Pinnacle, An American Management Services Company

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/07/24) */ [redacted] submitted an online application on July 1, An additional roommate application was submitted on July 2,and another on July 6, The total fees due with the applications were as follows: $non refundable application fees x $Non refundable administration fee $Good Faith Deposit to be credited to security deposit at move in On July 8, the applicants were notified that their application was conditionally approved with an additional $deposit to be paid at move in On July 11,the applicants informed us they wished to cancel their move in Applicants are required to sign a screening consent form which clearly states that all application fees are non refundableThe consent form also clearly states that any good faith deposits will be retained by management as liquidated damages for holding the apartment off the market I have attached a copy of the screening consent form that was signed by the applicants at time of applicationI will be happy to provide any further information that you may need to resolve this issue Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2015/07/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) We will not accept their response for retaining all of our moneyFirst of all Samantha, the leasing specialist said both our Good Faith deposit and administration fee was refundable if we did not want to move forward with signing a lease and moving into the reserved apartmentThis is the very reason why we are disputing this entire processSecond of all, on the day of our apartment showing with Samantha, she had mentioned to us about an enticing offer which is known to them as the Preferred Employer ProgramShe described this offer/program as anyone who works for a Fortune company will get their deposit back on the day of moas well as a discounted price of $deducted off the tenant's first month of rentI myself qualify for this as I am an employee of TargetI have attached an email on July 8th at 9:26a.mstating from Samantha that I have to send in forms before the modate showing that I am an employee of Target to qualify for the Preferred Employer ProgramAnother email attached three hours later on that same day at 12:56p.mstates that they approved our application and told us they wouldn't waive our $deposit and required us to submit an additional $deposit upon our modate based on certain qualifications within the application processAnother attachment states the reasons of why we were forced to pay an additional $deposit which includes the following, limited period of employment history and limited credit historyOnce again Samantha never mentioned anything about this additional deposit occurring during the application process in person and in the first email on July 8th at 9:26a.mThe Preferred Employer Program was then denied as well and I was never given a chance to show my proof of employment with TargetThis is a perfect example of a "bait and switch" tactic submitted in our first complaintShe told us about the Preferred Employer Program and followed through up until July 8th at 9:26a.mand then backed out of that agreement July 8th at 12:56p.mAlso in the attached letter for the additional deposit it says the application did not meet our criteria for approvalSo we did not get approvedSo if that's the case then, we should get our money back according to section of our lease agreement pageAlso, in Section of the lease agreement page states that we will not get our deposit back if we withdraw from our application BEFORE approvalWe withdrew from the application AFTER so called "approval." This lease agreement did not state that we will not get our deposit back AFTER approval if we withdrew from our applicationMost importantly I do not see any attached items of the screening consent forms for all three applicants in their response backAll in all, we still request for a full refund of our money back Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 9, 2015/07/31) */ Please find attached the other screening consent form for the other applicant who applied on line as well as the paper application submitted by the third applicant Section of the application that you have attached and referred to does not state what you have stated aboveThe section states as follows: "You and any co-applicant may not withdraw your application or the application depositIf you or any co-applicant withdraws an application or notifies us that you have changed your mind about renting the dwelling unit, we'll be entitled to retain all application deposits as liquidated damages, and the parties will then have no further obligation to each other." This application was not "denied"As you can see it was approved with conditions requiring an additional deposit of $which is the minimum additional deposit that we requireApplication fees are never refundable, however are waived for our preferred employersIf Mr [redacted] can provide the documentation he is a Target employee, we will gladly refund his $application fee Our Preferred Employer Program offers a waived application fee, waived security deposit OAC and $off the first month's rentApplicants who come back with 100% approval will have the security deposit waivedApplicants who come back as a conditional approval do not qualify to have the security deposit waivedAll Preferred Employers will have the application fee waived for the qualifying applicant only as well as receive $off their first month's rent at move in As stated above, we will gladly refund the $application fee for Mr [redacted] once he has provided documentation of being a qualified Preferred EmployerHowever, per all the signed documentation provided, the non refundable admin fee and the good faith deposit are not refundable At this time none of these fees have actually been paid as there is an outstanding credit card dispute for the charges that are owed to Vicksburg Village The application fee can not be refunded until this dispute is resolved Thank you! Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (3000, 11, 2015/08/10) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) We want all of our money back except for the application feeYour leasing specialist, Samantha LIED and MISLEAD us the entire time we had to talk to her about what we need to do and what we don't need to do as far as moving forward with this apartment processCountless times I've had to call her back and ask her several questions such as why we had to pay a deposit, admin fee along with application fees upon the application processI called and asked her if we would we get our deposit and admin fee back if we decided to not move forward and sign a lease with Vicksburg Village and she said YESWe would have never moved forward with getting this apartment if we knew that we wouldn't get our deposit and admin fee back if we didn't sign a leaseThis is part of the reason why we are disputing this whole ordeal about Vicksburg Village right now through the Revdex.comOn top of all of this, your leasing specialist never told us about what would happen with the whole application approval where if we got approved we would have to pay an extra deposit because of a short employment history, low credit rating, and limited rental historyI have never heard of that and we were never given the heads up in the first place about that which is what you pay your leasing specialist to do, inform your future tenants on EVERYTHING they have to do to move forward with signing a lease not vaguely inform them about the bare minimum that needs to get done and then surprise them by forcing them to put up more money upon signing a leasePlus upon filling out the application, we could only fill in one place of employment on that applicationIf we were able to, we would have filled out every place that we have worked at on that applicationThe same goes for our rental historyWe would have filled out previous times where we have rentedThe application said where do you currently live right now and do you rent? None of us currently rent anywhere and if were given the opportunity on our application, we would have filled out every place that we have rented beforeThis is such bad business practicing and your previous response isn't enough to justify why you guys can't give us back our money

I am rejecting this response because:While the boilers were fixed, eliminating the hot water issue, that doesn't change the fact that residents of at least one building went without hot water for quite sometime I heard from other resident's that the solution offered by the office was, "jut call maintenance and they'll flip the switch and then the boiler will come back on" That was not a good solution for people who have jobs to get to and would like to take a WARM shower beforehand My inquiries were over and over again met with, "yeah, we know, we're working on it" Never an apology, no real sense of urgency, and no attempt to appease the residents More of a, "it's not my problem" attitude This is just an example of the way, it appears, Pinnacle chooses to treat its residents So, I was not surprised by the response to my Revdex.com complaint Again, no apology, no attempt to address or resolve my issue, just more of "it's not my problem".I have requested, from Melissa, on more than one occasion, the initial communication that was sent to residents regarding the implementation of parking regulations I believe that this was in June It was NOT a reminder in a newsletter format email, but rather a notification, posted on resident's doors, that addressed ONLY parking regulations I have yet to receive that communication and was told that since it was sent by the previous staff, they have no record of it I find that hard to believe.My concern with the parking regulations is that there are THREE spots designated for guests in an area that services hundreds of residents In the initial communication (which I have requested), it stated that vehicles with permits were not allowed to park in GUEST ONLY parking spots, as those are reserved for guests The day that my guest was towed, at least one of those three spots was occupied by a resident's vehicle with a parking permit Since that date, I have inspected the two lots closest to my building, one of which includes the GUEST ONLY spots, and have found EVERY TIME, at least one and sometimes two of the GUEST ONLY spots occupied by resident vehicles (many times, repeat offenders) See the attached files as examples of the evidence that I have sent to Melissa this week Meanwhile, my guest has to park blocks away and trudge though unattended, snow covered sidewalks I have also requested to see the contract between PRS and River South, but have not heard back about that either If the tow company is going to enforce the parking regulations, then ALL of the posted regulations should be enforced, including residents parking in the GUEST ONLY spots, not just a random vehicle every now and then I have requested (via email as well as in person in the office yesterday afternoon) a Guest Parking Pass that I have seen in other vehicles parked in the lots and have not heard back from Melissa If residents are continually allowed to use the guest parking spots, then my guest should be able to use one of the permit spots It's disappointing that offering me a guest parking pass was never an option to resolve this issue In fact, I didn't even know they existed until I spotted one during my lot inspection earlier this week The staff should have some conflict resolution skills to make their residents happy.As for the opportunity for Melissa to address outstanding issues, I currently have a maintenance request with the office I have made the same request repeatedly and it hasn't been addressed I should not have to make yet another request for the same problem If the office would like to resolve the outstanding issue, then they should be able to figure out what that issue is

The resident in # [redacted] moved out over the weekend and left the keys in her apartment on the evening of Friday 12/29/Our maintenance technician, Daniel, received a call from the neighbor below, [redacted] , and she said that water was pouring into her living room from aboveWhen Daniel reached the apartment he noticed the window was open and the pipe underneath the window had burst along with the kitchen sink faucet and the toilet crackedThe temperature for that weekend is listed below: 12/29/2018: high/-low 12/30/2018: -high/-low 12/31/2018: -high/-low We determined that the deposit could not be returned due to the damage in her apartment and to the unit belowThe resident was still responsible for the unit through the end of December

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 11, 2015/07/27) */ The figures stated in the first sentence of the Case Description are accurate with what was listed on the resident's Statement of Deposit SummaryOn 4/23/the resident stated they were looking to move out as they were very unhappy with the property and the property agreed to mutually terminate the lease with a proper day noticeTherefore making the official end date 6/22/No other additional fees were assessed for ending the lease early as the resident was having issues with their neighbors (normally $2,break fee)As stated in the lease residents are to be responsible for utilities the entire time they are responsible for the home The charges or invoices that the residents receive from [redacted] are billed approximately months in arrearsSo at the time of move out there was approximately months worth of utility bills as stated under the Cycle Dates on the final [redacted] bill that the former resident received with their Statement of DepositThis final bill did also include electricity charges as it appears the electricity was not in their name at that time [redacted] does charge a vacant utility fee when electricity is not in the resident's name and someone is to be responsible for the utilityAs a sign of good faith, the property has readjusted the final statement and credited back the $vacant utility chargeAll other charges on the [redacted] Final Bill are accurate In terms of the $late fee, this was charged as no money was received for the month of JuneThe property will resend the former resident a statement shoing the $vacant utility charge has been removed

I am rejecting this response because:
I did not hear anything about this incident until January 25th, at 4:pmOnly after I had contacted the management office times, on the 24th and 25th (clearly after the day time period); the second time stating they were beyond the days required by Minnesota StatuteIt was only after this that I first heard about this incident. I did not leave the window open. If this incident occurred while the apartment was still my responsibility, I emailed the complex on January 2nd and received a response on the 3rd and nowhere in there was I told about the incident. Nothing regarding this incident was added to my ledger until 1/24/18, the day I first contacted management regarding my deposit. Also according to the statute, I am entitled to times my deposit amount, plus interest. If I was to pursue this in court, in addition to the times rent and interest, I am able to ask for up to $in punitive damages. All I want is my security deposit backThere are errors in their response as to the dates and also the name of the neighbor below (which they state was me). If I was responsible for the unit until noon on December 31st, 2017, I have yet to hear WHEN this incident occurred and to see photos of the damageThe previous maintenance person had informed us on numerous occasions that the pipes were so old and so bad in this complex and that is why they always encountered so many issues. He said that the piping had been redone times alreadyI DID NOT LEAVE THE WINDOW OPENMove out statementMy emails to “East Side” dated 1/2/with response from “East Side” of 1/3/with reference to my rent, no mention of any damage or incidentMy emails to “East Side” of 1/24/and 1/25/

The complaints regarding no hot water was a boiler issueThe boiler system was fully replaced in the beginning of No said complaints of hot water issues have been submitted since the replacement took place***'s renewal lease rate was adjusted to reflect just a $increase in light
of the issues experienced regarding the hot water issues(Average increases are 5-7%) Due to limited parking and numerous complaints, the previous manager implemented permit parking in October Residents were notified of the new policy and everyone was instructed to retrieve permits from the officeThere was no follow through until June when Melissa became manager of the property. Melissa personally sent multiple notices to all residents residing at River South that our lots were permit parking only and violators would be towed at owners expenseAgain, instructing every resident to retrieve a permit if they haven't alreadyIn each notice Melissa specified where additional visitor parking is located on the propertyThere is also a sign posted at the entrance of the property that states "Permit Parking Only." It is the residents responsibility to inform their visitors on where to parkThey sign a form stating the specifics of this policy when they retrieve their permit from the officePRS is contracted to patrol the lotsThey have managements permission to tow any vehicles that are abandoned, unregistered, vehicles parked in no parking areas or vehicles parked in handicap marked stalls without displaying a handicap licenseThis policy is in place to ensure our residents have ample parkingThere is a full lot for visitor parking at the north end of the lot in addition to the visitor stalls located throughout the property. When Melissa became aware that *** was having maintenance issues in her home that were not reported specifically to her since she had been on site, she urged *** to let her address the issues. *** still has not given Melissa any specific issues that need to be addressedSince Melissa has been onsite at River South (since June 2016) the average turn around time on service requests is 48-hoursMelissa would like to address any outstanding issues in this unit as soon as possible, but has not been given the opportunity

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/29) */
We are unable to find a *** in our archived databaseWas he living with someone else?

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 11, 2015/07/27) */
The figures stated in the first sentence of the Case Description are accurate with what was listed on the resident's Statement of Deposit Summary. On 4/23/15 the resident stated they were looking to move out as they were very unhappy with the...

property and the property agreed to mutually terminate the lease with a proper 60 day notice. Therefore making the official end date 6/22/15. No other additional fees were assessed for ending the lease early as the resident was having issues with their neighbors (normally $2,000 break fee). As stated in the lease residents are to be responsible for utilities the entire time they are responsible for the home.
The charges or invoices that the residents receive from [redacted] are billed approximately 2 months in arrears. So at the time of move out there was approximately 2 months worth of utility bills as stated under the Cycle Dates on the final [redacted] bill that the former resident received with their Statement of Deposit. This final bill did also include electricity charges as it appears the electricity was not in their name at that time. [redacted] does charge a vacant utility fee when electricity is not in the resident's name and someone is to be responsible for the utility. As a sign of good faith, the property has readjusted the final statement and credited back the $50 vacant utility charge. All other charges on the [redacted] Final Bill are accurate.
In terms of the $60.60 late fee, this was charged as no money was received for the month of June. The property will resend the former resident a statement shoing the $50 vacant utility charge has been removed.

First of all, we would like to apologize for the delayed refund to the resident. [redacted](previous resident at Southwind Village) moved out end of April and notified the leasing office that she made online rent payment for month of May and she's expecting a refund since the apartment is...

re-rented and a new resident moved in the same unit. The refund process started late and needed approvals before accounting department cut a refund check. Again we apologize for the delay.  -Barzan [redacted], Southwind Village Property Manager We have confirmed with [redacted] that she received the refund.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/24) */
[redacted] submitted an online application on July 1, 2015. An additional roommate application was submitted on July 2,2015 and another on July 6, 2015. The total fees due with the applications were as follows:
$45 non refundable application...

fees x 3
$175 Non refundable administration fee
$300 Good Faith Deposit to be credited to security deposit at move in
On July 8, 2015 the applicants were notified that their application was conditionally approved with an additional $300 deposit to be paid at move in.
On July 11,2015 the applicants informed us they wished to cancel their move in.
Applicants are required to sign a screening consent form which clearly states that all application fees are non refundable. The consent form also clearly states that any good faith deposits will be retained by management as liquidated damages for holding the apartment off the market.
I have attached a copy of the screening consent form that was signed by the applicants at time of application. I will be happy to provide any further information that you may need to resolve this issue.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/07/30) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
We will not accept their response for retaining all of our money. First of all Samantha, the leasing specialist said both our Good Faith deposit and administration fee was refundable if we did not want to move forward with signing a lease and moving into the reserved apartment. This is the very reason why we are disputing this entire process. Second of all, on the day of our apartment showing with Samantha, she had mentioned to us about an enticing offer which is known to them as the Preferred Employer Program. She described this offer/program as anyone who works for a Fortune 500 company will get their deposit back on the day of move-in as well as a discounted price of $200 deducted off the tenant's first month of rent. I myself qualify for this as I am an employee of Target. I have attached an email on July 8th at 9:26a.m. stating from Samantha that I have to send in forms before the move-in date showing that I am an employee of Target to qualify for the Preferred Employer Program. Another email attached three hours later on that same day at 12:56p.m. states that they approved our application and told us they wouldn't waive our $300 deposit and required us to submit an additional $300 deposit upon our move-in date based on certain qualifications within the application process. Another attachment states the reasons of why we were forced to pay an additional $300 deposit which includes the following, limited period of employment history and limited credit history. Once again Samantha never mentioned anything about this additional deposit occurring during the application process in person and in the first email on July 8th at 9:26a.m. The Preferred Employer Program was then denied as well and I was never given a chance to show my proof of employment with Target. This is a perfect example of a "bait and switch" tactic submitted in our first complaint. She told us about the Preferred Employer Program and followed through up until July 8th at 9:26a.m. and then backed out of that agreement July 8th at 12:56p.m. Also in the attached letter for the additional deposit it says the application did not meet our criteria for normal approval. So we did not get approved. So if that's the case then, we should get our money back according to section 10 of our lease agreement page. Also, in Section 7 of the lease agreement page states that we will not get our deposit back if we withdraw from our application BEFORE approval. We withdrew from the application AFTER so called "approval." This lease agreement did not state that we will not get our deposit back AFTER approval if we withdrew from our application. Most importantly I do not see any attached items of the screening consent forms for all three applicants in their response back. All in all, we still request for a full refund of our money back.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/07/31) */
Please find attached the other screening consent form for the other applicant who applied on line as well as the paper application submitted by the third applicant.
Section 7 of the application that you have attached and referred to does not state what you have stated above. The section states as follows:
"You and any co-applicant may not withdraw your application or the application deposit. If you or any co-applicant withdraws an application or notifies us that you have changed your mind about renting the dwelling unit, we'll be entitled to retain all application deposits as liquidated damages, and the parties will then have no further obligation to each other."
This application was not "denied". As you can see it was approved with conditions requiring an additional deposit of $300 which is the minimum additional deposit that we require. Application fees are never refundable, however are waived for our preferred employers. If Mr. [redacted] can provide the documentation he is a Target employee, we will gladly refund his $45 application fee.
Our Preferred Employer Program offers a waived application fee, waived security deposit OAC and $200 off the first month's rent. Applicants who come back with 100% approval will have the security deposit waived. Applicants who come back as a conditional approval do not qualify to have the security deposit waived. All Preferred Employers will have the application fee waived for the qualifying applicant only as well as receive $200 off their first month's rent at move in.
As stated above, we will gladly refund the $45 application fee for Mr. [redacted] once he has provided documentation of being a qualified Preferred Employer. However, per all the signed documentation provided, the non refundable admin fee and the good faith deposit are not refundable.
At this time none of these fees have actually been paid as there is an outstanding credit card dispute for the charges that are owed to Vicksburg Village.
The application fee can not be refunded until this dispute is resolved.
Thank you!
Final Consumer Response /* (3000, 11, 2015/08/10) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
We want all of our money back except for the application fee. Your leasing specialist, Samantha LIED and MISLEAD us the entire time we had to talk to her about what we need to do and what we don't need to do as far as moving forward with this apartment process. Countless times I've had to call her back and ask her several questions such as why we had to pay a deposit, admin fee along with application fees upon the application process. I called and asked her if we would we get our deposit and admin fee back if we decided to not move forward and sign a lease with Vicksburg Village and she said YES. We would have never moved forward with getting this apartment if we knew that we wouldn't get our deposit and admin fee back if we didn't sign a lease. This is part of the reason why we are disputing this whole ordeal about Vicksburg Village right now through the Revdex.com. On top of all of this, your leasing specialist never told us about what would happen with the whole application approval where if we got approved we would have to pay an extra deposit because of a short employment history, low credit rating, and limited rental history. I have never heard of that and we were never given the heads up in the first place about that which is what you pay your leasing specialist to do, inform your future tenants on EVERYTHING they have to do to move forward with signing a lease not vaguely inform them about the bare minimum that needs to get done and then surprise them by forcing them to put up more money upon signing a lease. Plus upon filling out the application, we could only fill in one place of employment on that application. If we were able to, we would have filled out every place that we have worked at on that application. The same goes for our rental history. We would have filled out previous times where we have rented. The application said where do you currently live right now and do you rent? None of us currently rent anywhere and if were given the opportunity on our application, we would have filled out every place that we have rented before. This is such bad business practicing and your previous response isn't enough to justify why you guys can't give us back our money.

I am rejecting this response because:While the boilers were fixed, eliminating the hot water issue, that doesn't change the fact that residents of at least one building went without hot water for quite sometime.  I heard from other resident's that the solution offered by the office was, "jut call maintenance and they'll flip the switch and then the boiler will come back on".  That was not a good solution for people who have jobs to get to and would like to take a WARM shower beforehand.  My inquiries were over and over again met with, "yeah, we know, we're working on it".  Never an apology, no real sense of urgency, and no attempt to appease the residents.  More of a, "it's not my problem" attitude.  This is just an example of the way, it appears, Pinnacle chooses to treat its residents.  So, I was not surprised by the response to my Revdex.com complaint.  Again, no apology, no attempt to address or resolve my issue, just more of "it's not my problem".I have requested, from Melissa, on more than one occasion, the initial communication that was sent to residents regarding the implementation of parking regulations.  I believe that this was in June 2016.  It was NOT a reminder in a newsletter format email, but rather a notification, posted on resident's doors, that addressed ONLY parking regulations.  I have yet to receive that communication and was told that since it was sent by the previous staff, they have no record of it.  I find that hard to believe.My concern with the parking regulations is that there are THREE spots designated for guests in an area that services hundreds of residents.  In the initial communication (which I have requested), it stated that vehicles with permits were not allowed to park in GUEST ONLY parking spots, as those are reserved for guests.  The day that my guest was towed, at least one of those three spots was occupied by a resident's vehicle with a parking permit.  Since that date, I have inspected the two lots closest to my building, one of which includes the GUEST ONLY spots, and have found EVERY TIME, at least one and sometimes two of the GUEST ONLY spots occupied by resident vehicles (many times, repeat offenders).  See the attached files as examples of the evidence that I have sent to Melissa this week.  Meanwhile, my guest has to park blocks away and trudge though unattended, snow covered sidewalks.  I have also requested to see the contract between PRS and River South, but have not heard back about that either.  If the tow company is going to enforce the parking regulations, then ALL of the posted regulations should be enforced, including residents parking in the GUEST ONLY spots, not just a random vehicle every now and then.  I have requested (via email as well as in person in the office yesterday afternoon) a Guest Parking Pass that I have seen in other vehicles parked in the lots and have not heard back from Melissa.  If residents are continually allowed to use the guest parking spots, then my guest should be able to use one of the permit spots.  It's disappointing that offering me a guest parking pass was never an option to resolve this issue.  In fact, I didn't even know they existed until I spotted one during my lot inspection earlier this week.  The staff should have some conflict resolution skills to make their residents happy.As for the opportunity for Melissa to address outstanding issues, I currently have a maintenance request with the office.  I have made the same request repeatedly and it hasn't been addressed.  I should not have to make yet another request for the same problem.  If the office would like to resolve the outstanding issue, then they should be able to figure out what that issue is.

The resident in #[redacted] moved out over the weekend and left the keys in her apartment on the evening of Friday 12/29/2018. Our maintenance technician, Daniel, received a call from the neighbor below, [redacted], and she said that water was pouring into her living room from above. When Daniel...

reached the apartment he noticed the window was open and the pipe underneath the window had burst along with the kitchen sink faucet and the toilet cracked. The temperature for that weekend is listed below: 12/29/2018: 8 high/-5 low 12/30/2018: -5 high/-14 low 12/31/2018: -5 high/-16 low   We determined that the deposit could not be returned due to the damage in her apartment and to the unit below. The resident was still responsible for the unit through the end of December.