Arruth Associates - The Villages
Ripoff Concession Charges and Damages to Apartment Verbal Agreement not honored

Described below are charges submitted against me that I do not feel are warranted giving the agreements I had with the property manager, Brandy Swope.

Concessions: Concessions in the amount of 1330.00 were charged to me after being late on my last rent payment. (August rent) Upon the time that rent was due, I had came into financial difficulty and I went to Brandy to obtain an agreement for paying the rent that was due. Brandy verbally advised me that if I were to move out by the fifteenth of the month, she would end the lease on 7/31/04 and I could pay a prorated amount for the remainder of August. She estimated the cost to be 350.00. At that time, Brandy never mentioned paying any concessions under our agreement.

Notice was given that I was going to vacate the premises at the end of my lease on 6/21/04. I had completely moved out of the apartment on 8/20/04 and notice was given when the keys were turned in. Upon calling Brandy regarding the amount due, I was advised that I owed 550.00. At the time, I only had the 350.00 that we originally had agreed on. I thought it was in my best interest at that point to obtain the remainder of the money before paying her. I recently received the bill for the concessions along with the rent amount and late fee totaling 1907.50. I have read the concession agreement and while it does say that I would have to pay back all concessions if there was a breach in the lease,

I do not feel the concession charges are valid as I had a verbal agreement with Brandy in which according to the bill I received, was not honored. Upon contacting Brandy she was fully aware of the agreement she made with me, however stated that she is required to charge the concessions since the last month's rent was not paid. The only reason she did not receive the amount we agreed upon is that when I called to get the final amount, she raised the amount we owed to 550.00 with no mention of concessions. I would like the concession charges removed from the bill and would agree to pay the following:

Rent for August: 550.00
Late Fee: 27.50
Concession for August: 190.00
767.50

Damages and Fees: Before listing charges for damages and fees that I do not feel I should be held accountable for, I would like to make note of the condition of the apartment and terms agreed upon when I moved in. Upon moving into the apartment the condition of the carpet was at the point that it needed to be replaced as there were black spots in the corner and other areas. Also, the carpet was coming up at the seams at four different places. The carpet was above normal wear and tear when I moved in. I mentioned this to Brandy and she advised that the carpet would be replaced before we moved in. When I was ready to move in, the carpet was not replaced, however I moved in as scheduled. I thought that some qualities of the apartment could be overlooked for the small price I was paying for rent. I do not feel the charges for the carpet are valid as the carpet was way beyond normal wear and tear before move in.

After moving in, we entered several maintenance request were placed to bring the apartment to living condition. Soon was I to learn that maintenance was a hard to find commodity. The first thing that I requested to be fixed was the screen on the back porch. It was not completed until approximately July. Brandy told us that they only did screens once on month on screen day. Our screen was not replaced until several months later after several calls to the office were made. Next we have the electrical. Our receptacles in the bathrooms and on the outside patio as well as various locations throughout the house never worked. The dining room light had a short in it and flickered off and on at will. When someone did finally come out to fix the problems, were advised that the problems were beyond them fixing and they were never fixed. (Possibly internal wiring)

Our microwave that was built in only worked for one month and then quit working. We requested another microwave and Brandy advised us that they were on back order from Home Depot and she would get us one as soon as possible. After several months and several phone calls to the office, I went down to the office in July, and was advised by Brandy that the work order was filled out as replaced and that it was the maintenance man's fault and that his employment with The Villages had been terminated. Of course, at least five months had past and our lease was almost up, needless to say it still was never fixed. Our air conditioning never worked properly the entire time we were there and SEVERAL request were made to fix the air conditioner.

Our power bill started to become outrageous. A third party company was called out to clean the vents and that company did not do a proper job. This was only after several calls to the office regarding the issue. After realizing the job was not done properly, the manager of that company was called out to fix the problem. Two weeks had elapsed at this point. The drip pans for the stove were never the right size and when the maintenance man came out to fix those, he merely brought the one from upstairs. Both sets did not properly fit and our eyes were tilted often causing grease fires. One of the smaller eyes on the stove only worked on high yet no attempt to replace the stove was made.

A few of the vertical slats were missing upon move in, therefore I never had a complete set of blinds for the living room to begin with.

I was charged for an unauthorized pet in which Brandy was well aware of. Brandy had met both of my pets and not once did she mention paying the second 300.00 pet deposit. Due to the friendly relationship I had with Brandy, I assumed she was overlooking the second pet, I would have been more than happy to pay the second pet deposit if she had mention this to me. I was charged 400.00 for the second pet and when speaking with Brandy I was advised that the pet deposit went up during my lease. I feel as though I should only be held accountable for the 300.00 pet deposit as stated in my pet agreement when I signed the lease. The pets did cause some damage to the apartment of which I am willing to pay for such as:

Window Ledge: 50.00
Master Bed Door Jam: 68.00
Guest Bed Door Jam: 68.00
Master Bath Door Jam: 66.00
Sheetrock Repair: 40.00
Bath Cabinet Doors: 78.00
370.00

I am also contesting the cleanliness of the apartment on move in as it took us two days to clean the appliances, floors, etc.

Security: Over the course of our lease, I was notified by Brandy of a shooting that involved one of the employees. Of course the employee was terminated, but it does raise concerns about the since of security in the complex. Also, my truck was broken into twice while living in the complex resulting in the stereo being stolen and damage to the ignition. There were no patrols by police requested by the management to my knowledge.

In conclusion, the sum of damages and rent/concessions that I am willing to pay is 787.50. (370.00 Damages 767.50 Rent/Concession 350.00 Deposit)

Company: Arruth Associates - The Villages
Country: USA
State: North Carolina
City: Charlotte
Address: 1600 Village Brook Drive
Phone: 7045529660

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