7-11-2011
I hate West Tech Lofts. Even months after I had moved out they tried to collect over $2000 for "damages", which there were no damages. They provided pictures of junk in my apartment. The only problem was those pictures had timestamps that were from 2 days before I was moved out and hadn't yet thrown that stuff away. Once I informed them that all their pictures showed is that they were in my apartment 2 days prior to the end of my lease and without my consent, all the sudden the charges disappeared.
Here's my email correspondence with the apartment manager, Cynthia McMullen. My emails will be bold, with heres in standard weight.
My name is Geoff May and I am a former tenant at West Tech Lofts in Cleveland, OH. Yesterday I received a bill in the mail for $2066.00 that is totally frivolous (I've attached a copy for you to peruse as I go through it).
Before I get into the issue of the bill, though, I'd like to talk about the treatment the moving company and myself were given by Cindy McMullen on the day I moved out, which was June 25, 2010.
First, she complained where the moving truck was parked. I asked her where she wanted it to go and she said she had no clue and that they need to have a designated space for this, which they don't. I explained that to her and she got confrontational with me. She then asked "Who are these guys, your idiot friends?", pointing at the moving crew. I told her they were the moving crew and she then asked what apartment I was in. I told her #134 and she said "I'm glad you're moving out. We don't need your kind here". That sounds a bit discriminating and I'm sure the Cleveland Fair Housing Board would not look kindly on it.
I was also told that I better be careful or my access to the building might be denied and I will never be able to get my belongings. Again, not quite the way I'd treat a tenant who is moving out. Not to mention threats like that are illegal. My rent covered the ENTIRE month of June, not just until the 25th or whenever Cindy decides that my access to the building should be denied. Also, she asked where I was moving to. I told her that it wasn't her business. She kept repeatedly telling me to tell her. I told her no. She then said "Dont' worry, I can find out very easily". Again, more veiled threats! I have 3 witnesses (the moving workers) who can corroborate this story if I choose to report it.
When I asked her why West Tech never responded to 3 phone calls about my girlfriend's car being vandalized in the parking lot earlier in the week, she completely ignored me. I asked her 2 more times and she wouldn't even make eye contact with me. Real nice! A car is vandalized, I call 3 times and ask the apartment manager to her face 3 more times and I get absolutely no reply. Worse yet, she can't even look at me. Glad to see that's how things are handled. Definitely reinforced my decision that moving out was a great idea.
I have no problem pushing this issue. The last thing a building like West Tech Lofts needs is the black eye that they practice discrimination, make veiled threats and verbally abuse tenants.
I feel completely disgusted about the way I was treated. It is not my fault that Cindy has to pick up the pieces from the regime of Rachel Liptak. I understand that has to be frustrating since she was completely incompetent. That said, there is no need to make discriminatory statement and threats to me because she is having a bad day. I have absolutely zero qualms about pushing this issue further with the Cleveland Fair Housing Board. What she did was completely out of line and illegal.
Now on to my bill:
There are 2 rent charges on here. One from 5/31 for $295 and one from 6/30 for $695. I paid rent for the month of May and June and have the cancelled checks on file that were cashed by West Tech Lofts on 5/11/10 and 6/14/10, respectively. Seems like you are trying to collect rent on me for a second time.
There is also a charge for garage parking on 6/30. This was paid on the same check that was used for my June rent, which was paid on 6/2/10 and cashed by your company on 6/14/10, as stated earlier. Again, another attempt to collect money twice!
Next is two claims of damage (and I use that term very loosely), which are entirely false. The first is sink "damage" in the kitchen for $150. I had a Brita water filter on my kitchen sink. To install it I had to remove the original faucet filter. The filter was placed on the edge of the sink, where it remained after I moved out. It takes literally 10 seconds to screw it back onto the faucet. There is no way whatsoever that it costs $150 to do a job that takes one hand and 10 seconds. This is a ridiculous charge that is totally frivolous.
The second "damage" is to the tub. Again, I replaced the shower head with a more adequate one. The original head was placed underneath the sink, where it remained after I moved out. This is another instance of one hand and 10 seconds of someone's time being how long it takes to screw it back on. Yet I'm being charged $150? Again, frivolous! Any other "damage" to the tub was already there. The tub was never caulked around the edges between the wall and the edge of the shower on top. Water was definitely seeping in there. That is not my problem, you should take that up with whomever installed the tub. Something not being caulked is not my concern. Of course shoddy work at West Tech Lofts seems to be the norm, so I'm not surprised that these corners were cut.
The third "damage" is that 4 bulbs were burned out in the bathroom. Those bulbs were burned out when I moved in. I contacted Rachel Liptak about it and she said she'd have them replaced. She never did, which seemed to be in typical Rachel Liptak fashion, as I would soon find out. The bathroom was overly bright with the remaining 4 bulbs, so I never replaced them. I am not paying $15 for 4 light bulbs that were burned out before I even moved in.
There is also a charge of $60 for carpet cleaning. On the day I signed my lease I was told by both Rachel Liptak and her assistant at the time, Olivia, that the carpet was going to be replaced because it was old and dingy. Plenty of other apartments had new carpet, so that made sense. On my move in day the old carpet remained. I reminded Rachel that I was told it would be replaced. It was too much trouble to do so, since I was already moving in, so she said she would note this in my file so I was not charged a fee for carpet cleaning or damage, since it needed replaced anyways. It doesn't surprise me that Rachel didn't document this. She also failed to document that on 4/28/10 I sent an email to her (which was CC'd to Jason McDonald) stating that I would be moving out at the end of June, if not a few days sooner. On this bill it states that my notification date to vacate was 6/1/10, which is completely wrong. I went month-to-month for the month of June. I can forward you the emails if this is under question.
All in all, this bill is completely outrageous and is no way legitimate. I refuse to pay the $2066.00 that West Tech Lofts claims I owe. If needed, I am willing to pursue this matter in small claims court. I have plenty of grounds for a complaint and also witnesses who can prove that there was already a prejudice from Cindy McMullen prior to receiving this bill. Just looks like she has an axe to grind with me, for some reason, and has decided to take it out in terms of an overpriced bill.
I really do not feel like taking this matter to court, calling the Cleveland Fair Housing Board and posting my experiences at West Tech on internet sites such as apartmentratings.com (which already has plenty of negative West Tech Loft reviews) but I will do so if needed. Maybe other past tenants will just take a bill like this as fact, but that tenant it not me.
Thank you for your time and I await your response.
Geoff May
_________________________________________
Dear Mr. May,
I am in receipt of your letter and would like to discuss the Statement of Deposit charges with you at your earliest convenience.
Respectfully,
Cindy McMullen
216-631-8324
_________________________________________
(I replied that I want to handle it over email so I have record) 9 days later I still had no reply back. Here was the follow up email.
It has been 9 days since I replied to your email. Still waiting for you to tell me what Resource Residential's intentions are.
_________________________________________
Geoff,
I do apologize… I will have my email to you completed by Friday.
Cindy McMullen
_________________________________________
Mr. May,
Please review the charges below that have been revised since your last statement of account. My service manager Dan Wilson did complete the move-out inspection of your apartment at the time of move-out and followed company policy on the charges to be applied. However, I did revise the final statement because Mr. Wilson had not been successful in retrieving additional photos’ of the appliances.
In addition please review your attached lease document signed by you explaining the terms of your lease. The reason you were charged for rent was due to the fact that you had not been paying the correct rent amount.
Your rent for March, April, May was short paid by $100 each month- rent is $745 per month not $645 and your last month would include a additional $100 for holding over on your lease for the month of June. $845.00. which is also outlined in your lease.
Rent due – for prior months - $500
Cleaning Charges – complete apartment clean $100
Trash removal- 135.00
Carpet cleaning – pet odor removal - $60.00 plus $25 additional
Light bulbs- 12geoff
Total due to property – 733.00
99.00 Sec. Deposit applied
Please make payments to the rental office to avoid further collections.
2201 West 93rd. Street Cleveland, OH 44102
Respectfully,
Cynthia McMullen
West Tech Lofts
216-631-8324
_________________________________________
After speaking with property manager that I am acquainted with, I've been enlightened to what my rights are concerning the money Resource Residential is trying to collect from me.
For the record, Resource Residential's former property manager, Rachel Liptak, told me via email that my rent was $645 the last six months of my lease. If it was to be $745 she should have A) said so when I asked via email and B) should have requested the extra $100 after I paid my rent of $645. She set a precedent that was followed for the the entire last 6 months of my lease. I also have an email from Rachel telling me that rent would be $645 for the extra month of my lease, not $845 as you are claiming.
That said, the discrepancy in what I was paying ($645) and what, supposedly, I should have been paying (though Rachel told me in writing that it was $645) should have been corrected by Resource Residential long before now. You cannot now, almost 10 months after the initial discrepancy, come back to me and try to collect money. I also believe you will have a hard time finding a Cleveland area judge that will disagree with that, especially since I still have the emails from Rachel telling me that my rent is $645.
Lastly, those pictures were taken on 6/28/10, 2 days before my lease was up. First off, I never gave you or your staff permission to go into my apartment. Secondly, I was never even notified that you needed entrance to my apartment. That is also clearly outlined in my lease agreement with Resource Residential. You did read that part of the lease, right? I still had 2 more days to clean my apartment, so those pictures only show that you came into my apartment 2 days prior to my lease expiring. Last time I checked, me having a messy apartment, especially since I was in the process of moving out (though not completely done moving/cleaning) is not in breach of my lease agreement.
That said, I am willing to pay Resource Residential $150 towards the carpet cleaning (even though they needed cleaning when I moved in) and light cleaning that needed done. I am not paying for 4 burned out lightbulbs which were burned out before I moved in. As I said earlier, I never asked for them to be replaced because the bathroom was bright enough as it was. I am definitely not going to let you shake me down for $500 in back rent which I do not according to your old property manager. If she was wrong in telling me that my rent was $645, that's an error on Resource Residential's behalf.
Geoff
_________________________________________
Mr. May,
We have reviewed your file and are in agreement with the balance of $150 to cover the cleaning cost. Please send your payment of $150 dollars for the cleaning charges to :
West Tech Lofts
Cleveland, OH 44102
Thank you,
Cynthia McMullen
I hate West Tech Lofts. Even months after I had moved out they tried to collect over $2000 for "damages", which there were no damages. They provided pictures of junk in my apartment. The only problem was those pictures had timestamps that were from 2 days before I was moved out and hadn't yet thrown that stuff away. Once I informed them that all their pictures showed is that they were in my apartment 2 days prior to the end of my lease and without my consent, all the sudden the charges disappeared.
Here's my email correspondence with the apartment manager, Cynthia McMullen. My emails will be bold, with heres in standard weight.
My name is Geoff May and I am a former tenant at West Tech Lofts in Cleveland, OH. Yesterday I received a bill in the mail for $2066.00 that is totally frivolous (I've attached a copy for you to peruse as I go through it).
Before I get into the issue of the bill, though, I'd like to talk about the treatment the moving company and myself were given by Cindy McMullen on the day I moved out, which was June 25, 2010.
First, she complained where the moving truck was parked. I asked her where she wanted it to go and she said she had no clue and that they need to have a designated space for this, which they don't. I explained that to her and she got confrontational with me. She then asked "Who are these guys, your idiot friends?", pointing at the moving crew. I told her they were the moving crew and she then asked what apartment I was in. I told her #134 and she said "I'm glad you're moving out. We don't need your kind here". That sounds a bit discriminating and I'm sure the Cleveland Fair Housing Board would not look kindly on it.
I was also told that I better be careful or my access to the building might be denied and I will never be able to get my belongings. Again, not quite the way I'd treat a tenant who is moving out. Not to mention threats like that are illegal. My rent covered the ENTIRE month of June, not just until the 25th or whenever Cindy decides that my access to the building should be denied. Also, she asked where I was moving to. I told her that it wasn't her business. She kept repeatedly telling me to tell her. I told her no. She then said "Dont' worry, I can find out very easily". Again, more veiled threats! I have 3 witnesses (the moving workers) who can corroborate this story if I choose to report it.
When I asked her why West Tech never responded to 3 phone calls about my girlfriend's car being vandalized in the parking lot earlier in the week, she completely ignored me. I asked her 2 more times and she wouldn't even make eye contact with me. Real nice! A car is vandalized, I call 3 times and ask the apartment manager to her face 3 more times and I get absolutely no reply. Worse yet, she can't even look at me. Glad to see that's how things are handled. Definitely reinforced my decision that moving out was a great idea.
I have no problem pushing this issue. The last thing a building like West Tech Lofts needs is the black eye that they practice discrimination, make veiled threats and verbally abuse tenants.
I feel completely disgusted about the way I was treated. It is not my fault that Cindy has to pick up the pieces from the regime of Rachel Liptak. I understand that has to be frustrating since she was completely incompetent. That said, there is no need to make discriminatory statement and threats to me because she is having a bad day. I have absolutely zero qualms about pushing this issue further with the Cleveland Fair Housing Board. What she did was completely out of line and illegal.
Now on to my bill:
There are 2 rent charges on here. One from 5/31 for $295 and one from 6/30 for $695. I paid rent for the month of May and June and have the cancelled checks on file that were cashed by West Tech Lofts on 5/11/10 and 6/14/10, respectively. Seems like you are trying to collect rent on me for a second time.
There is also a charge for garage parking on 6/30. This was paid on the same check that was used for my June rent, which was paid on 6/2/10 and cashed by your company on 6/14/10, as stated earlier. Again, another attempt to collect money twice!
Next is two claims of damage (and I use that term very loosely), which are entirely false. The first is sink "damage" in the kitchen for $150. I had a Brita water filter on my kitchen sink. To install it I had to remove the original faucet filter. The filter was placed on the edge of the sink, where it remained after I moved out. It takes literally 10 seconds to screw it back onto the faucet. There is no way whatsoever that it costs $150 to do a job that takes one hand and 10 seconds. This is a ridiculous charge that is totally frivolous.
The second "damage" is to the tub. Again, I replaced the shower head with a more adequate one. The original head was placed underneath the sink, where it remained after I moved out. This is another instance of one hand and 10 seconds of someone's time being how long it takes to screw it back on. Yet I'm being charged $150? Again, frivolous! Any other "damage" to the tub was already there. The tub was never caulked around the edges between the wall and the edge of the shower on top. Water was definitely seeping in there. That is not my problem, you should take that up with whomever installed the tub. Something not being caulked is not my concern. Of course shoddy work at West Tech Lofts seems to be the norm, so I'm not surprised that these corners were cut.
The third "damage" is that 4 bulbs were burned out in the bathroom. Those bulbs were burned out when I moved in. I contacted Rachel Liptak about it and she said she'd have them replaced. She never did, which seemed to be in typical Rachel Liptak fashion, as I would soon find out. The bathroom was overly bright with the remaining 4 bulbs, so I never replaced them. I am not paying $15 for 4 light bulbs that were burned out before I even moved in.
There is also a charge of $60 for carpet cleaning. On the day I signed my lease I was told by both Rachel Liptak and her assistant at the time, Olivia, that the carpet was going to be replaced because it was old and dingy. Plenty of other apartments had new carpet, so that made sense. On my move in day the old carpet remained. I reminded Rachel that I was told it would be replaced. It was too much trouble to do so, since I was already moving in, so she said she would note this in my file so I was not charged a fee for carpet cleaning or damage, since it needed replaced anyways. It doesn't surprise me that Rachel didn't document this. She also failed to document that on 4/28/10 I sent an email to her (which was CC'd to Jason McDonald) stating that I would be moving out at the end of June, if not a few days sooner. On this bill it states that my notification date to vacate was 6/1/10, which is completely wrong. I went month-to-month for the month of June. I can forward you the emails if this is under question.
All in all, this bill is completely outrageous and is no way legitimate. I refuse to pay the $2066.00 that West Tech Lofts claims I owe. If needed, I am willing to pursue this matter in small claims court. I have plenty of grounds for a complaint and also witnesses who can prove that there was already a prejudice from Cindy McMullen prior to receiving this bill. Just looks like she has an axe to grind with me, for some reason, and has decided to take it out in terms of an overpriced bill.
I really do not feel like taking this matter to court, calling the Cleveland Fair Housing Board and posting my experiences at West Tech on internet sites such as apartmentratings.com (which already has plenty of negative West Tech Loft reviews) but I will do so if needed. Maybe other past tenants will just take a bill like this as fact, but that tenant it not me.
Thank you for your time and I await your response.
Geoff May
_________________________________________
Dear Mr. May,
I am in receipt of your letter and would like to discuss the Statement of Deposit charges with you at your earliest convenience.
Respectfully,
Cindy McMullen
216-631-8324
_________________________________________
(I replied that I want to handle it over email so I have record) 9 days later I still had no reply back. Here was the follow up email.
It has been 9 days since I replied to your email. Still waiting for you to tell me what Resource Residential's intentions are.
_________________________________________
Geoff,
I do apologize… I will have my email to you completed by Friday.
Cindy McMullen
_________________________________________
Mr. May,
Please review the charges below that have been revised since your last statement of account. My service manager Dan Wilson did complete the move-out inspection of your apartment at the time of move-out and followed company policy on the charges to be applied. However, I did revise the final statement because Mr. Wilson had not been successful in retrieving additional photos’ of the appliances.
In addition please review your attached lease document signed by you explaining the terms of your lease. The reason you were charged for rent was due to the fact that you had not been paying the correct rent amount.
Your rent for March, April, May was short paid by $100 each month- rent is $745 per month not $645 and your last month would include a additional $100 for holding over on your lease for the month of June. $845.00. which is also outlined in your lease.
Rent due – for prior months - $500
Cleaning Charges – complete apartment clean $100
Trash removal- 135.00
Carpet cleaning – pet odor removal - $60.00 plus $25 additional
Light bulbs- 12geoff
Total due to property – 733.00
99.00 Sec. Deposit applied
Please make payments to the rental office to avoid further collections.
2201 West 93rd. Street Cleveland, OH 44102
Respectfully,
Cynthia McMullen
West Tech Lofts
216-631-8324
_________________________________________
After speaking with property manager that I am acquainted with, I've been enlightened to what my rights are concerning the money Resource Residential is trying to collect from me.
For the record, Resource Residential's former property manager, Rachel Liptak, told me via email that my rent was $645 the last six months of my lease. If it was to be $745 she should have A) said so when I asked via email and B) should have requested the extra $100 after I paid my rent of $645. She set a precedent that was followed for the the entire last 6 months of my lease. I also have an email from Rachel telling me that rent would be $645 for the extra month of my lease, not $845 as you are claiming.
That said, the discrepancy in what I was paying ($645) and what, supposedly, I should have been paying (though Rachel told me in writing that it was $645) should have been corrected by Resource Residential long before now. You cannot now, almost 10 months after the initial discrepancy, come back to me and try to collect money. I also believe you will have a hard time finding a Cleveland area judge that will disagree with that, especially since I still have the emails from Rachel telling me that my rent is $645.
Lastly, those pictures were taken on 6/28/10, 2 days before my lease was up. First off, I never gave you or your staff permission to go into my apartment. Secondly, I was never even notified that you needed entrance to my apartment. That is also clearly outlined in my lease agreement with Resource Residential. You did read that part of the lease, right? I still had 2 more days to clean my apartment, so those pictures only show that you came into my apartment 2 days prior to my lease expiring. Last time I checked, me having a messy apartment, especially since I was in the process of moving out (though not completely done moving/cleaning) is not in breach of my lease agreement.
That said, I am willing to pay Resource Residential $150 towards the carpet cleaning (even though they needed cleaning when I moved in) and light cleaning that needed done. I am not paying for 4 burned out lightbulbs which were burned out before I moved in. As I said earlier, I never asked for them to be replaced because the bathroom was bright enough as it was. I am definitely not going to let you shake me down for $500 in back rent which I do not according to your old property manager. If she was wrong in telling me that my rent was $645, that's an error on Resource Residential's behalf.
Geoff
_________________________________________
Mr. May,
We have reviewed your file and are in agreement with the balance of $150 to cover the cleaning cost. Please send your payment of $150 dollars for the cleaning charges to :
West Tech Lofts
Cleveland, OH 44102
Thank you,
Cynthia McMullen
