I received your letter regarding Mr. and Mrs. [redacted]’s security deposit. This is my response.The [redacted]s are a young married couple who rented from us at [redacted] from 10/26/13 to 2/9/16. He is a corrections officer and she is a full time home maker with two young children....
They paid their rent on time and got along well with their neighbors.On Saturday 2/6/16 I met [redacted] to do a walk through on his unit. The unit had not been cleaned and I asked why we were doing an inspection before it was clean. [redacted] explained there had been a scheduling problem but that it would be professionally cleaned and he would have the keys dropped off after. I should have done a thorough inspection for damages at that time but I did not. [redacted] and I looked at the backyard and he said he would be finished with it before he left.Upon their moving out there was substantial work required to return the unit to its original condition and get it ready to rent out. The stove and refrigerator required detailed cleaning. The shelves and drawers in the kitchen needed to be wiped out. The kitchen floor had dirt in the corners and had not been cleaned under the stove and refrigerator. There were burned out light bulbs and light fixtures that had not been cleaned. There was dirt in the corners of the laminate floors. The tub surround and toilet needed to be scrubbed. The walls and ceilings had not been cleaned. The mini blinds that hadn’t been replaced had not been cleaned. The windows had not been cleaned inside and out. My employee spent 13 hours cleaning the home. We bill him out at $21/hr. and this includes the cleaning products he uses.
The backyard had numerous problems, most from dog damage and lack of care last summer; watering and mowing on a consistent basis. We leveled out their “garden area” and other raised beds they left behind and re-seeded. The front yard wasn’t horrible, just needed mowing, weeding and picking up garbage. We had $189 in labor and grass seed to accomplish this.When cleaning, we found four damaged mini blinds, two missing window screens and one bent window screen. There was also damage from wet mopping the laminate floor in the living room and both bedrooms. The floor in the living room had to be totally replaced. There was a note in [redacted] file noting rippling in the living room floor. I did not charge them for the replaced living room floor because there was some question about it. They were charged for the damage to the bedroom laminate floors. We charged 25% of replacement cost on the bedroom floors, based on an estimate of 25% less useful life due to damage.The entire inside of the house was painted at no charge to the renters. Also we forgot to charge them to replace the missing refrigerator bar, shown in their pictures, which cost $90 to replace. There was damage to the doors on the pantry from their putting on (and ripping off) different locks, probably to keep their children out. They were not charged for the cracked interior door. They were not charged for installing a dog door in a brand new steel exterior door without permission (ruining the energy rating).I understand that they paid $100 for “professional” cleaning. But, it wasn’t clean to basic standards. This is obvious in the pictures they provided. To get the house ready to rent we spent over $3,318 in materials and labor for painting, cleaning, yard work, and repairs. We charged the [redacted]s $856.96 in cleaning, yard work and damages. They were hard on the unit and yard and did not leave it in the same condition that they received it.In their Customer Statement of the Problem to the Revdex.com they allege that the house was “unsafe and unfit for living”. Due to1. Multiple gas leaks and red tags on furnace.
Their gas furnace was red tagged in December of 2013. We supplied temporary electric heaters so the renter would have heat and had the furnace fixed within a day or so.2. Mold, causing health issues.I never saw any mold in their home. There was mildew in the corner of the bathroom tub. Also there was no written correspondence complaining of mold. Our procedure for instances when we see mold or have a mold complaint is to have it professional tested by MoldTec, Inc. We then remove any mold and have it retested to assure there is not a mold problem. This was not done on this unit because there was no mold.3. Water leaks.Our records show we had [redacted] [redacted] replace the all existing galvanized piping with new PEX piping. Also we replaced the kitchen faucet and the toilet. There was a repair on the hot water tank and several other minor plumbing repairs. Water leaks, when detected, are repaired immediately due to the damage water can cause to a unit. Their water was shut off for a day for replacing the old piping with PEX but they had it back on by 5pm.4. Weeks without waterOut records show frozen pipes twice in December 2013. In both instances we went immediately over and thawed out the pipes. They had water within a few hours in the first time; they were without water for one night the second time. [redacted] had unplugged the electric heater we were using in the basement to thaw the pipes and it took us a little longer to get the water flowing the second time around.5. Days without heat.
We always supply temporary electric heaters when the main furnaces require repair. Leaving renters without heat is bad business and against the Oregon landlord tenant laws.6. Needles, syringes and broken glass in yard.We have no knowledge of needles and broken glass in yard and were never contacted by the renter regarding this. There is no correspondence in their file regarding this. If they had contacted me about this dangerous condition I would have immediately had my crew remove all needles and broken glass. The fact that they have small children and never contacted us is disturbing.7. No grass and piles of garbage and compost in yard.The yard was mowed and in good shape when they moved in. We had a note in our files that the crew had to weed the front flower bed after the previous renter had moved out. There were no piles of garbage. There was a tree behind the storage shed that had a lot of leaves. It’s possible there were some composting leaves around the tree. This tree blew down several years later and we had to remove it. There were two yard notices in their file asking the [redacted]s to keep up their yard.I believe their claims in there Revdex.com statement of the problems is not accurate and does not stand up to scrutiny. If they were dissatisfied with the house why did they continue to rent from us another year after their initial one year lease was up? Why wasn’t there correspondence regarding their many complaints?On March 25 2016 [redacted] wrote us a letter offering a compromise by giving them an almost full refund. In it he claimed he had paid his $203 prorated rent owing with a money order and that we had deposited it. After we read the letter we searched and found an unopened envelope with his forwarding address in his file and it had a money order for his missing February rent. We deposited the money order and sent him a check for $43.04 after deducting the balance we had billed him for. On April 13, 2016 we wrote him back declining the compromise.
I have included copies of the [redacted] accounting, his letter to us, and our response.Mr. [redacted] called my wife last week threating to take us to court and saying he was going to contact previous former renters to join him and he was going to be filing a complaint with the Revdex.com if we did not return his deposit. He texted me the same message on my cell phone several hours later.During their phone conversation my wife informed Mr. [redacted] that we would not be settling, that we had been more than fair with him. I communicated the same thing when I texted him back.I communicated to Mr. [redacted] that filing a complaint with the Revdex.com and taking us to small claims court was fine by me. I believe that the small claims court is the best venue to settle this dispute.I hope this answers all your questions. In thirty-five years of business this is the first time I have had any dealing with the Revdex.com. I look forward to hearing from you.Sincerely,Richard *. H[redacted]
I received your letter regarding Mr. and Mrs. [redacted]’s security deposit. This is my response.The [redacted]s are a young married couple who rented from us at [redacted] from 10/26/13 to 2/9/16. He is a corrections officer and she is a full time home maker with two young children....
They paid their rent on time and got along well with their neighbors.On Saturday 2/6/16 I met [redacted] to do a walk through on his unit. The unit had not been cleaned and I asked why we were doing an inspection before it was clean. [redacted] explained there had been a scheduling problem but that it would be professionally cleaned and he would have the keys dropped off after. I should have done a thorough inspection for damages at that time but I did not. [redacted] and I looked at the backyard and he said he would be finished with it before he left.Upon their moving out there was substantial work required to return the unit to its original condition and get it ready to rent out. The stove and refrigerator required detailed cleaning. The shelves and drawers in the kitchen needed to be wiped out. The kitchen floor had dirt in the corners and had not been cleaned under the stove and refrigerator. There were burned out light bulbs and light fixtures that had not been cleaned. There was dirt in the corners of the laminate floors. The tub surround and toilet needed to be scrubbed. The walls and ceilings had not been cleaned. The mini blinds that hadn’t been replaced had not been cleaned. The windows had not been cleaned inside and out. My employee spent 13 hours cleaning the home. We bill him out at $21/hr. and this includes the cleaning products he uses.
The backyard had numerous problems, most from dog damage and lack of care last summer; watering and mowing on a consistent basis. We leveled out their “garden area” and other raised beds they left behind and re-seeded. The front yard wasn’t horrible, just needed mowing, weeding and picking up garbage. We had $189 in labor and grass seed to accomplish this.When cleaning, we found four damaged mini blinds, two missing window screens and one bent window screen. There was also damage from wet mopping the laminate floor in the living room and both bedrooms. The floor in the living room had to be totally replaced. There was a note in [redacted] file noting rippling in the living room floor. I did not charge them for the replaced living room floor because there was some question about it. They were charged for the damage to the bedroom laminate floors. We charged 25% of replacement cost on the bedroom floors, based on an estimate of 25% less useful life due to damage.The entire inside of the house was painted at no charge to the renters. Also we forgot to charge them to replace the missing refrigerator bar, shown in their pictures, which cost $90 to replace. There was damage to the doors on the pantry from their putting on (and ripping off) different locks, probably to keep their children out. They were not charged for the cracked interior door. They were not charged for installing a dog door in a brand new steel exterior door without permission (ruining the energy rating).I understand that they paid $100 for “professional” cleaning. But, it wasn’t clean to basic standards. This is obvious in the pictures they provided. To get the house ready to rent we spent over $3,318 in materials and labor for painting, cleaning, yard work, and repairs. We charged the [redacted]s $856.96 in cleaning, yard work and damages. They were hard on the unit and yard and did not leave it in the same condition that they received it.In their Customer Statement of the Problem to the Revdex.com they allege that the house was “unsafe and unfit for living”. Due to1. Multiple gas leaks and red tags on furnace.
Their gas furnace was red tagged in December of 2013. We supplied temporary electric heaters so the renter would have heat and had the furnace fixed within a day or so.2. Mold, causing health issues.I never saw any mold in their home. There was mildew in the corner of the bathroom tub. Also there was no written correspondence complaining of mold. Our procedure for instances when we see mold or have a mold complaint is to have it professional tested by MoldTec, Inc. We then remove any mold and have it retested to assure there is not a mold problem. This was not done on this unit because there was no mold.3. Water leaks.Our records show we had [redacted] [redacted] replace the all existing galvanized piping with new PEX piping. Also we replaced the kitchen faucet and the toilet. There was a repair on the hot water tank and several other minor plumbing repairs. Water leaks, when detected, are repaired immediately due to the damage water can cause to a unit. Their water was shut off for a day for replacing the old piping with PEX but they had it back on by 5pm.4. Weeks without waterOut records show frozen pipes twice in December 2013. In both instances we went immediately over and thawed out the pipes. They had water within a few hours in the first time; they were without water for one night the second time. [redacted] had unplugged the electric heater we were using in the basement to thaw the pipes and it took us a little longer to get the water flowing the second time around.5. Days without heat.
We always supply temporary electric heaters when the main furnaces require repair. Leaving renters without heat is bad business and against the Oregon landlord tenant laws.6. Needles, syringes and broken glass in yard.We have no knowledge of needles and broken glass in yard and were never contacted by the renter regarding this. There is no correspondence in their file regarding this. If they had contacted me about this dangerous condition I would have immediately had my crew remove all needles and broken glass. The fact that they have small children and never contacted us is disturbing.7. No grass and piles of garbage and compost in yard.The yard was mowed and in good shape when they moved in. We had a note in our files that the crew had to weed the front flower bed after the previous renter had moved out. There were no piles of garbage. There was a tree behind the storage shed that had a lot of leaves. It’s possible there were some composting leaves around the tree. This tree blew down several years later and we had to remove it. There were two yard notices in their file asking the [redacted]s to keep up their yard.I believe their claims in there Revdex.com statement of the problems is not accurate and does not stand up to scrutiny. If they were dissatisfied with the house why did they continue to rent from us another year after their initial one year lease was up? Why wasn’t there correspondence regarding their many complaints?On March 25 2016 [redacted] wrote us a letter offering a compromise by giving them an almost full refund. In it he claimed he had paid his $203 prorated rent owing with a money order and that we had deposited it. After we read the letter we searched and found an unopened envelope with his forwarding address in his file and it had a money order for his missing February rent. We deposited the money order and sent him a check for $43.04 after deducting the balance we had billed him for. On April 13, 2016 we wrote him back declining the compromise.
I have included copies of the [redacted] accounting, his letter to us, and our response.Mr. [redacted] called my wife last week threating to take us to court and saying he was going to contact previous former renters to join him and he was going to be filing a complaint with the Revdex.com if we did not return his deposit. He texted me the same message on my cell phone several hours later.During their phone conversation my wife informed Mr. [redacted] that we would not be settling, that we had been more than fair with him. I communicated the same thing when I texted him back.I communicated to Mr. [redacted] that filing a complaint with the Revdex.com and taking us to small claims court was fine by me. I believe that the small claims court is the best venue to settle this dispute.I hope this answers all your questions. In thirty-five years of business this is the first time I have had any dealing with the Revdex.com. I look forward to hearing from you.Sincerely,Richard *. H[redacted]