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report scam| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| City | Agoura Hills |
| Address | 30601 Agoura Rd, Suite 200 |
| Phone | (855) 774-4663 |
| Website | https://www.americanhomes4rent.com |
Thad Cardine
Humble, TX 77346
June 24, 2018
American Homes 4 Rent
30601 Agoura Rd.
Suite 200
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
Cc: David P. Singelyn; David Goldberg; Sara H. Vogt-Lowell; Annie Ellison; Austin Dubois; Dylan Heckeroth
Dear Mr. David Singelyn, et al.,
Under the provisions of Texas State Property Code 92, I hereby make the written demand for relief as outlined.
On or about October 15, 2016, the following unfair, deceptive, and destructive acts began and continue to present day. Our release from our AH4R lease and departure from 5414 Flax Bourton St., Humble, TX 77346 occurred in August 2017:
A brief timeline of events:
• We detected a leak in the ceiling below the Master bedroom & bath back in Oct.
2016
• We reported it and the mold growth over 200 times through documented email, AH4R online reporting method portal, texts & calls (the Vice President of Legal verified this at American Homes For Rent)
• Initially, we were told by AH4R that it was condensation and not a leak.
• We persisted with the AH4R maintenance portal, emails, texts, and photos.
• Then we were told it was cosmetic.
• We continued to persist with reporting via the AH4R maintenance portal, emails, texts, and photos.
• AH4R did not send their first vendor until 2017 who only replaced the drywall and did nothing about the leak. We continued to report the activity of this vendor and that the problem was not taken care of.
• Mold quickly returned and grew, and we continued to call, text, email and submit more "maintenance requests" through their online portal
• Several vendors were sent out over a period of several months...all were ineffective...they continued to paint over the problem area…we continued our communication
• We reported the activity and our concerns of every vendor.
• We have five children including an infant who was born in March 2017
• They all began having mold-related symptoms: nosebleeds, difficulty breathing, fevers, gum bleeding, nausea, weakness, lethargy, headaches, etc.
• We continued to demand something be done - it was now July 2017
• They sent out a TX licensed Mold Remediation Agent - she tested the whole house. She would not enter the property without being fully geared with breathing apparatus. She would not tell us the results of her test because the AH4R hired her. However, because my wife, Jamie, was holding our baby and crying about protecting her children, she did tell us that all the items in the garage were destroyed and that we should not be present in the home because it was dangerous.
• We notified AH4R again that we needed out of the house, but because I worked for a non-profit ministry, we needed AH4R to fix this dangerous living situation they caused by their ineffective behavior. Initially, they declined. We took up residence in a hotel at our own expense.
• We complained to American Homes For Rent and the VP of Legal and said we needed to be relocated until the matter was solved but would not financially support this decision.
• Early Aug. 2017 The VP of Legal would not share the mold report and stated that the house was safe.
• I am the director of a non-profit and a lawyer on our board, Cornelius Hayes, stepped in to help me. He contacted the VP and AH4R immediately put us up in a hotel for over a month.
• After the VP of Legal for AH4R reviewed our case, she apologized for the lack of support we had received and acknowledged that our repeated and exhaustive communications since Oct. 2016 had not been dealt with properly.
• We hired our own Mold Remediation Agent who did a report and said the house was indeed dangerous along with the contents and deemed the house uninhabitable.
• We reported the situation to the Harris County Housing Authority & Fair Housing.
• We reported the situation to the County and City Health Department.
• We reported the situation to the Better Business Bureau.
• We were advised by agencies, legal counsel, the Texas State Mold Remediation Agent, and others that we could not return to live in these dangerous conditions. That this toxic black mold was hazardous to our health.
• We then set up a report and complaint with the Texas Attorney General & Consumer Protection Division.
• We sent the Texas State Certified Mold Remediation Report we paid for to the VP of Legal at AH4R in August 2017.
• We also sent an itemization of belongings that were destroyed and could not be replaced.
• We also sent a quote from an Environmental Cleaning Company who could clean some of our possessions and return them to us.
• We asked that AH4R correct their wrong and try to make right this incredible financial, medical, emotional, and physical upheaval caused to our family.
• The VP at American Homes for Rent apologized and told our lawyer that she recommended that AH4R settle with me because our hundreds of communications were not dealt with properly.
• Then Hurricane Harvey hit
• Sept. 2017 The VP then told Cornelius Hayes III that the VP of Legal at AH4R could only recommend but had no power to make the company follow her recommendations.
• All was silent until December 2017. We heard nothing from AH4R. I had to find and pay for temporary housing. I had a 2-hour one-way commute.
• Cornelius Hayes III then transferred us to David Calvillo, another board member who is a litigator. He began speaking with opposing counsel.
• AH4R has possession of the home and all our contaminated belongings.
• AH4R and their local legal counsel granted us access to the property, under supervision in June 2018. We were afraid we were going to lose everything: all of our children's possessions, heirlooms, we had a daughter who died a few years ago, and everything we have of hers is in that house.
• When we entered the property, under supervision from AH4R property manager & their counsel, we found the house to have been ransacked.
• We were not able to remove much. The house had been ransacked, and items were stolen. TVs were taken, Jamie's jewelry box had been emptied, antique framed portraits were taken, other personal items were strewn throughout, drawers opened and dumped, etc. Everything was in disarray.
• The next-door neighbor said he witnessed the AH4R representative who was supervising our activities that day, load a trailer of our belongings.
• We have since learned that nearly all of the Houston AH4R managers we dealt with throughout this process were dismissed this past fall and no longer are employed by AH4R.
We have been living in temporary housing in Schulenburg since Oct. 1st, 2017. It is a one-bedroom cabin with all five children. This experience has affected my work and our entire family. Our kids have left their friends, their homeschool groups, our church...Christmas season was full of tears this year. All of our Christmas belongings were in the garage and utterly destroyed. My wife had an online store and photography business...all of her equipment is in the house, so both businesses are now gone. We are trying to return to the Kingwood / Humble area...but even if we can manage that - we have nothing to put into our new home. I have had a 2-hour one-way commute since October of last year. We have had to replace necessary living items slowly. We made several visits to Urgent Care. Jamie was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection. We were unable to financially make all the doctor's appointments and get the testing done to relate all symptoms to mold. We did not have any issue like this before, and within a few days after leaving the house, all symptoms were gone. It was like the analogy of boiling a frog in water. We didn't realize how dangerous the mold in the air was until it was so bad we were having massive headaches, fevers, nosebleeds, coughs, etc. We homeschool, so Jamie and the kids were right in it all day every day for over six months as it grew. My eldest daughter is still undergoing neurological testing.
As a result of this unfair, deceptive, and on-going practice by AH4R, my family has suffered much injury and loss of money as follows:
Temporary, but long-term living conditions had to be sought and replaced for a family of 7 for the past 12 months. Damaged and destroyed possessions. Medical treatment for the past 18 months. Work-related costs included extended commutes, loss of equipment that was in the home. Cleaning of contaminated possessions that can be properly sanitized. Loss of work for my wife who worked from home with equipment in the home. Loss of irreplaceable items.
Therefore, I hereby demand the following relief to resolve the problem:
$40,000
AH4R is given the opportunity to make a good-faith response to this letter within thirty (30) days. Your failure to do so could subject you to triple damages, attorney’s fees, and costs when I institute legal action.
Sincerely,
Thad Cardine
This is a truly awful company. Make sure you hear me well when i say that.
They force you to pay the full amount of rent and all utilities by the 5th of the month, or you receive a huge fee, even if your rent is paid in full. If you can't pay that by mid-month, you receive eviction papers and you are charged an additional fee of $400 for the filing process.
If you pay the full rent, full utilties, and full late fee, but cannot pay the additional $400 by the 1st of the next month, the process starts all over again.
This company has no regard for families, health issues, loss of jobs. They can't even allow you to pay your utilities in the middle of the month without making sure they get more money in their pocket to punish you...For nothing.
They are voraciously money-hungry sharks and seriously -- unless you have thousands stacked in the bank in case of any kind of life emergency, do not rent from them.
I have rented homes my whole life - i have no issue with paying a late fee when i'm late. What this company does is awful, inhuman, and vicious. These are the slum lords that you see in movies. They do not care about you, your family, your home, your heart, none of it. They want your money, and as much of it as they can get out of you. Whether or not your family is eating, they literally could not care less. It's a shock and a shame honestly - i've never seen anything like it in business.
Please do not subject your family to living under the roof of a entity this depraved. Live in a box if you have to -- ah4r will hand you out to dry and walk away like they never knew you. This is not a rental company. This is an extortion company with a nasty contract and vampires for attorneys. Stay away. Beware.
Moved in to American home for rent house. A month after being there we started hearing noises in the ceiling. First thought was squirrel raccoon something was in the wall. We investigated it several different times . Almost a year of living there with thinking that it was just noise my home caught fire early in the morning while my husband was recuperating from surgery. The Fire Chief stated that the fire was due to faulty wiring. A hot tub was removed without capping the end of the wiring in the Wildwoods placed into the attic over my garage which is where the fire began. The Fire Chief also informed us that the noise was hearing was something called arcing haven’t arcing for year before somehow something allow oxygen to get to it. I am so upset because American home Shield have been expected this house thoroughly before and allow this house to go on the market. Margaret Home is not in the business of the renters there in the business of making money and not the well-being of the people that’s renting from them.
I can not stress how awful this company is. They are ripping off hard working people on a daily basis. Since we moved into their property it has been one disaster after another and they do not care. They leave people in unhealthy conditions, don't repair serious issues for months if ever. I've missed 14 days of work so some incompetent vendor can come out and still not fix the problems. I was told that they wouldn't fix our AC until it was above 80 in the house even after I told them I have a child with asthma, so I had the repairs done myself. There was a leak from the master shower from March till June. I was offered a settlement (it didn't even to begin to put a dent into what I've lost) and wanted me to sign a nondisclosure agreement. It began to leak again and I got a email stating that the work order was closed they were not able to get in contact with me, however they never called. Something I also paid to fix on my own since I've already seen they don't care. The dryer outlet almost caught fire and burned up my dryer, something it took them a month to fix. They do not return phone calls or emails. They don't allow you to put utilites in your name so they can charge you whatever they want. As they will not show any proof of usage. I've asked for the home to be inspected for mold and nothing has been done. I called the States Codes Dept to have a inspection done own my own. Please save yourself thousands of dollars, a world of stress and do not rent from these crooks.
I leased a large luxury home in Suwanee (Atlanta) Georgia about a year ago. American Homes 4 Rent lied to us on the maintenance standards and condition of the home to get us to lease the property for over $5,000 per month. The first nearly three months we had no air conditioning as 2 out of the 3 air conditioners were completely broken (outside temperatures then were over 90 degrees) and ultimately required replacing and would not work, as well as the water heater did not work and had to be replaced so no hot water…….so no hot water either for nearly 3 months either.
After requesting maintenance through their maintenance request website (which I have determined to be a fraudulent system) they put off maintenance and wanted to get bid after bid after bid. I found that many of the vendors will not work with American Homes 4 Rent because they are a shady company and do not properly pay their vendors for the work done and have been blackballed!
Then we had severe problems with the roof leaking massive water and reported it….. After many, many months still no-one ever showed up to fix it and now we have a severe BLACK MOLD problem that threatens my family’s health. These are just a few of the problems, I have left out most like the severe electrical problems that present a fire hazard and other issues which AH4R has never even had someone come to repair even after numerous requests in writing and verbal.
So finding that this company needed to be held accountable, and that I believed they were putting off maintenance in order to fraudulently pad their corporate earnings and obtain lower loan rates, better public offering rates, and increase their corporate bonuses for the insiders I decided to take them to court and also look for the many others who have been defrauded by these corporate slumlords and fraudsters.
I have filed a MAJOR FRAUD lawsuit against AMERICAN HOMES 4 RENT in the Gwinnett County Georgia Superior Court this JANUARY 2017. The lawsuit is now progressing well and may most likely be converted into a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT with a target damages claim of $400 MILLION DOLLARS. I would love to hear your story on how AH4R has defrauded you, and or avoided (and/or delayed) their maintenance obligations. The fraud suit alleges that AH4R is putting off or not doing necessary maintenance on their properties in order to fraudulently manipulate their corporate books and earnings by (eliminating normal maintenance obligations) from their operating books, 8K's and 10K's. This is similar to the SECURITIES FRAUD committed by Bernie Ebbers who was the CEO of MCI WorldCom who is now serving a 25-year Federal Prison sentence! Please contact me immediately at 202-569-3947 or email me at [email protected] to learn more, participate, and/or share you misfortunes that this slumlord has perpetrated upon you and your family. 07-14-2017
Won’t even give them a 1. From the first day I moved in they wouldn’t do anything to maintain the house that should have been their obligation. In 2 years I had no air conditioning for 2 months in the hottest months of the year, 1 each summer. The air and heat was extremely inefficient anyway because it was grandfathered in and they wouldn’t replace them so I spent a small fortune on utilities. Anyone who did come to fix them told me how bad they are at “paying” for anything to get fixed. The Conservice people they used for paying water and sewer was total rip off. The water tank ruptured in garage. The rent kept going up and up and up and I gave them 3 months notice of vacating and because I was one month short they charged me rent! Bank of America disagreed with them and took the money back for me. So then they took my damage deposit and have the nerve to send me an invoice for $275. Just heard from collection agency today so if there are any law suits going on please let me know. Greensboro, NC 27455.
I selected a property management company for a move from the northeastern part of the United States, to the southeastern part of the United States. I have used property management companies in the past, and have always been pleased with the quality of services provided. That is, until renting with American Homes 4 Rent. I arrived in Charlotte, NC, met with a staff from American Homes 4 Rent. Although she was pleasant, she was cavalier about the condition of the home. The home was filthy, although cleaned out, but the floors were filthy, not swept or washed, the window sills had dead bugs on them, the bathrooms had hair in the tub and sink from previous tenants, the lawn and yard had not been mowed or raked in several months, as it was covered with leaves, and branches, as well as overgrown lawn. There was no screen on the sliding glass doors, and when i inquired about the missing screen door, the staff replied "Well, you can aways buy a screen door."
When i asked why the house hadn't been cleaned prior to my arrival, the staff claimed it had, even though she could see the muddy foot prints on the hardwood floors, as well as the dust and dirt around the house.
After living there for several months, i began to receive water bills through their conservice department in excess of $1,200.00 for one month. I tried, 6 times, to resolve this, and get an idea as to why my water bill jumped from $37.00 the previous month to $1,243.00 the following month. I repeatedly put in service order requests, and spent countless hours on the telephone with Conservice, as well as American Homes 4 rent, and to no avail. After more than 2 months, and now a total of $1,900.00 in water and sewage bills, they finally sent out a plumber to look at the water usage. As i was challenging the water bills, American Homes 4 Rent, took the liberty, without my permission, to pay the water and sewage using from an old, leaky toilet, out of my account. When i asked about this, they insisted i had authorized the payment, which i had not.
When there was a rodent of some kind in the attic, i sent in a service request for them to look into it. They never responded, and when i contacted them for the third time about this, they told me i was responsible for the removal of rodents.
When the airconditioner was not working, again, i sent in an order for service, which they again, told me i was responsible for. I paid $150.00 for the airconditioner to be fixed.
They provide absolutely no maintenance, no services, and do not respond to issues within or around the home. Eventually, i asked that they just sign the deed over to me since i was expected to act as a home owner, not a tenant. This was, by far, the worst rental experience i have ever had, and would never rent from them again, under any circumstances. I have never written a complaint about a company, but this was such a bad experience, that i felt i needed to warn others about renting from them.
Lastly, i moved out more than 30 days ago, and still have not received my security deposit, or any word from them as to when i may expect it, if at all.
I contacted them over 30 days before my lease was up telling them I was leaving on my contract end date and they still auto renewed me into a month to month. Then did not contact me for months after my lease was up to tell me this. After 2 months of me calling them for my security deposit they told me I owe them 2 months of rent and I will not get my security deposit back. Not to mention they completely screwed up my renters history.
Never use these guys. They will rip you off and completely screw you!!!
My name is Philip Irby & I was fired from American Homes 4 Rent today because the VP of Human Resources Lisa Phelps and the CEO David Singelyn found this post below posted by someone on the internet last week. Before working at American Homes 4 Rent my title was Philip Irby Chief Information Officer @ The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. I have two young children to support and a wife. I don't know how we are going to put food on the table or keep a roof over our heads. Please contact me if you can help.
Philip Irby is one of the questionable staff members working at American Homes 4 Rent who has contributed greatly to the companies decline over recent times. He began working at AH4R in Las Vegas Nevada back in March 2019 after being let go from The Cosmopolitan Casino.
Philip Irby single-handedly implemented an array of unmanageable, radical business processes, unfriendly rental management rules and unscaleable I.T solutions which left the companies renters out of pocket to the tune of thousands of dollars in addition to attracting a great deal of negative publicity for the company as is evident by the negative reviews found within this article.
Such horrific reviews from disgruntled rental clients have in most cases given rise to an increased number of lawsuits against American Homes 4 Rent including class actions. A companies success or failure in this case should not be determined by any one staff member. Such a catastrophic decline in public confidence for American Homes 4 Rent could have been easily avoided if stakeholders and higher management had been paying closer attention to the daily activities of certain staff members
On September 28th 2020 we moved into our home at the address 12368 Tuckaway Court Fishers IN 46037. This property is managed by Aminata Bah who works for American Homes 4 aren't at the address 3077 E 98th St, Unit 180 Indianapolis IN 46280. Upon moving in to our home we noticed many deficiencies to include mold and mildew, faulty appliances, water leakage, foul odor and heating issues, and a toilet that had been painted with white paint. We mentioned these issues to our property manager (Aminata Bah) who then instructed us to submit work orders to have the deficiencies fixed.
Upon submitting work orders we started noticing that work orders were either not completed or were marked completed but the problem was not resolved. The major things we faced were the mold and mildew, heating, water leakage, boiler, and appliances. First the mold could be seen under our kitchen sink, windows, bathroom floors and baseboards. Work orders were submitted between the dates of October 1st 2019 and October 7th 2019 for plumbing issues at which time the mold and mildew problems were addressed to the vendor that came out to do the inspection. During both of these times nothing was fixed and both of the work orders were marked as completed.
To this day we still have issues with mold and mildew. The second issue is the heating. At first we thought it was a heating issue so we submitted a work order on November 13th 2019 in which a technician came out to fix the pilot in our heater which didn't resolve anything as the home remained cold and the heater was constantly running which in turn caused our utility bill to be significantly high for several months. After some investigation we noticed that cold air was rushing into our home through one window in the living room, the windows in the master bedroom and windows in my daughters room. When this was discovered we submitted a work order for our windows December 5th 2019 in which the repairs were canceled.
We were told that the windows would cost too much to repair and ultimately we're not approved by the corporate office in Las Vegas NV. We later submitted another work order December 17th 2019 for the same issues in which only caulking was applied to the windows to "prevent" cold air from coming through. This did not remedy the problem and only put a band aid to an issue which later would result in buying two space heaters to keep the house warm and also resulted in both my wife and daughter being hospitalized due to illness inflicted by the cold air within the home. This issue has also not been resolved.
The third issue was the appliances which were both the dishwasher and refrigerator with the dishwasher being the main concern. The refrigerator cause our food to spoil and the dishwasher produced a foul smell, leaked and cause our dishes to smell horrible. Work orders were submitted on both October 2nd and 3rd of 2019. The refrigerator and dishwasher were replaced but we continued to have issues with our dishwasher. We later submitted another work order for the dishwasher October 23rd 2019 in which the repair was cancelled and nothing was found. Yet another work order was submitted October 28th in which a leakage was detected and caused water to seep under the kitchen sink and flow into a portion of the living room.
This caused a mildew smell and mold to grow. No repairs were completed and the technician advised us to use bleach to get rid of the smell and mold which again caused my family to get sick. We are continuously having issues with this company and nothing ever gets resolved. I am a veteran with 8 years of active duty service and health concerns. I have never in my life encountered this type of problem and has caused more stress, worry, and anxiety on top of what I already have.
Our home has had an issue with mold since we moved in. We have tried several times to report this issue to our property manager, have submitted work orders and have had technicians contracted with American Homes 4 Rent say that it is not mold and that it is just dirt. We were advised that IF there was any mold to spray it with bleach. Earlier today we had a vendor named Barry Fox come out and assess our issue with the mold and other deficiencies within the home and has confirmed that we have black mold. This raises a huge concern as my family is now at risk of falling ill. We were advised, the same as other technicians, to spray bleach and to buy a dehumidifier and air purifier to prevent sickness. This continues to be an ongoing issue and is unacceptable in all aspects.
AH4R American Homes for Rent American Homes 4 Rent - Run as fast as you can from American Homes For Rent.
While under heat advisory American Homes 4 Rent took 2 weeks to fix our air conditioning. Our upstairs reached 95 degrees for most of the two weeks.
We filled out the online maintenance request but have found that if we don't follow up with a call it becomes a consistent excuse why American Homes For Rent does not assign a Vendor to fix the issues.
Repeated calls and emails to Brandi Townley, Property Manager, and no call nor returned email; Repeated calls and emails to Dawn Williams, Senior Property Manager, and no calls nor returned email until near 4 weeks has passed. Multiple calls to Josh McLeod, Vice President at American Homes For Rent and finally I received a voice message. After multiple calls to Josh McLeod I received a voice message but no returned calls after that. I had the Maintenance Department for American Homes for Rent also reach out to Brandi Townley, Dawn Williams and to Josh McLeod.
I would be willing to bet that none of their homes were 92 to 95 degrees for two weeks.
American Homes For Rent expects to be paid the rent on time but does not feel it's necessary to fix thier properties in a timely manner.
A massive double standard.
The Vendor they chose to do the repairs, (after two failed attempts by one of their own employees) told us that American Homes For Rent did not authorize them to fix the air conditioning properly. The HVAC Vendor told us they were not supposed to tell us that but felt sorry for our family as we were under a heat advisory.
The maintenance department for American Homes For Rent suggested that I contact the local office to receive a discount on the next month's rent because we were not offered a portable unit nor a window unit and it took 2 weeks to fix.
Below is the response I received as the initial response back from Dawn Williams, Senior Property Manager after near 4 weeks of attempts to reach her :
"Hi Robert,
My name is Dawn and I am the Senior Property Manager. I am reaching out in regards to your inquiry for a concession off the rent as it pertains to the A.C repair. I am sorry to inform you we will not be offering a rent concession at this time.
Please let me know if you have any questions, thanks!
For Information about the Texas Real Estate Commission and Information About Brokerage Services click here:
AH4R IABS and TREC Information
Dawn Williams
Senior Property Manager
Direct Dial: 469-828-8122
Email: [email protected]"
I rented from this company for 30 months. I paid on time, kept the house clean, and gave proper notice. prior to vacating. They initially attempted to charge me for every nickel and dime item they could all the way to the point that my security deposit was depleted.
I challenged them on several items and they removed most of the small $10 - $20 items and continued to argue professional house deep cleaning, professional carpet cleaning, and full house painting. This houe was left in a great condition although there were naturally signs that someone had lived there (basically the intent of a rental home). They are taking my security deposit to flip the house to new and rent to the next consumber. This should be their cost not mine. Security deposit is for damage, not wear and tear of an occupant living in that home.
I'm disgusted that they are still insisting on not returning my security deposit after i've made several attempts to work through it and discuss how it is not in the agreement to charge me for these items, including Ohio renters laws.
Beware of this company and how you expect to get your security deposit back. I'm taking this to court to get my money back.
I received the keys to my home on 3/31/2019. I walked in and immediately noticed that the home wasn’t clean. It was actually filthy:
Urine on the toilet seat in the guest bath.
All surfaces in the home were sticky.
Refrigerator wasn’t clean
There were many other things that I would find later, but I had to fly back to Phoenix. I emailed Jeanette Riley on 3/31/2019 asking about the move- in inspection and spoke with someone named Diane Garrison who stated that I would be reimbursed if I had a cleaner come in to the home.
I received the “inspection report” which was odd because it only had photos—no notes to say what the issues were or if there was anything noted. If you just look at the photos she took, it looks like the house is in perfect condition—with a few minor cosmetic issues—to be expected in a rental home.
This becomes important later.
On 4/4, I emailed requesting a new walkthrough and how the conditions I noted upon move- in would be handled.
I received no response after 2 follow up emails and after I stated I could come into the office if no one was able to respond to me, I received an email from Ashleigh Owen—who asked me what was going on—completely ignoring each bullet point outlining my issues in previous emails.
She stated that the home was cleaned “to standard” after the previous tenant moved out but would provide me a credit on my account for the cleaning company that I hired to clean the home. She said that there would be normal “foot traffic” because of home viewings. I let her know that a dirty refrigerator and urine on a toilet seat is not normal foot traffic.
I also emailed about a rack that needed to be rehung in one of the bedroom closets. Upon entering our home on 4/10/2019—instead of hanging the clothing rack that was IN the closet—someone put up a BOOK SHELF. The evening of 4/10/19, I continued to email photos of the condition of the home—conveniently left out of the inspection report. Ashleigh stated that she couldn’t “see” anything wrong.
4/13/2019: Walked downstairs and stepped in a pool of water—the half bath downstairs had flooded. We had just moved in and I had to go to the store to buy towels to soak up the water.
We immediately turned off the water and put in a ticket with the office.
4/14/19: We received no response, so we called and put in another emergency ticket.
4/14/19: received notification that the contractor would arrive Monday 4/15 at 3PM to look at the issue.
The kitchen sink began to back up and leak as well. We called this in to the emergency line.
4/15/19: Contractor arrived at 8AM and fixed the blockage issue.
4/18/19: Followed up with Ashleigh about our previous conversation on who would be out to fix the book shelf in our bedroom closet.
Ashleigh added Alexia Peebles in maintenance. Someone is coming to replace the shelf on 4/23.
4/19/2018: A inquired as to whether or not the contractor coming out on Tuesday could also fix other issues that we had noticed:
Kitchen island drawer broken and unusable.
The ice maker isn’t working.
The fireplace doesn’t work.
Loose spout on the master bathroom tub.
Master bathroom toilet isn’t secure and is wobbling.
I also reached out to Josh Mcleod on linkedin who stated that he would escalate my issues in the Nashville office.
As we continued to unpack and move our items in—a smoke alarm went off. It continued to go off every hour because of a dead battery—this was when I noticed that there wasn’t a smoke alarm in each room and I had yet to see a carbon monoxide detector. I then took the time to reread the lease and look over the inspection report again. I also looked into other tenant reviews and I sent the following email to Ashleigh (which included photos from the inspection and my photos) I also sent this because I never got a response on my request for an additional walkthrough to be done:
Good Morning,
I’d just like to add to my list in the previous email. At around 3AM, the smoke alarm (one or the other or both) kept going off. I am assuming that this is because the battery is dying. In reviewing our lease, I see that we, as tenants are responsible to replace the batteries. That’s fair, but I’m haven’t trouble locating all of them— I believe there is supposed to be one in each room on each floor? Also where are the carbon monoxide detectors?
I’ve also done some research and I’ve noticed a clear pattern with AH4R and its tenants. You seem to make it a practice to hold on to security deposits and I can see why you are able to do this. There is a clear disconnect in what my inspection report showed and the actual condition of the home.
For example, this is a photo from the inspection report of the closet that now has a book shelf in it and not a clothing rack:
I’m not even sure what was supposed to be captured here as there are no notes. If there are, I haven’t received them.
If she had opened the door:
There are a couple of gaping holes, marks on the walls...which I’m sure is considered excessive and I would be charged for it. If one were to only look at the provided inspection report, it would look like the house was well maintained and in good condition except for a few cosmetic errors. I actually think that some of the photos are filtered or strategically taken so that issues wouldn’t be reported in the initial documentation.
The lease says we are to maintain the home, but it’s hard to maintain when nothing was initially fixed prior to our move in. Another example is how I will not be changing any of the dirty dead insect encrusted window screens. Or the one that is already broken in our living room.
So, since I am stuck with you for the next year, let’s make it easy on both of us. I am requesting:
Notes from the inspection report or notes to be made of what she was actually taking a picture of.
I will be making a detailed spreadsheet of all the issues that were seen when I moved in and I would like an AH4R representative to sign off on this as I refuse to pay for any damage or excessive wear not caused by myself or Emmanuel during our lovely stay here. I would like this detail to be included as an addendum to the inspection report.
The name/contact info of the agency or provider or person that cleaned the home.
A detailed list of repairs that were made to the home prior to our move in.
Each time I have to put in a service request such as the one for the book shelf removal or the toilet overflowing my 3rd night here and ruining the hard wood floor—I would like an AH4R representative to send me an email stating that the issue was no fault of myself or Emmanuel’s and we are not responsible for any damage caused by the incident when our lease is up.
I’m only doing this to protect myself from your companies shady practices. I will continue to escalate any and all issues and grievances until I am comfortable in my almost $2000/ mo rental home.
I rented a home in San Jacinto, CA for a year from American Homes 4 Rent. I received great customer service, had a lovely home, had maintenance issues responded to promptly, received most of my deposit after moving out of state. It was a fantastic year in a beautiful home with a company that cared for the property and my well-being in it.
We have been in the house one year, we have had multiple maintenance issues, it takes 2-10 times to get each issue fixed. The current air conditioning problem is the icing on the cake. I can not get them to fix our air conditionignproperly. Today it is 81 degrees, 69 percent hunmidity, 77 udegrees upstairs and 76 degrees on main floor. I am middle class hard working tax paying Lady, my Daughter is 28, Granddaughters 11 and 2. We all have allergy and asthma. The 2 y/o is Autistic, has sensory processing disorder, she cannot verbalize well, she can't tell us if she doesn't feel good. It is so hot if we would cook, do laundry or run dishwasher it would get worse. I rent for the very reason so that I do not have to do maintenance or pay for it. I live it a nice subdivision with an HOA. i pay a lot in rent plus utilities to live here and expect things to work properly. If I had to take off every time they need to come here to fix thing, I would be fired from my job. My Dtr is able to be here to meet them. She is a College Student and takes the 2 y/o to all her therapy appts. I can't believe they don't have an on-call person in the evenings or weekends. This is a huge company all over the US. I met with 7-8 of them today and they told me the temp in my house is acceptable. I told them I want out of my lease, I was told it would cost a lot, I told them I want a quoate. They did not clean the house well either before we moved in. We did a lot. They should have replaced carpet, did not, refuse too. Since Jan. I have cleaned it twice, once professionally and I did one with good machine. It took 6 months to get toilet fixed properly. The refrigerator has never been fixed peoperly. I am still waiting for the Carpenter to look at dinign room ceiling where the toilet over flowed-has been 3 weeks. They suck you in with their viewing process and retal process but do not maintain their homes.
I rented a house from a realestate company called Mack. After living there for two years the company filed bankruptcy and was brought by American homes4rent. I was initially under a 3year contract and was given 10 days for rent to be in after due date. When American homes took over(after 2 years in my lease) they began charging all types of fees ,making it almost impossible to know exactly why they were being added. They changed the rules in the original contract and I was being bombarded with fees . I tried calling the management office but I was put on a recording for a return call that Inever received.I looked on line and was I found an email address ...I replied to the management company and still no reply.I was closed out of their online bill payment and had to find another way to expedite my rental payment.I have been trying to talk to someone so that I can find out my total pay out ( so I can move) and there's no one to talk to!!!This has to be one of the most agregious companies in the rental industry...I advise others to please research this company before you let them get you
As others have noted, we rented with homes 4 rent for 15 months. We were shown a very nice home and agreed to rent we went the day of our walkthrough and were met with someone we had not met before. We went through each room and identified several areas in each room that needed to be repaired, replaced or added. Primarily the carpets in the living area, bedroom and dining areas were badly soiled and smelled badly we were instructed that they would write that down on the walk through document and we could try and get the carpets cleaned and steamed but they were acceptable to the company and would not be replaced at this point in time. The leasing agent was instructed that we wanted this documented as there were huge stains on the carpet that we could live with but we did not want to have to replace when we moved out later. The shower in the upstairs bathroom started leaking into the downstairs ceilings, no one ever came to repair, we also had no air conditioning for most of the summer no one came to fix it, also during the walk-through there were some areas in the paint was really an awful gold color. We were told we could paint any color we wanted and that we did not have to repaint or base paint when we moved out. We did change paint color or repaint, we did as instructed on move out document repair any nail holes in the wall. We had been instructed at walkthrough that nail holes were not an issue. We were told we were to live in the house as if the house were our own and treat it as if it was our own for decorating and painting. There were problems with spider nests in the house and ant nests in the house. They never came to correct. We were forced to pay to have someone spray for those Corrections in order to live there, They also never came to repair the leak in the bathtub and shower they did finally have a man come to get an estimate on cost to repair for the company, he looked at the leak in the ceiling and told us that they would need to get approval from the company to fix it. He never returned. We eventually had to put a window air conditioning in the upstairs area too cool the sleeping areas. At move out, we were not allowed to attend the move out walk through. We were provided an invoice for each of these items that I listed plus a couple of more, I.e. screens not fitting. were all listed as items that we had damaged and we were charged for each of those items nearly $1,400 in damages when we moved out. We can assure you that when we moved out of the house the needed repairs in that house and the carpet in that house looked a hundred percent better than it did when we moved in. We fortunately had pictures at move in and move out to show the difference. So I would say if you have any possibility of getting an attorney or someone to look at your house now before they start to charge you for those repairs or before move out this is your best opportunity. We were instructed we should have done so the minute they did not complete the repairs or did not respond to our complaints. We should have contacted the consumer affairs office at that moment to have someone intercept for us. We would recommend that anyone still dealing with issues with Homes 4 Rent, PLEASE be aware of that and also be aware that some of the same people with Homes 4 Rent are now working for other agencies and pop-up rental companies, Also be aware that you should document and be aware to document and take pictures as we had. The Indiana attorney general and the consumer affairs will take the case. It sometimes takes a while sometimes two or three years to get a resolution on it but you will get a resolution from Homes 4 Rent. You see all of the complaints, you see the Attorney General's are involved in every state!' Get out while you can if you're not involved do not get involved with them.
This company has the worst maintenance department. It takes several weeks to respond to maintenance issues. Also, they do not take care of maintenance issues before you move in. After I moved in, I had to have a garbage disposal replaced, a faucet replaced, a loose fitting sliding screen door adjusted. I was told I would have a washer and dryer upon moving in, however when I moved in there was not a washer and dryer there and I had to go buy a washer and dryer.
Other issues are several non-functional and dated looking blinds that have not been replaced. The carpet is old and looks worn and dirty and it has not been replaced. The backyard has pain chipped off the concrete and it has not been repaired. Exhaust fans are extremely noisy and have not been replaced. Several lights were dim or nearly burnt out, I had to replace the lights as they would not put in the more energy efficient led lights. All the smoke detectors malfunction due to age, they have not been replaced.
Just recently I had to contact the maintenence department about several outlets that were not working in the master bedroom, it took several weeks for someone to come out. I was told the circuit breaker could not handle the load, but to just keep turningh the circuit off and on if happens again and if the outlets stop working then call them. They would not immediatley replace the circuit on the circuit breaker. My rent is due for renewal and they want to raise the rent from $1,250 per month to $1,390.38 for a month to month lease. They will not keep the rent at $1,250 per month despite my request to do so. Needless to say I will be looking for a rental with another company.
I was deployed with the Arizona Air National guard. AH4R was me to sign a more expensive lease while I am gone, or convert into a month-to-month lease at a significately higher rate. I do not want to sign a lease while I am gone, because I don't know what kind of job I am going to have when I return. I informed AH4R about my situation, and they informed me that their was nothing they could do. So, according to AH4R, I either have to sign a lease while I am deployed overseas, and not be sure about my situation, or shell out a few extra hundred dollars a month. I just wish this company would extend my current lease a few extra months while I am deployed. I don't wanna have to worry about this.
The absolute WORST maintainence EVER!!!!! My kitchen faucet leaks. Bought a $150+ new one. The old one requires a special removal tool. They said they'd send a plumber out to remove the old faucet. BUT, they will NOT pay to install the much nicer one I purchased. WTF?!?!?!?!?!
Confused on why we pay RENT each month and when there is a maintenance problem from normal wear and tear I am responsible and have been charged for maintenance cost. Then why the hell am I renting and not buying. I can never get In touch with property manager in timely manner to discuss concerns. When I go finally get a phone call property manager response is well I am busy and my ringer is turned off. Fees on top of fees are ridiculous. This company is a fraud. I have been in property management and I rent because I did want the responsibility of maintenance. Our rent has rent up.
This a a older home and I would think they would encourage you to contact them about THIER property on maintenance. Well, I was charged $125 for plumbing and literally the vendor did not do anything and said he would not charge me. Then I get a bill from AH4R I called and property manager say they get the bill and the forward over to the RENTER. This company buy property and never come in to do an inspection. Therefore, they have no idea the conditions of the already wear and tear of the property. The nerve of the property manager saying well we did not charge you for the garage door being off track. Really! I let them know this was a previous issue before they bought this property. This company is a scam and they want to try and evict you so they can charge you all these charges and then get someone like me who think this house is the best fit for my family but in turn being scammed on fixing up their property.
My family and I will be moving not because of the rent but because the staff does not care they are unprofessional and they only want to scam you out of more money. I will be going to consumer affairs on this as well. This company is based out of California and when you speak with corporate they are rude and act like we are not customers and whom are paying their pay checks. They act like they are doing us a favor by let us rent. Lets stand up for a cause and let ah4r that they can't keep getting away with this. I pay $1435 per month for a reason not expecting to pay that much in rent and still be responsible for regular maintenance.
This company is a complete and total rip-off. 1st they offer an online system to pay rent and have rent funds auto debited from bank account. Then they never auto debit your account they charge fees and fines and then never send notice that rent wasn't received. They lock the online account so you can pay immeadiately. They then file evictions and charge you errouneous fees. They then hold you hostage to pay all of the fees and when you dont they try to evict you. This happened to me however, I went to court and challeged them they lost and after I won in court they still tried to charge me for their legal fees when they were the ones who tried to sue me. I called time after time and they never refunded the fees even after I had a court order. Please run do not rent from this company you wil be sorry and it will cost you lots of money in the long run. I will have to now hire a lawyer in order to get back the money that they took from me and in essence spend more money. Customer service is non-existant and they will not call you back, or respond to e-mails. Please I implore you do not sign a lease with this company . Look under yelp they have over 40 reviews all 1 star. Also check out yellow pages all reviews 1 star. They are horrible. Save your self a dollar and find another landlord.
I had no air conditioning in my home for 4 months. This was during the hot summer in Georgia. The temperature got up to 98 degrees in my house. American Homes 4 Rent did not care at all and I was told that my rent covers a roof over my head and that's all. I contacted the Better Business Bureau and they closed the case becuase the company stated they resolved it with me. However, they have not even contacted me in regards to making it right. They don't care abiout the company. However, if I didn't pay my rent then I bet I'd hear from them right away.
No response to maintenance requests. Horrible customer service. No return calls or answers. Over charges for utilities without bills from the utility company. Keep 2250 deposit. House was returned better than the day I moved in. Charge 20-60 bucks for things like throwing out a phone book, leaving toilet paper for ppl to use, hand soap, ect.
I can not stress how awful this company is. They are ripping off hard working people on a daily basis. Since we moved into their property it has been one disaster after another and they do not care. They leave people in unhealthy conditions, don't repair serious issues for months if ever. I've missed 14 days of work so some incompetent vendor can come out and still not fix the problems. I was told that they wouldn't fix our AC until it was above 80 in the house even after I told them I have a child with asthma, so I had the repairs done myself. There was a leak from the master shower from March till June. I was offered a settlement (it didn't even to begin to put a dent into what I've lost) and wanted me to sign a nondisclosure agreement. It began to leak again and I got a email stating that the work order was closed they were not able to get in contact with me, however they never called. Something I also paid to fix on my own since I've already seen they don't care. The dryer outlet almost caught fire and burned up my dryer, something it took them a month to fix. They do not return phone calls or emails. They don't allow you to put utilites in your name so they can charge you whatever they want. As they will not show any proof of usage. I've asked for the home to be inspected for mold and nothing has been done. I called the States Codes Dept to have a inspection done own my own. Please save yourself thousands of dollars, a world of stress and do not rent from these crooks.