Sandcastle Realty

Review: The house we rented through Sandcastle Realty was completely inferior. Dirty, disgusting and mold ridden.

[redacted],

I am writing to describe to you my displeasure at the home (R155) we rented from you the week of July 20th this summer. Enclosed, please find the pictures evidencing the filth we were forced to live in for the week.

As you are aware, our rental agreement began on June 20th. After getting settled and playing with the kids on the beach that night, we began to become aware of the appalling condition of the house. We called your realty office's main line on Sunday morning, but you were closed. We called again first thing Monday morning. We were immediately given significant push back from your employees about our concerns. First we were chastised for not contacting your office earlier (''if things are so bad, why are you complaining now'') and then we were informed that the cleaners said that the house was clean when they left it and so the dirt I was complaining of must have been brought in by us, the renters. It was only when we went to your offices later that Monday and showed pictures to your employees that we were apologized to for the way we were treated and the conditions of the house. An offer was made to resend the cleaners. The cleaners came that Monday night and simply replaced the shower curtains. However, no effort was made to clean the rest of the house.

As you can see from the attached pictures, the filth in the house was not possibly caused by us. The laundry list of locations of mold, dust and grime is inexcusable. Shower curtains covered in mold (pics 2,3&4); mold in the bathtubs/showers (pics 5,6,7&8); dust and dust bunnies caked on furniture, floors, and air vents (pics 9,10,11,12,13,14,15, 15a & 15b); dust, trash and old pieces of lingerie left by others under the beds (pics 16&17); torn mattress and mattress pads that were so old they no longer had elastic to secure them to the beds (pics 18&19); mold along windowsills (pic 20); shreddings of wood from what we believe must have been critters that were living in the house (pics 21,22,23&24); cobwebs filled with spiders and carcasses of its prey - too many to count (pics 25,26,27,28, 29, 30&31); ceiling fans caked with grime (pics 32&33); kitchen windowsills along where food prep actively happened caked with dust and grime (pics 34,35&36); bathroom mats too disgusting to even step foot on (pics 37&38); and so on and so on (pics 48,49&50). We were so disgusted that we even changed the filters in the two return vents in the house (pics 39,40,41,42&43), as well as tried to change one of the two HVAC filters (the other HVAC unit was not accessible by us). However, despite having recently just been inspected by an HVAC contractor on June 29, 2013, there was not even an HVAC filter in the accessible unit (pics 45&46). We installed one immediately (pic 47).

The fact that you would even consider renting this property is shocking. We paid $7,215 to live in a sty. And I suffered great embarrassment as a result of it. I rented this property for me and my children, as well as for my boyfriend, his son and his two brothers and their families. This was our first vacation together as a group, and my first opportunity to meet and spend time with much of my boyfriend's family. Imagine how embarrassed and distressed I was to have rented this disaster, and how uncomfortable I felt each time someone took a shower, walked past a dusty air vent, or sat near a bunch of carcass-filled cob webs and shared with me their negative thoughts about the house. Also, my son is an asthmatic and his three largest allergens are dust, dust mites and mold. When he developed a severe case of eczema, I didn't have to look far to figure out what was causing it. We are lucky, and quite frankly shocked, that it never progressed to full blown asthma during this trip.Desired Settlement: I am writing to demand that you refund to me 1/3 of our rental price, or $2,405. This is a fair demand given the substandard conditions we were subject to. I expect payment within a week. I also include in the enclosed pictures a screen shot of an inquiry to me about the house from a friend (pic 51). Many people have asked me about which rental company I used and about this particular house and its suitability for large families. I can assure you my response to them and others will be influe

Review: My family and I rented a house from Sandcastle Realty from July 19-26, 2014. We were required to place a security deposit of $200 plus a $250.00 pet deposit and a nonrefundable $200 Pet Fee totaling $650.00. At the end of our stay, we cleaned the house and left it in the same condition as it was when we arrived on week prior. Much to our surprise, three weeks later we received a check for $120.00. I called Sandcastle and spoke with the owner, [redacted] on or about August 20. He said that it was a charge to clean every room in the house and dog urine in one room. We vigorously deny such a claim and asked him to provide us with a detailed account of what exactly had to be cleaned and where. He provided us with a copy of the cleaning documents which do not match his claim. After checking he said that some of the cleaning cost was a mistake and he would be refunding some of our money. I have made repeated phone calls to [redacted] to resolve this issue as we believe we should have received a full deposit. H claimed he needed to ask the cleaning company what they did and ask his staff what they know about it. He's never returned a single phone call of mine. I've always had to call him. Towards the end of September I tried again to get the issue resolved and he said that he need some more time and that he was going out of the country for a few weeks in October. I never heard from him. I called him last week and spoke with one of his employee's [redacted]. She said that [redacted] wasn't in the office, took my information down and said that she would call me back by Wednesday, November 12. I never heard from them. We are filing this claim as we believe that we should have received a full refund. This is a perfect example of a consumer being taken advantage of with little or no recourse.Desired Settlement: Full Refund for the balance of our deposit money, $330.00

Review: We rented a vacation townhouse in Bethany Beach on 15-21 August 2015 from Sandcastle Realty. As part of the rental agreement, we paid a $100 deposit. We received a check from Sandcastle Realty for $70, dated September 10, 2015 with a $30 reduction noted for "extra cleaning". Because we always thoroughly clean every place we stay and/or rent, this was puzzling to us. Upon receiving the check, we sent a message to Sandcastle Realty via its website asking why we did not receive our full deposit, and why "extra cleaning" was required.

Sandcastle responded to our e-mail as follows, "When you left the townhome, someone had smeared fecal matter on the sink counter of the west top floor bedroom and on the floor mat & bathtub of the adjacent bathroom. I don't know if this was accidental or intentional, but in either case, someone in your party should have cleaned up this mess instead of leaving it for the cleaners. Nobody wants to clean this type of matter under any circumstances, but the cleaners had no choice and therefore they deserve to be paid for additional cleaning above and beyond their normal fee. They also had to return to the unit to remove the bathmat from the washer and transfer to the dryer to be ready for the following tenants. They were paid $30 extra, which I think was more than reasonably cheap. That is why you didn't get back your entire security deposit. If you were not aware of this happening, then you should be able to determine who it was by the location of that bedroom. We assumed you knew about this problem but just didn't want to handle it."

Our immediate response was as follows, "my wife is not available this afternoon, but you may expect a call from her on this matter. However, your claim is so disgusting that I am compelled to respond immediately.

There was no smearing of fecal matter on any part of the top floor - the sinks, bath mats, whatever. My wife and I were the only ones to use the top floor, and I can assure you the entire top floor was left cleaner than we found it. In fact, we left the entire townhome as clean or cleaner than we found it. The incident you described simply did not occur in our rental unit.

I can only assume that your cleaning service either (a) provided you with the incorrect townhome address at which this incident presumably occurred, or (b) they lied to you. I trust you were provided with photographic and/or other documentation in support of this allegation. Otherwise, it is entirely inappropriate for you to claim that we left the townhome in this condition without contacting us immediately."

We have sent several e-mails to Sandcastle Realty over the past several weeks. However, we have not received a response, apology, or check. We deeply resent this disgusting accusation, as well as their withholding of the balance of our deposit.Desired Settlement: We desire an apology and reimbursement of the balance of our deposit currently being withheld by Sandcastle Realty.