Sequoia Equities

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 19, 2015/07/24) */ Revdex.com Case # XXXXXXXX [redacted] Apartments / Sequoia Equities Complaint Response We appreciate Ms [redacted] comments and her taking the time to voice concerns regarding her experience throughout her residency at [redacted] Apartments and following her move outWe take all reviews, comments and suggestions from our residents very seriously and in an effort to gather information to effectively respond to Ms [redacted] grievances, we have reviewed the final inspection report from our Service Team as well as pictures and the invoices from our vendors (see attached) for the apartment turn charges in questionIn addition to her comments regarding her final account charges, I have submitted Ms [redacted] accusations regarding alleged inappropriate behavior from members of our staff to our Human Resources Department and we have launched an internal investigationRelating to Ms [redacted] remark about an unresolved Revdex.com complaint earlier this year, our office have not received this however we are happy to address the additional complaint upon receipt Ms [redacted] has reached out to our office on several occasions informing us of her dissatisfaction regarding her residency at [redacted] after incidents that involve various lease violations were brought to her attention which include holding ballet classes for profit out of our fitness center as well as housing unauthorized residents in her apartmentEach occasion has been internally documented and as such, we have offered for her and her daughter, since March of to move without penalty as a Customer Service gestureWhen she and her daughter were ready to make this decision, we requested a day notice from her in writing outlining her move out date which also offers her the chance to schedule a pre-move out inspection with a member of our Service Team as well as review of estimated final utilities, etcThe requirement of giving days' notice is listed both in her lease and has been communicated to Ms [redacted] several times over the course of working with her regarding aforementioned lease violations and in review of her overall concerns This being said, Ms [redacted] informed us on 6/1/that she has found a new home and would be moving out of her apartment by 6/5/Once she surrendered keys to our office, we moved her out of our system and charged her account the remainder of the days which was her financial obligationAfter several conversations following her move out, we decided that as an additional Customer Service Gesture, we would waive this fee and as you can see from the most recent Final Account Statement attached, that financial obligation was removedThe rent that remains totals the days that Ms [redacted] had possession of the home and was moving out The additional final account charges encompass [redacted] cost to replace the apartment's carpet and vinyl which is discounted by $as well as the costs for extra heavy cleaning and a full interior paint (also discounted by 25% given the amount of time Ms [redacted] was a resident at [redacted] )Unfortunately the damage done to the carpet and vinyl (which was installed brand new at the time of her residency) was irreversible which warranted a full replacementFull apartment paint was also necessary both from damages and odor from pet urineThese invoices are also attached for your reference That being said, we want all of our residents to have a positive experience at move-in, during their residency with us, and at the point of move outAs a Customer Service Gesture, we have removed the financial obligation of the remaining days totaling a $1,making the overall discount to her Final Account Statement including the carpet discount: $(Please see attached updated Final Account Statement) We hope that the assurance of an internal investigation regarding our the alleged employee behavior as well as the Customer Service Gesture allotting an overall savings to Ms [redacted] provides her with her desired resolution Thank you, Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 21, 2015/07/27) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The response is based on several completely malicious and allegations, what is not surprising, and does not address the fact what we have complained about several times There is not a single word mentioned about the maintenance staff, [redacted] , who was "shadowing" my daughterSeveral times we mentioned it to the management, they always denied it, their so called "internal" investigation did not bring any resultThe environment was poisonousThe maintanance person did have exact knowledge about my daughter's daily routine, and several times he approached asking questions, whispering into her ear at the pool etcOthers also noticed his strange behaviorOf course these approaches mainly happened when my daughter was alone Next! Holding balett classes for profit: The lease agreement does not hold anything in writing about the use of the squash room first of allMy daughter is an academically trained classical balett artist of international levelShe had a few students coming in where she held not classes, but rehearsals for a Hungarian Connection Gala, and the surprising thing is that it was free! This did not bother the management until a young MALE balett dancer arrived and they were in the squash room together excercisingSoon after this they started to make bogus claims that no balett and dance can be done thereOthers were allowed to do other excercises of course The so called "illegal" resident as being referred very discriminatively is a young MALE balett dancer of color! After the chain of the events, it became clear that before the arrival of a MALE guest, having young girls practising there was no problem for several weeks! After the arrival of a young man, in a couple of days the management complained about the use of the squash room, however when I read the lease agreement I haven't found a word limiting the use of the squash room and based on our previous experiences in other apartment complexes the use of excercise facilities were used by professional trainersm coaches to hold lessons without any problem I insist that the decision of the MANGEMENT was deeply personal, discriminative , fabricated against usAnd also we have to assume that the maintenance man who saw a young man around my daughter was behind it! Very soon they conducted an inspection, during that "inspection" the maintenance man rushed into the apartment, did not care about the fire place what was not working, did not care about not not properly functioning sinks in the bathroomHe almost ran to the beedroom door, opened itno man found, than proceeded to the master bedroom, where my daughter was still sleeping, and did not want him to enter! He did not leave until he could not go in! Again no man found!!!! His behavior was almost frightening, after this inspection nothing was fixed, however I presume the purpose of inspections is fixing malfunctioning thingsBut his one and only purpose was to look around to find out if we had a MALE guest! Many residents have and had guests for extendedperiods, naver a question, but my daughter apparently could not have a male visitor, not even for a short time! I also reported many hygenie problems in public areas, dog poop , dirty sauna, extremly filthy cushons at the pool, etcThey implemented dog poop DNA inspection, did write some rules about proper sauna use etcFixed the slippery pool side! This expressis verbis prooves that my allegations were true and well founded! Obviously this costed lots of money to themNow they are taking revenge in every possible way This malicious discriminative, unfriendly manner, and the shadowing creepy behavior was teh major reason we escaped from there ACCORDING TO CALIFORNIA LAW: stalking is one of the reasons what makes an exception as far as the thirty day NOTICE is concernedAccording to that STIPULATION, if a tenent is stalked by another tenant or by management or staff is NOT REQUIRED to give thirty day noticeThis is absolutely logical that someone is not forced to stay longer than necessary under circumstances of that nature Also , when I mentioned that there have been several attempts of entering our apartment / for the last two month/ we slept with abig table pushed at the door/ they said oh call policeunfortunately there is crime! Also we saw people lurking under our balcony, there have been several police actions taking place directly under our balcony, was quite frightening for two women There is some more to the story, if we can not come to an amicable solution, I will have to take this to small claims court, or other court involving the borderline criminal element of teh maintenance staff, and discrimination and hate against us on behalf of management! Regarding the damages: My dog never peed on the carpet, was taken down regularly what everybody knows, and the remark regarding the wall is ridiculous! All previous tenants complain about the same, that they rip everybody off with carpet and wallAlso the last day when we were heavily cleaning, and we have pictures taken, Sherry one of the managers on site said she would come up to do an inspection!!!! I WAITED FOR HER HALF AN HOUR LONGER, but we had to leave as we were exhausted and still had to drive to another city, when I stopped by the office to return the key, [redacted] , tha manager was in the office, pleasantly laughing and chit chatting with a bunch of friends! She simply did not want to come to do the inspection in our presenceThats another tiny detail about their approach, and still not everythingI hold a few more facts for the court! SUMMA: Their allegations are unacceptible, I have to take this issue to court!

This issue regarding the past resident's Security Deposit has been addressed and will be resolved in a timely mannerAs a company, we strive to provide elite customer satisfaction and we look forward to providing this past resident the same experience

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2014/11/07) */ Hello, We are in receipt of the letter from [redacted] , previous resident of the Sandpiper Village Apartments Regarding the utility charges for Mr [redacted] , we have researched all utility charges from the time of move-in, and found there to be no discrepanciesAll utility charges (water, sewer and trash) are billed in arrears, approximately 1-months behind the current dateThis is to allow the utility companies enough time to properly collect the metered usageHowever, I have identified that the resident ledger and Final Statement states these charges as "water" charges; this statement is used for our internal office use only and represents the charges for all three (3) utility bills (water, sewer, trash)The specific charges for utilities are broken down on the statements that are mailed to the residents each month Our records indicate Mr [redacted] moved into Sandpiper Village on 11/6/His first utility statement arrived on the 1/1/billing invoice, in which indicated billing for 11/6/- 11/20/13, in the amount of $From this date, the utility charges for his account through the end of his residency were billed as follows: 11/20/- 12/20/- $(billed on 2/1/14) 12/20/- 1/20/- $(billed on 3/1/14) 1/20/- 2/20/- $(billed on 4/1/14) 2/20/- 3/20/- $(billed on 5/1/14) 3/20/- 4/20/- $(billed on 6/1/14) 4/20/- 5/20/- $(billed on 7/1/14) 5/20/- 6/20/- $(billed on 8/1/14) 6/20/- 7/20/- $(billed on 9/1/14) 7/20/- 8/20/- $(billed on 10/1/14) 8/20/- 9/20/- $(billed on move out statement on 10/22) 9/21/- 10/22/- $(billed on move out statement on 10/22) With the aforementioned billing records, it seems the charges are consistentAdditionally, I have attached a copy of each billing statement that was mailed to Mr [redacted] during his residency Regarding the resident portal, this feature allows rental payments to be made online; in addition to submitting service requests, etcThe access is strictly for current residentsIt is not uncommon for this access to be revoked shortly after a resident moves outThis happens by an automated system, and not directly from the management teamHowever, although the online access is no longer granted, the community keeps all hard copy records of all previous resident account documentsWe are required to do so by law for at least years after the date of move out Additionally, it seems an online payment in the amount of $was made on 10/28/14, bringing the balance to $ For reference I have attached the rental ledger for the duration of Mr [redacted] 's residency, the monthly resident statements, as well as the revised Final Account Statement to reflect the most recent payment made to the account With the information we have collected, we do not feel any changes to the account are necessary Thank you, Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2014/11/15) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I think they just admitted fault for all my points, the amount was not in dispute but the way the charges are archived incorrectlyThe charges are not for water use although they say it's an internal office code this is wrong and misleading and should not be recorded in such manner The main cause of frustration was receiving a final statement with a charge I was unable to pay because they removed my access to the resident portal that contains the payment formI had to talk to sandpiper management directly to gain access again not Sequoia equities, that is the only reason I was able to pay the final statement No other form or option is offered to pay this final statement and they clearly ask for this to be promptly paid within days which is impossible when they remove the payment option and have other form or way to pay Their system should be updated to allow payments to be processed even after someone is no longer a resident, and record charges properly to reflect correct usages of utilities to report properlyNot just by current or past residents but the company doesn't seem to be reporting their charges correctly for either tax purposes or other Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 9, 2014/11/21) */ We will take Mr [redacted] s' suggestions into consideration and we appreciate him taking the time to voice his concerns The monthly statement that is sent to each resident itemizes the charges for each individual utility charge and is specifically outlined as Water, Sewer or GarbageIt is only our internal document that notates these charges all in one sum as "water"If a change can be made within the internal operating system we currently use, we will certainly look into this option Additionally, the Final Statement clearly includes the address of the community, in which payments can be mailed toPayments can include check, money order or cashier's checkWe believe these are viable options for payments on outstanding balancesPayment details are also clearly marked within the contents of the lease agreement Thank you, Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (4200, 11, 2014/11/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I was not mailed a final statement until much later, I was however mailed a computer print out requesting for money within business to avoid future collection efforts My account online was cancelled which did not allow me to pay immediately or with ease, and if I would have waited I would not have caught this in time to complain and have this corrected Mailing a check or money order without knowing that I'd have to allow enough time to do this is not fair to any customerI can scan and submit what I received on my end, it doesn't outline any of these payment options and there is no reason to assume that I can just blindly mail a check to the address once outside of the lease agreements as this payment isn't for rent A detachable stub is needed for me to keep as a receipt this was not the case with what I received

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 8, 2014/12/08) */ Hello, We are I receipt of the letter from [redacted] [redacted] reached out to our corporate office on 11/16/2014, in which we have been in communication with her regarding the same inquires and requests she has stated in her Revdex.com complaint Attached you will find the communication that has occurred between our corporate office and [redacted] The final communication sent to [redacted] on 12/2/stated that we were happy to revise the cleaning charges and deduct 50% of the fee as a customer service gestureThis has brought her balance down to $ Additionally, as it was not mentioned in her original communication to our corporate office, we would like to respond to her inquiry regarding the water billing set-upTo confirm, the water utility companies set up the resident accounts for serviceAs the water company will need the appropriate amount of time to collect the metered usage for the new account, it is quite common for a resident's water billing statement to be 1-months behind the current date, as the water billing statements are billed in arrears each monthWe apologize if [redacted] experienced any sort of overdue delay in this process, it is unfortunately not a process we have control over We are hopeful [redacted] will be satisfied with the customer service gesture we have offered and are available for further inquiries if needed Thank you, Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 10, 2014/12/09) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/10/24) */
Contact Name and Title: *** ***
Contact Phone: (XXX) XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: ***@sequoiaequities.com
Hello,
We have reviewed the details of the Final Statement for *** ***
In researching ***'s account, we
found there are two (2) written statements in which reference the resident's requirement in regards to vacating the communityThese statements are located in the Lease Agreement, page 1, paragraph As well as the renewal offer letter that was delivered to *** on February 20th, Both statements read a "Written 30-day Notice is required" by the resident, should they wish to vacate the community
Our records indicate that the renewal offer letter was viewed by *** on February 20, 2014, via the on-line resident portalAs well as, the Lease Agreement was signed by *** in March,
Additionally, as a customer service gesture for the resident, the charges for damages to the unit were waived by the Management teamThese charges totaled $
*** was charged based on the rent responsibility of the apartment per his lease agreementHowever, the 30-day rent responsibility was revised to reflect only days, due to the apartment being re-rented prior to the close of the days
We do not feel a negotiation of the rent responsibility is warranted at this timeWe are very sorry for this situation, and wish there was more we could doHowever, it is crucial that we hold all of our residents to the same standards as outlined in the Lease Agreement they sign
Please find attached the following documents:
Lease Agreement
Renewal Offer Letter
Invoices for initial damages in the unit
Final Account Statement
Thank you,
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/10/27) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This is unacceptableI informed management I was movingAcknowledgement was given at the time of the phone callThis is sufficient noticeI was NEVER given a "renewal" letter nor did I view any "renewal" letter onlineThere were no "damages" to my apartment to warrant extra charges
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2014/11/05) */
Hello,
The management team at the *** posted the renewal letter to the door of Mr***'s apartment on 2/20/14, as well as mailed a copy to him via the US Postal Service on 2/20/
Additionally, we have records that indicated Mr*** logged into his online account (using his unique username and password) for The *** at Overlook and viewed the renewal that was offered to him as well
With this information, we feel we properly notified Mr*** of the aforementioned renewal letter, indicating his responsibilities as a vacating resident
As a customer service gesture we are happy to coordinate a payment arrangement for ***'s balance with the communityPlease let us know what works best for ***'s financial calendar and we will accommodate as best as possible
Thank you,
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2014/11/06) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
There was never a renewal letter on my door, nor was there one that I received in the mail nor did I view a renewal online at The ***I informed *** on the phone that I would be vacating at the end of MayYou have my security deposit, which I see I won't be able to recover
You will not be receiving any more money from meYou will, in addition to a negative feedback/complaint on the Revdex.com, be receiving negative reviews on Yelp, Facebook, Google +, Apartments.com, Rent.com, Instagram, Twitter and anywhere else I can freely voice my opinion about how your company has lied and cheated me out of my security depositIf you like, I can forward my reviews of your property to you directly
Have a nice day :)

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 19, 2015/07/24) */
Revdex.com Case # XXXXXXXX
[redacted] Apartments / Sequoia Equities
Complaint Response
We appreciate Ms. [redacted] comments and her taking the time to voice concerns regarding her experience throughout her residency at [redacted] Apartments...

and following her move out. We take all reviews, comments and suggestions from our residents very seriously and in an effort to gather information to effectively respond to Ms. [redacted] grievances, we have reviewed the final inspection report from our Service Team as well as pictures and the invoices from our vendors (see attached) for the apartment turn charges in question. In addition to her comments regarding her final account charges, I have submitted Ms. [redacted] accusations regarding alleged inappropriate behavior from members of our staff to our Human Resources Department and we have launched an internal investigation. Relating to Ms. [redacted] remark about an unresolved Revdex.com complaint earlier this year, our office have not received this however we are happy to address the additional complaint upon receipt.
Ms. [redacted] has reached out to our office on several occasions informing us of her dissatisfaction regarding her residency at [redacted] after incidents that involve various lease violations were brought to her attention which include holding ballet classes for profit out of our fitness center as well as housing unauthorized residents in her apartment. Each occasion has been internally documented and as such, we have offered for her and her daughter, since March of 2015 to move without penalty as a Customer Service gesture. When she and her daughter were ready to make this decision, we requested a 30 day notice from her in writing outlining her move out date which also offers her the chance to schedule a pre-move out inspection with a member of our Service Team as well as review of estimated final utilities, etc. The requirement of giving 30 days' notice is listed both in her lease and has been communicated to Ms. [redacted] several times over the course of working with her regarding aforementioned lease violations and in review of her overall concerns.

This being said, Ms. [redacted] informed us on 6/1/2015 that she has found a new home and would be moving out of her apartment by 6/5/2015. Once she surrendered keys to our office, we moved her out of our system and charged her account the remainder of the 30 days which was her financial obligation. After several conversations following her move out, we decided that as an additional Customer Service Gesture, we would waive this fee and as you can see from the most recent Final Account Statement attached, that financial obligation was removed. The rent that remains totals the 5 days that Ms. [redacted] had possession of the home and was moving out.
The additional final account charges encompass [redacted] cost to replace the apartment's carpet and vinyl which is discounted by $354.51 as well as the costs for extra heavy cleaning and a full interior paint (also discounted by 25% given the amount of time Ms. [redacted] was a resident at [redacted]). Unfortunately the damage done to the carpet and vinyl (which was installed brand new at the time of her residency) was irreversible which warranted a full replacement. Full apartment paint was also necessary both from damages and odor from pet urine. These invoices are also attached for your reference.
That being said, we want all of our residents to have a positive experience at move-in, during their residency with us, and at the point of move out. As a Customer Service Gesture, we have removed the financial obligation of the remaining 25 days totaling a $1,284.00 making the overall discount to her Final Account Statement including the carpet discount: $1638.51. (Please see attached updated Final Account Statement).
We hope that the assurance of an internal investigation regarding our the alleged employee behavior as well as the Customer Service Gesture allotting an overall savings to Ms. [redacted] provides her with her desired resolution.
Thank you,
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 21, 2015/07/27) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The response is based on several completely malicious and false allegations, what is not surprising, and does not address the fact what we have complained about several times.
There is not a single word mentioned about the maintenance staff, [redacted], who was "shadowing" my daughter. Several times we mentioned it to the management, they always denied it, their so called "internal" investigation did not bring any result. The environment was poisonous. The maintanance person did have exact knowledge about my daughter's daily routine, and several times he approached asking questions, whispering into her ear at the pool etc. Others also noticed his strange behavior. Of course these approaches mainly happened when my daughter was alone.
Next! Holding balett classes for profit: The lease agreement does not hold anything in writing about the use of the squash room first of all. My daughter is an academically trained classical balett artist of international level. She had a few students coming in where she held not classes, but rehearsals for a Hungarian Connection Gala, and the surprising thing is that it was free!
This did not bother the management until a young MALE balett dancer arrived and they were in the squash room together excercising. Soon after this they started to make bogus claims that no balett and dance can be done there. Others were allowed to do other excercises of course.
The so called "illegal" resident as being referred very discriminatively is a young MALE balett dancer of color! After the chain of the events, it became clear that before the arrival of a MALE guest, having young girls practising there was no problem for several weeks! After the arrival of a young man, in a couple of days the management complained about the use of the squash room, however when I read the lease agreement I haven't found a word limiting the use of the squash room and based on our previous experiences in other apartment complexes the use of excercise facilities were used by professional trainersm coaches to hold lessons without any problem.
I insist that the decision of the MANGEMENT was deeply personal, discriminative , fabricated against us. And also we have to assume that the maintenance man who saw a young man around my daughter was behind it! Very soon they conducted an inspection, during that "inspection" the maintenance man rushed into the apartment, did not care about the fire place what was not working, did not care about not not properly functioning sinks in the bathroom. He almost ran to the beedroom door, opened it..... no man found, than proceeded to the master bedroom, where my daughter was still sleeping, and did not want him to enter! He did not leave until he could not go in! Again no man found!!!! His behavior was almost frightening, after this inspection nothing was fixed, however I presume the purpose of inspections is fixing malfunctioning things. But his one and only purpose was to look around to find out if we had a MALE guest!
Many residents have and had guests for extendedperiods, naver a question, but my daughter apparently could not have a male visitor, not even for a short time!
I also reported many hygenie problems in public areas, dog poop , dirty sauna, extremly filthy cushons at the pool, etc.... They implemented dog poop DNA inspection, did write some rules about proper sauna use etc... Fixed the slippery pool side! This expressis verbis prooves that my allegations were true and well founded! Obviously this costed lots of money to them. Now they are taking revenge in every possible way.
This malicious discriminative, unfriendly manner, and the shadowing creepy behavior was teh major reason we escaped from there.
ACCORDING TO CALIFORNIA LAW: stalking is one of the reasons what makes an exception as far as the thirty day NOTICE is concerned. According to that STIPULATION, if a tenent is stalked by another tenant or by management or staff is NOT REQUIRED to give thirty day notice. This is absolutely logical that someone is not forced to stay longer than necessary under circumstances of that nature.
Also , when I mentioned that there have been several attempts of entering our apartment / for the last two month/ we slept with abig table pushed at the door/ they said oh call police.... unfortunately there is crime! Also we saw people lurking under our balcony, there have been several police actions taking place directly under our balcony, was quite frightening for two women.
There is some more to the story, if we can not come to an amicable solution, I will have to take this to small claims court, or other court involving the borderline criminal element of teh maintenance staff, and discrimination and hate against us on behalf of management!
Regarding the damages: My dog never peed on the carpet, was taken down regularly what everybody knows, and the remark regarding the wall is ridiculous! All previous tenants complain about the same, that they rip everybody off with carpet and wall. Also the last day when we were heavily cleaning, and we have pictures taken, Sherry one of the managers on site said she would come up to do an inspection!!!! I WAITED FOR HER HALF AN HOUR LONGER, but we had to leave as we were exhausted and still had to drive to another city, when I stopped by the office to return the key, [redacted], tha manager was in the office, pleasantly laughing and chit chatting with a bunch of friends! She simply did not want to come to do the inspection in our presence. Thats another tiny detail about their approach, and still not everything. I hold a few more facts for the court!
SUMMA: Their allegations are unacceptible, I have to take this issue to court!

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2014/12/08) */
Hello,
We are I receipt of the letter from [redacted]
.
[redacted] reached out to our corporate office on 11/16/2014, in which we have been in communication with her regarding the same inquires and requests she has stated in her...

Revdex.com complaint.
Attached you will find the communication that has occurred between our corporate office and [redacted].
The final communication sent to [redacted] on 12/2/2014 stated that we were happy to revise the cleaning charges and deduct 50% of the fee as a customer service gesture. This has brought her balance down to $57.28.
Additionally, as it was not mentioned in her original communication to our corporate office, we would like to respond to her inquiry regarding the water billing set-up. To confirm, the water utility companies set up the resident accounts for service. As the water company will need the appropriate amount of time to collect the metered usage for the new account, it is quite common for a resident's water billing statement to be 1-3 months behind the current date, as the water billing statements are billed in arrears each month. We apologize if [redacted] experienced any sort of overdue delay in this process, it is unfortunately not a process we have control over.
We are hopeful [redacted] will be satisfied with the customer service gesture we have offered and are available for further inquiries if needed.
Thank you,
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 10, 2014/12/09) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/11/07) */
Hello,
We are in receipt of the letter from [redacted], previous resident of the Sandpiper Village Apartments.
Regarding the utility charges for Mr. [redacted], we have researched all utility charges from the time of move-in, and...

found there to be no discrepancies. All utility charges (water, sewer and trash) are billed in arrears, approximately 1-2 months behind the current date. This is to allow the utility companies enough time to properly collect the metered usage. However, I have identified that the resident ledger and Final Statement states these charges as "water" charges; this statement is used for our internal office use only and represents the charges for all three (3) utility bills (water, sewer, trash). The specific charges for utilities are broken down on the statements that are mailed to the residents each month.
Our records indicate Mr. [redacted] moved into Sandpiper Village on 11/6/2013. His first utility statement arrived on the 1/1/14 billing invoice, in which indicated billing for 11/6/13 - 11/20/13, in the amount of $41.65. From this date, the utility charges for his account through the end of his residency were billed as follows:
11/20/13 - 12/20/13 - $87.11 (billed on 2/1/14)
12/20/13 - 1/20/14 - $87.26 (billed on 3/1/14)
1/20/14 - 2/20/14 - $86.26 (billed on 4/1/14)
2/20/14 - 3/20/14 - $87.11 (billed on 5/1/14)
3/20/14 - 4/20/14 - $87.99 (billed on 6/1/14)
4/20/14 - 5/20/14 - $87.92 (billed on 7/1/14)
5/20/14 - 6/20/14 - $89.75 (billed on 8/1/14)
6/20/14 - 7/20/14 - $89.82 (billed on 9/1/14)
7/20/14 - 8/20/14 - $90.50 (billed on 10/1/14)
8/20/14 - 9/20/14 - $90.26 (billed on move out statement on 10/22)
9/21/14 - 10/22/14 - $93.17 (billed on move out statement on 10/22)
With the aforementioned billing records, it seems the charges are consistent. Additionally, I have attached a copy of each billing statement that was mailed to Mr. [redacted] during his residency.
Regarding the resident portal, this feature allows rental payments to be made online; in addition to submitting service requests, etc. The access is strictly for current residents. It is not uncommon for this access to be revoked shortly after a resident moves out. This happens by an automated system, and not directly from the management team. However, although the online access is no longer granted, the community keeps all hard copy records of all previous resident account documents. We are required to do so by law for at least 5 years after the date of move out.
Additionally, it seems an online payment in the amount of $78.43 was made on 10/28/14, bringing the balance to $0.00.
For reference I have attached the rental ledger for the duration of Mr. [redacted]'s residency, the monthly resident statements, as well as the revised Final Account Statement to reflect the most recent payment made to the account.
With the information we have collected, we do not feel any changes to the account are necessary.
Thank you,
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/11/15) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I think they just admitted fault for all my points, the amount was not in dispute but the way the charges are archived incorrectly. The charges are not for water use although they say it's an internal office code this is wrong and misleading and should not be recorded in such manner.
The main cause of frustration was receiving a final statement with a charge I was unable to pay because they removed my access to the resident portal that contains the payment form. I had to talk to sandpiper management directly to gain access again not Sequoia equities, that is the only reason I was able to pay the final statement.
No other form or option is offered to pay this final statement and they clearly ask for this to be promptly paid within 15 days which is impossible when they remove the payment option and have other form or way to pay.
Their system should be updated to allow payments to be processed even after someone is no longer a resident, and record charges properly to reflect correct usages of utilities to report properly. Not just by current or past residents but the company doesn't seem to be reporting their charges correctly for either tax purposes or other.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2014/11/21) */
We will take Mr. [redacted]s' suggestions into consideration and we appreciate him taking the time to voice his concerns.
The monthly statement that is sent to each resident itemizes the charges for each individual utility charge and is specifically outlined as Water, Sewer or Garbage. It is only our internal document that notates these charges all in one sum as "water". If a change can be made within the internal operating system we currently use, we will certainly look into this option.
Additionally, the Final Statement clearly includes the address of the community, in which payments can be mailed to. Payments can include check, money order or cashier's check. We believe these are viable options for payments on outstanding balances. Payment details are also clearly marked within the contents of the lease agreement.
Thank you,
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2014/11/30) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I was not mailed a final statement until much later, I was however mailed a computer print out requesting for money within 15 business to avoid future collection efforts.
My account online was cancelled which did not allow me to pay immediately or with ease, and if I would have waited I would not have caught this in time to complain and have this corrected.
Mailing a check or money order without knowing that I'd have to allow enough time to do this is not fair to any customer. I can scan and submit what I received on my end, it doesn't outline any of these payment options and there is no reason to assume that I can just blindly mail a check to the address once outside of the lease agreements as this payment isn't for rent.
A detachable stub is needed for me to keep as a receipt this was not the case with what I received.