New Valley Real Estate Management, Inc.

Keeping $1350.00 security deposit on rental property that we didn't want to rent. Applied for rental on 10/17. 2 weeks later got a call we were approved. Dropped off check on 11/01 Friday at 4:00 and called on Monday 11/04 at 9:00 to say we didn't want it. On the application there is a clause to keep deposit if we back out. Said I'll get it back or a pro-rated portion if it rents. I was never given a copy of the accepted application or a receipt and after 2 weeks not having a copy of the application I didn't know that they could scam me like this. They said they had taken it off the market but it never left the website or advertisements.Product_Or_Service: Rental home depositOrder_Number: N/AAccount_Number: N/ADesired SettlementMy money back right away.

Tenants vacated our rental home at [redacted] on July 20,2015.[redacted] Hoover from New Valley,our rental agent,ordered some professional cleaning done because the tenants had left it very dirty.My complaint:in making arrangements to have our home cleaned, [redacted] went beyond spending the tenant's deposit and ordered the windows and blinds to be cleaned without my authorization.The first we heard that the tenant's deposit had been depleted was after August 20, a month after tenants moved out.The date on the window and blind cleaning is 8/18/15, (more than enough time for [redacted] to have realized tenant deposit had been spent.Furthermore, the bill New Valley sent me from Beautiful Blinds and Windows, [redacted], was for work done to the property 1500 Circle Dr, not ours. I've corroborated this with the window company. In [redacted]'s haste, she does not realize she is trying to charge me for work done to another property. [redacted] knew that my husband and I were going to our property to do cleaning of our own to get it ready to sell. This was before date of window bill.[redacted] should have told me that the tenant's deposit was gone and then asked me how I wanted to proceed with any other cleaning. We would have cleaned the windows and blinds ourselves in an attempt to save money.Fortunately [redacted] did have the good sense not to go ahead and order work to be done on two broken items in our home, stating, finally and after August 20, that the security deposit was gone. She needed to tell us this fact before she ordered the windows and blinds cleaned. New Valley is conducting business in a very hasty and thoughtless manner, giving little thought to how they spend other people's money.Product_Or_Service: Beautiful Blinds and WindowsDesired SettlementDesiredSetthttp://10.100.14.34/ebindr/images/icons16x/redact-multi.png...⇄ Billing AdjustmentMy husband and I do not wish to pay the window and blind cleaning bill because we did not authorize it and [redacted] did not ask us for authorization to have any work done to our property beyond tenant depletion of security deposit. We believe New Valley Real Estate should take [redacted]'s mistake of ordering this cleaning upon themselves.[redacted] and [redacted] HollerBusiness Response I apologize for the delay in responding to this complaint which has been in my inbox for several days. The management contract which was signed by the complainant (our client), gives our office authority and responsibility to oversee the settlement of the tenant's deposit. Typically when a tenant moves out and leaves a unit damaged, dirty, or with some other deficiency, our office has the authority and responsibility (per the management contract) to correct tenant tenant-caused cleaning, repairs or damages and charge these costs against the tenant's security deposit. We did not exceed our authority. The management contract gives us not only the authority but the responsibility to restore the property to a condition that is at or near the pre-move-in condition. When a tenant moves out, and, if tenant-caused damages or cleaning costs exceeds the tenant deposit, the tenant has 30 Days to reimburse the property owner for cleaning, repairs, or any other "tenant-caused" expenses. If the tenant does not "fund" the deficiency within the required time frame (30 days), we, as part of our services to the owner, either initiate a small claims action against the tenant through the local justice court, or, submit the deficiency to "Collections". In either case the goal is to recoup security deposit deficiencies on behalf of the property owner who is our client. It is extremely difficult to settle a tenant deposit when the property owners choose do the cleaning and/or make repairs themselves. The courts do not allow the property owners to be reimbursed for their time. By utilizing licensed and qualified vendors, the burden of providing "professional workmanship" and charging "competitive professionals costs" for cleaning and repairs lands squarely on the shoulders of the licensed and bonded vendor(s). When owners perform this work themselves and deduct their time and materials from the tenant deposit, these claims for reimbursement can easily be challenged in court. This is why[redacted] ordered the windows and blinds to be "professionally" cleaned. Unfortunately, the Revdex.com complainants (the property owners), in an effort to save money (as they supposed), and to expedite the listing of their property for sale, compromised our ability to hire professional vendors to do the cleaning and to make repairs. Had they let us do our job, we could have levied professional charges against the tenant deposit. Lastly, the property owner's complaint that[redacted] was: "Trying to charge one owner for work that was performed on another owner's property" is absurd. The window cleaning company submitted invoices for two separate properties on the same day. Both properties had the same street number of 1500. This was an honest mistake on[redacted]'s part. [redacted] was NOT trying to charge one owner for work performed on another owner's property. What rational reason would she have for doing so?Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)Excellent! I will assume that New Valley will be true to their word according to paragraphs 2 and 3, charge the tenants for the window and blind cleaning and anything else that may creep in regarding the cleaning and/or painting resulting from the tenant move out, the misuse done to our home, and the decisions (unhindered)[redacted] made in regards to what needed to be cleaned/painted. Even take them to court or use a collection agency if need be. This initially was not obvious to me when I received a call from Barbara from New Valley where she told me that I would need to pay this window and blind cleaning bill because (and she's laughing at this point) we all knew that the tenants weren't going to pay it anyway.I'm hoping that this is the last of this matter.Thank you for the two paragraphs which were encouraging and that renewed my faith in New Valley. Most Sincerely.Final Consumer Response

Failure to follow up on security deposit refund / accounting.Product_Or_Service: Security DepositAccount_Number: Rental: [redacted]Desired SettlementI would like the remaining $200 of my security deposit refunded to me immediately. Business Response I apologize for the delay getting back to you. I have been trying to get more information from our property supervisor so I can compare your pre-move-in documentation of the condition of the property to our documentation when you moved out. I will then compare the two to determine if we settled your deposit correctly or if a mistake had been made. Thank you for your patience. Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)There is no time line given for when this matter will be completely resolved.I will contact the Revdex.com again if I don't hear back by November 14th. New Valley has dragged their feet on this matter for over 60 days.Final Business Response Our maintenance supervisor felt the move-out was fair. After reviewing the file, I totally disagreed. For this reason I appreciated the notification from complainant via Revdex.com (although I,as the property owner, would have preferred a personal call). Please understand that I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of the maintenance department and specifically not involved in tenant move-out settlements. When I received the Revdex.com notice from the complainant, I took immediate action. I disagree that we have "dragged our feet" for 60 days. It has been only 11 days since this complaint was brought to my attention. I immediately began my review of the complainant's file. I saw that an error had been made. The only delay from that moment was to wait until November rents (specifically for the subject rental property) had been received and processed. We had to make sure there were sufficient funds to cover the $200 refund. Final Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)Thank you for re-reviewing the situation. I will await the $200 refund.