Rental Horror Stories

[BrianaHartzell]

My husband and I searched and searched for a good rental property and finally found something in our budget and location, however the master bathroom was being worked on. There was no use of the shower, bath or toilet. They promised it would be done in two weeks... and encouraged us to move in...two months later and it was finally done! What have you put up with a rental property?

[Mona101]

We have problems in the past, when stationed at Ft Hood we lived off post and the house was really nice. But on the first wkend my stepdaughters were visiting the a/c went out. The rental agency would send repair man but each had a different answer for the problem. At the time our twins were 18months old so I wrote down every time I called the agency and everytime a repairman came out. After I gave all the information to the Maintence manager he actually got it working it only took them a month an half to get it working again. But I made sure to document everything in the end it got fixed and we got an adjustment on rent due to the problem.

[militaryspouse101]

Contractors are notorious for not getting things done in a timely manner. How does the master bathroom look? Sometimes the inconvenience pays off but the delay couldn't be worse if a spouse is working. Waiting til all is completed would have cost you tlf fees if you moved in later. Likewise, delays in construction could cost you income. Insist the property owner/manager sit while the work is being done...maybe it could be finished sooner.

[Nuschler]

I have rented for most of my life. Face it. The landlords are not there to make your life good. They want to make money..bottom line. So they will put in the cheapest appliances, cheapest flooring, substandard everything. They want that check to clear every month and never hear from you again. So I have learned to do a LOT of maintenance on my own. Every state has a landlord-tenant act. Get it and read it. You will find out that some repairs MUST be done within 72 hours. Put the law on your side. Read the code. The landlords do not want you to be knowledgeable about your rights. You don't need a lawyer. Most disputes are handled by an agency and most disputes are on the RENTERS' side! Also since I had a large family and cooked a lot, I bought my own stove and refrigerator since the rented unit's appliances were usually on their last legs, second hand or just not up to speed. I put it in writing in the contract that I would be taking the stove and refrigerator with me. You won't be in military housing or in the military forever..so start learning to be a civilian a LONG time before you retire! Remember if it isn't in writing it never happened or was never agreed upon. You may think you have the nicest landlords in the world and they would never cheat you..but remember they are not your best buddies. You have entered into a contract with them for living. It's very important that your contract spells everything out. I'm not saying that every landlord-tenant relationship be adversarial...just remember the contract.

[AngelaV]

I am a landlord. We used a rental management company in Fayetteville. Let's just say. NEVER use Team Harris as a rental management company. We were both deployed to Afghanistan where we found that our last tenants were not paying rent for the 3rd month in a row and we were never told. the only reason we found out was because the bank called us. So we get back to find out that the tenants left and also we had over 10,000 in damages to our home. Our home was off the market for almost a year for repairs that could have been done with in 2 months. So we were stuck with 2 mortgage payments and a house that was literally destroyed from the walls to the carpet to the fence ,,, well everything. The best part is that the rental management company knew of these damages before they moved out. They also did nothing to have the renters fix it or get a forwarding address. So we were stuck and still are stuck with all this. we also got stuck with paying all their utility bills too. Now the house has been rented out again to people they say they were careful to pick this time and guess what... ROUND 2 of the same issues! UGH!. They were fired and have also made it hard to get the information on the tenants do we can find them and get our money back. Just great. So it is not just tenants who have it bad but people who own a home and PCS and rent it out.

[Queen2Mother]

That's horribe. I hope things were better.

[USAF_Ret]

My house was a rental for about 11 years and when I came back in was a total mess. I didn't hesitate to pay when there was something that needed to be repaired. Why not--the was only three years old when I PCS'd and it was my responsibility as a homeowner. The problem was with combination of contractor-management company. Management companies don't interest themselves with the work performed by its contractors (often ones that no one else will touch) or the condition of the property unless a roof or door is missing. Add a few non-responsive (or irresponsible) tenants in the process and you have a potential mess on your hands. I'll never rent out my house again. I know it's hard for some owners to sell and have to rent just so they can pay the bills for that property--but if you can sell--do it. It's not worth the headache. Most property managers won't care as long as they get their 8-10% (or more) of the rent. It's amazing how far they will stretch the "normal wear and tear" scale. I ended up gutting out my house to put it back to normal. My lawn was completely bare even though I had put in a sprinkler system. There are some good renters/homeowners and then there are some not so good renters/homeowners. One thing is for sure--it's almost impossible to find a property management company that will actually take care of your property.

[Nichols]

When we were stationed in Ft. Hood and my husband deployed we got screwed by one rental company so moved and went with another. The house was cute but didn't look at it that closesly. When the rainy season rolled around we found out that every window leaked and that produced mold. Not only was the mold on the window sills but in the closests too. Best part was my son was only about one. I called the rental company and all they did to try and "fix" the problem was paint the windows. They said the owners didn't want to replace the windows, great that didn't fix my problem. The maintenance guy was always the same whether its was indoors, outdoors, plumbing or electrical. Made me feel real safe.

[Sami08]

We have a problem with our landowner as well now. We are currently renting and the pipes in the house burst last winter. Of course so did about 80% of the houses here. We of course had the water taken out and that was taken care of. But the people who took the water out ruined the carpet. They didn't put it down properly and the edges started to fray really badly. We called and left messages galor to our renter, but no repsonse. So finally we went to the office in person. We talked to the renter and found out that the landowner didn't have the proper insurance and had to pay for the water removal himself. Well now he doesnt want to fix the carpet. So we just taped the edges. We are only here for a couple of months until my husband PCSs out of here anyway. I just hope to god they don't try to blame the damage on my dogs. There will be some serious issues there, because my dogs are VERY well behaved. One is a therapy dog for petes sake.