I am a former tenant who rented a property under the "management" of Park Avenue Previews. The property was advertised on the internet with several beautiful panoramic pictures and listed all the amenities that appeared to be in the pictures as well as others that were not pictured.
We viewed the property and on the surface it looked good although there were some issues that we noticed but did not question. The property had been vacant for several months and based on the advertisement and the fact that the lease included pool, lawn and property maintenance to be done by Park Avenue Previews, we assumed that the issues would be fixed.
Upon move in approximately 2 weeks after the original viewing, we found that nothing had been done and the existing problems had become worse. We also began to discover many many additional serious property maintenance issues that were not evident from superficial photos and views,
The property manager was in Philadelphia on move in day and did not send anyone from their office for a walk through. Move in was June 27 and we had no AC for 3 days. We were provided a key to the front door only and that took 3-4 tries each time you needed to use it. Every door in the house had separate keys and we were unable to open other doors for 4 days also the door knobs to the garage fell off the door. Where were the so called property managers?
During the first 2 weeks of the lease I began keeping a list of all the property maintenance issues and placed several calls to Park Avenue Previews. My calls were not returned. I finally wrote a letter listing and explaining all the issues and faxed and mailed the letter. The property manager finally called and came out over a week later to see the issues. She was completely uninterested in an maintenance issues and could not leave fast enough. After a few days I began calling the office again with no response from the manager. I did receive a call from the managers reminding me that my rent was due but no word on when the problems would be addressed. I updated my letter informing them that I would pay half the rent until the property issues were corrected.
The final outcome was I paid rent into the court registry each month and the court still has all my deposits. The property eventually became untenable and I moved out. I am still working on a resolution.
I learned never to trust a property management company. They definitely ripped me off and I believe they pocketed all the $5,000 up front money I paid them. Thankfully all other monthly rent is in the court. It is very obvious to me that the property managers had no intention to maintain the property and I do not believe they were ever in contact with the owner on any of the issues. The extent of their management ability is slick and misleading advertising and collecting and keeping the rent money.
Anyone who is considering renting through Park Avenue Previews or using them to manage your property please be very careful. Have an attorney review the agreements take several hours prior to signing to go through the entire property listing all the potential problems. Do not sign a lease or pay any money or move in until all the issues taken care of. Better yet, if Park Avenue Previews is involved, do not rent the property.
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