The Villas at Spring Park

Dear [redacted]   Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Miss [redacted] complaint.  I am copying Miss [redacted] last known email address to this reply.   Miss [redacted] has two complaints: that our community is "poorly managed," and that our lease is "misguided and unfair."...

Although she does not tell you this, what she specifically complaining about is being charged $70.36 for carpet cleaning after we allowed her to break her second lease with us.    With regard to our being poorly managed, it is impossible to respond to a subjective statement made without any specifics attached to it. Suffice it to say that the speed and thoroughness of my response back to you is an indication of the level of management by which our community is operated, which is extraordinary when compared against any similar value-priced community. (The Villas at Spring Park is very small, with only 32 units, and has no office. We are not the cheapest price range in town, but we are only one price point up from the cheapest. Miss [redacted] knew the smallness and "mom and pop" nature of our community prior to moving in. It is, in fact, something we brag about.) Our community offers tremendous value for the money in the current New Braunfels marketplace. We are routinely full with very few vacancies (our annual occupancy is 97%.) We routinely are able to rent units one or even two months in advance of a vacancy. After she moved out, we were able to re-rent Miss [redacted] unit with a new approval within 5 days. We very often have residents return to us after years of living elsewhere. We are very well-priced for the quality. We are one of the only communities of similar size and price point that responds to routine maintenance requests within hours, sometimes minutes, not days. Our average completion time for all maintenance items from simple to complex is 4.69 days. My head maintenance man has been with the property for six years, knows our property inside out, and gets rave reviews from the vast majority of my tenants. All of that said, we are a Class C property. Oftentimes people coming from cheaper markets expect Class A quality when the price they are willing to pay does not get you Class A quality in New Braunfels. I am not responsible for Miss [redacted] unreasonable expectations, if that was the case. (She moved from Amarillo, a much cheaper city.)   With regard to our lease being "misguided" or "unfair," these are not legitimate complaints. Our lease is 100% legal under state law, and Miss [redacted] agreed to not one but two leases with us without complaining even one time about any clause or item in either lease. Miss [redacted] had ample time to register her complaints or ask for any changes; she did not do so. Our lease is the legal agreement between the parties, and under Texas state law it is the only agreement between the parties. Both of Miss [redacted] leases clearly stated that the minimum carpet cleaning charge when vacating an apartment was $70. Here is the exact wording from her most recent lease effective June 1st:   "49.         You agree to pay us THREE HUNDRED ($300.00) DOLLARS IF NO FORWARDING ADDRESS IS GIVEN prior to vacating the premises.  You agree to return the unit in the condition you found it, with only normal wear-and-tear. “Security Deposit” in this lease has the meaning it has under state law, and may be applied to all items allowed by state law, including but not limited to damages (above normal wear and tear,) unpaid rent, unpaid late fees, unpaid shared utility bills, cleaning, carpet cleaning, smoke odor abatement (including duct cleaning, repainting, and/or carpet replacement,) unpaid charges in accordance with provisions in this lease, Owner’s attorney’s fees, collection fees, and other charges allowed by law. You understand we charge $45 per hour for all cleaning, repair, and other work that performed by our employees, and a minimum of $70 for carpet cleaning, and other charges if applicable will be passed on to you at cost.  You agree to pay ONE HUNDRED ($100.00) DOLLARS PER ITEM if you leave a mattress, box spring, sofa, couch, chair, table, TV, futon, or other large object anywhere on the property for disposal, including inside your unit after move-out. You agree that, if your Statement of Deposit Account shows a balance due to us, you will respond with full payment within ten (10) business days of receiving the statement.  You understand that we may take all legally available actions to recover any debt."   On 8/24/15 she texted me that I was not legally allowed to charge her for carpet cleaning (which is false) and here is my reply by email from 8/26/15. I even encouraged her to check with the Austin Tenants Council, which clearly she did not do:   "In response to your text message regarding the charge against your security deposit for carpet cleaning.    - Our lease specifically states that the minimum carpet cleaning charge at moveout will be $70 if carpets were cleaned. This can be found in paragraph 62 of the original lease effective May 1st, 2014 that you agreed to have transferred into your name, and it can be found in paragraph 49 of the new lease you signed effective June 1, 2015. The carpets were cleaned and we sent you a copy of the invoice. We don't clean carpets unless it is necessary and we have had many tenants move out over the years without needing to clean their carpets. I am sorry if this surprised you.    - Lee [my head maintenance man] has made clear to me that he did not state to you that you would not be charged for carpet cleaning. He has worked for me for over five years and is familiar with our policy. Verbally making small talk and stating that a unit is generally left clean is not an indication of what damages or cleaning might actually be required. You did leave the unit very clean and with no damages, and we thank you for it. However, the carpet needed to be cleaned. Additionally, we still had to have a cleaner go in and make it move-in ready, for which you were not charged. This general cleaning was counted as normal wear and tear based on the total length of time you were responsible for which goes back to May 1, 2014. We allow 1.5 hours of cleaning per year of occupancy as normal wear and tear.   It is common for residents to disagree with charges on their security deposit, as they either failed to read or remember what was in the lease. The lease is our legal contract between us and I feel we have executed our side of it correctly and fairly. If you disagree and wish to double-check our lease contract and state law, you might try to contact a tenants rights organization such as the Austin Tenants Council. They are highly reputable and trusted.   Wishing you the best in your new home.   Sincerely,    [redacted]     Miss [redacted] original lease with us was a take-over from a prior tenant and was only for two months. She then signed a new 5-month lease with us on June 1st, which I voluntarily allowed her to break due to her constant and excessive complaints about minor issues. Just as an example, she complained about the "mold" (it was mildew, not mold) in her apartment -- yet the reason the mildew grew was because she chose a shady unit situated down a slope below street-level (a wetter, more humid location than above grade or flat) and she did not run her air conditioner for the first three months she was living there (which was in late Spring and early Summer.) Will mildew grow in a humid, un-air-conditioned environment in Central Texas in the summer? Yes, yes, of course it will. This is not a defect in our management or in our facility; this is common sense housekeeping, which was severely lacking on Miss [redacted] part. If you would like, I can provide other examples as evidence of her general pattern of excessive and unwarranted complaints. We also found her lack of common sense stressful and potentially dangerous, which is why we encouraged her to find a different living opportunity.   Please let me know if there are any further questions you might have for me.   Sincerely,    Patrick MacKellan THE VILLAS AT SPRING PARK (830) 743-9010 [email protected]

Dear [redacted]   Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Miss [redacted] complaint.  I am copying Miss [redacted] last known email address to this reply.   Miss [redacted] has two complaints: that our community is "poorly managed," and that our lease is...

"misguided and unfair." Although she does not tell you this, what she specifically complaining about is being charged $70.36 for carpet cleaning after we allowed her to break her second lease with us.    With regard to our being poorly managed, it is impossible to respond to a subjective statement made without any specifics attached to it. Suffice it to say that the speed and thoroughness of my response back to you is an indication of the level of management by which our community is operated, which is extraordinary when compared against any similar value-priced community. (The Villas at Spring Park is very small, with only 32 units, and has no office. We are not the cheapest price range in town, but we are only one price point up from the cheapest. Miss [redacted] knew the smallness and "mom and pop" nature of our community prior to moving in. It is, in fact, something we brag about.) Our community offers tremendous value for the money in the current New Braunfels marketplace. We are routinely full with very few vacancies (our annual occupancy is 97%.) We routinely are able to rent units one or even two months in advance of a vacancy. After she moved out, we were able to re-rent Miss [redacted] unit with a new approval within 5 days. We very often have residents return to us after years of living elsewhere. We are very well-priced for the quality. We are one of the only communities of similar size and price point that responds to routine maintenance requests within hours, sometimes minutes, not days. Our average completion time for all maintenance items from simple to complex is 4.69 days. My head maintenance man has been with the property for six years, knows our property inside out, and gets rave reviews from the vast majority of my tenants. All of that said, we are a Class C property. Oftentimes people coming from cheaper markets expect Class A quality when the price they are willing to pay does not get you Class A quality in New Braunfels. I am not responsible for Miss [redacted] unreasonable expectations, if that was the case. (She moved from Amarillo, a much cheaper city.)   With regard to our lease being "misguided" or "unfair," these are not legitimate complaints. Our lease is 100% legal under state law, and Miss [redacted] agreed to not one but two leases with us without complaining even one time about any clause or item in either lease. Miss [redacted] had ample time to register her complaints or ask for any changes; she did not do so. Our lease is the legal agreement between the parties, and under Texas state law it is the only agreement between the parties. Both of Miss [redacted] leases clearly stated that the minimum carpet cleaning charge when vacating an apartment was $70. Here is the exact wording from her most recent lease effective June 1st:   "49.         You agree to pay us THREE HUNDRED ($300.00) DOLLARS IF NO FORWARDING ADDRESS IS GIVEN prior to vacating the premises.  You agree to return the unit in the condition you found it, with only normal wear-and-tear. “Security Deposit” in this lease has the meaning it has under state law, and may be applied to all items allowed by state law, including but not limited to damages (above normal wear and tear,) unpaid rent, unpaid late fees, unpaid shared utility bills, cleaning, carpet cleaning, smoke odor abatement (including duct cleaning, repainting, and/or carpet replacement,) unpaid charges in accordance with provisions in this lease, Owner’s attorney’s fees, collection fees, and other charges allowed by law. You understand we charge $45 per hour for all cleaning, repair, and other work that performed by our employees, and a minimum of $70 for carpet cleaning, and other charges if applicable will be passed on to you at cost.  You agree to pay ONE HUNDRED ($100.00) DOLLARS PER ITEM if you leave a mattress, box spring, sofa, couch, chair, table, TV, futon, or other large object anywhere on the property for disposal, including inside your unit after move-out. You agree that, if your Statement of Deposit Account shows a balance due to us, you will respond with full payment within ten (10) business days of receiving the statement.  You understand that we may take all legally available actions to recover any debt."   On 8/24/15 she texted me that I was not legally allowed to charge her for carpet cleaning (which is false) and here is my reply by email from 8/26/15. I even encouraged her to check with the Austin Tenants Council, which clearly she did not do:   "In response to your text message regarding the charge against your security deposit for carpet cleaning.    - Our lease specifically states that the minimum carpet cleaning charge at moveout will be $70 if carpets were cleaned. This can be found in paragraph 62 of the original lease effective May 1st, 2014 that you agreed to have transferred into your name, and it can be found in paragraph 49 of the new lease you signed effective June 1, 2015. The carpets were cleaned and we sent you a copy of the invoice. We don't clean carpets unless it is necessary and we have had many tenants move out over the years without needing to clean their carpets. I am sorry if this surprised you.    - Lee [my head maintenance man] has made clear to me that he did not state to you that you would not be charged for carpet cleaning. He has worked for me for over five years and is familiar with our policy. Verbally making small talk and stating that a unit is generally left clean is not an indication of what damages or cleaning might actually be required. You did leave the unit very clean and with no damages, and we thank you for it. However, the carpet needed to be cleaned. Additionally, we still had to have a cleaner go in and make it move-in ready, for which you were not charged. This general cleaning was counted as normal wear and tear based on the total length of time you were responsible for which goes back to May 1, 2014. We allow 1.5 hours of cleaning per year of occupancy as normal wear and tear.   It is common for residents to disagree with charges on their security deposit, as they either failed to read or remember what was in the lease. The lease is our legal contract between us and I feel we have executed our side of it correctly and fairly. If you disagree and wish to double-check our lease contract and state law, you might try to contact a tenants rights organization such as the Austin Tenants Council. They are highly reputable and trusted.   Wishing you the best in your new home.   Sincerely,    [redacted]     Miss [redacted] original lease with us was a take-over from a prior tenant and was only for two months. She then signed a new 5-month lease with us on June 1st, which I voluntarily allowed her to break due to her constant and excessive complaints about minor issues. Just as an example, she complained about the "mold" (it was mildew, not mold) in her apartment -- yet the reason the mildew grew was because she chose a shady unit situated down a slope below street-level (a wetter, more humid location than above grade or flat) and she did not run her air conditioner for the first three months she was living there (which was in late Spring and early Summer.) Will mildew grow in a humid, un-air-conditioned environment in Central Texas in the summer? Yes, yes, of course it will. This is not a defect in our management or in our facility; this is common sense housekeeping, which was severely lacking on Miss [redacted] part. If you would like, I can provide other examples as evidence of her general pattern of excessive and unwarranted complaints. We also found her lack of common sense stressful and potentially dangerous, which is why we encouraged her to find a different living opportunity.   Please let me know if there are any further questions you might have for me.   Sincerely,    Patrick MacKellan THE VILLAS AT SPRING PARK (830) 743-9010 [email protected]