Stevens Realty & Relocation

Stevens Realty tried to collect unauthorized fees upon termination of lease. Based on NC Statute: Chapter 45, Article 5, #42-46.As stated in the signed lease, if tenant has terminates lease early, they will be responsible for fees incurred by the landlord because of the early termination. It is further explained that rent will continue to be paid as well as utilities until the home is rented to a new tenant. There is no mention of a MARKETING FEE that would be required. Upon inquiry of Stevens Realty on this fee, they state it's a fee incurred at the end of all leases, but it is the responsibility of the landlord, not the tent that is leaving, should they wish to remarket/release the property. Since this is a fee that would be the landlords responsibility at the end of any lease conclusion, not just one due to an early termination of lease, it cannot be deemed as a fee that the landlord has incurred due to the early termination. The landlord would receive this option either way. This is confirmed as an invalid fee as stated in the above mentioned legal statutes. I forwarded this information to the owner of Stevens Realty and was told that my attorney didn't know what he was talking about because she was a broker and knew better. I vacated the property over two months ago and am still paying rent/utilities for it because they claim they can't tell perspective renters that my lease is done, until they receive that money. I have inquired what the delay was on showing the property and they stated that they were unaware of my intentions despite my filling out, signing and submitting all paperwork they have requested. They stated the house was dirty but I submitted a receipt for professional carpet cleaning, had a professional cleaner come in. I offered to update the backyard due to installation of a gravel firepit area and would lay sod in its place but was told to leave it as it was a great feature. 6 weeks later I was sent a $575 estimate for having to have the lawn fixed and the gravel firepit removed, leaves removed (which is handled by the HOA, not the tenant). I've informed them that my professional landscaper will be handling it for me, as originally offered, so there is no need for them to take care of it. I had a private realtor view the home to see if they could find issues that would be keeping it from renting, but they said it was in great condition for a rental, clean, well kept and should be an easy rent. It was noted in a recent walk-thru of the property in preparation for updating the backyard, that lights were left on, as well as water running from the master bathroom shower, which was splattering onto the bathroom floor since there was no shower curtain in place. Walls had been painted, stove burners were removed,undercasings were inside the oven for some odd reason, handles from the fireplace doors were missing, new blinds were installed. I had requested these items be fixed when I moved in as the blinds were heavily stained in the upstairs bedroom, rods were missing, pieces broken off, but was told that wouldn't be replaced. I asked about the odd striped touch up painting as was told that they didn't want to do a full repaint so they just touched it up when I moved in. When I gave notice to vacate I was informed I was responsible for painting all the rooms to return to their initial state when I moved in. I explained that they hadn't done full painting when I moved in so why was I required to paint full rooms now? Nothing about this termination of lease has gone smoothly despite my following the lease requirements as Stevens keeps adding new requirements not mentioned in the lease that I signed.Desired SettlementI wish to have verification that they are actively pursuing renting this property and to have this MARKETING FEE dropped. I do not wish to take this to court but will not let my credit be tarnished due to their misuse of terms/conditions in their leases. I have no ill will towards the homeowner, just not going to be bullied by the property manager. If the fee is dropped and verification is made that they are actively marketing/showing the property, and they can justify any and all deductions on my security deposit which has NOT been returned to date, then I will consider this matter solved. Properties in this neighborhood rent quickly due to their location and school district. There is no reason it should still be on the market. It was only on the market a day when I leased it. Business Response The bottom line is tenant is upset because she is responsible for the marketing fee incurred by the owner because she broke her contract terms. The owner and tenant of any home sign a lease to protect, among other things, the financial interests of the owner. When a tenant does not honor their contractual terms there are penalties. When a tenant fulfills the obligations of a lease they are not responsible for the marketing fee. This tenant moved into the home in August 2013 for 12 months. She then agreed to sign a lease renewal in June 2014, extending her lease through August 30th, 2015. The tenant then provided a letter informing us of her intent to vacate on Sept 30th, 2014 stating they need a larger home and would be vacating October 15th. Since the tenant broke her lease and the owner has to unexpectedly secure a new tenant, the owner did incur a marketing fee/expense. If the tenant lived up to the lease terms the property owner would not have incurred a marketing fee in the year 2014. It is an expense that is charged to the tenant in the event the tenant decides to vacate prior to the lease expiration date. We began marketing the home within a week of receiving the notice. Once we explained everything to the owner and got the necessary paperwork from him we had the home listed in MLS and on several other rental websites. We received over 20 email leads and 15 phone leads for this home between Oct 4th-Nov 30th. This does not include activity from other Reltors. We aggressively sought new tenants for this home because we understand the financial burden a vacant home has on an investor. Several prospects we showed didn't like the condition of the backyard and had issues with the noise from airplanes (house is in flight path of airport). Additionally, the feedback that was received from other brokers after their showings was that the home was not clean and was not in condition for it to be shown while the current tenant was still residing in the home. And we received negative feedback from other Realtors after the tenant vacated. This reflects the condition the tenant gave the home back to us once keys were turned in. A new tenant has since been accepted and moved into the home.A letter provided by the tenant stated they were vacating October 15th. The tenant was made aware that the only way we know a tenant has vacated is when we receive keys to the property at our office. We did not receive keys until October 29th. Therefore, being able to market the home effectively becomes more difficult. Prospective tenants need to know when a property will be ready for move in. Without the keys from the tenant we were left not knowing when it would be move in ready.The week of Oct 30th, 2014, a man ([redacted]) came into our office to pay rent for this home. He mentioned the backyard having a "fire-pit" that they believed was an improvement to the lawn, along with some wooden structure made of pallets (not attractive, we have photos). This person claimed they would be happy to remove everything and return the yard to normal by removing the gravel and laying sod. At that time Stevens Realty said leave it and we will look at it. Once Stevens Realty saw the yard in person we contacted the tenant immediately and asked them to fix the lawn to its original condition. We have email communication to the tenant dated Nov 4th, 2014 asking her to fix the lawn. We also included in that email the feedback we had received from other brokers stating the home did not show well. During the week of Nov 11th I spoke with [redacted] on the phone and he told me he would fix the yard on the upcoming weekend. I showed the property on Sunday Nov 16th at 2pm and the yard had not been fixed. On Nov 18th I sent another email to the tenant along with a quote from a landscaping company and advised her that if she didn't fix the lawn and we had to pay someone that she would be responsible for the bill. She responded on Nov 20th simply " No need for you to hire someone. We will handle it. Going over tomorrow to start some, weather permitting." This response is 1 day before she filed the complaint with the Revdex.com. The tenant finally removed the wooden structure but did not remove brick pavers that were under it nor did they law sod. We are not exactly sure when the pallets were removed but we believe they were removed on/around Dec 1st. We did hire a contractor to remove the brick pavers. We will have the lawn repaired as the season allows for it to be done correctly. The owner also wants to be in a better financial situation to do the work since he has had other additional expenses unexpectedly. She will be billed accordingly.Regarding her notes for a "recent walk-thru", we have no idea what she is referring to. She doesn't reference dates so we don't know if lights were left on due to another agent showing the home or her movers leaving the lights on, and no one from Stevens Realty would be using her shower so we don't know why water was running. When I first showed the home to prospective tenants I went to open the fireplace doors and the handles fell off as the glass door also fell out of the track. If this was broken prior to the tenant moving in she would not be charged, but if she broke it during her tenancy she will be charged accordingly to have it repaired. And if the fireplace door was damaged it should be noted on her move in inspection that she performed or it could be on ours that we performed. We will reference those documents before closing this file.With regards to painting, we send a standard letter to our tenants once they have decided to vacate a property. This letter has recommendations for tenants to use their best judgment on what should be done upon vacating. The only time we ask for a tenant to paint is when they have used a non-neutral color on a wall or in a room. We then ask them to return it to its original color. We wouldn't ask for a tenant to paint it otherwise. Stevens Realty & Relocation is hired by the landlord to protect their interests and we will do that to the full extent allowed by law. We have every right to charge this tenant any expenses incurred as a result of this tenants failure to live up to the contractual obligations they agreed to. Had the tenant honored their lease renewal contract the owner of this home would NOT have incurred a remarketing expense in the year 2014. What point is having a lease(signed contract) if it can be broken without penalty? Stevens Realty & Relocation can make emails and other documents available to the Revdex.com if requested.www.stevens-realty.com

They wrongfully placed a collection in our names.We moved here from VA. The house we rented was a brand new house and had 1 renter before us. They were supposed to change the carpet, paint and fix the microwave according to our walk through before we moved in. We packed up our truck and moved and when we arrived, they did NOTHING...not even changing the batteries in the smoke detectors. Then they had the audacity to try to charge us for these items after we moved out. I told them and I still have the documents showing that these issues existed prior to us moving in. We moved out at the end of our lease 2 years later and bought our own home. No eviction, no courts or anything like that. But then years later they just decided to place a credit collection on our credit without any notice to repair those items that they were supposed to have fixed to begin with. How can they do this?!!? Deplorable!!!!! I would NEVER recommend! I am still friends with the neighbor. She has told me what kind of treatment all the new residents received, too. Looks like I am not the only one. Desired SettlementRemove this fraudulent collection from our credit.Business Response Ms[redacted] moved into this home in March 2007 and was responsible for the lease until March 31st, 2009. The tenant vacated the home in late Feb 2009, one month early. She was sent to collections because of an outstanding balance on her account. Tenants did not pay rent for March 2009, left a fallen fence in the backyard(tenant brought it to the property), past due water bill, and tenants were charged $775 which is half of the total invoice for having the home repainted after they vacated. There was excessive damage to the walls of the home, we have pictures to support. The total amount owed is $1127.38. We did not charge tenant for smoke detector batteries as she claims. In April 2009 we sent our disposition(document supporting tenant charges) to the forwarding address provided by the tenant. No response was ever received. In Sept 2009 the tenant was sent to a collection company. Calls from the collection company began Sept 2009 and continued until Aug 2012. The collection company noted wrong numbers and being hung up on a couple of times but one call in Sept 2010 proves the tenant was aware of the outstanding balance. When the agent from the collection company spoke with Ms[redacted] regarding the debt, Ms[redacted] responded "I don't care, we bought a house" and threatened legal action and even gave us a name of an attorney however the collection company never received a letter from named attorney. This charge has been on her credit since 2009, it is not a recent charge. No attempts have been made to reach her since August 2012 and no collections have been added to her credit since 2009.According to the collections company this charge is slated to drop off her credit in April 2016. It will not be removed prior to that time as it is a valid debt to the homeowner. Let it be known that STEVENS REALTY works for the homeowner and represents the homeowner, we DO NOT collect this money for Stevens Realty, it is collected for our client.Stevens Realty acknowledges there were some issues that needed attention upon Ms[redacted] moving into the home. Stevens Realty NEVER denied any repairs. The TENANT offered solutions if we would reimburse her. We agreed to reimburse her with provided receipts however the tenant NEVER had anything fixed. In fact, Stevens Realty has an email from Ms[redacted] dated May 15th, 2007 where she states that SHE will purchase and install hardwoods in the living room($200), has found a microwave for $75 and purchased a garage remote for $29. She asked if the owner would reimburse for the work. We contacted the owner and the owner AGREED to reimburse Ms[redacted] $300 for said work, HOWEVER, Ms[redacted] NEVER had the work done.FYI, after the tenant vacated the homeowner spent over $4700 to turn the property. MOST of this cost was for new carpet and paint. We could have charged the tenant more for damages as they left behind clogged plumbing lines and filthy appliances. We charged less than $1100 for damages(the remaining balance was from unpaid rent for the month of March).Stevens Realty has supporting documents(inspections, emails, copy of disposition and pictures of damages) all available by request.