I was interested in renting a house in Altamonte Springs through Verandah Properties. They are a property management company that deals with tenants on the landlords behalf. The rent on the house I was interested in was $995 a month, and I was only willing to pay $975, and required a move in date of May 15th. The latest the landlord was willing to let me move in was May 1st.
The agent, Tara Chaimberlin informed me that in order to negotiate with the landlord on the rent and move in date, I would have to submit an application to show that I was serious about renting the place. She told me that I would not be charged the $50 application fee, unless the landlord agreed to lease the house at my offer. She had also mentioned that if I was charged, not to worry, it was 100% refundable, just as long as my application was not run.
I asked if I could submit the application in person or mail her a check, and she said that the only way to apply was through the website, and I would have to put in my credit card number. I went through the website, and the only way to make it accept my application was by going through pay pal.
The landlord, working through Tara, refused to accept my offer on the house. Being under the impression that I had not been charged, I just emailed her letting her know that I was sorry we couldn't do business, and if the landlord changed his mind to let me know.
Approximately a month later, with no further contact from Tara at Verandah Properties, I recieved my bank statement and saw that they had charged me $50. I disputed the charge, but was asked to please check with the company first before officially filing the dispute. I emailed Tara, and recieved a response that my card had been charged because there was no way not to charge it, and she would be mailing me a check for the amount.
Approximately three weeks later, I finally recieved a check for $48.25, or $1.75 short of the amount that they had initially charged me without my permission. When I called to inquire, I was informed that the $1.75 was a fee through pay pal. I told them I was going to file a dispute with my credit card company, rip off report, and the better business bureau since they weren't supposed to charge my card in the first place. They had said fine, they don't refund fees.
Since I was promised that I was not going to be charged, I should not have been charged the $50 in the first place. I offered to come into the office, and pay by check. They refused, and told me it had to be through the website. Any fees through pay pal should be their responsibility, since according to their agent my card would not be run, and if run was 100% refundable. I was not informed about any other charges I might possibly have incurred.
Furthermore, it is a horrible business practice to charge someone's bank card, not inform them, and not refund it until they contact you inquiring about it a month later! She should have mailed the check immediately, without requiring me to email her first. Was she hoping I would forget? If she knew the website would charge me, she should have allowed me to mail her a check. If pay pal charged Verandah, that is their responsibility not mine. I know it's only $1.75, but it's a matter of principle.
On a side note, the agent was almost impossible to reach throughout the entire transaction, each contact took forever. Their leases state that the tenant is responsible for any pest control that does not involve wood destroying insects. So ants, fleas, mice etc. Are the tenants responsibility. FLORIDA LAW requires the landlord to take care of these things. Their lease also states that the tenant is responsible for any maintenance on the property that may have reasonably been performed by the tenant, or else the tenant will be charged for a service call. This includes things like washers in faucets, clogged pipes, flipping circuit breakers. I don't know how to do any of these things. What if the tenant is an electrician or a plumber? Wouldn't that make everything reasonably performed by the tenant? It just looks like a major issue or even a lawsuit waiting to happen. We really wanted the house, so we decided to take the chance. Now we aren't even renting there, and they still have my money!
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