My boyfriend and I have been renting a one bedroom apartment at the Pearlridge Gardens and Tower complex. Our realtor's name is Ted Takata. I should have known things weren't going to go well when I went to his office to sign the lease. His office is grossly dirty. It seriously has dirt all over the floor. The place looks like an abandoned, falling apart apartment. He had no computer, just boxes and boxes full of papers. But... We were running out of time to find a place, so we signed the lease. The apartment was cute. It wasn't nice or brand new or anything, but it was decent. Or so we thought.
The morning after we moved in I was taking a shower and the bottom of the bathtub, about 2 inches from the drain, collapsed around my foot. Now there was a huge rust hole in my tub. We taped it up, and called Ted to let him know, so he could get it fixed. We moved in on February 4th. He said that he would get ahold of a repariman to fix it.
Throughout our first day there, we noticed that hardly any of the electrical outlets worked. We let him know this as well. Nothing was ever done about that. He also told us that we should pay our rent in cash, and drop it off at his office. During the first couple of months there it was no problem. He would be there when he said he would, and we would drop off the rent when it was due. His office isn't in the greatest place in town... But this was how he insisted on being paid.
A couple months later, and after several contacts to him to get our bathtub fixed, he wouldn't return our calls. He never answered the phone. We would have to leave him 5 messages for him to finally call us back. He kept saying that the "bathtub repair guy" was on vacation, or that he was completely booked. So, we dealt with it. But then he would tell us a specific time to drop off the rent, and he wouldnt even show up. Our rent is $1000. And we were not going to just slide it under the door.
Sometimes it would take 5 different trips down there to pay the rent. This got worse and worse. Then the air conditioner starting leaking. It would leak even if it was turned off. It was clogged from lack of maintenance. We had to stop using it, but our carpeting was still constantly wet from the leak. We told him this... This happened about 3 months after we moved in. Ted kept saying... Yeah the repairman has been really busy. My boyfriend decided to fix the problem himself. It was causing mold to grow on our carpeting. Water damage was getting bad on the wall under the airconditioner. When I would call to remind him of it, he would ask "whats wrong with it again?" I had told him at least 20 times about it.
The man remembers nothing. About 10 months after I moved in, a repairman from the aparment complex was cutting a hole in the wall outside my apartment. He said that the tub was leaking to the apartment below us, and it was causing all kinds of problems. I told him about our great landlord, and how we had told him so many times about it, and yet he still had not done anything about it. I gave him Ted's phone number, and the apartment manager called him. And within an hour, Ted had scheduled someone to fix it. He was constantly calling me at work, insisting that I call the repairman and set up a time ASAP for him to come out and fix it, b/c as he said "I'm not going to be liable for this." So, almost 11 months from when the tub broke, someone finally came out to fix it. The airconditioner problem has never been fixed.
Along with those problems, the faucets in the bathroom will not turn off. They have to be turned off from the pipes below the sink. The electrical outlets still don't work. I have had to clean mold off of the carpet more times than I can think of. He probably doesn't even remember these things.
We just finished the last month in the lease, and we are almost completely finished moving out. I called him when we had 3 weeks left in the lease, because he had never contacted us to see if we were going to renew, or if we were going to leave. I was asking him about my deposit, because I wanted to make sure that I got the deposit back when I moved out. When I told him that we were not going to stay, and that we were moving, he started being very rude and very crapppy to us. He said he had to see how much damage we had done to the place. I told him that the only damage was from his lack of maintenance. Especially from the air conditioner. He told us that we had until the 5th to move out. Today is the 4th. We just have a few small things left, and then we will be done.
Yesterday on the 3rd, he called us, and said that he was downstairs with a girl who wanted to see the apartment. We said that we weren't done moving yet, and we would be done on the 5th like he asked. He said ok. But last night a few people called US to set up a time for US to show them the apartment. He is giving people our phone number, for us to set up a time for them to look at the place.
He called just now, and was being extremely rude, saying that he had to move out NOW b/c he had already posted an ad, and people were calling about it. I told him that we were ALMOST done, and we would be done on the 5th. I asked him why he was giving these people our phone numbers, and he said that it was because he couldn't get ahold of us. Which is a lie. He called once, and we missed it, and we called him right back. He was arguing with us over the phone, saying that he needs us to be out of there so he can rent it again. He can't wait one more day for us to move out. He said that he must show it tonight, it doesn't matter if its not finished. The girl that called us last night said that Sunday was the only day that she could see it, but Ted said that he didn't want to work on Sunday, and that he just wanted to watch the Super Bowl. So I told her that we would be there Sunday, finishing everything up, and if she wanted to, she could stop by. She agreed.
When I talked to Ted, he said that it isn't his problem that she can only see it on Sunday. He said that we need to check out before Monday b/c that would be one day later than he said we could. He actually told us in the beginning to take our time, and if we can't check out until Monday or Tuesday then it would be fine. Now he is saying the we have to do it today. He just told us this. 30 minutes ago. I had already talked with a lawyer about his negligence, and how he never fixed ANYTHING. But I will be so happy to be out of there, and to never have to deal with this man again. I want everyone looking for a place to know about this guy, and to NEVER EVER rent from him because it is not worth it. He is a terrible realtor, and I dont know how he stays in business. The Pearlridge Gardens and Tower complex isn't much better.
Rent is so expensive in Hawaii, and this place is moderately priced, but it is not worth it, no matter how convenient it is for you. I just wonder what would have happened if the refrigerator or stove broke too. It would never have been fixed.
The freezer recently stopped working, right before we moved. And did I mention that when we moved in, the place hadn't even been cleaned, and it was infested with bugs? I should have known from the start that this guy was a shitty landlord.
NEVER EVER rent from TED TAKATA! It is not worth your time, or your money. You will just get sick from breathing in mold.
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