case. I spoke to Karen Quinn on Wednesday, November 11. She said she would review my letter and call me either later that day or the next day (November 12). She never called. I left a message for her on Monday, November 16 and still did not get a response. Finally, today, I called and was given her email address. I emailed her asking about the dispute and she simply forwarded me the letter that Meridian sent to the Revdex.com. This company has done literally nothing to try to work with me on this problem. I personally believe that they are simply trying to delay it and do so little in the hopes that I will eventually give up and they will be able to keep the money. I have attached the dispute letter that I originally sent them so that it may be attached to this complaint. I would appreciate if you could re-open this case as it absolutely has not been resolved and this company has not actually reviewed it at all.

Regards,

[redacted] A

Business

Response:

Good Afternoon: We are now disputing this complaint that we have not responded to "[redacted] A". This person gave a fake name to the Revdex.com so we had to track down who she was and what apartment she lived in. When my employee, Leeanna Diaz, finally tracked down who this person was, she responded. In the meantime, the correspondence/demand for payment letter was sent to the Key Person on the lease (J[redacted]). We responded to the security deposit dispute letter explaining that the apartment was left in horrible condition and included pictures to support the charges that were deducted from the security deposit. Attached are the pictures for the Revdex.com’s review to understand the condition of the apartment. The original tenants had sub-leasers in their apartment and were not living in the apartment when the lease ended. The original tenants ARE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE for the financial obligation of the lease AND the condition of the apartment.

We feel the charges are fair and will stand. I suggested that “[redacted] A” (the fake name given by the personal complaining about Meridian Group and original tenant on the lease) seek financial restitution from the sub-leasers and not Meridian Group or owner of the building. Why should the owner pay for the excessive wear and tear and horrible condition of the apartment left behind by THEIR sub-leasers!

This is not fair and I demand that this case be closed out and this person IMMEDIATELY cease and desist pursuing us any further and seek restitution from their sub-leasers.

Sincerely, R[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

Review: 10937630

I am rejecting this response because: Meridian group has decided to ignore what I am actually disputing. They keep pressing the fact that our subleasers left the apartment in bad condition. We are aware of this and have never tried to argue that point. Here is part of an email that I sent to the Meridian employee who I have been in contact with (Karen). "With regards to the dispute, I have never once said that the apartment was in good condition or that it should not have been re-painted/have the carpet replaced. I realize that our subleasers trashed the apartment and we are dealing with them separately. However, that fact is completely irrelevant here since the whole point of my dispute was that we were charged for 1 year old paint and carpet when they were actually 2 years old. In the lease it says that if paint and carpet need to be replaced before 3 years and 5 years, respectively, then the tenants will be charged for the remainder of the time that they should have lasted. Since they were each 2 years old, we should have been charged 1/3 the cost of the paint and 3/5 the cost of the carpet. Instead we were charged 2/3 the cost of the paint and 4/5 the cost of the carpet. This is not a matter of opinion over whether or not they were damaged/dirty enough to be replaced. This dispute has to do with the fact that your company overcharged us based on the terms of the lease that we signed."

If you rent from this company, you will lose your money. Guaranteed. Meridian decided to withhold our entire security deposit and then tried to tell us we owed an additional $300. They deducted $900 from our security deposit illegally (literally did their math wrong and charged us the wrong percentage of some charges). After 3 months of calling, emailing, and finally threatening to take them to court, they 'gave' us back 1/3 of the money that they owed us. They still refused to give back the other 2/3 and are now, 3 months after move out, claiming that they had to replace the vinyl flooring in our kitchen. We were not given any receipts or proof of this, it was not on their original security deposit reconciliation form, and it was never even mentioned until I threatened them with a lawsuit. At this point, neither me nor any of my former housemates still live in SB so we decided to just accept this and break even since we at least didn't owe them anything anymore, meaning they kept $2400 of our security deposit. They will screw you over. They will avoid your calls. I can't tell you how many times I left messages or emailed them and just never even received a response. DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY. They go out of their way to screw you over because they know that the majority of their clientele are college students and therefore don't have the time/resources to fight them on it. If you rent from them it will come back to bite you.