Roger's Autoworks

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/29) */
Mr. [redacted] did indeed lease with us at Lake Shore Apartments on the 16th of July. He signed his lease agreement and was set for a move in day of Saturday July 25th. A few days prior to his scheduled move in, he called stating the situation of...

his father and that he needed to cancel the lease. We explained that the lease is a binding agreement and he had two options, Failure to Occupy or he could exercise his 30 Day Guarantee (please see lease copy below regarding these options).

10. Failure to Occupy
If Tenant fails to occupy (move into) the Premises in accordance with this Lease, any deposits paid by Tenant shall be used to satisfy rent until the Premises is rented to another tenant. If deposit does not cover applicable lost rent, tenant shall remain liable for such rent until Premises is rented to another tenant.
30-DAY GUARANTEE LEASE ADDENDUM
...IF WITHIN THE FIRST THIRTY DAYS OF YOUR RESIDENCY WITH US, YOU DECIDE THAT YOUR TLC APARTMENT HOME DOES NOT MEET YOUR NEEDS, YOU MAY SUBMIT A NOTICE OF INTENT TO VACATE. NO QUESTIONS ASKED...The resident must submit a Notice of Intent to Vacate within 30 days of the lease start date and the last date of residency will be 60 days after the lease start date. All rent and amounts owed will be due through this period.
Due to Mr. [redacted]'s situation, we offered him both of the above. He could operate under the Failure to Occupy and we would put his apartment back on the market and attempt to re-lease saving him the possibility of having to be held to 60 days of rent. We then agreed that if we were unable to re-lease the apartment within the first 30 days of his lease agreement, we would still honor the 30 Day Guarantee. This would only make him responsible for a maximum of 60 days saving him from the possibility of having to pay rent past that point had he just been under the Failure to Occupy Clause.
Per our lease agreement, tenants are required to pay utilities from start to end of their lease agreement (see utilities section from lease).
13.Utilities
Unless otherwise mentioned herein, all utilities used in or about Premises shall be paid by Tenant.
At the time of Utilities connect; we had yet to lease the apartment, which would relieve Mr. [redacted] of the responsibility. On Saturday July 25th, we were able to lease the apartment for an immediate move in. This then released Mr. [redacted] from his responsibility of the lease and he would not owe any additional monies to Lake Shore Apartments.
Mr. [redacted] then called Monday July 27th with concern to the Utilities. He stated that we should have never moved any one into the apartment while the Utilities were in his name. Although we acknowledge his concern with paying for another's utilities, it was our focus and intent in re-leasing the apartment so that he would not be responsible for his signed lease agreement and not have to pay rent for an apartment, in which, he was not living. We did accomplish this goal; however, we do not have control over City Utilities. We explained to Mr. [redacted] that his best option, at this point, would be to call City Utilities and discuss options with them. Since that conversation, Mr. [redacted] never made contact to our office with his findings if/when he contacted City Utilities.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/07/30) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I was told utilities had to be turned on on saturday. Becouse CU won't do it on Saturday they turned it on on friday. They said I could not wait till monday. Becouse they made the contact on Saturday I was forced to have it turned on a day that they should have paid. Then the day I would have taken passion of the apartment they rented it. That being a very hot weeken I am again forced to pay for. Again becouse of the day they made tomove in I couldn't call to have it turned off. And the new renter could not change it to their name till tuesday. The apartment said you have to have utilities turned on before you move in. So the new renters should have to pay the bill or the apartment should have to carry the bill. By their owen contract it states you have to have utilities turned on in your name when you move in. CU said its their fault and they won't get involed. I never moved in or had a chance to turn utilities up to 80 degress. Again they made a mistake moving in on saturday.But sense they did one or the other should have to pay bill for when they occupied.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/08/04) */
Mr. [redacted] was supposed to move in on that Saturday but due to family issues, he chose to not move in and for us to release the apartment as quickly as possible. We most certianly could have waited to let the new resident move in to the apartment until Tuesday, however, Mr. [redacted] would have then also been responsible for rent for an apartment that he was not residing in. We have no control over when City Utilities can and cannot turn on utilities. The resident who moved in on that Saturday was in need of an immediate apartment and Mr. [redacted] apartment was available and released him from his rental obligations. Yes, he is still being held responsible for the utilities that were in his name but we were able to relieve him of the rental obligations. We did the best we could to assist Mr. [redacted] in his emergency that prevented him from fulfilling his lease terms.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/08/07) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Again this company rented an apartment and I wasn't given adequate time to have utilities turned off. Because they rented it on the weekend I could not have utilities turned off. They said well they saved me the rent for the apartment and try to blame it on cu. Like so many today they try to put blame on others an not take responsibility. But yet they didn't think twice about keeping several hundred dollars. This money they kept could have been used toward rent till Monday when I could had the utilities turned off. But they blame CU and pocketed over [redacted]