Landlord Complaint Record: #23-2460

Michelle Whitaker    |    Winona Lake    ,    Indiana 46590    Landlord Complaint 23-2460


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CASE CLOSED UNRESOLVED May 5, 2014


UNRESOLVED COMPLAINT: Despite mediation efforts; neither party could reach an agreement that was accepted by the other party.
 



Case Number : 23-2460 Filing Date : Jul 8, 2013
Investigating Agent : Kept Private Case Disposition : Unresolved
Complaint Level : Code Landlord Response : Case Closed

SUPPORTING DETAILS
Type Title / Link Posted By Date Uploaded Comments
upload Kept Private RPA Mailing Center Jul 9, 2013 The following attachment is a copy of the mailed complaint notice that was processed and sent out the Landlord/ Manager.

LANDLORD / MGR : Michelle Whitaker RENTER : Kept Private
Property Name :      
Address : 455 E Lynnwood Drive N Address : Kept Private
City, State - Zip : Winona Lake, Indiana - 46590. City, State - Zip : Warsaw, Indiana - 46580.
Phone : Kept Private Phone : Kept Private

COMPLAINT : Repair Issue,Breach of Agreement,Failure of Rent Return
Fair Resolution according to renter :
  1. Refund $650 June Rent, Reimburse for RPA Fees

RENTAL DETAILS
Address               :   1601 E FORT WAYNE ST APT 9
City, State - Zip   :   WARSAW, IN - 46580 3656.

COMPLAINT DETAILS (from renter)

I moved into Apartment #1 and had sewer problems, electric problems(power surges - flashing lights) and the dishwasher was not working. I had 7 companies come out to give quotes about the problems. All stated breaker boxes needed fixed or apartment was not maintained. I was also told about past problems with the same apartment. I had to move into Apartment #9 because of major problems with #1. As soon as the electric was turned on, I experienced electric problems and I could not plug anything into the living room. In addition, my refrigerator was not working and it ruined all of my food. I was forced to move out as the landlord had no other apartments open that were functioning. I was offered no help in moving or food replacement. I was told June Rent would be returned and landlord would let me know when. My calls, texts, and emails are being ignored. I lost money and time due to the apartment issues and moving three times in just over one month. I had to sell items out of my apartment in order to move.

LANDLORD / TENANT RESPONSES (6)
From Date IP Address Response
Renter Jul 29, 2013 98.206.88.227 1. Since I moved out on July 17, 2013 and as Michelle has stated, I was let out of my lease, I would be willing to accept a return of the rent for the remaining days of June I paid for upfront plus the RPA fees. In addition, I would need to receive those funds by 5PM on July 30th, 2013. If agreed, I will close this case as resolved and not pursue this matter in court as I am sure we both want to move past this issue. I would also be willing to sign a form that states I am owed no more money by Whitaker Rentals, LLC. I paid $650.00 for June 2013 which has 30 days, since I moved out on the 17th, that leaves 13 days I paid but did not live there. 30 days divided by $650.00 is $22.00 per day. 13 days x $22.00 per day is $286.00. The RPA fees were $35.00. Therefore, again, I would be willing to close this case as resolved and not pursue this issue in court after I receive a total of $321.00 by 5PM on July 30th, 2013.

Explanation: I can meet with Mallory anytime before July 30th to pick up the funds in money order or check.
Renter Jul 29, 2013 98.206.88.227 Offer an Alternative Resolution.
Landlord Jul 20, 2013 192.182.8.23 Explain why you can't accept / Offer Alternative Resolution.
Renter Jul 17, 2013 98.206.88.227 1. Since I moved out on July 17, 2013 and as Michelle has stated, I was let out of my lease, I would be willing to accept a return of the rent for the remaining days of June I paid for upfront plus the RPA fees. In addition, I would need to receive those funds by 5PM on July 18th, 2013. If agreed, I will close this case as resolved as I am sure we both want to move past this issue. I would also be willing to sign a form that states I am owed no more money by Whitaker Rentals, LLC. I paid $650.00 for June 2013 which has 30 days, since I moved out on the 17th, that leaves 13 days I paid but did not live there. 30 days divided by $650.00 is $22.00 per day. 13 days x $22.00 per day is $286.00. The RPA fees were $35.00. Therefore, again, I would be willing to close this case as resolved after I receive a total of $321.00 by 5PM on July 18th, 2013.

Explanation: I can meet with Mallory anytime either today, July 17th or July 18th to pick up the funds in money order or check with the exception of the hours of 4PM or later on July 17th.
Renter Jul 17, 2013 98.206.88.227 Offer an Alternative Resolution.
Landlord Jul 17, 2013 184.17.217.76 Explain why you can't accept / Offer Alternative Resolution.
Renter Jul 14, 2013 98.206.88.227 "I am unable to accept or resolve this issue and this is not my tenant. She is filing a fraudulent complaint on me personally. The property that she is referring to is not mine. I have no authority over her rent. The building that she is referring to is owned and operated by someone other than myself. I was simply and agent to help lease this building. I tried to assist Nikki with a resolution with the owner." The 2 lease agreements are made with Affordable Apartments, LLC with a Winona Lake, IN and signed by Whitaker Rentals. Michelle Whitaker never gave me any information about who owns the building. I never spoke to the owner. Also, a previous case on here, #23-0074, she admits she is the landlord of this property. I was certainly her tenant as the deposit and rent were paid to her. Per Indiana Law, property managers are responsible for repairs and maintenance to the building, which she did not do. They are to act as the landlord under the lease. I would also like to see proof that she is employed or supervised by a broker as required in Indiana as she does not hold a real estate license. "Nikki moved into the apartment and was only there one month. Nikki had several options offered to her because she was unhappy and so the owner offered her to move to another apartment which she did. Two days later she said she found something else. There was not nearly the exaggerated amount of problems that she indicated. The above paragraph is false. I moved into Apt. 1 on May 10. As soon as electric was on and I was moving more stuff in on May 11, I found the dishwasher would not turn on and there was a knock in the water heater. The same day I tried to contact Michelle, I have proof of email and phone records, Mike Whitaker, Michelle’s husband and maintenance person, tried to enter the property with a key because he did not know anyone lived there yet. I do not know what he was doing there. I proceeded to tell him on June 11, I had dishwasher and water heater issues. Finally after several calls and emails (proof can be provided), I received an email on May 20 that she just left messages and they were still working on the dishwasher problem. I did not receive those messages and I had no missed calls and I responded with that information. She responded back stating she did not have the proper number for me. This is false as she had called me before I moved into the apartment on the same number. Again, I have proof. On May 22, she sent me an email saying the dishwasher would need replaced and swapped out. This made sense because she told me that the delay in response was because she was setting up an appointment with an electrician. Mallory (New Manager?) and another man came out to swap the dishwasher but it was still not working and they said an electric person would be out. The same evening, the dishwasher started leaking. Again, more problems. In the days following, more than one electrician came out from Ginter and Nipsco to look at the dishwasher and yet another problem (buzzing and flashing electric) and I was told by him that there was no electricity ever hooked to the dishwasher. Therefore, false advertising was involved in telling me the apartment had a working dishwasher. New Plumbing came out to look at the knocking noise and stated it was because of not maintaining the water heater. I can get proof of the numerous visits from these professionals about my issues and past issues of the same apartment. The problems with this apartment spread out for days including a sewer backup. On June 10, the owner of Ginter left me a message needing to come out again for an estimate on the replacing the breaker box, but Michelle told me later that Ginter was already paid to replace the boxes and didn’t do it. Furthermore, the health department and police officers had been involved with past issues with this same apartment and I can get proof of that as well including a statement from the people who previously lived there as well as current tenants from other apartments in the building. Furthermore, Michelle later told me that the previous tenant opt-ed out of getting the dishwasher fixed and just used an extension cord. Therefore, again, false advertising. “The owner did NOT force her to move. She wanted to move or go back to her ex husband and so the owner graciously said she would allow her to break the lease and she returned her security deposit. Per Indiana State law the owner does not have to give back the security deposit but she did in good faith." I do not understand why Michelle keeps mentioning the owner because I have nothing to do with the owner. First, who in their right mind would move into a 3rd floor Apt from the 1st within a one month period of time? Second, I do not appreciate my personal business being brought into this matter because it is irrelevant and also false but if Michelle wants to check the court papers and look at the divorce papers that have been filed, she is welcome to it. Third, I can show email proof of numerous emails sent to Michelle begging her to get the 1st apartment fixed because I did not want to move. The owner did not return my security deposit. I have a copy of the check that was written from Michelle. When these issues were to the point of ridiculous here are the options Michelle gave me. She gave me $25 off of my June rent. (I have proof). She told me that the issues would be fixed. I had already waited the appropriate amount of time for her to get these fixed according to the law. She offered to move me to the third floor and give me July rent free since I had already paid June rent. I told her I would give the 3rd floor apartment a try. Because they do not keep the electric on, there was no way of testing anything before moving. She actually said, “Let’s pray that everything will be working.” On June 13, I signed a lease for the other apartment even though the lease is dated June 10. The night I moved in on June 13, I plugged a light on in the living room and it was flashing off and on. I tried to plug the TV in and it wouldn’t work at all. On June 14, I opened my refrigerator and discovered it was warm and had ruined all of the food I just bought at ALDI. I immediately notified them of the problems and told Michelle and Mallory that I just wanted to move out because I had already lost work time and money and stress over this apartment and needed to move on. I asked when I would get my rent return because she already told me I had free month’s rent coming because I needed money in order to move yet again. I sold my big stuff and slept on the floor the whole week while I was waiting on the rent back because she told me it would be returned. I was told the owner’s account was not in and that they would cut me a check when they returned. She also went into this long conversation about how bad the owner felt. I was able to get into another apartment the next week but barely. On June 18, she sent me an email wanting my address so she could correspond with me. I have yet to receive any correspondence from her. I have emailed or phoned or text practically every day and with the exception of one day, I heard not response. She answered the phone and said she still had not heard back about anything and that she was on her way back from a funeral. I told her I was sorry for her loss, but that had nothing to do with me. She screamed at me and stated I broke my lease (which contradicts the letting me out of my lease statement above) and her world was falling apart and she didn’t owe me anything. Within the time period of living in two apartments, Michelle has told me she reasons for not getting back to me included birthday parties, softball games (the night of which I was begging her to do something about the apartment because it smelled like sewage. She told me to open the windows and she would bring me fans. She never brought me any fans or offered to pay for a hotel after directly being asked.), and several funerals. All of which are probably true, but again, have nothing to do with these issues. The owner is NOT required to return rent of any kind per state law. Nikki was never told that she would get her rent back. She was told that we would ask what the options were. I have a signed letter from Nikki showing that she received the Security deposit back. Per state law, Michelle acting as the landlord is responsible for repair in a reasonable period of time. This was not done. She is also responsible for showing the property with true information. These two apartments were not working but were advertised that way. Also, the fact is I paid for the entire month of June, but did not live there through June so why is she allowed to keep my rent especially since she let me out of my lease? In a nutshell, I have moved 3 times in one month and have three leases to prove it, again, who in their right mind would do that and why? People just don’t move three times for any good reason. Especially when my schedule is jam packed with raising a child, going through a divorce, working at home and getting a master’s degree. Second, Michelle is stating, “There was not nearly the exaggerated amount of problems that she indicated.” If that were the case, then why would she be okay with moving me to a 3rd floor but returning my deposit, giving me $25 off of rent and offering me a free month’s rent? Again, I have proof of all of the visits from service professionals. Landlords just don’t go around letting people out of leases and moving them around the building for no reason other than to be nice. As for this complaint it is a personal attack of harassment to me personally and I want it removed immediately. This complaint is no different than the other complaint that is on here and that is not removed. This is not a personal attack and that is one of the biggest issues with this whole situation. Every time I talked to her she was also defending herself stating things like “it hurts my feelings.” This is a matter of doing the right thing as a property manager and landlord because of the laws that require her to do so.
Renter Jul 14, 2013 98.206.88.227 Explain why you can't accept / Offer Alternative Resolution.
Landlord Jul 14, 2013 50.127.93.122 Explain why you can't accept / Offer Alternative Resolution.

INVESTIGATING AGENT - REMARKS (13)
Agent Date Response
SYSTEM May 5, 2014 The case has received a disposition of: 'Unresolved' Neither party was able to reach an agreement or resolution.
SYSTEM Jul 17, 2013 LANDLORD RESPONSE PAST DUE: The Landlord has failed to respond to the complaint by: July 16, 2013 .The Landlord will be provided a grace period of 3 additional days to respond. CASE IS PENDING LANDLORD RESPONSE.
SYSTEM Jul 17, 2013 PAST DUE RESPONSE: The Landlord or Manger has FAILED to respond by the deadline set within the complaint notice.
SYSTEM Jul 9, 2013 PENDING LANDLORD RESPONSE: The landlord or manager have been provided with the following response deadline: July 15, 2013 This deadline provides a reasonable time frame of 3 days for delivery of written notice and 3 days to respond to case # 23-2460 as outlined in the mailed notice. THIS CASE IS PENDING RESPONSE FROM LANDLORD OR MANAGER.
SYSTEM Jul 9, 2013 MAIL CONFIRMATION: The complaint notice has been processed and is currently in route for 23-2460.
SYSTEM Jul 9, 2013 COMPLAINT NOTICE PRINTED: The complaint notice has been successfully transferred to the nearest mailing center and is pending mailing confirmation. For Landlord
SYSTEM Jul 9, 2013 AUTOMATIC EMAIL TO LANDLORD: The system has automatically emailed the landlord a digital complaint notice. Initial Email to Landlord has been sent.
SYSTEM Jul 9, 2013 EMAIL TO TENANT: The system has sent an email to the tenant. The email included a copy of the complaint as filed by the tenant.
SYSTEM Jul 9, 2013 Complaint Accepted by RPA and is pending further processing.
SYSTEM Jul 8, 2013 Complaint 23-2460 has been filed and is in queue for further processing. Pending further updates and confirmation of mailing.