Rent Problems Are Frustrating; but you're not alone: Thousands of tenants rely on RPA to solve problems
Deposit Problems And Negligence Of Repairs | Case#**-*571
North Augusta,
South Carolina -
29841
We were tenants at 1251 West Avenue, M3 North Augusta, SC 29841 for two years. There were multiple requests for items to be fixed. In particular, the master bedroom closet door and the kitchen stove/oven. The items were services but never fixed in full. When we moved out of the apartments, the landlord did not specify that these items were problems or were in need of further attention from us. Within 30 days, the landlord notified us of that charges from our security deposit would be deducted for fixing/replacing the closet door and stove/oven. Both of which were never fixed by the landlord. This is clear grounds for negligence according to the 1986 South Carolina Landlord and Tenant Act. Rather than pursue this matter in small claims court, we hope to settle it out of court.
Adequate time 2 move return deposit repair&clean chrgs. | Case#**-*937
Evansville,
Indiana -
47710
Less than 3 weeks to move once final decision was made for the to sale, in ten years never once was there a case of the home not being taken care of ( by me the tenant). They walked through 2 time on separate occasions with in the last 2 weeks, all they could say was nice, looks very nice you've kept it up very good. They and i had talked about situation of my ex wife leaving. It left me a 4 BR house, that housed a family a couple years ago to move by myself with in 2 weeks a lili more maybe. Actually all 3 times with in the final couple weeks that they stopped by were unanounced, 2 times were both tom and Nancy, the other time just tom, when leaving he said make sure to tell jamie ( ex wife) that if there is any thing left my crew is hauling it to the dump, he even said it would be out of his pocket, at one of be other unannounced visit and walk throughs we'd descused the leaving some items, and it wax to be no problem ( since they rent other properties sounded lime they had there own crew ) but still nothing was ever said about c harging me. Now a little over a month since ive been gone, i receive a summons to appear the landlords wanting to collect 2,303.49 from me for cleaning and repairs, which like I said in the ten years not once, now that im gone i guess i kept the place a pig sty. Honesty honesty honesty. I know i left without paying the final 373.00 of rent but i had no place to stay and about 400.00 to my name with no income or assistance. I knew if i paid then 25.00 wasnt going to get me anywhere. Really in all honesty im a very respectful person and for your landlords of 10 years to have always actted as if they liked me and thought i was a good tenant, to backstab me like this, its terrible. No deposit back and now court for repairs and damages. I would like for them to lose there houses people like the Mercer are not good people, they always have dollars figures in there eyes but since there busines is not so sharp they rely on others to pay there way just tbe way they did me, they did some minor remodeling, minor cleaning, even charging me for having to change locks. Really that pretty much everytime you change attendants. If there was a landlord license so to speak i think theres should be taken away or at least suspended. I know excatly what happened, and they trying to make up as much as they can from a bussiness investment they did and lost money in just prior to wanting to sale the house. Nathaniel daniel should be on his way
Tenant Without Pay Squatting And Abusing Other Tenant | Case#**-*695
CHICAGO,
IL -
60616 3261
One tenant refuses to pay rent but also refuses to leave the property because the landlord is not in the state to reinforce his eviction. Instead the other tenant harasses, abuses, blackmails and threatens the other tenant if they do not allow them to stay.
Repair issue, Breach of agreement | Case#**-*480
Phoenix,
Arizona -
85029
I been trying for over a month to have my refrigerator change because it is all broken inside, shelves are broken can hold anything and wastes to much electricity, stove burners are all tilted to the point that it gets dangerous to cook or anybody to be around the kitchen while stove is on, management doesn't do anything about my upstairs neighbors throwing trash on my patio kids running around at 11pm-4am, we received card for parking lots to be safe and electric doors to be shut at all times and doors are never shut random hobos sleeping by trash people use it as a short cut and speed really dangerously through the parking lot, securities are never around, parking spots are always taking by other neighbors. Also, when you go to the office to either pay your rent or anything the manager is the only one in there working by herself but she is always on the phone laughing not paying attention to who is there, and will hear you out whenever she feels like it.
Deposite problem | Case#**-*837
Dallas,
Texas -
75287
Applied for an apartment on 4/12/13 then recieved a call 4/18 saying I wasn't approved for the apartment. I payed idlewyld $365 on the 12th for the app fee, admin fee, and deposite. But was told yesterday that I was denied because I had to many late payments with my current rental agreement. I was in total shock because I asked the lady who helped me would they take my deposite if I wasn't approved. She said I would RECIEVE it back. Only to be told today I can't get it back because I "lied" on my app. Which is a total lie. My current rental property told her they would re lease an apartment to me and I was a good tentant. But for some reason idlewyld is saying the total opposite. I would just like to receive my deposite and admin fee back. I feel like I got robbed. Now I have to take off work again and come out with $365 again and find another apartment. They also cashed the money order before my app was processed. I got a money order through my bank and they informed me idlewyld cashed the money Order the same day. Oh by the way I gave them the mo before turning my app in. Only because I was told my husband would need to be present in order to start processing the app. But he was at work so we went when he got off. Which was at 615 pm. Their office closes at 6 but April begged me to come in and stop the app off. Which I did thinking she was trying to help but in reality just trying to have a reason to cash the mo. April informed me Monday that she just started processing the application. Please help me get this resolved. I'm an average working American so I don't have money to just give away. I'm in total disbelief that something like this could be legal.
Urine Odors | Case#**-*061 We inspected the house while room fresheners were being used. Then signed lease. We went to move in and the house had overpowering smell of urine. The landlord allowed us to remove carpet in bedroom but the smell persists. We used odor eliminator and primed damaged areas with KILZ. Odor still persists. All sub flooring needs replaced to stop odor as recommended by contractors I have talked to. Other issues include, kitchen sink faucet handles stripped and leak. During heavy rain, garage floods with about 6 inches of rain water which flows into basement storage. The complaints started with the urine smell 2 months ago and have not been resolved as of this writing. We have pictures to prove all of this. We would rather be allowed to break the lease and find another property to rent than have the problem fixed because in trying to resolve problem we have been met with a violent personality, character assassination, and bullying. We feel the relationship between landlord and tenant has been damaged beyond repair.
Billed for a service we never used | Case#**-*225
BUCKLEY,
WA -
98321 9392
SJC managmnet billed me for garbage servive we never used. Murrys Garbage company told us that they has never picked up gargabe from out residence but the managment at SJC have been billing us by adding thew bill on to our monthly rent.
Unkept maintenance promises | Case#**-*485
Tucson,
Arizona -
85710
There was an rectangular area on the ceiling that has a smooth texture (otherwise popcorn-ed) when I first moved in over a year ago and I never knew why until recently. The same rectangular area began leaking water every time my upstairs neighbor uses water and even though it is not a constant leak, but it is a significant amount every time it does. The leaking occurs several times a day and has not only damaged the wooden bench I have right underneath it, but it has also dampen the carpet enough for me to fear for mold infestation. I have severe allergies and also a pet in the apartment, so I had called them to have it fixed before anything else I had asked them to fix considering the danger of mold-related illness and deaths. They came in and fixed everything else on the list of things to fix and had left the leaking ceiling with the promise that maintenance shall return the next day. As witnessed before with the maintenance's carelessness and fear that they will leave the gates and doors open again for my cat to escape into traffic (the apartment is located right on the busy street), I took a day off of work to oversee the process. I stayed home all day on a Friday and no one showed up. When I called the office, they had told me the problem isn't "emergency" enough for them to come fix it today and they may come by on Monday to fix it. This problem was first notified to the office over three days ago by phone and I feel the management is refusing to tend to a tenant's major concern for health reasons. The leakage has escalated with every leaking occurrence and i am not confident that the apartment will take necessary precautions even if mold begins growing underneath the carpeted surface. I guess fixing a sink stopper was considered more of an emergency than that of a possible health hazard problem caused by a stream of dirty water leaking from my ceiling. It would be nice if they would promise less and deliver more.
Failure To Return Full Security Deposit | Case#**-*138
Houston,
Texas -
77082
Failure to return deposit, offset charges for carpet cleaning, which was promised when lease was renewed.
Deposit Return Problem After Breach Of Agreement | Case#**-*581 Rented apartment from March 5, 2012 through July 4, 2014. No complaints against us during our first two years.
Landlord failed to provide, within 30 days, as per law, itemized list of Security Deposit deductions after we provided him with our Forwarding Address within 4 days of vacating, as per law.
The landlord continuously ignored complaints of blatant drug activity (including IV drug use) in our parking lot, right in front of children playing on the lawn... When we first had an issue with drug dealing, he told me not to bother him with law enforement issues, that I should call the police. (Per HIS request, police started to be summoned in Spring 2012 for law enforcement issues...)
The landlord allowed repeated lease violations by our neighbors from December 2013-May 2014 which escalated, warranting formal grievance to be filed with our township. These grievances prompted police & zoning enforcement attention. (This again brought the police out to the property.)
***One zoning issue in particular that comes to mindwas the tenant of Apt #1 habitually blocking the mailboxes with snow that he plowed against them during inclement weather or by parking his trailered commercial lawn care equipment in such a way as to interfere with the timely delivery of mail as per the carriers route description (a "stay in your vehicle" delivery route).
Over Memorial Day Weekend 2014, I witnessed blatant IV drug dealing & use in front of our apartment that was associated with our immediate neighbor's apartment. When I notified the landlord by text of the activities, he showed the text to our neighbor. Our neighbor then confronted me with drunken threats for such accusations. By showing our neighbor that text, our landlord created an imminently hostile, dangerous & threatening environment for me and my household.
After that weekend, our landlord told me the police have been out to the property too many times & we need to move or face legal action.
Considering we had our granddaughter at our place quite often while her Mom & Dad work, we perceived the threat serious enough to vacate without going to court just to fight to stay in an environment that is no longer conducive to our health & safety, let alone the safety of the children in our family.
I feel that we have been seriously violated and endangered by the actions of this man. He willfully committed an act that any reasonable adult should be able to surmise would put another person at risk.
Complaint Process in 3 Simple Steps:
File Apartment Complaint: Fill out complaint form with your proposed resolution. Instantly recieve your case number.
Check Status: See the current status, respond, upload files or images, accept fair solution or purpose alternative solutions.
Landlord Public Record: Positive or Negative record is attached to landlord based upon their responses. Your (tenant) information is not made public.
Complaints Tips:
Uploading pictures / files is helpful
Try to request fair solutions
Focus on major issue, not on many
Check your status every 3 days
Avoid accusations or hostile tones
Be willing to accept alternate solution
How Does the RPA Help Resolve Rental Problems?
Once you file a complaint, the RPA will contact your landlord or property manager to mediate a prompt resolution. The RPA online mediation system provides an effective complaint resolution process that helps solve problems quickly. Complaints filed through the RPA are documented and help protect tenants' rights by providing a program that protects against landlord retaliation and unfair practices. Agreements reached through the RPA Apartment Complaint Center are legally binding and enforceable. When required the complaint can be used as evidence in court.
The RPA requires a $35 one-time processing fee to cover the cost associated with contacting the landlord, online mediation, paperwork, and public record filing. Prior to 2006 the RPA complaint program had no fee. However, due to abuse by tenants that were filing bogus complaints; the RPA found it necessary to charge of fee to eliminate fake complaints and to cover costs associated with complaint handling. If you are looking to report the problem only and not seeking a resolution, you can use our free Report Landlord option. (The report landlord option will only document the problem and will not provide any assistance in resolving disputes.)
Tip: On your complaint form you can request that management reimburse you for RPA filing fees.
How long does the process take?
The RPA is able to resolve complaints fairly quickly, unlike court or other legal options. Cases are normally assigned in the order received; however, you can upgrade your case to be rushed if you need your case escalated. (option available immediately after filing)For fastest processing try to submit your complaint before the next processing deadline. (Count down shown next to "File Complaint" button.) Once the mediation process begins, your landlord will have 3 business days to respond to the mailed notice. If a landlord email address is provided the RPA will send out both a written notice and email notice which can provide an immediate resolution. Many times cases are resolved immediately after receiving the RPA® notice, however depending on the complaint, it can take longer if both parties are unable to reach an agreement quickly.
Tip: To speed up the process... On the complaint form request reasonable and fair solutions.
Does the RPA Guarantee to Resolve Every Complaint?
Each complaint is guaranteed to be worked by the RPA complaint system. The RPA mediation system will work to resolve every complaint regardless of how big or small the complaint. However, the RPA can't guarantee the end results of any complaint. While we work to solve each complaint, the guarantee is limited to our processing of your complaint. All fees associated with the complaint are non-refundable dispute the outcome of the complaint. Each complaint is Guaranteed to be worked by our complaint system and will be documented against the landlord should they fail to cooperate.
Tip: To get positive resolutions to your complaint; try providing resolutions that are fair.
What Happens After I file a Complaint?
Upon filing your landlord / property manager complaint you will instantly receive a case number. Your complaint case number can be used to immediately access your complaint status page. The RPA will process your complaint and contact your landlord for an immediate resolution. On your status page you can view case status, upload files or images, respond to the complaint, update/ change resolutions, accept or close complaint. The RPA complaint center updates your case status in real time and provides you with tracking to see exactly what is happening with your complaint. Once the case is closed, the complaint will be attached to your landlords public record which is quickly indexed by all major search engines. (Your information is never made public)
Tip: Check your case status at least every 3 days. (Respond / update your case as required)
Protection Against Landlord Retaliation
Its unlawful for your landlord to retaliate against you because you filed a complaint. Your landlord cannot evict, harass, limit access, raise rent, or treat you unfairly because you filed a complaint. As a tenant, you must still pay rent and comply with rent terms stated within your contract. Filing a complaint does not eliminate your responsibilities.
Tip: Check your case status at least every 3 days. (Respond / update your case as required)
Who Can File a Complaint with the RPA?
Any renter located in the United States of America has the right to file a complaint with the RPA. The RPA does not accept complaints outside of the USA. In general, the RPA will accept every complaint regardless of how big or small the problem may be.
Tip: When possible, try resolving your problem with your landlord before filing a complaint.
