I am currently leasing a home from a supposed company by the name of A.N.T. Enterprises, Inc. They advertise that they are a real estate investment company that buys houses cash and then sells or lease/options them.
They target consumers who are having financial difficulties ie. Having a home in danger of foreclosure, potential homeowners with lower income and/or credit blemishes that prevent them from obtaining a mortgage right away. They entice consumers with claims that they do not run credit or that they take many other things into consideration besides credit history when considering someone as a tenant, and offer promises to help one become a home owner.
I do not know what they do to those that sell their home to them, however, based on what they do to potential buyers, I can only imagine. I am on a lease/option in the home I am leasing from A.N.T. Following is how they have handled this deal.
I was required to put down a substantial nonrefundable down payment, $2000. If I opted to purchase the home before or at the end of the lease, the down payment would be applied to the purchase price of the home. If I opted not to buy the home, I forfeited the money. This is similar to earnest money & is understandable. However, it is what happened after I was approved that leads me to believe that A.N.T. Is running a scam or at the very least, practices very unethical business.
When I signed the lease, I was given copies of the agreement without all the added details & provisions in it and told that I would receive copies of the actual signed copies within the next week. I have lived in the house for nearly 4 months now and have not received my copies of the paperwork, despite numerous requests in writing for them. They have not even addressed my requests let alone provided me with the paperwork.
Two weeks after moving into the house, I discovered a slab leak and notified A.N.T. Immediately. I was simply told to get it fixed. This has now escalated into a major battle, with A.N.T. Completely neglecting their responsibilities as the agent for the homeowner.
I have sent numerous letters to them regarding this problem. My attorney has sent 2 demand letters. They have ignored them all. I have spent $475 in plumbing expenses attempting to have the leak repaired. For 2 mo. Of service, I have had water bills in excess of $2000.
The city agreed to make one adjustment for me since I attempted to have the leak repaired, however I have still paid over $700 with $500 still pending and am in danger of termination of my water service. Because all of the utilities are on one bill to the city, if the bill is not paid, they will terminate all of the utilities services.
In less than 4 months, I have spent over $3000 on this house and that does not include my rent payments. Due to the age of the home & the piping, the proper repair to prevent future leaks is to have the house completely repiped at a cost of $3200, of which A.N.T. Claims is my responsibility and refuses to have the repair completed.
They at one time, told me that they would contact their home owner's insurance concerning the repair and 2 weeks later called me and asked if the insurance company had called me. I explained to them that this was not my insurance company and I could not file a claim on it, however, I got the phone number and called them anyway. I was told by the insurance company that A.N.T. Had never contacted them at all and they were not aware of the situation.
During all of my research on A.N.T. Enterprises, I obtained documentation from the city showing the last 2 water bills that were paid, apparently without question, by A.N.T. Before I moved into the house. The house was unoccupied during these 2 months and the bills totaled $1300. This is indication that A.N.T. Was quite aware of a problem, and they did not inform me at the time of the lease signing.in fact, they did not inform me at all. I informed them.
Further research turned up the following: They do not hold an occupational license to operate a business in the county nor are they listed with the state's department of Professional & Business Regulations. They do not have a physical address, their fax number has been disconnected and they fail to retrieve certified mail sent to them.
Ample time before my October rent was due; I mailed them a certified return receipt letter informing them that I would be withholding rent pending repair of the piping. 3 weeks later, the letter was returned to me by the post office, unclaimed by A.N.T. Although they were notified on 3 separate occasions by the post office. On 10/02/02, I was served with a 3-day demand letter for the rent.
My rent is not considered late until the 3rd of the month. They have ignored all of my attempts to contact them, yet had no problem showing up at my house with a demand notice but refused to talk to me because I had hired an attorney. A week later, they came to my house yet again & posted a 3-day notice for me to vacate the property.
It is my belief, the way all the pieces are coming together, that A.N.T. Makes their money by handling their business in this manner, forcing the tenant into a bad financial situation, evicting them because the tenant thinks they have no way to fight back since they can not afford to file a full scale law suit, retaining the initial down payment and leasing the house to another unsuspecting tenant for yet another large down payment.
This company needs to be brought public to prevent more consumers from being roped in and financially ruined for A.N.T.'s profit. They are extremely unprofessional, highly unethical and in my opinion, should not be permitted to continue operating a business. They prey on consumers who do not have the money to fight them. They need to be stopped!
Carol
Leesburg, Florida
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