Colony American Homes Terrible Customer Service, Steal deposit Glendale, Scottsdale Arizona

I had a terrible experience with this company.  My brother and I rented a home in Peoria, AZ around March 2013.  It was the first time either of us had rented a house; we had previously lived in apartments.  A realtor showed us the property and we felt it meet our needs so we filled out an application.  They charged us an expensive application fee and explained they require a month's rent up front for a deposit as well as a non-refundable cleaning deposit of $275.  We paid the fees and scheduled a move in date.  The first weekend we moved in we noticed the washer and drier were missing.  We found out they were missing when the city came to turn on the water.  We had all of your belongings in the garage and when the city came to turn on the water, water sprayed over everything.  All of our boxes, furniture, and clothing were soaked.  I was very upset by this because the water permanently damaged some sentimental pictures.  I called the company and I was treated very rudely.  The property manager, who was very difficult to get a hold of, denied that a washer and drier would be provided and partially blamed us for leaving our belongings in the garage.  I pulled out the lease, highlighted the clause of the included appliances, and emailed this back to her.  She responded by acknowledging the clause and a washer and drier were installed a week later.  We never received an apology for our damaged items, something I am still bitter about today.  I understand crap happens, but I felt like I was treated very poorly without any sympathy for a situation that resulted from the company’s negligence. 

As the months went along everything was fine.  My brother and I are great renters and require very little attention.  We paid our rent on time every month and lived our lives.  We received absolutely no contact from the company or property managers except by random letter letting us know that our property managers have changed.  Our property manager changed three times in the year we lived there.  About two months before our lease was set to expire we received a letter in the mail giving us our options.  We could either renew with a 10% rent increase or move out.  We never received any phone call or anything.  I was offended by this because we were in my opinion perfect renters.  We paid the rent on time every month and had no issues.  Then they just increase the rent 10% without even a phone call.  My brother and I decided to not renew the lease and emailed our intent to vacate to the email address on the letter.  A few weeks went by with no response.  I finally called the phone number on the letter and was directed to a call center woman.  She told me they never saw the email, so I resent the letter to the same email and she noted our account.  I asked a few questions about the move out process and the move out inspection.  A few weeks later I was contacted by their service supervisor to schedule the move out.  Of course none of the times he could meet would work for me, but I felt like we were leaving in the house in great shape so I wasn’t worried.  I told him to do the inspection without me.  We moved out, cleaned up the house, and dropped off the keys at their Peoria office.  I heard nothing for three weeks.   I needed the money from the deposit so I called them up and was redirected numerous times to unhelpful, un-knowledge call center staff.  Finally after a few days of calling I was able to get ahold of someone in the office that knew what was going on.  She said that there was damages to the property and sent me an itemized move out statement.  They charged us to repaint the house, for a burn on the counter, and cleaning.  The total was over $700.00.  I was furious.  I called them up and demanded they explain what they charged us for and to explain to us what the hell the non-refundable cleaning deposit of $275 covered.  Out of all the places I have rented, I have never had any take my deposit. 

She sent me an estimate from a contractor and some pictures of walls.  We lived in that house for over a year! Of course there will be some minor wear and tear.  I put together a small claims suit and had planned on suing them in court, but I didn’t know who to file the suit against.  The property was owned by one entity, the property manger was another, and rent was sent to another.  I couldn’t get ahold of anyone.  After I calmed down, my brother and I decided to forgot about it and move on.  

This company fails on numerous levels.  They offer horrendous customer service, shady business practices, and it is extremely difficult to get ahold of anyone.  I would think twice before renting with American Colony Homes.