Nielsen Property Managers, Inc.

Review: Called several times and they did not pick up. Took time off on Monday 4/25 to come to the office and pick up keys to view properties. Viewed three properties and as we were attempting to drop off the keys there was a current tenant with a complaint in. She was being stalked and had to leave her apartment and was requesting to break the lease in order to protect her safety. The young blonde woman's response to her very sensitive situation said look I'm gone as of Friday so you'll have to take it up with the manager when she's in tomorrow. Was so insensitive that the tenants mother was livid and asked for the receptionist to be sensitive and at least say she understands. That should have been a red flag for me however they manage most of the properties in midtown and we're looking for a place. After deciding my gf and I applied that same night for a property two doors down from the office. We did not hear back for two days. Left several voicemails and emailed. My gf again left work early to go down to the office and she was told very publicly that they had called me and confirmed that the person that picked up was [redacted] and the person said they never applied. No one ever called me. She then ran my gf credit on the spot and said she was denied anyway because she owed $300 to a previous tenant serval years back. Again no sensitivity to her privacy as people were in the office and flat out lied about calling me. I came in today 4/28 because according to the receptionist she ran my credit, which upset me. I came in they said they never ran it and again very publicly with others in the office said it didn't even matter because my gf was denied anyway. I said It did matter because we waited and never got a call and now I only had two days to find a place. Again no sensitivity. I felt humiliated.Desired Settlement: I feel like I am one owed an apology and two that they respect people's privacy. This place should not be in business.

Consumer

Response:

I would like my application fee refunded in full. I was charged $60 for both our applications and not refunded. I am now essentially homeless waiting to find an apartment as I had to move out of mine all because I waited 3 days for Nielsen not to do their job.

Business

Response:

Good morning. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention, the leasing agent you are referring to stop working for our company on 4/29/2016 and we apologize for her lack of sensitivity and professionalism. Let's address each complaint separately: 1) Your complaint: "Called several times and they did not pick up. Took time off on Monday 4/25 to come to the office and pick up keys to view properties". Our office is really busy, majority of the time there are multiple phone calls coming in and when all the lines are being used, it will be impossible to answer everybody. We manage close to 1700 apartments and we try our best to answer the phones and get back to everybody but unfortunately we may not be able to do so. We do not show units personally and everyone has to come into our office to pick up the keys to view the units and the instructions are listed in our website, so that interested parties can view our procedures. 2) Your complaint: "Viewed three properties and as we were attempting to drop off the keys there was a current tenant with a complaint in. She was being stalked and had to leave her apartment and was requesting to break the lease in order to protect her safety. The young blonde woman's response to her very sensitive situation said look I'm gone as of Friday so you'll have to take it up with the manager when she's in tomorrow. Was so insensitive that the tenants mother was livid and asked for the receptionist to be sensitive and at least say she understands. That should have been a red flag for me however they manage most of the properties in midtown and we're looking for a place. From what our understanding is of the situation with the resident you are referring to, she was not being stalked, in fact the other resident she was accusing of stalking her happened to be drunk the night of the incident and was walking throughout the building singing the [redacted] banging on walls & just beingobnoxious, no one else in the building placed a complaint against the tenant nor did they file a police report against him. We reached out to the problematic resident and advised him that it is not acceptable behavior to go around the building drunk & singing aloud. He might be filing a complaint against her for defamation of character as he was not stalking her, he was just drunk that night. Before the complaining resident came into our office she had left messages for three people in our office requesting to be let out of her lease because she felt unsafe, we advised her that we needed to receive authorization from the owner before we could approve it and requested her to bring her police report so that we could forward it to the owner. This kind of situations are never easy for anyone, the leasing agent should have been more sensitive to her and unfortunately that did not happen. Please know we were trying to assist her and the owner did in fact agreed to release her of her obligation to fulfill her lease agreement and she has since moved out of the unit. 3) Your complaint: "After deciding my gf and I applied that same night for a property two doors down from the office. We did not hear back for two days. Left several voicemails and emailed. My gf again left work early to go down to the office and she was told very publicly that they had called me and confirmed that the person that picked up was [redacted] and the person said they never applied. No one ever called me. She then ran my gf credit on the spot and said she was denied anyway because she owed $300 to a previous tenant serval years back. Again no sensitivity to her privacy as people were in the office and flat out lied about calling me. I came in today 4/28 because according to the receptionist she ran my credit, which upset me. I came in they said they never ran it and again very publicly with others in the office said it didn't even matter because my gf was denied anyway. I said It did matter because we waited and never got a call and now I only had two days to find a place. Again no sensitivity. I felt humiliated." According to the records left by the previous leasing agent, the phone number provided in the online application was incorrect and therefore she ended up calling the wrong person thinking she was reaching [redacted] and the person who answered the phone told her he was not interested in an apartment in Sacramento and hanged up on her so she could not discuss it with him any further or know it was the wrong person. A couple of days later the co-applicant came into our office and after straighten out that the phone number was incorrect, she told the co-applicant that she will process the applications right away and after running the co-applicant credit, her credit report showed she has an apartment collection and per our company policies, that is an immediate denial. The leasing agent gave the co-applicant a copy of her credit report for her review and the co-applicant asked to go over it as she sat in the front office with other people around & did not ask to discuss it in private. Since the co-applicant did not request to discuss it in private, the leasing agent proceeded to go over the reasons for the denial. The leasing agent reimbursed both of their application fees at that time, since they were paid with a credit card, the reimbursement will show up on their credit card statement, it generally takes up to 10 business days for the refund. Our apologies for the inconvenience and frustration and if you do not see the application credit refund in your credit card statement by 5/15/2016, please let us know and we will contact [redacted] immediately to follow up and get resolution. Sincerely. [redacted]

Review: These people seem to keep a big portion of my security deposit for unnecessary "cleaning & damages" fees. I have rented at many different places throughout north sacramento, and I have never been charged with so much money for "damages" like Nielsen Property has charged.. I have kept my receipts of "itemized damages" from all my previous stays at different apartment complexes, and I compared them to Nielsens. What I found is that my previous landlords have never charged more than $150 for cleaning & damage fees. Keep in mind, that these are all TWO bedroom apartments.. So now that I have downgraded to a ONE bedroom apartment with Nielsen Property Managers, they have managed to charge me $295 for "cleaning" and "damage" fees! Unbelievable! Im paying TWICE as much money as I ever have, for an older apartment complex with less square footage! I gave them the benfit of the doubt that maybe im paying more money because of my downtown location.. So I let this issue slide and continued to rent with them. When my lease was over from my one bedroom, I once again downgraded to a studio apartment and rented through Nielsen Property Managers.. When I moved out and recieved my itemized list of "damages", I was dumbfounded. I compared my one bedroom receipt from Nielen Property to my studio receipt. They charged me $120 for painting and $125 for "heavy cleaning" at my one bedroom apartment; a total of $295 with "other fees"! For my studio apartment, they managed to charge $150 for "heavy cleaning" and $85 for painting, a total cost of $235! It doesnt make sense that they have charged me MORE money to "clean" a studio apartment with a significant amount of less square footage! Im also upset that they charged me alot of money for "painting" because I didnt damage their walls. If anything, they only had to do a few touch ups. I think they overcharge for everything. Or maybe they give tenants receipts with false "damages" in order to pocket security deposit money. These people are ridiculous. I want my money backDesired Settlement: I would like my security deposits back. $305 to be exact. This money includes all the unnecessary fees that they have charged me for between my stays on their two different properties; the one bedroom and the studio apartment. I would be even more thrilled if I could obtain my FULL security deposits back (a total of $800) for stealing and lying to people like me. Never have I been charged soo much money for "damages". They should be ashamed.

Business

Response:

To Whom It May Concern.

Review: the bathroom window on my apartment unit is the only type of ventilation for the moisture in that room without allowing it into the remainder of the studio unit. The window has been broken for the last calendar year and 5 month, and the property management company has not fixed it. the reason that this is such a significant issue is because without a properly working window, the moisture breeds mold very very fast and requires scrubbing with bleach. If the mold is not scrubbed at such a frequency, then it starts to darken and grow under the paint. Mold is an unsuitable living condition and I have allergies to it. I have been calling about this matter for over a year now and the issue is still unfixed. About 2 months ago, someone was sent to look at the window and it was diagnosed that the window and metal casing on the glass was to small for the window frame to hold and it wasn't the proper window for the frame. The gentleman diagnosed that a whole new window was needed and that he would place an order. The order was never placed. the representative wend back a filed with neilsen that the issue was fixed and was paid out. The property management has failed an every account to return my continued calls until the Revdex.com was mentioned in my voice messages. Last week a new representative was sent and was supposed to return today (3/15/16) and when I called him, he didnt seem to care and brushed me off with an excuse that he was busy. I have told Neilsen Managers they need to move me to another unit or fix the window. this issue has been here since I moved in on October 17, 2014.Desired Settlement: Fix it immediately or move me to a new Unit Immediately.

Business

Response:

Good morning.We checked Mr. [redacted] file and there is no indication in his move in paperwork that the window was not in working condition when he moved in on October 2014. Our maintenance department advised that the window problem was not reported to our company until November 5th 2015, they immediately sent a work order to [redacted]s to go and assess the window situation, they advised that the window was fixed, an invoice was sent to our office and we paid them for the service. Mr. [redacted] contacted us on 3/4/16 to report that the window was still not working and notified us that [redacted]s did not fix the window in November of 2015. Our maintenance department hired another company, [redacted]s to go and assess the window and we requested them to complete the work by 3/7/16. Unfortunately, they advised that something came up and they could not get to it by that date and confirmed that they fixed the window on 3/16/2016. [redacted] at [redacted]s was at the property yesterday afternoon and fixed the window, he advised that the window it's a [redacted] model and that the parts have worn out but that he replaced them and the window is now working fine, that there was no need to replace the window as only the opening mechanism was worn out. We rely in the expert opinion of the vendors that are hired to complete the work and that is the reason why the window was not replaced and only fixed. If the window does not work properly, please notify us and we will send a different vendor to assess it. Thank you and have a nice day.[redacted]General Manager

Consumer

Response:

I I'm rejecting because I had called the business many times over the year and 5 month period and failed to receive calls back even when messages were left with then. The member [redacted] from glass pros came out and DID NOT FIX THE WINDOW on that date. And he failed to meet the scheduled fix date . This item was not written in my move in inspection but was told to the front desk member of the business over the phone and I was told that it would be added to the file.

Business

Response:

Good afternoon.When you reported the issue you gave our maintenance team permission to enter, that is why they went out and fixed it without setting an appointment with you. Attached is a copy of the work order. You also left me a voice message indicating you granted us permission to enter. Our apologies if this was not the case.Have a nice day.[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

The permission to enter was weeks before the issue was scouted nor was any call returned from my voicemail. And I had istructed the maintenence person to schedule a date where I would be present due to the untimely resolution of this issue but your company.

Review: We are being asked to pay for complete replacement costs of carpet when legally the rental agency is only allowed to charge for remaining useful life.

We rented [redacted] Way, [redacted] from January 2010 to June 2013. We were the first tenants in a previously empty half-plex that was built in 2005. After we moved out, the agency charged us $1000 towards replacement cost of the carpet in 2 rooms which they claim cannot be cleaned.

In reviewing the tenant rights http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/catenant.pdf

document, legally the agency is only able to charge for remaining normal useful life of the carpet. The agency claims the total useful life is 8 years and that the carpet was laid in 2009 (even though the home was built in 2005 and did not have previous occupants).

The agency and owner are unable to provide proof that that the carpet was indeed laid in 2009.

If the carpet was laid in 2005 and had a life of 8 years, we are not responsible for any charges as the carpet's normal life time was completed in 2013.

If they are able to provide proof that the carpet was laid in 2009, the remaining normal life will be 4 out of 8 years and we are willing to pay that amount (4/8 or 50% of replacement charges).Desired Settlement: The charge of $ 1000 is arbitrary and we will need further clarification as stated above.

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response

Contact Name and Title: [redacted]-General

Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX x 209

Contact Email: [redacted]@nielsenproperty.com

According to the owner of the property in question, she purchased the land in 2005 and decided to build a duplex. Her side of the property was completed first and the other half later. The side where the residents lived was not completed until late in 2009.

The residents moved in on 2/1/2010 and moved out on 7/5/2013. Upon moving out, the property was not left in good condition, it was dirty, personal belongings were left behind, and the carpets in the master bedroom and living room were incredibly dirty/stained that they could not be cleaned. The owner tried to clean them twice but they were not salvageable (we received a letter from the carpet cleaning company indicating this and we'll be happy to provide you with a copy of it).

Since the carpets were brand new when the residents moved in, and they had a life of 8 yrs, and they were damaged by the residents, they are responsible for the damages. All the information was sent to them with a clear explanation of the break down of the charges for the carpet. We will be happy to provide copies of all the documentation collected and provided to the residents, and also show all the pictures taken of the damages and the condition that the property was left.

Consumer's Final Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

We cannot accept the fact that the carpet was laid in 2009. Th ehouse records indicate that the house was built in 2005 and we we the first occupants in 2010.

If the carpet were laid in 2005, it has completed its normal useful life in 2013. Therefore we cannot be penalized for the normal end of life of the carpet.

Revdex.com needs to advise on how to proceed.

Business' Final Response

The owner of the property does not have the original invoice for the original carpet installation therefore no proof can be provided to the past resident. The resident has been notified of this issue and continues to insist on proof and therefore this matter cannot be settled.

The carpet was brand new when they moved in, it even had plastic covering it while it was shown to potential residents, therefore any damages caused by the past resident are his to cover.

According to the owner's lawyer, since the carpet was never utilized before the past residents moved in, its life expectancy began upon their move in date of 2/1/2010. Therefore, it is irrelevant the actual date of installation.

The past residents were charged fairly for the damages caused to the living room and master bedroom carpets (we have pictures on file to prove it & the owner of the property still has the carpets at her house as evidence). The total cost of the carpet replacement was $2,365.00, and the prorated portion of the residents damages is $1,182.24. However, the owner of the property decided to leave the charges as $1,000.00 which was the amount indicated in their estimated closing statement and not charge them for the difference.

At this point, there is nothing else that Nielsen Property Managers can do to resolve this issue, the owner of the property does not have the original receipt of the carpet installation and the past residents insists in getting one. If the Revdex.com has a suggestion, please let us know.

Review: First of all, Nielsen Property Managers' employees treat you as though you were a problem. I called today (Aug 13) to find out what would be the proper method of terminating my lease (how much notice I had to give) as I had not received a call back from their office last Friday (Aug 8) when I left a message. Instead of being helpful and figuring out a way to assist me in verifying or simply acknowledging that they had delayed in getting back to me so I would not be charged more than necessary on the month-to-month lease basis...she jumped down my throat with, "Well I never got the message. You didn't leave it on this line. I'd have to verify you left the message with every single person here and if it's there then we'll consider back-dating your rent, but it's company policy to have it in writing, so you need to come down and put the notice in writing, and it's 30 days from when you do that." Basically, they are saying that they don't take their customers seriously, they defend company policy as if it were their own dog being bullied, and that their policies are written to complicate the customer's experience and make it more difficult to get away from them than necessary. They are also unwilling to compromise on just a few days of rent in order to facilitate a smooth transition. All of this could have been avoided if the employee would have been a little sympathetic and tried to work with me. If the answer was still the same, then at least she tried, but as is, it feels like the employees take everything personally and become antagonistic when it seems you're leaving or not wanting to give them all the money they feel they have "earned."HEALTH ISSUE::::::If that weren't enough, I have a LIGHT SWITCH IN MY SHOWER. I don't mean just next to my shower...it's IN the shower. I have to block it with the shower curtain in order to prevent it from getting wet. Not to mention, they don't repair anything except to paint over it with a thick layer of paint.Desired Settlement: I would very much like to terminate my lease as of the End of August, as when I called them on the 8th, I intended to move out on the 28th. I've already paid through August, so I don't want to pay any extra fees for the few days following. My belongings will all be out of the apartment by the morning of the 29th (movers coming in the afternoon 28th). Also, my deposit must be returned, especially considering I've lived with that health hazard for 6 months.

Business

Response:

Good afternoon Mr. [redacted].

Review: I believe $127.50 was inappropriately deducted from my security deposit after I vacated my apartment at [redacted]. Prior to moving out, I spent at least 8 hours cleaning the unit and completed a pre-moveout inspection with a Nielsen Properties employee. She told me that the carpet and walls looked good and she never mentioned I would be charged a carpet cleaning fee. She asked me to dust the blinds, clean the air filters and clean under the stove. I did everything she requested was still charged a $65 carpet steam cleaning fee, a $62.50 full cleaning fee, and $108 for the blinds, none of which was indicated to me during the inspection. I have been a renter in various Davis and Sacramento units for the past ten years and I have never had a cleaning fee deducted from my security deposit before.Desired Settlement: I would at least like the cleaning and carpet steam cleaning fees at $127.50 returned as I found those charges completely inappropriate. I concede that some of the blinds were damaged and I agree to pay the $108 replacement fee.

Business

Response:

Good afternoon Ms. [redacted].