Consumer complaint received 2022-08-10
Company: REMAX
State: NC
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged

Complaint:
Timeline of events : XXXX Rental application completed for home that was advertised as pet friendly XXXX Email from Property Manager stating owners have approved application for lease. 
XXXX Walkthrough complete. Questions regarding items included with the property and also, Is owner open to dog accommodations?. ( XXXX ) XXXX Email response from Property Manager I think the owner would be open to the pet based on the kind of pet and situation. We would just need to get their approval and there would be a non-refundable pet fee but the owner would have final decision on that. 
Prospective tenants requested a copy of the lease agreement for review and were told via email The lease agreement doesnt get generated until the non-refundable reservation fee is paid. Prospective tenants questioned terms of the lease as we would like to understand what terms we are agreeing to before we send a non-refundable deposit. Property manager responds It is a 12 month lease. If you have more detailed questions a call may be easier Follow up phone call between prospective tenant and property manager completed between XXXX XXXX  and XXXX XXXX  and discussed pet addendum ( 2 ) and putting lease together so terms can be reviewed in detail before paying the non-refundable deposit. ( This is the first instance we felt we were being misled to commit to something financially before having supporting written documents. ) Prospective tenant sends follow up email to Propert Manager at XXXX XXXX  stating that Lease agreement and Maintenance Addendum looks good Can we bother you for a Pet Addendum? You mentioned possible a {$500.00} cleaning fee/deposit. At some point, wed love to get a dog. Ours passed away a few years ago. With the yard on this property, it would be really nice to be able to have one again. We had a yellow lab. Not sure what well get this time around but it wont be 75+ lbs dog thats for sure. Ready to sign from there.. ( 3 ) After phone conversation with property manager eluding that owner is dog friendly and that per addendums are drafted after the fact, prospective tenants agree to lease terms. Tenants send screenshot to Property Manager stating that payment has been made in full. Again requested the pet addendum. ( 4 ) XXXX XXXX XXXX  Rental Contracts signed ( Working with Real Estate Agents , Maintenance Addendum , Move out expectations Addendum ) XXXX All parties completed signing the Lease. Tenants again emailed Property Manager stating, Following up on the pet addendum. Not sure if you had a chance to connect with the owners over the weekend. Deposit and first month rent was paid on Friday. I can confirm funds were pulled from our account ( 5 ). This was the fifth request for the pet addendum which property managers continued to ignore meanwhile continuing to misrepresent the property as DOG friendly. At this point we were in the process of looking for a dog but did not yet own. 
General welcome email received from XXXX XXXX confirming initial lease start date of XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Official first day of lease. Email from WK to LS stating I want to touch on the pet agreement again. We most definitely would like to get a dog this year to help the kids transition with the move. Also, wed like to feel like our friends with pets can come and go without fearing wed have to pay the {$1000.00} penalty fee described in the initial agreement we signed. Please draft the pet addendum for us so we can be proactive in paying the deposit and avoid any unnecessary penalties. ( 6 ) LS responds to the email stating We dont usually do the pet addendum until you have the pet ( due to the addendum being specific to YOUR pet ). So once you know the dog that you are getting, please contact our office with that information and we will draft up the pet addendum for all parties to sign off on. Friends pets are able to visit the home from time to time and the {$1000.00} penalty fee will not be applied. That unauthorized pet fee would only be charged if we did a periodic inspection or a maintenance item and found that a pet was living in the home without going through the approval process ( owner permission, pay pet fee, and pet addendum drafted up. Tenants understanding based on 1 ) lease listing on website stated pet friendly 2 ) intent to get a dog ( <75 lbs ) was discussed in at least 6 previous phone conversations and emails with Property Managers implying verbally and via email owner approval of having a dog in the home and that pet addendum would be drafted after we secured the pet. We asked them numerous times if they followed up with the owner regarding the pet ( prior to signing the lease ) and the response was unequivocally that the pet addendum would be drafted after we have the pet ( per Property Managers XX/XX/XXXX email specifically ). 
XXXX Tenant email to Property Manager We found two beautiful dogs. How do we proceed with adding them to our agreement and owner approval. Pet fee is in order XXXX Property Manager responded Please let me know what kind of dogs you are looking at getting and about what their weight is. When are you looking to bring them into the home? Just let me know and then I will reach out to the owners and see if I can get you permission to have them Tenants understood this reply as we had only permission for one dog so company would need to reach out to the owners to specifically see if 2 dogs are allowed. Tenants sent email response stating both dogs are Rhodesian Ridgebacks. Eventually male would be 70 lb and female about 60 lb, brother and sister, 11 wks old. Also stated we reached out to a local dog trainer to setup professional potty and behavioral training for dogs. 
XXXX Property Manager email included verbatim from owners Im not interested in having dogs at the house. I havent had good experiences with that. ( The property owners are stating we are not allowed to have a dog at all. Tenants requested the Realtors have a discussion with the property XXXX regarding us having a dog in the home plus a formal pet addendum at least 6 times before and during the process of signing the lease. Property Managers consistently implied that having a dog in the home is a non-issue. Pet addendum would be drafted after getting the pet. ) Tenants requested additional conversation via phone and reconsideration.

Property Manager responded in length, We couldnt request approval for something you didnt have yet. To ask for approval, we must know the breed of the dog and the weightI am sorry that these are not the responses that you were hoping to get from the owners but there is nothing that we can do about it.

Tenants respond via email reminding Property Managers that when we were ready to move forward with the lease it was held up over the pet addendum which we requested to sign prior to or in concert with the lease agreement to avoid the current situation. We were assured all would be fine. You knew the owner ( after 7 years of experience together ). All we had to do is give the breed but even then we wanted to see it in writing. Repeated attempts by [ tenants ] for the Pet Addendum Tenants also referenced that in the listing, the property was noted as pet friendly or we would not have reached out for the rental. 
XXXX Phone call between Tenant and Property Manager. Both reiterating above points. Property Manager denied any compromise Tenant send follow up email to Property Manager asking if there are " certain breeds the homeowner will consider, or is the discussion of all pets off the table? Please be specific if there are certain criteria a pet should meet. Thanks for clarifying.

Property Manager responded he would ask the owners and asked if this would be for one or two dogs.

Tenant responded Either/or. I am interested to know what our limitations are when continuing the search ( breed, age, number ). Any specifics are helpful vs us finding something we like, requesting permission, then being told no. Im sure you can see how the current process can be frustrating. 
XXXX Still no response received from any member of the Property Management team.

During these discussions, there was also ongoing questioning of the water quality due to strong smells when running the water which the Property Manager and Landlord refused to assess. We physically inhabited the home less than two weeks ( assumed the rental payments early to secure the home ).

The Property Managers were deceitful and misleading on multiple accounts ( attempting to pressure us into sending a non-refundable deposit prior to reviewing lease terms, misrepresenting the property as dog friendly only to say that " no dogs are allowed in the home '' after the lease was signed, refusing to send someone to XXXX the concern for water quality. 

On XX/XX/XXXX Tenants gave notice that they will be vacating the property effective XX/XX/XXXX. 

Property Managers are refusing to disclose if our {$3000.00} security deposit will be returned in full. The home was inhabited for less than two weeks by tenants due to delayed moving and summer travels. Tenants paid out of pocket for lawn treatments and overgrown landscaping during this short rental period so the home blended with the other well-kept homes in the community.

Property Managers are also demanding two months rent to be paid in full or in a payment plan by Friday XX/XX/XXXX or else they will turn our account over to collections which they threaten " will not Reflect favorably on your credit. '' Due to the Property Managers ' deceit and misrepresentation of the property, we do not feel this amount is owed by the Tenants. 

This Property Manager also has poor online reviews being accused of " security deposit scams '' so we are worried to pay any additional fees until the status of the security deposit return is disclosed.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation