When I moved into this duplex I marked a large amount of items on my move-in inspection sheet. I went through that place with a fine toothed comb basically. I don't believe that I missed much on the check list that I turned into the property manager, that he then signed. It was clear after we moved in that they never really serviced the place prior to us moving in. Nail holes everywhere, crap left by previous tenants in the garage, junk in the yard, stuff on the carpets, dirt all over the blinds... etc. Well I documented all of this stuff. Before I moved out I called the office to try and schedule a pre-move inspection. They said that they didn't do that and all I needed to do was bring my keys up there on the date of move out. I left a forwarding address with the management office. I was forced to move on military PCS orders to El Paso.
Well, just yesterday I heard from the person at my forwarding address. These people took like 600 of my 940 dollar deposit on a bunch of bull crap. After hearing some of the deductions over the phone it sounds like all of the stuff that should have been done before we moved in, was now billed to my security deposit. These people are trying to take me for a ride. When I left there the place was in much better condition than when I moved in. They charged me for things that were clearly written all over the move in inspection. They even charged me to replace a dead bolt lock on the garage door that I never had a key to. The lock looked 15 years old and because they never had a key, they replace it and bill me. Nail holes, cleaning the carpet that was dirty when we moved in... billed me for it. Most of this stuff is on the inspection and the property manager did sign the inspection agreeing with my statement.
So what rights do I have trying to fight this. I am pretty pissed. I feel like before I moved in that the property managers never even went and looked at the property before showing it to us. I'm thinking about calling the military housing office back in Washington to tell them about these scam artists. Maybe the better buisness bureau. I have yet to call this jerk to confront him because I want to get some information before I do so. Any suggestions or enlightenment on what I can do to get back some of my money would be great. Thank you..
Well, just yesterday I heard from the person at my forwarding address. These people took like 600 of my 940 dollar deposit on a bunch of bull crap. After hearing some of the deductions over the phone it sounds like all of the stuff that should have been done before we moved in, was now billed to my security deposit. These people are trying to take me for a ride. When I left there the place was in much better condition than when I moved in. They charged me for things that were clearly written all over the move in inspection. They even charged me to replace a dead bolt lock on the garage door that I never had a key to. The lock looked 15 years old and because they never had a key, they replace it and bill me. Nail holes, cleaning the carpet that was dirty when we moved in... billed me for it. Most of this stuff is on the inspection and the property manager did sign the inspection agreeing with my statement.
So what rights do I have trying to fight this. I am pretty pissed. I feel like before I moved in that the property managers never even went and looked at the property before showing it to us. I'm thinking about calling the military housing office back in Washington to tell them about these scam artists. Maybe the better buisness bureau. I have yet to call this jerk to confront him because I want to get some information before I do so. Any suggestions or enlightenment on what I can do to get back some of my money would be great. Thank you..