Utopia Management Inc

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Regards,
[redacted]

Excellent contact, very good flow of information, friendly attitude. I would be glad to recommend Utopia Management Inc to anyone who wishes to either buy or rent
or lease the property.

I have been using the services of Utopia Management Inc. for many years because of the high standard of service they provide, Andrew recently re-let my property, he worked tirelessly to find the right tenants always keeping me informed of developments along the way. He's incredibly diligent and thorough, ensuring references are sought and checked carefully, and paperwork is processed correctly. I hope to continue using Andrew's services for many years to come, thank you for doing a great job.

Was very impressed with the service I received from Utopia Management Inc. From initial communication through to the property being rented the communication and advice I received was excellent....

Please make note that the above referenced matter has been resolved directly with ourcustomer. Utopia Management met with the customer via telephone conference and was ableto discuss both parties' position in the claim. After the discussion, the property owner agreedthat the refund requested was not due him. We believe that all matters have been resolvedand a new plan of action has been established for the customer. Utopia Management wouldlike to extend our sincerest apologies for the miscommunication. We extend our gratitude toour customer, Mr. [redacted], and look forward to our continued relationship.Sincerely,[redacted]Utopia Management

An excellent firm who give a thorough & professional service always to their clients. My first choice to achieving a speedy letting to high quality tenants & at good rents. Highly recommended.

This was the first time I have used Utopia Management Inc. and I was very happy with the service. Efficient emailing through of all enquiries and assisted in managing a problem applicant. I definitely recommend this service. Affordable and well worth it!

Utopia Management Inc., good marketing and communication with me. No unnecessary viewings - i.e showing potential tenants when the property was outside their price bracket. Good negotiating re rental rates. Timely communication/e-mails and getting contracts signed etc. Really happy with the service I got from them :)

Utopia Management Inc team provided great service when re-leasing my property. They ensured that the process run smoothly ensuring all matters were taken care of effectively, delivering great a great outcome. Thanks

Dear Sir or Madam:
We are in receipt of the complaint made by [redacted] regarding the repair issues. Mr. [redacted]informed Utopia Management that the property would be cleaned and ready for an inspection byJanuary 2, 2015. However, because of a delay in exterior work that needed to be...

completed, theproperty was not available for inspection until after January 17th. During the initial inspectionwe found several items of refuse in the home, dead bug in the bathrooms, and heavily soiledcarpet in the dining room, living room, and master bedroom.Utopia Management imposes a high standard of cleanliness for all of our rental units. We adviseall property owners. to have units professionally cleaned prior to a tenant taking possession ofany rental home. Mr. [redacted] claims to have had a deep cleaning of the unit in addition to a carpetcleaning. However, if a deep clean was performed on a vacancy, it is reasonable to expect thatthe cleaning company would have removed any remaining items as part of their service. Duringthe first inspection there was no evidence of professional carpet cleaners.
A thorough cleaning is essential to a successful move in. During any inspection we pay specialattention to the following areas that often get missed: window sills, window tracks, insidedrawers and cabinets, ceiling fans, screens, underneath the cook tops on stoves, inside ovens,behind and underneath the refrigerator, sliding door tracks, blinds, shower door tracks,washer/dryer (including wash basin, lint filters, dispensers, etc.) and cobwebs. None of the aboveitems were completed during the first inspection. Mr. [redacted] was advised of the need foradditional cleaning of the unit. After much deliberation, he eventually allotted $200 to performthe necessary services. However, with the size of the home, more funds were needed tocomplete the necessary work. Unfortunately, the vendors we assigned to perform the work calledfrom the property to advise that $200 would not to be sufficient due to the condition of the home.Therefore as per Section 5d) Repair/Maintenance of the Management Agreement, the property"Owner authorizes and grants absolute discretion to utopia, its affiliates, agents, successors, andassigns the exclusive right and authority, at Owner's sole expense, to: Make or cause to be maderepairs, improvements; alterations, and decorations to the Managed Property: order materials,supplies, and services for the Managed Property; and pay for funds held on account for theManaged Property invoices and bills for such materials, supplies, and services." Mr. [redacted]insisted that his tenants take possession by February 1, in opposition to the tenant's request for aFebruary 15th move in date. Due to the time constraints we had to act in both the tenant's andowners best interest and authorize the work and cost as advised by our vendors. A secondinspection was performed after the approved work was completed and it was verified that thehome met move in condition specifications. At this time we do not feel that any refund is due toMr. [redacted] for services provided due to the fact that the action taken benefitted his property and inthe long run will allow for him to hold his tenants liable to the same standard of cleanliness uponmove out.
The maintenance request that was made on February 19, 2015 was responded to by UtopiaMaintenance on February 20, 20 1:5 at 3-:53pm. Mr. [redacted]'s request was not overlooked and wasresponded to in a timely manner. At this time Mr. [redacted] is in possession of the roofing estimate.We would like the opportunity to move forward from this and provide Mr. [redacted] with the qualityservice that he deserves. However, if Mr. [redacted] insists on being transferred to another portfoliowe have a manager ready to take on his account.We apologize for any inconvenience caused to Mr. [redacted] and we look forward to an amicableresolution.
 
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Utopia Management

While we can appreciate the inconvenience of the misunderstanding, the property owner was not paid late like she says. She was paid in accordance with our contract with her. We have not stolen any of her money. All funds we received were accounted for and kept in a Trust Account and documented in...

strict accordance with California regulations. Owner received monthly statements documenting all funds received and paid out to her. The owner, not Utopia Management, held the tenant deposit. Owner seems to expect funds back as soon as she canceled management but needs to realize that she needed to give us 30 days notice to cancel Management so that we had time to send the tenants legally required documents notifying them that we are no longer managing the property. We needed some time to make sure all property bills are paid before we send her the remaining funds in her account. A check was written out to the owner for the remainder of the funds in her account and she has picked up the check.

We question these expenses because Utopia did such a poor job, and we don't know on what base they are charging us the lease fee, what are the maintenance supplies? A water heater cost about 500 dollars in home depot why they are inflating these prices (need a receipt). We asked they tenant, and they told us that hey never called Utopia about leaks !!! Trash removal didn't happen, and we ended up paying $200 for a third party to remove the trash.
This is another example of the mismanagement provide by Utopia for this property(They should pay us back most if not all of these inflated charges). Where are the receipts - they didn't send us clear data supporting these inflated charges.
[redacted]
 
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Regards,
[redacted]

I recently rented a house from Utopia and just wanted to say that your front desk reception is outstanding. Always very friendly and helpful. Great 1st impression of your organization, I will refer others that I know.

Utopia Management Inc. recently took over management of our apartment building and they have been GREAT to deal with! They have made it so easy to work with them, and they really seem to care about the tenants and their well being. They really have been great - friendly, professional, caring. Way to go,Utopia Management Inc.

I have been renting out my properties with Utopia Management Inc for the last 10 years and have always been pleased with their service and professional approach. Staff have been excellent. Very professional but friendly and approachable. They contacted me immediately to deal with any problems that have arisen and always rung me back as soon as possible. I am sure my tenants have been as pleased as I have been to have Utopia Management Inc as our point of contact. Good luck in the future

I am in receipt of the claim noted above. We are sorry that Mr. [redacted] feels that his account was
mishandled; however, it is Utopia Management's position that Mr. [redacted]'s account was
handled in a fair and professional manner.
Mr. [redacted]'s claim cites that communication between...

him and the staff at Utopia Management
was insufficient; however, we have numerous e-mail and phone calls that have been exchanged
between Mr. [redacted] and the management staff at Utopia Management. He also cites that we
"violated the simple legal element of disclosure" in reference to the amount of reserves required
to be held for each property. The contract that Mr. [redacted] signed states that he agrees to the
holding of a reserve amount to be determined by Utopia Management. Mr. [redacted] did not
question this clause until after the receipt of his first statement. He questioned the amount held
and a detailed explanation was sent to him via e-mail. Next Mr. [redacted] indicates that Utopia
Management stated that we would not disclose the "utility payment" to the tenant until the
contract is signed. This is incorrect as the utility payment information specific to Mr. [redacted]'s
property was written into the advertising text. Next, Mr. [redacted]'s complaint addresses a specific
plumbing issue-that affected"the move in of~their tenants. I believe that-Mr. [redacted]·is.
misunderstanding the conversation we had regarding the tenants taking possession of the home.
On the morning of the tenant's move in date, it was discovered that there were·two inches of
water in the garage ·due to a leaking water heater. Mr. [redacted] was consulted and agreed to have
Utopia Maintenance make the repair .. We agreed to have the tenants go ahead and proceed to
take possession of the home since the repair of the leaking water heater was simple and a routine
repair that our technicians are familiar and fluent with. The tenants were advised of the needed
repair at the time they picked up the keys to the home. It was not un~l after the tenants took
possession of the home and after our technicians started doing the work that another ongoing
leak was discovered in the home and subsequently mold. Mr. [redacted] was immediately advised
of his responsibilities as a landlord. Where I think the confusion lays is that he was also advised
that the opening of the walls and the presence of mold was a habitability issue and that once the
remediation process started the tenants may not be able to reside in the home temporarily. Mr.
[redacted] then proceeded to open an insurance claim to remedy his home's flood problems. I am
not sure why Mr. [redacted] believed that the tenants had not taken possession of the home. He was
advised of the tenant's move in date via e-mail and also advised that they picked up their keys
from our office. Due to the work on the water heater, the tenants did delay the moving in of items,
but they ultimately had possession of the home and proceeded to move in and work
around the construction work that was taking place.
It is our position that there are no additional funds owed to Mr. [redacted]. He was advised
of and approved all expenses that would be deducted from his income for the property prior to
any of the funds being withheld. The breakdown ofhis income and expenses is as follows:
Income: $5050.00
Expenses: Lease up fee-$1275.00
Maintenance Supplies: $762.39
Maintenance: $94.00
Water Heater replacement labor: $1 090.00
Leak repair under washer: $563.00
Advertising: $99.95
Dump Fee: $36.00
Total Expenses: $3920.34
Total paid out to Mr. [redacted]: $1129.66
Again, we offer our sincerest apologies for any confusion Mr. [redacted] may have encountered.
We feel that we handled the account in a polite and professional manner and we found him a
qualified tenant to occupy his home for the next two years. As it stands, there are no additional
funds due to Mr. [redacted]. We wish him the best.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Utopia Management
10/24/14

Utopia Management Inc team managed our property for many years now and has always taken a diligent approach to management. They have been particularly good with dealing with the tenants expectations which as we have been overseas for the most part of the management, has been a real help. They are easy to contact and follows up on requests which is key to managing the property effectively.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
This is my response to theirs:
I have attached 3 files. On the "owner packet" file, please see the dates that the charges took place on page 1 and on the last page, please see "exceeds maintenance limit" under details.  
On the "bill..." file, please see what ultimately was done. 
On the "response..." file, please see details of why I'm not satisfied. This is my rebuttal to utopia's response in which it's addressed to them.
Thank you for your time.
Regards,
[redacted]
Your response unfortunately paints an erroneous picture of a property owner who seems to be withholding heat from his tenants. Please allow me to elaborate on the situation so you can fully appreciate your company’s misconduct. 
I received notice of the heater repair request on 11/16/15 and I replied immediately on the same day only authorizing someone to go and inspect the matter. I questioned why I was getting so many repair requests for the same issues such as the A/C & heater or garbage disposal. I received a follow-up email on 11/18/15 stating that a vendor was sent out there and I will be contacted once they inspect the situation. However, I never received any follow up after that correspondence until I received a charge for $507.75 on 12/23/15 for A/C and Heat repair and $50.78 for "Vendor service fee - markup of a/c and heat repair.” Perhaps a technical error could have explained the lack of communication so I requested that I be forwarded the email notifications of the repairs required with the estimated charges but your staff couldn’t generate it for me. This illustrated that you never even attempted to contact me. If I had been told that it would cost ~$560 to replace a thermostat and filter, I most definitely would have declined and found my own vendor. 
So why did I receive a bill more than a month after the initial request without further follow-up? Why is the bill over $500 for simply checking the possible issues and ultimately replacing a thermostat and a filter that can easily be purchased for $30- 40 each? Most importantly, why wasn't I given the opportunity to approve or decline the work? Due to a history of suspicious charges, I emailed your staff on 10/28/15 stating that "from now on, please be advised that no work orders should be done without my approval, regardless of the dollar amount." Your staff acknowledged this request of mine but evidently didn’t think it was relevant as they decided that it was in my best interested to be oblivious of any maintenance work being done to my property and just approve all work orders regardless of the dollar amount. It’s quite convenient for you to hide behind your “Professional Management Agreeement” citing that you have the right and the power to “Make or cause to be made repairs, improvements, alterations, and decorations to the Managed Property.” However, this statement doesn’t mean your company has free reign to do whatever it wants without any repercussions.  Everyone has to be accountable for their own actions and in this case, I believe that you’re neglecting yours. 
Your staff stated, “no heat is considered an emergency. We a required to either fix the existing equipment, supply a space heaters until replacement for each living space, or provide a hotel within 24 hours.” This creates another issue because you had other options. The second option apparently worked well in the past since this wasn’t the first time the tenant reported a broken heater. On 2/6/14 while the issue was being investigated, your staff offered the tenant space heaters until the matter was resolved but I was informed that they never even picked it up. Evidently, this wasn’t as much of an emergency to the tenant as it was to your staff.  Regardless, your company still had options no matter how "limited" those choices were. Instead, your company decided to completely ignore my requests and disregard what has worked in the past such as offering the tenant space heaters and chose to not inform me approve work that was unauthorized. Additionally, a frost advisory is between 33-36°F. On 11/16/15 when the tenant reported the most recent broken heater, the low was 59°F and on 2/6/14 when the tenant reported the initial broken heater, the low was 55°F. If on 2/6/14, the tenant never even picked up the space heaters when the temperatures were even lower than that of 11/16/15, why was this treated with such urgency as to ignore the tenant’s previous actions and disregard the owner's current request? 
Regarding the excessive cost, these are the exact words of 2 different members of your staff.
“I agree with your assessment on the charges imposed by the HVAC company and will be contacting the company to dispute the cost.”
 “I do also agree that $500 is a bit excessive for filters and a thermostat. As you know, [redacted]  is doing her best to get the charge in a realistic amount with the vendor.”
Now all of a sudden ~$560 seems appropriate to replace a thermostat and a filter? According to who? This is why maintenance limits exist. It’s to protect clients from property management companies like yourself who blatantly over charge their clients for work they never approved or even been informed of. 
I waited almost 6 days and it took me reaching out to 8 of your employees (both former and current) just to merely get an initial response. Now it took almost 7 days and a complaint to the Revdex.com in order to get another response. What's going on at your San Diego branch is appalling. It’s no coincidence that your Yelp reviews cite the same questionable activity. To state that your actions were in the best interest of the owner and renter as you may claim is completely invalid. I believe that an investigation should be conducted at your facility in order to protect other property owners who may not be as proactive. Your company needs to reevaluate how it conducts its business.
As I've stated before, I expect nothing less than a full refund of $558.53 and it should be rendered immediately. This was an unauthorized, unjustified, and fraudulent charge that was excessive and unrealistic. It's unlawful for your company to be entitled to the payment for work at your client's expense.

I am so glad, they had the property let within 48 hours even when other agencies struggled for 6 weeks! The move was easy and smooth and the after care has been great.

I am responding to the complaint made by a client on [redacted], Case ID# [redacted].I have been overcharged for repairs. And repairs were charged to me that I did not authorize
and were above my limit for...

authorized
The electrical repair that was done at the property was $335.00 and the client had set
her work order limit at $300.00. This may be what the client is referring to. It is true
that this repair was made without the client's approval and she did incurred costs in the
amount of $35.00 over her established work order limit. This electrical issue was a bad
drcuit breaker that was originally report by her tenant in February of 2014. She was
made aware of the issue and we advised her to proceed with the repair immediately.
Her response was that she'd lived in the home for a decade and had never had problems
with outlets tripping the breaker.s. In April, 2014 the tenants again reported the
electrical issue. Our maintenance coordinator called the client to recommend the
repair and her response was that the tenant could just keep resetting the breaker. ln
June, 2014, the tenant called stating that he was preparing for deployment and he was
concerned about his wife being home alone with the electrical fire threat due to
overloading of the old breakers. It was at this time that the property manager made the
decision to move forward with the repair. The tenant had. requested additional repairs
but as the electrical repair involved the health and safety of the tenant, we felt it
necessary to act.They have at times not sent me a statement
Owner statements are automatically generated by our management software. The
client chose to be set up to not receive statements via email rather to receive them via
mail. Had we been made aware that she hadn't received any particular statement we
would have been happy to reprint and resend it to her. I have paid for two different gardeners to service my property due to their mistake (for
over a year) of not cancelling one and due to their lack of attention to my property.When we first started managing the client's property, she had requested an estimate for
monthly landscaping. This estimate was approved by her in October of 2012. In
February of 2014, she advised us that she had contacted a landscaper she had used in
the past and once he contacted Utopia direct that we should move forward with his
services and cancel the current landscaper. I followed up with the client on February
18th, 2014 and on March 4th, 2014 to advise her that I still have not heard anything
from her previous landscaper and to please advise how she would like us to move
forward. On March 6th, 2014 she requested we cancel the current landscaper and she
would deal direct with a new landscaper she would put in place. Later that month, the
client requested reimbursement from us because she claimed that the landscaper she
was·using prior to us managing her property had continued servicing her property for
nearly two years without payment. She stated that he ultimately requested payment at
which time she issued him a check and in communicating with us proposed that we
should reimburse her for our gardener's services to offset the cost. She felt that the
appropriate course of action would be for us to request that the current gardener
would reimburse her for a portion of the payments he received for servicing her
property. We did not see how it would be possible to accommodate this request as he
rendered service as per his contract.
They Have not accounted for all the damages to my property when my last tenant
vacated.We spoke on the phone several times and had numerous email correspondence
regarding the tenant move out as well as pictures were provided to her. The client
wanted the tenants to pay for items considered normal wear and tear that may not be
deducted from the tenant deposit.
I do not check my email regularly but they refuse to communicate with me by other
means. I received an email stating "We will complete repairs if no response is
received from you within 3 hours..." "It was not an emergency situation and as I have
three phone numbers, why couldn't some pick up a phone to call me?"We were aware that the client's preferred method of communication was the telephone
and regular contact with her was made by that method. In July, 2014 while dealing
with our maintenance department about an emergency leak at the property the client
consistently communicated via email with our maintenance coordinator prompting our
maintenance coordinator to then respond to her via email.
I sent my request to terminate management on 7/17/14 via email to four people at
Utopia. No response to date from anyone with Utopia Management.
If the timeframe the client is referring to is less than 48 business hours after her official
termination request, this is true.
The client contacted us via email at 8:28 pm on Thursday 7/17 to advise us that she no
longer wished to continue management services. This email was received by our staff
the following business morning and an official response was sent out the following
business day advising the client of the close-out process.
Sincerely,
Tammy Scalise
Assistant Manager