REI Property Management Steve Raauvuori, Shari Gesche STAY AWAY FROM THESE RENTALS!!! THEY ARE CROOKS!!!! Minneapolis Minnesota

 We are a military family, and rented a house in Eden Prairie, MN from REI Property Management with a year lease, a monthly rent of $1595, a security deposit of $1595, and a pet deposit of $250. We stayed there for a year, signed another lease for two more years, and had a rent increase of $1645. We moved out February 22, 2013, and gave over a 60 day notice. During our time at this house, we had several issues come up with the cheap appointments in the house. Our property manager, Shari Gesche, told us that any repairs under $50 were our fiscal responsibility. When the built-in microwave above the stove stopped working, Shari sent out a "handyman" to take a look at it. When he determined he couldn't fix it, we were shipped a cheap ($50) microwave from Wal-Mart and left the existing microwave in place, instead of them fixing the existing microwave. This took up much of my much-needed counter space in the kitchen. She only sent the "handyman" out for anything we called for, and he did a quick patch job of whatever was wrong. The lights flickered from improperly installed dimmer switches, and that issue was never fixed, like many others. We moved out of the house when we got orders to go to another city, and we paid to have the carpet professionally cleaned after the movers took all of our belongings. We left that house in immaculate condition, and I took pictures of the entire house right before we left. My husband did a walk-through with Shari, and it was determined that everything looked wonderful, and we would receive our full deposit, plus the $300 credit for the remainder of the month of rent since we were moving out early. This was on February 22- if they had issue with anything needing to be taken out of our security deposit, according to Minnesota tenant's rights, they were suppose to notify us within 3 weeks of our move-out date. Today is March 25, and I just received a letter in the mail informing us that not only would we not receive our security deposit, but we *owe* REI Property Management $2200 on top of that, for "replacing carpet on 12 steps @ $1500, repainting walls at @$2500, replacing batteries in the smoke detector, garage door opener, and 3 new mailbox keys," and if we didn't pay within 30 days, they would pursue legal action. They even claimed to have pictures, but if they had any pictures it would have been from way before we moved in, or damage they incurred after we left, because I took pictures of the immaculate condition *with multiple witnesses!* We left absolutely no rips or stains on the carpet, it was worn from normal wear, but clean. We are going to sue them for our security deposit and then some- this is illegal, and they are WAY out of line for threatening us and demanding money from us. According to statutes pertaining to tenants' rights in Minnesota: "Carpets and drapes- "useful life" rule- Normal wear and tear to carpets, drapes, and other furnishings cannot be charged against a tenant's security deposit . (243) Normal wear and tear includes simple wearing down of carpet and drapes because of normal use or aging, and includes moderate dirt or spotting. In contrast, large rips or indelible stains justify a deduction from the tenant's security deposit for repairing the carpet or drapes, or replacing them if that is reasonably necessary." One common method of calculating the deduction for replacement prorates the total cost of replacement so that the tenant pays only for the remaining useful life of the item that the tenant has damaged or destroyed. For example, suppose a tenant has damaged or destroyed beyond repair and eight-year-old carpet that had a life expectancy of ten years, and that a replacement carpet of that quality would cost $1000. The landlord could properly charge only $200 for the two years' worth of life (use) that would have remained if the tenant had not damaged the carpet. 3. Repainting walls: One approach for determining the amount that the landlord can deduct from the tenant's security deposit for repainting, when repainting is necessary, is based on the length of the tenant's stay in the rental unit. This approach assumes that interior paint has a two-year life. Length of stay vs. amount deducted from rent: < 6 months- full cost, 6 months to 1 year, 2/3 of cost, 1-2 years, 1/3 of cost, 2 or more years, no deduction. Using this approach, if the tenant lived in the rental unit for two years or more, the tenant could not be charged for any repainting costs, no matter how dirty the walls were (244). I could go on, but that would take forever. Bottom line, not only are they trying to bully us and rob us out of our hard-earned money, but they are doing this to a military family with children, who are now facing a pay cut thanks to the furlough. They obviously have no moral scruples or ethics, and are only out to make money any way they possibly can, even if it means illegally. (I guess I should have read the reviews on this company before renting from them! This has happened to numerous tenants before us, unfortunately) Edit: I waited until October to post this review to see if they would rectify any of this. Nothing from them, and of course they backed off from trying to get the fraudulent fees after we informed them that we contacted and attorney. Although we did get a consult, we have been on furlough twice now, so we have been unable to hire an attorney to make them pay back our security deposit. Bottom line, STAY AWAY FROM REI PROPERTY MANAGEMENT!!! Addendum:  In their rebuttal on Angie's List, they tried to say we "had seven returns for funds" for rent paid during our time there... REALLY?  I have bank statements that say otherwise!  Just goes to show the depths they will go to lie to save their own behinds.  Sad, Steve.  Also, again, We did not do any damage to that property, we left it in better shape than we moved into it, and WE have pictures AND wintesses from surrounding business from the day we left.  So keep on with your "they did this and this and we'll pretend we have pictures" song and dance.  People are catching on to your scamming, REI.