I want to start off by saying I have lived in Arkansas for the past year and a half and have never come across so many shady and scandalist business practices until I moved here. Here not only do you HAVE to read the contract in its entirety but you have to research the companies you deal and document your dealings with them because they will conduct business outside the bounderies of the law. One business decided to settle out of court becuase they knowingly broke the law. So that should tell you something.
I knew we would have trouble getting our security deposit back when a neighbor who moved out informed us that managment refused to return their security deposit to them after 4 months of being given the run around. They were given a phone number to call which they did countless times only to never have their call returned. The property manager maintained that she had nothing to do with the return of the deposit until they finally got a hold of RPM who stated that the manager claimed that the carpet needed cleaning even though the neighbor had it cleaned prior to them leaving. Arkansas state law requires that the leaser has 60 days to either return the deposit or send in writing the reason why the deposit will not be sent. This was not done for my neighbor or myself. Only after constant hounding did the property manager send a hand written letter to the neighbor stating that the deposit would not be returned. This happened 120 days after they ended their lease.in my case we completed the one year lease and decided to cut ties with the property. We moved our belongings to our new location about 7 days before the lease was up but kept the keys so that we could clean the place thoroughly and get our deposit back. During that time someone broke into the apartment and damaged numerous things, stole a few items and decided to make it his home for a night or two.in addition to my home the individual decided to break into the home across the street while the woman was home. The man broke into their home without wearing his pants and was confronted by the other neighbor and subsequently fled the scene before law enforcement could arrive. The property manager called us to the location to identify what was damaged. The police was called and a thourough report was made. We agreed to turn over the keys to the unit two days before the lease was up so that management could begin repairs quickly so that they could release the unit as soon as possible. We were told not to worry about the damages since it was so obvious that the damage occured from the criminal who the manager claimed she thought she knew who the person might have been and the fact that the person did not stop at our home and was identified by the tenant across the street after he invaded her home.
Our forwarding address was left and we waited. 70 days go by and we start to wonder why we havent heard anything from the manager or the deposit. You guessed it. Just like our other neighbor we were givin the run around on who does or does not have anything to do with the deposit refund. One day RPM claims that the refund has already been sent out and that it just needs to be tracked down. Three days go by and noone can be reached and no calls are returned. Then suddenly we reach someone only to find out we have been billed for everything damaged within the unit. I can almost guarentee that the hand written letter from the property manager who only two days ago claimed she had nothing to do with the deposit is on its way.
The moral of this story is to avoid RPM management company Inc if you are in Central Arkansas and do everything you can to get your security deposit back at the end of your lease. If your in Hot Springs AR avoid Lawsons Place apartments as the complaints of this place are numerous. I am currently in the process of filing for small claims court.
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