Sycamore Place Apartments

I received your letter dated 10/24/14 in...

regards to a Contract Dispute Complaint from [redacted] ([redacted] ** St. in Terre Haute, IN). Listed below is my response in, regards to her allegations. It should be noted that per your request,-her/their names are not mentioned, but the following terms apply:
Her = [redacted]
Her boyfriend / him= [redacted] Her father / her co-signer = [redacted]
She & her boyfriend, did indeed sign a joint and several lease. For your convenience, the obligations of our Joint and Several Liability are copied and pasted below, as shown in their lease:
14. Joint and                                      �...⇄ '               .             •           -                                . _ •             •       ,
If two or more persons are contracting as Occupants in this agreement, it is understood that each tenant is jointly and severally liable for the obligations assumed by the tern-is of this lease. If orie Occupant vacates the premises before the termination date, all parties continue to be equally responsible for the full amount of rent under this agreement. It is not the responsibility of the landlord to keep accounting records to document which party paid which amount towards the amount owed.
It was reported that her boyfriend could be deployed at some point. Listed Within this bullet, point are some specific dates of conversations our office had with her before the lease was signed by the two of them:
·      On 2/25/14, she reported that her boyfriend did receive deployment orders and asked about our one bedroom and one bedroom loft pricing. She was given floor plans. Our office advised her that in order to remove his.name from this account, we would need a copy of deployment orders. We also explained to her that we could .transfer his earnest money (and hers) to a one bedroom, but it would be her responsibility to reimburse him for anything he had deposited; due to our joint and several Lastly, we re-iterated the deadline to sign the lease (10 business days after approval) was 3/3/14 or denial letters would be sent
Ø  On 2/27/14, she contacted us stating they both would be in to sign the lease. When asked about his deployment that was previously reported, she stated they were only 70% sure it would happen; as it changes each time he is on base. She reported they had discussed the situation and he is still willing to pay, even if he is deployed, so that she could stay in the apt.
On 2/28/14, the lease was signed with her and her boyfriend.
On 7/14/14, she; her father (her co-signer) and her boyfriend sat down with myself and discussed all options to release her from her contract; as her boyfriend had received deployment orders effective 10/6/14. These orders, once received, would release him from the contract as of 12/1/14, per the Military Occupants clause in the lease. Later that evening, her boyfriend mailed the orders to myelf. For your convenience, I have copied & pasted the military clause as shown in their lease:
16: Military Occupants
The lessee may terminate the lease if he/she enters military service or receives permanent change of station or deployment for not less than 90 days. Termination is made by delivery of written notice along with a copy of the orders to lessor. Termination is effective 30 days after the first date on which the next rental payment is due.
On 7/15/14, she signed our Rerent Request document which clearly states she is responsible to perform all terms and conditions of your lease until such time as the apartment is leased to new tenants. It is important to note that as a courtesy, I offered to deduct the Rerent Fee ($585.00; 75% of a full month's rent) from her security deposit, rather than collecting up front as .she states she has paid; as is our policy.: To date, she has
not paid this fee. As well, this office has never reported that this apartment "could be re-rented in no time", as stated in her complaint.
The following items within this bullet point are documented attempts to re-rent this apartment; however, there were many we talked to that would not provide names or phone numbers. Those are not listed:
Ø  On 7/16/14, we contacted every person on our waiting list; not only for that size of apartment, but also those interested in other sizes of our two bedrooms, trying to "sell" this particular apartment and it's amenities.
On 7/17/14, we received two applications for this apartment; however they did not qualify.
On 7/21/14, we contacted our waiting list again; trying to reach those that we previously left voicemails for.
Ø  From 8/18/14 to 8/27/14, we emailed four referrals about this apartment.
Ø  On 8/29/14 we accepted an application for this apartment without earnest money to hold; as is our policy.
Ø  From 9/2/14 through 9/12/14, we phoned this applicant to, find out if still interested and if so, earnest money should be submitted.
>       From 9/8/14 to 9/9/14, we emailed 3 referrals about this apartment 9/10/14 we discussed this apartment one the phone with prospects; however, they did not show up for their appointment showing.
On 9/15/14 we emailed a referral about this apartment.
?     On 9/16/14 we showed this apartment to two prospects and emailed another referral about this apartment.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø  On 9/19/14 we showed this apartment to a prospect.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø  On 9/19/14 and 9/21/14 we left follow-up messages to interested prospects:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø  On 9123/14 we discussed this apartment on the phone with a prospect.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->>      On 9/29/14 we accepted an application on this apartment without earnest money to hold; as is our policy. We also referred two one bedroom callers to this apartment and showed this apartment to yet another prospect.
Ø  On 10/1/14, we discussed this apartment with the previous days' prospect's mother and two other prospects.
Ø  10/2/14 we emailed a referral and spoke to another prospect about this apartment.
 On 10/2/14 we accepted applications and earnest money from two prospects on this apartment.
•   Other efforts in re-renting this apartment include the following listed below. It is important to note that online
ads would regularly renewed, so they would return to the top of the lists: Craigslist
·                  Trulia
ØZillow
Ø  Indiana Statesman
Ø  Facebook
Periodic emails have been sent to her and her boyfriend, advising them of the status of the Rerent Request. In addition, we have spoken with her father numerous times on the phone advising him of status updates. As well, a response to their attorney, was sent on October 6, 2014 at 3:15p via fax.
An email was sent to her, her boyfriend and their co-signers on Oct. 27, 2014, explaining that the most recent applicants had been approved and would like to move in early November. We, further explained that before we could end her lease, we would need to have a signed lease from them. Their deadline to sign is Nov. 10, 2014.
In closing, the accusations in this complaint are not valid and unfair. We explained to her, her boyfriend and her father that while our traffic had slowed down this time of year as is the custom with our demographics; we were hopeful it would slowly increase as we approached January 2015. It is difficult to understand why she rented another apartment fully realizing she was under contract with us until re-rented, since her boyfriend had agreed and was obligated to pay rent through November 2014. It seems it would have been more affordable to be under contract on one apartment; rather than two.
Thank you for your time. Sincerely,
Jona [redacted]
Property Manager