If you have a choice of renting from Don Cato or living in a box… live in a box. I rented from Don for about two years, because he did not disclose that the lease was a 13 month lease ( completely my fault, because I did not catch it in the contract) but who does a 13 month lease – this should have been my first red flag that he was sneaky. Don is the laziest landlord you will ever come in contact with. If you have any maintenance issues – just plan on them either a) not getting done or 2) getting done weeks or months later. For example:
the roof in my apartment leaked multiple times, - dripping water across the entire length of the living room. When Don was called, his typical response would be “ I will send someone over to take care of it”. Weeks would go by before someone would fix it and it only took them 8 months to patch up the ceiling. Never mind that my new furniture now had water damage.
Occasionally, the hot water would go out in the apartment I rented. I would say this happened 2-3 times in the roughly two years I lived there. I would inform Don of this and he would tell me it would get fixed. Each time, I ended up having to go to the gym in the morning to shower as it took them about two weeks to get the hot water fixed.
Dish Washer – broken fro about 2 months before it was fixed.
At some point I had enough with Don and his laziness and decided to start looking to buy a home. I informed Don of this multiple months before I started getting serious about buying a home and he told me “ I will work with you and we will figure something out if you find an home.” Well the day came and I bought a house. I again informed Don that I was going to move out and the closing date was about two months away. To which Don told me “ I will do my best to find a tenant but you will have to pay until I do”. I get this and under his contract I had to pay, I am an adult and I understand this logic so I continued to pay my rent in the hopes that Don would find someone.
Realizing how much of a sleazy person this landlord is, I would have friends make cold calls to Don and inquire about the apartment. He would sometimes tell them that the apartment was available but on other instances he would tell them that the apartment was not available and had been rented.
Now for the kicker…. At the beginning of one of the months, after I had moved out I received a text message from someone who still lived in the complex telling me that there was a couple moving into my apartment- DON HAD NEVER TOLD ME THAT HE RENTED MY APARTMENT! I can only assume as much that he expected me to pay that months rent ( I did not) I called, emailed and texted Don about this multiple times without him ever replying to me to give me an explanation.
Additionally, once I received my security deposit about 90 days after I handed in my keys ( legally it is 30 days). I received a charge for $250 as a “ Release Fee” – Release Fee? You just rented my apartment to someone ( and didn’t even tell me), you didn’t “ Release me”
Take my advice, please do not waste your time or hard earned money on any property that has Cato Realty attached to it. I promise you that you will be sorry in the end.
Cato Realty, Inc. Reviews
If you have a choice of renting from Don Cato or living in a box… live in a box. I rented from Don for about two years, because he did not disclose that the lease was a 13 month lease ( completely my fault, because I did not catch it in the contract) but who does a 13 month lease – this should have been my first red flag that he was sneaky. Don is the laziest landlord you will ever come in contact with. If you have any maintenance issues – just plan on them either a) not getting done or 2) getting done weeks or months later. For example:
the roof in my apartment leaked multiple times, - dripping water across the entire length of the living room. When Don was called, his typical response would be “ I will send someone over to take care of it”. Weeks would go by before someone would fix it and it only took them 8 months to patch up the ceiling. Never mind that my new furniture now had water damage.
Occasionally, the hot water would go out in the apartment I rented. I would say this happened 2-3 times in the roughly two years I lived there. I would inform Don of this and he would tell me it would get fixed. Each time, I ended up having to go to the gym in the morning to shower as it took them about two weeks to get the hot water fixed.
Dish Washer – broken fro about 2 months before it was fixed.
At some point I had enough with Don and his laziness and decided to start looking to buy a home. I informed Don of this multiple months before I started getting serious about buying a home and he told me “ I will work with you and we will figure something out if you find an home.” Well the day came and I bought a house. I again informed Don that I was going to move out and the closing date was about two months away. To which Don told me “ I will do my best to find a tenant but you will have to pay until I do”. I get this and under his contract I had to pay, I am an adult and I understand this logic so I continued to pay my rent in the hopes that Don would find someone.
Realizing how much of a sleazy person this landlord is, I would have friends make cold calls to Don and inquire about the apartment. He would sometimes tell them that the apartment was available but on other instances he would tell them that the apartment was not available and had been rented.
Now for the kicker…. At the beginning of one of the months, after I had moved out I received a text message from someone who still lived in the complex telling me that there was a couple moving into my apartment- DON HAD NEVER TOLD ME THAT HE RENTED MY APARTMENT! I can only assume as much that he expected me to pay that months rent ( I did not) I called, emailed and texted Don about this multiple times without him ever replying to me to give me an explanation.
Additionally, once I received my security deposit about 90 days after I handed in my keys ( legally it is 30 days). I received a charge for $250 as a “ Release Fee” – Release Fee? You just rented my apartment to someone ( and didn’t even tell me), you didn’t “ Release me”
Take my advice, please do not waste your time or hard earned money on any property that has Cato Realty attached to it. I promise you that you will be sorry in the end.