SJA Property Management

We are sorry that you did not have a positive experience working with our team.  We try to be as fair as possible when dealing with owner/tenant issues, but there are times when it is difficult to make both sides completely happy.  We are caught in the middle.  In this case the owner...

believed that with running a business with several employees going to and from the property was against the local code.  After doing additional research, they had us request that the tenant no longer run a business from the home.  I can see how this would be frustrating but as the manager we did not have any choice but to enforce the owner’s request.  When evaluating the property for the security deposit disposition we are required that charge for any lease violations or damage that exceeds normal wear and tear.  We are as fair as possible when doing this and always take pictures of damage and document any charges.  When our manager walked through the property she found a few areas that needed to be cleaned or repaired.  Per our signed lease agreements, a tenant agrees to do a full move out cleaning, have the carpets professionally cleaned, and repair any damage,  at move out.  In this case, we charged for the cleaning we had to do, professional carpet cleaning, unpaid water bill and a couple repairs.  All of which we took pictures of and documented.  We do not have written documentation that a former manager gave the tenant oral permission to smoke in the garage.   We do not know exactly what was discussed in this regard, but take her word for it.  However, regardless of whether the tenant had permission, they would still be responsible for any damage caused to the garage or removing any lingering odor that resulted from the smoking.  In this case we had to hire a vendor to air out the garage, so the smoke smell could be removed and the property could be rented. We as a company would much rather fully return every security deposit we collect.  However, we have a duty to our owners to get the properties rent ready condition and enforce the lease terms with regard to cleaning/carpets and damage.  Again, I apologize that the tenant feels as though we acted unfairly.  I wish that was not the case.  We did the very best we could given the information we had and the lease agreement. 
The money we collected has gone directly to the owner and the vendors and not to SJA.  However, SJA is willing to provide the tenant with $500 to help settle this issue and help the tenant's situation.