Schreiner Realty Terry Schreiner Horrible experience using this Property Management company. Never Again. Mesa , Arizona

This is a rebuttal to a report filed against our company. As we all know, there are two sides to every story and we will address each item mentioned in the complaint.

We were notified by the owner in November that they wanted to move back to their home the end of April, when the Tenant's Lease was up. Our response, copied from an email, was "It would probably be best if we told them March 1, 2012, so they dont try to leave earlier and leave you with a vacancy." It is our job to keep a Tenant in a home and income going to the Owner. If we had told the Tenant in November...6 months after they moved in... that they were going to have to move again, they could have found an excuse to move sooner, not taken care of the home and broken their lease. We were protecting the Owner by telling the Tenants 60 days prior to their lease ending.

As for the April payment that was received April 16... this was not a target to pay this Owner late. ALL Owners ...of the more than 100 properties we manage ... were paid at the same time. The complaint states, "The lack of customer service started in April when they failed to forward our rent to us until after the 16th of the month. It seemed as though we were no longer a priority to them..." This is a false statement. We moved our online payments to a larger National Company that can handle our fast-growing business to better serve our Owners. Due to the Easter holiday and the timeline in which this national company operates, payments were not received by Owners around the 14th of the month as usual... rather on the 16th or 17th. This was beyond our control and certainly not a lack of customer service to one Owner. In fact, we are one of the only Property Management companies that pays Owners before the 20th of the month. And we take pride in serving our clients in this respect.

As for the move out and cleaning... the Tenant paid the rent through April 30th. Legally, he had until 11:59pm to return keys and turn over possession. He delivered the keys on April 30th before Noon. Yes, we had one car in the shop and yes, we had another showing appointment that evening. We did not leave April 30th open with no appointments to take care of one move-out. We told the Owner we would do the walk-thru as soon as possible and we did. We got to the home prior to the Owner arriving and took notes. According to documented emails, the Owner was sending multiple pictures and notes to us from 6:49pm through the next night at 6:58pm. In one response, we acknowledged some issues she mentioned and addressed them. We couldn't start calling cleaning people and handymen out at 8:00pm. In one email to the Owner, we stated, "We were in all common areas of the home. A plant, or a couple things, left behind is normal when people are moving out. Just human nature. If they left a ton of stuff, furniture, bags of clothes, trashthen we would charge for hauling it off." There were a few pieces of clothing in closets and a bag of charcoal in the shed and a few other minor items. This certainly isn't "damage" to a home. If the Owner wanted us to pull out the trash can and remove all these items, we were not going to do it that night. Again, the Tenant legally had possession until 11:59pm. The Owners were telling us at 4:15pm that they had the truck gas'd up and ready to move. We had a business appointment that evening.

We agreed that the shower and bathtub needed cleaning again and we would send our cleaning gal to the house... the same cleaning gal who cleaned the home when the Owners moved out. This cleaning gal still refers to this home as the "dirtiest home she has ever had to clean" right after the Owners moved out. I asked her to go to the home to clean the shower and bathtub and to check out, and clean, anything else that needed to be done. She informed us that she only needed 2 hours and that it wasn't "near as bad as it was when the Owners moved out." We did not tell her we would only pay for 2 hours. She told us that was all that was needed.

We also hired our handyman to go to the home to repair the small hole in the wall behind a door and the other half of a lock that came off the door. That is what the Owner was asking to have done and sent pictures of. Very, very minor issues. The Handyman and cleaning services were subtracted from the TENANT'S deposit. Not the Owner.

As for the pool... the Tenant took great care of the pool. When we were at the home, or one of our repair people, the pool was always clean. The Tenant had actually started moving out earlier in April and mentioned that the cleaner was not working as well as it had in the past. Our direct email to the Owner was: "...Hes been shocking and doing chemicals all along. He has said that the pool cleaner was not working right..." Maintenance of the pool, like chemicals, is at the Tenant's expense. If the cleaner is not suctioning or operating properly, that is at the Owner's expense. Putting chlorine or shock in a pool is a regular occurance. We have a pool too. If the water was cloudy, it was just that...cloudy. It did not damage the pool. The Tenant may not have looked at the pool the last few days of the lease and notice it was cloudy.... but he certainly did not neglect or damage the pool.

As for weeds and the grass... when the Owner moved out, the yard was so filled with weeds in the back and on the side of the home by the block wall, that we had to have a landscaper come out to clean it up. It was the first thing the Tenant said when they pulled up to the home. We inspected the back and side of the home when the Tenant moved out and there were no weeds. Clover had grown more in the front grass while the Tenant was there. It was also present when the Owner's were there. If the Owners wanted to charge the Tenant for weed killer for grass, that is all that is needed. The grass is not dead. Bushes and trees are not dead. The landscaping is still in excellent condition.

As for cabinet hinges being moved, the Tenant says he did not have any reason to move cabinet doors. If he would have, he would have contacted us. And that was not something the Owner said they wanted taken care of by the Handyman in the first week of her requests. After the work was completed, no other requests were made so we closed out the Tenant's account and proceeded to close the Owner's account. Almost 3 weeks after the Owner's moved in, the Owner started making new, additional requests for more minor repairs and repeating the old issues that were already taken care of. She has posted photos of the items that were already resolved.

As for the final accounting and reconciliation of the Owner's account, it states in our Property Management Agreement -- and most other Property Management Agreements in the state of Arizona -- that we have, "Within 35 business days, reimbursement for all Monies remaining in the property
accounts maintained by the Agent, except Monies needed for unpaid obligations incurred during the term of the property management agreement." The time period is to allow payments to clear accounts. We paid the Owners on Day 21. That is 14 days sooner than required. All receipts were sent to Owners throughout the year and, on May 21, a final accounting via our software system detailing every penny and a check for their Emergency Repair Fund was mailed, along with a sprinkler box key.

In conclusion... these Owners are fortunate they received their home in good condition with no physical, structural damage. Did it need some touch-up cleaning? Sure, and we did it. Did it need a couple minor things repaired? Sure, and we did it. Did they need to put some shock in the pool or weed killer on the grass? Sure. Did they put some of the tenants items they left behind in a box? Sure. But did they suffer thousands of dollars of damage of holes punched in walls or roaches running in the house or carpet so damaged it needed replacing? No.

We have all heard horror stories about homes that are trashed by Tenants and cost thousands of dollars to repair. Luckily, we have had only one Tenant, out of more than 200 Tenants, who caused damage to a home about 8 years ago. And, in that case, we even assisted that Owner in hiring an Attorney who had that Tenant's wages garnished for repairs.

We are not sure what this Owner's underlying motivation is to file a complaint against us for such minor issues. And if we did such a horrible job, why did the Husband call us last week to ask which Air Conditioning company we used because he thought they did such a good job in the Fall at such a reasonable price and wanted to use them....and said nothing about the Tenant's moving out?

We are saddened that one of the Owner's is so troubled by such minor issues in the home. We have more than 100 Owners we would give to anyone as a reference for our services. We are growing quickly, adding staff and extra services and will proudly stand behind our business.