Complaint Review: David Zelinski - Jacksonville North Carolina

 Dave's right. I asked him for help finding work and he put me to work on the spot, and sent me to fix a ceiling fan in one of his rentals. He cares about having things kept up, and he pays well. By the way, I prob. never said thanks. I could jave steady work but I went back to Ohio. Big mistake. I could have had tons of work. I feel like I let him down.

It is amazing to our office that we gave Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Collins a break and this is the thanks that they give to us

After being turned away by many other Property Managers/ REALTORS due to poor credit and poor rental history, Mr. Collins contacted our office needing a home to rent for what we were told would be one year.  In fact, they knew from the beginning that it would be for only a few months.  We never offered a short term lease.  The lease that Mr. Collins signed was for 12 months.  He was to bring in the needed $1200 Security Deposit, prorated rent and pet fees, which took an excessive amount of time to receive.  In which time, Mr. Collis was not given keys.

Our policy is to rent to tenants who have a 600 or higher credit score and no collections from past land lords, while the Collins did not meet this criteria, Mr. Zelinski felt that this couple deserved a break, regardless of the fact that between the two of them had far less than perfect credit. 

Mrs. Collins is incorrect in stating that they racked up $2000+ in charges.  The fact of the matter is that Mr. Collins signed a lease which stated clearly that if he broke the lease he would be charged a finder's fee of 20% of one month's rent, a sign up/sign down fee of $10 and a $30 documentation fee.  In addition, the lease also stated that Mr. Collins had the right to inspect the premises within 7 days of taking possession and he could fill out a Move-in Inspection form.  It is the tenants responsibility to complete this and turn it in.  Our office never received this completed form from Mr. & Mrs. Collins, as required by the lease to be turned back in within 7 days.  Realty World Today and David Zelinski are not responsible for tenants choosing not to complete the simplest of tasks such as a move in inspection!  We do a walk through after each tenant vacates and these are provided to the owners of the property.

In addition, Mr. Collins signed a Move-Out Cleaning Instructions form, also known as Addendum B.  This form gave specific instructions on what was expected of them when they vacated the premises.  Every tenant receives the same form with their lease when they come in to sign the lease.

The actual charges incurred by Mr. and Mrs. Collins are as follows:

$500 for the November rent because they vacated the property before their lease expired which left them liable to cover the rent until a new tenant was placed.  A new tenant was placed on the 16^th of November.  The Collins had not paid a single cent for the November rent.  In addition, they are still responsible to cover the 20% finders fee ($200), the $10 sign up/ sign down fee and the $30 documentation fee.

They were charged by a cleaner to clean the house in the amount of $250.  We have an itemized list from the cleaner.  This house was disgusting upon the Collins departure. 

We had to have a carpet cleaning company go out to steam clean the propertys carpet due to pet stains and also to remove a wax candle spill.  This was $100.

In addition there was a Lawn Care company that had to be called out to cut the yard, weed eat and edge, clean off the drive way and sidewalk, clean out the gutters, clean up the leaves and trash that was left behind and then haul it all away.  This was $175.

Total charges were $1265.00.  This included the fees for breaking the lease.  Realty World Today only collected $1200 for a security deposit.  In reality, under normal circumstances it is our companys policy not to rent to individuals with poor credit and rental history and IF we do rent to such individuals, we normally would charge double the rent amount for a security deposit.  All charges are legitimate and are in no way a means by which neither Realty World Today nor David Zelinksi makes any profit. 

As property managers our responsibility is to the owner of the property.  We strive to serve both the owners and the tenants as fairly as possible.  We also abide by the laws set forth by the State of North Carolina as well as the rules of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.

All forms that we use for our lease agreements are composed by the North Carolina Association of REALTORS and by our local board of REALTORS.

In addition, we use several companies to perform repairs, cleaning and maintenance to the properties that we manage.  All companies and individuals that we use are chosen by us because they are reasonable in their charges, they are professional and they do a great job.  According to the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, Licensure is not necessary for many things.  However, in the case of electrical, plumbing and so forth, we do use licensed individuals.  The every day handyman and cleaning jobs are not licensure necessary.  As stated before, we strive to serve both owner and tenant.  Using licensed only individuals would have cost these tenants a great deal more.

It is apparent that Mrs. Collins has not been informed by her husband of all matters concerning this lease that he, and he only, signed.  Otherwise, she would know that all of these things were part of the lease that he signed and/or initialed on every page of the lease and addenda.  Our office finds it very odd that Mrs. Collins is the one that has called to voice her complaints as well as post complaints on the web when in fact she never signed the lease herself.

I advised Mrs. Collins was advised to file a Civil Complaint with the Clerk of Courts. The fact that Mrs. Collins has chosen a Jerry Springer class of website to post her complaint should speak volumes as to the fact that she realizes the validity of all charges levied. She can have her day in court, whereby witnesses could share the truth in a fair and impartial hearing.  She should have done the mature thing and filed a legal complaint. 

 Realty World Today has the documentation to prove that the Collins were treated fairly and according to the laws, rules and regulations of the NC Real Estate Commission and their written lease agreement.

It is the opinion of Realty World Today and its staff that all Property Managers and REALTORS should be aware of the facts of Christopher and Christie Collins.  Realty World Today is proud of the outstanding service that its entire staff offers to all of our clients.  We at Realty World Today will unfortunately have to take this as a lesson to ourselves to stick to our high rental requirements and not allow those with struggling credit the opportunity to prove themselves.

I am the Owner-Broker of Realty World Today and have earned the prestigious designations of CRB, ABR, ABRM, and GRI.  I am angry that such things have been stated about me and my company thru this type of forum.  If I were to allow myself to be bullied into submission and return rightfully forfeited security deposits the owners of the properties I manage would fire me!  Its not amazing but amusing that the Property Managers of their next home never called for a reference.   Hmmm..