Beware of Nola Properties, Inc. and Anthony DeBenedictis. It cost me $4,200 total to get out of the Lease with him and I never lived at the property. The landlord, Anthony (Tony) DeBenedictis is a licensed Realtor with Smith & Associates and allegedly owns a lot of rental properties.
I knew when he got impatient with me on the phone asking "Do you want to rent the apartment or not?" that I should have said NO, but because the apartment was affordable for the area and he was allowing me to bring my small dog (the listing said no pets) I said yes. Big mistake.
I had wanted to see the unit again since I only did a 5-minute walk through the first time, to make sure it would work for me. Carmen met me for the other walk-through (the unit was occupied). She said I could do whatever I wanted to the apartment, as long as any whatever I did 'stayed' when I left.
I asked about the tub which was extremely dirty and stained looking. She said that it would definitely come clean with a Comet, but that didn't seem right to me because the entire apartment was kept quite clean, so I didn't think it was the tenant's lack of cleaning that caused such a dirty tub.
I didn't thoroughly review the lease I signed because Tony is a Realtor, so I assumed everything was pretty standard (again, my own mistake) and gave Carmen my initial security deposit check. Carmen is his girlfriend who manages people since Tony is clearly incapable of basic communication.
She had told me that I only needed the security deposit to sign, but later I got a call stating that I needed to provide last month's rent, too (red flag). So, I agreed to do so about a week later, just prior to the existing tenant vacating the apartment (she left a couple weeks before her lease was up).
Once the tenant's stuff was out of the apartment, it became clear that the apartment was in dire need of painting and the closet doors in one of the bedrooms had gashes in the wood and weren't moving on the track. I requested that they ensure the closet doors were functional, though I did not expect that they would simply put new hardware on broken doors and hang them back up.
The handyman was doing just that when I stopped in again to measure in the apartment. I sent a text immediately asking Tony to please not put the doors back on like that and that surely he wasn't going to put lipstick on a pig by putting new hardware on broker doors..? No reply.
So I texted Carmen the same, with a photo of the broken door. She called and I talked to her for a minute, then Tony got on the phone screaming like a lunatic. He started off screaming that I was not to dispariage him or his properties to anyone, do I understand? And yelling that it's none of my business what he paid for the properties and what am I, some kind of Socialist Democrat trying to tell him what to do with his buildings? It was a brief conversation, but a psychotic and abusive rant, in my book.
I sent an email saying let's part as friends, I'd be willing to forfeit the security deposit and asking him to please send back my last month's rent (this was three days prior to move-in). His response was that I had about 24 hours to give him another $1400 or I was going to be responsible for the entire lease (over $20K).
Upon reviewing the Lease more closely, it states (contrary to what Carmen said during the walk-through) that a tenant cannot paint or put anything on the walls - clearly the interior hasn't been painted in many years. It also states that the landlord can give Tenant a 7-day notice to vacate, and after seeing what an unreasonable and unhinged person that Tony is (in my opinion), I chose not to entrust the next 13 months of my living situation to him.
I signed a Lease and requested out of it 3 weeks later, and that cost me $4,200.00. I take responsibility for my part (not having read the lease agreement before signing and saying yes when I should have said no), but trying to warn others not to make the same mistakes with this individual.
NOLA Property Managers, Inc. Reviews
Beware of Nola Properties, Inc. and Anthony DeBenedictis. It cost me $4,200 total to get out of the Lease with him and I never lived at the property. The landlord, Anthony (Tony) DeBenedictis is a licensed Realtor with Smith & Associates and allegedly owns a lot of rental properties.
I knew when he got impatient with me on the phone asking "Do you want to rent the apartment or not?" that I should have said NO, but because the apartment was affordable for the area and he was allowing me to bring my small dog (the listing said no pets) I said yes. Big mistake.
I had wanted to see the unit again since I only did a 5-minute walk through the first time, to make sure it would work for me. Carmen met me for the other walk-through (the unit was occupied). She said I could do whatever I wanted to the apartment, as long as any whatever I did 'stayed' when I left.
I asked about the tub which was extremely dirty and stained looking. She said that it would definitely come clean with a Comet, but that didn't seem right to me because the entire apartment was kept quite clean, so I didn't think it was the tenant's lack of cleaning that caused such a dirty tub.
I didn't thoroughly review the lease I signed because Tony is a Realtor, so I assumed everything was pretty standard (again, my own mistake) and gave Carmen my initial security deposit check. Carmen is his girlfriend who manages people since Tony is clearly incapable of basic communication.
She had told me that I only needed the security deposit to sign, but later I got a call stating that I needed to provide last month's rent, too (red flag). So, I agreed to do so about a week later, just prior to the existing tenant vacating the apartment (she left a couple weeks before her lease was up).
Once the tenant's stuff was out of the apartment, it became clear that the apartment was in dire need of painting and the closet doors in one of the bedrooms had gashes in the wood and weren't moving on the track. I requested that they ensure the closet doors were functional, though I did not expect that they would simply put new hardware on broken doors and hang them back up.
The handyman was doing just that when I stopped in again to measure in the apartment. I sent a text immediately asking Tony to please not put the doors back on like that and that surely he wasn't going to put lipstick on a pig by putting new hardware on broker doors..? No reply.
So I texted Carmen the same, with a photo of the broken door. She called and I talked to her for a minute, then Tony got on the phone screaming like a lunatic. He started off screaming that I was not to dispariage him or his properties to anyone, do I understand? And yelling that it's none of my business what he paid for the properties and what am I, some kind of Socialist Democrat trying to tell him what to do with his buildings? It was a brief conversation, but a psychotic and abusive rant, in my book.
I sent an email saying let's part as friends, I'd be willing to forfeit the security deposit and asking him to please send back my last month's rent (this was three days prior to move-in). His response was that I had about 24 hours to give him another $1400 or I was going to be responsible for the entire lease (over $20K).
Upon reviewing the Lease more closely, it states (contrary to what Carmen said during the walk-through) that a tenant cannot paint or put anything on the walls - clearly the interior hasn't been painted in many years. It also states that the landlord can give Tenant a 7-day notice to vacate, and after seeing what an unreasonable and unhinged person that Tony is (in my opinion), I chose not to entrust the next 13 months of my living situation to him.
I signed a Lease and requested out of it 3 weeks later, and that cost me $4,200.00. I take responsibility for my part (not having read the lease agreement before signing and saying yes when I should have said no), but trying to warn others not to make the same mistakes with this individual.