Due to personal circumstances I needed to move out from the house rented by Bennett Property Management at the addressed mentioned above. My lease expired on Jan 31.in October I explained to the property manager Melissa Guerrero that I wanted to move before that date. She explained that in order to do it I will need to pay the remaining months, because it was considered a break in the contract. I told her that I didn't have the money, so I'll have to wait until the termination date of the contract. She offered me the option that if somebody is willing to rent before that date, then I could move out without paying any amount for the remaining period.
She also mentioned that I'll have to pay the advertisement fee of $200.00. I told her that I didn't have that money; if that was the case I'll have to wait until the contract expires. So I stayed the month of October, November and part of December. At the beginning of the month of December I received a call from Mrs. Guerrero informing me that there was a person interested in the house. She never told that she paid for advertisement in the web page, despite the fact we told her we will not go for advertisement. This was done without my consent.
I paid the month of December in full, but because there was a person interested in renting the house and I wanted to move since October. I did my best to move out on December 22. Mrs. Guerrero came on that date for inspection. I prepared a manual letter showing that the house was returned in good standing and that the rent deposit was to be refunded in full ($850.00). She signed this letter, accepting was stated in it, particularly the total refund of the rent deposit.
On January 11 I received a letter with two checks, one for the amount of $89.00 and the other for $109.06 along with a Security Deposit Disbursement. On that document I found out that an advertisement fee of 200.00 and a Rent Move-In Special Incentive for $415.86 were deducted from my rent deposit.
I was extremely confused about this. So I called Mrs. Guerrero for an explanation. She said that in order to get a new tenant she paid $200.00 to advertise the house. I explained to her that se never asked me, despite the fact that I didnt have the money. The other deduction was based on the fact that I was given a free incentive to move in the house. I moved on February 14, and the rent was prorated, so I paid $425.00, plus $850.00 for rent deposit. According to Mrs. Guerrero explanation since I didnt pay the full month, a free incentive for the first part of the month was given, but now they were taking it out from the rent deposit. This is ridiculous, because if something is free, why would you take it back in the future. Besides, this event was not point out in the contract.
In the contract that I signed it doesnt show anywhere that this type of deduction will be taken out of the rent deposit. On the other hand Mrs. Guerrero never requested my authorization to pay the advertisement fee for the rental of the house. This is not a good business practice. Its not been handled in good faith. When I asked Mrs. Guerrero for a satisfactory argument, she said she followed her managers orders. No type of solution to resolve this situation was given.
I always have paid my rent on time. I paid for the cleaning of the carpet, cleaned the house, I reported damages on time, despite the fact that I didnt receive a good customer service. Even though I paid the full month of December, I left the house 9 days before, without asking for any reimbursement, in order for her to rent it to someone else.
Im a single mother that needed to relocate to be close to my family members because I have a child of seven years old with medical problems and a one year old baby. I was expecting the full amount of my rent deposit, based on the letter that Mrs. Guerrero signed and agreed. She never mentioned that some type of deductions were to be taken place. One of the checks was dated December 21, the day before of the inspection, which means that she was aware of this situation and never informed me about this.
I feel that Bennett Property Management is taken advantage of me, and their business practice is not fair. Due to this, I request your review in this case to receive a fair and non discriminatory treatment.
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