Complaintsfor518 Management Group LLC

• Initial Complaint

  03/15/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Please please trust the reviews. We gave them the benefit of the doubt and fell under the same trap. They create charges for services not provided and keep adding charges and asking for more money to be deposited in App Folio which is an app we are unable to get our money back from. I.e. a charge for a leak investigation. None was requested on 3/15, the property has been empty since 1/30 and was just repaired. ******* replied that the tenant is “delusional” and they won’t respond to his request to clarify the charges they added to their security deposit letter. Asked if they had seen the property (indirectly referring the incorrect description in the listing) the response was that there’s no need to see the property. When we were in Albany and asked to visit the office the response was “we can meet at coffee place” and there’s noone at their office address. Contract does not have a list of prices for maintenance and Antonio says that charges are when maintenance is done. Yet charges keep popping up and explanations are not given. Andrew who’s the maintenance person review of the property was poor. I was the one to identify issue he didn’t see and had to hire someone else to do the work. It’s their job to visit the property, it’s their job to communicate with the tenants when they ask for clarification. The contract says they charge $25 monthly to manage the property yet they claim they are working for free. ******* has no interpersonal skills and her attitude shows in every communication. They bait consumers with low fees just to come up with random non explained fees while they are managing the property. This company should not be in business and they take consumer’s money and do not return and make up justifications for the charges. When we ask for explanation for the charges they simply use their “right to terminate the contract” and kept our money. We want our money back. They are not a trusting company and they need to be out of business.

  Business response

  03/19/2024

  While we are sorry that our business relationship with ******** ****** * ********** ********* did not work out, we feel the need to address the several false claims made, including that our team charges for items that we don't do. We would absolutely never do that. In fact, on several occasions, they asked us to specifically perform certain tasks, which we were happy to do for them (like go to the property and check for leaks). We even took into account that she was dealing with a difficult tenant, and discounted our monthly management fee from $95/month to $25/month (as pictured in the evidence they provided). Despite consistently trying to work with them, there was always an assumption that we were somehow benefiting from our business relationship immorally. It is standard practice in the property management industry to collect reserves, and an onboarding fee (which is all we ever received from them). Additionally, it is standard practice to utilize a software system to collect and distribute rents (AppFolio).

  Our office is in a co-working space, as our team is mostly out in the field all day. We prefer not to bring clients to it, because we would have to reserve a conference room, as our office itself only seats 2 people maximum. Our location is 430 Franklin St. in Schenectady. If they had googled our address they would see that we are listed as one of several companies that utilize the space. We made several attempts to reach out to their tenant, and got no responses. He would only speak with them. There isn't much that we can do as a management company if we aren't getting any responses from the tenant. For the first month he wouldn't even let us into the building. We were even comfortable with them hiring their own contractor to turn the unit. We aren't in this industry to scam people and take their money. Had Ms. ****** simply asked, we would have given her the $400 ($100 onboarding fee and $300 property reserves), out of good faith. Just because we weren't a good fit, doesn't mean they need to drag our name through the dirt and come after our integrity. 

  Customer response

  03/19/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  We have asked for our money back in this complain and have not received any response from them. Their response is targeting the public records that will remain with the BBB to justify their excuses.
  
  As we had foresee from their patterned behavior, we also made this complaint to support our claims to the NYS consumer protection agency. 
  They did not return our money.
  we have a contract showing they were going to charge us $25 monthly to manage our property while empty yet they claim they “do not work for free”.  They did that because they wanted to. And to try and justify their behavior. We took upon ourselves to do things ourselves, even travel to inspect the property ourselves as their inspection was poorly done.
   Their maintenance person Andrew did not do a good job reviewing the repairs needed and charged us $6600 for repairs and we decided to hired someone to do the job ourselves. They do not do anything but take people’s money for it.We drove to the address provided and no one was there. This has also been reported to the NYS consumer protection agency.

  they never showed our property or made efforts to rent it as contracted. They wanted us to deposit more money stating the property was empowered for two months which is their job to rent and get their payment.

  Their practices have a pattern and the main reason for this complain is to record the data and inform other consumers that the reviews are true. This is not a trustworthy company.

  We asked for our money back in this complaint and they have not refunded us. We want our money back as the whole purpose of them having a contract with us was to take our money. They had no intention of doing any work and they attempted to cancel the contract within a month of taking our money and we have proof in writing that will support our complaint with the NYS consumer protection agency.
  Refund our money!

  Regards,
  
  ******** ******
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Business response

  03/25/2024

  I don’t understand, in the complaint you asked for a $400 refund. We agreed to pay that refund, and now you’re rejecting it?

  Customer response

  03/25/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  We have not received any refund yet. They must provide us with a refund in order for this case to be closed in a satisfactory manner. Sadly this company cannot be trusted as why they write publicly does not reflect their actions. We have not received any emails confirming the refund yet. Once the refund is received we will close accept the outcome. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******** ******
  
  
  
  
  

  Business response

  03/26/2024

  As discussed, here is proof that we sent you a check in the amount of the requested refund. 

  Customer response

  03/28/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, as well as received an email confirmation from ******* that they are refunding our payment via check. We find that this resolution is satisfactory. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******** ******
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 12/21/21, I sent money via ***** to Antonio Z*******, property manager for 518 Management Group LLC in Albany, NY for a rental property deposit at ** **** *****, Albany NY 12208 in the amount of $1,850.00 (Payment ID: *******************). He sent a text with a receipt for the money. There was no contract, no lease signed, no statement of any kind that it was a nonrefundable deposit. My life situation ended up prohibiting my move to Albany and I have requested the deposit returned 3 times from him, issuing reminders on *****, but he is now ignoring all my requests and reminders. I now believe him and his company to be disreputable and wish to file a complaint and formally request assistance in this matter. Anything you can do, any resources for recourse, any suggestions you can make, I would greatly appreciate.

  Business response

  01/28/2022

  To Whom it May Concern, I have just now received your notice of complaint filed by **** ******** (Complaint ID ******** (********)), and truly appreciate you allowing us to formally respond. Please see the email attached, which was sent to the customer, **** ********, today, 1/28/2022, explaining our side of the story. Overall, here is what actually happened regarding this matter:On 12/29/2021, **** notified Antonio via text message that he would not be able to fulfill his commitment to move into ** **** *** Albany, NY.On 12/29/2021, **** sent a text message to Antonio, acknowledging that he understood he wouldn’t receive a full security deposit back.On 12/29/2021 (less than 2 hours after he received ****’s text), Antonio confirmed that, while he wouldn’t receive his full deposit back, we agreed to going against company policy, given the circumstances, and returning 50% of the deposit ($925). Not only did **** NOT ARGUE that point, but he conveyed that he wished that we could still have them move in.On 1/7/2022, less than 6 full business days after the discussion, Antonio processed the payment for $925 via *****, to @****-********-2, transaction ID: ******************* (please see receipt from ***** in attached email).Since then, we have not received ANY correspondence from either ****, or his partner, regarding the transaction. Pleases see the attached email for time stamped screenshots, and more details on what transpired. As you can see, there is no reason for any confusion on the Customer’s end, surrounding this matter. I do apologize that this invalid complaint has wasted your time, as I am sure that you have very legitimate issues that you are working hard to resolve for customers. Please let me know if there is any other evidence that you feel would be helpful in closing out this complaint and removing it from your public website. Thank you, Rebecca Z*******Owner/Director of Operations 

  Customer response

  01/28/2022

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. Please see the actual email that was sent to me today with my responses to the false statements made.  In addition, I received a text message from Antonio Z******* stating "this is not OK", referring to my right to file a complaint. Everything I responded to is between *** - *** brackets.Hello ****,We have received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau regarding your refund security return for 17 Jase Ct. in Albany, NY.I spoke with Antonio to gather the necessary information, and compiled our formal response to your complaint:On 12/29/2021, you requested that your deposit of $1,850 be returned to you, as you were no longer planning to move into the vacant home. Due to the holiday, there was a delay in Antonio’s response (attached), but in text message, you acknowledged that there was a portion of your deposit that would be kept, for “administrative things”. ***I acknowledged no such thing - I made an assumption they may have admininstrative things like paperwork, as most businesses do, but not almost $1,000.  They took my words, which were a diplomatic attempt to ask for the deposit rather than outright demanding the full amount, and twisted it to an acknowledgement that I understood I would be losing $925.00.***Antonio responded less than 2 hrs later, confirming that we normally keep 75% of deposits, but that he would make an exception for you, and only keep 50%. Your response to that text (the next day) did not indicate any misunderstanding about the amount that would be disbursed to you. ***Antonio's response was actually "because I like you guys" as his reasoning for keeping 50% of our money.  There was no agreement, no lease signing, no contract of any kind, and at no time did Antonio or Rebecca Z******* state outright or allude to the fact the deposit was nonrefundable.  The only texts I sent after Antonio's telling me they were keeping 50% of the deposit was to state "alas, I wish there were" to Antonio's question if they could do anything to make is work. Stating I wish there were when I had informed Antonio (which they conveniently leave out here) that my life situation had become difficult at the moment and the move would no longer be possible and making it look like I was really hoping they would make it work for me but I was acknowledging responsibility on my end is nothing short of egregious.In fact, you spoke as if you wished there were something else that we could do to make it work (Dec 30 @ 9:03am). *** Again, see my response above*** Then, on 1/7/2022, at 12:54PM EST, (transaction ID: *******************), Antonio distributed $925 (the half deposit that you agreed to),***I absolutely at no time agreed to this amount*** to a @****-********-2 on ***** (see screen shot of receipt). There was no indication, on our end, that there was any outstanding business to be transacted, as you had received the funds (to our understanding).***I sent two requests for $925.00 each, only one was responded to.Please see the screenshots attached, showing the text conversation (date and time stamped) discussing the amount to be reimbursed, and evidence of the transaction in ***** (date and time stamped, with transaction ID visible). ***Again, there was no such discussion, only a statement made by Antonio that they would be keeping $925.00***New York State Law states that security deposits, are to be returned within 14 days business of tenant move-out. Given that you never actually moved in, the 14 days start on 12/29/2021, when you requested the funds. You were sent the agreed upon amount after just 6 business days. ***There was no contract, no binding agreement, no lease.  Therefore, bringing NY State Law up here has no bearing.  We never were tenants, never had a signed, executed lease to be tenants***Additionally, you were provided with a company business card, ***outright false.  Rebecca at one point stated she would provide us with one, but in fact never did. Making it look like I "lost" it and subsequently never tried to contact them via their information contained on their website is an attempt to malign me, when in fact, every bit of our communication had been via text and not email ***with several ways to contact us (including our work phone number, ###-###-####, and email address). We never received either a phone call or email regarding this issue until it was brought to us by the Better Business Bureau. If you LOST the business card, by chance, ALL the information on how to contact us is on our company website (www.518managementgroup.com).Therefore, I find your complaint to be invalid, and we are both very disappointed in how this entire situation unfolded. We spent 2 hours at the house with you both, answering questions, making light conversation, and you EVEN WENT AS FAR AS TO INVITE US TO YOUR NEW HOME FOR A HOME-MADE DINNER. Not only will I be formally contesting to your complaint to the Better Business Bureau, but you will also NOT be receiving any additional funds, from our company.Thank you,Rebecca Z*******Owner/Director of OperationsW: ###-###-####C: ###-###-####www.518managementgroup.com Regards, **** ******** ***One last comment I will make is that these were friendly people, we had nothing but excitement about moving, but in the end their anger over me exercising my right to file a complaint about something I felt was handled unfairly has gotten the best of them. I was truthful in my statements, and I stand by the fact keeping $925.00 of an ICU nurse's money for absolutely no reason, and certainly nothing that was in writing or explained to me at any time, is unconscionable. At the end of the day, I do not wish them any ill will, and I stated to Antonio, they seem to have a gift for getting good tenants for properties, and wished them good luck finding someone for the home.  ***

  Business response

  02/14/2022

  Unfortunately we do not have any further documentation supporting our claim, as our agreement was verbal. However, we have implemented a change in our process to always have a signed document stating that the tenants (or prospective tenants) are aware that they will NOT be refunded their deposit, should they not move in. We are still a growing company and so we (foolishly) trusted that making a verbal agreement, would suffice. Now it is clear that we should have a documented process for this, should a "misunderstanding" like this happen again in the future.

  While I understand that there were circumstances beyond their control that took them out of the area, the deposit has already been submitted to the owner of the building, who we work for. Now we have to go back to the owner of the building and attempt to get that money back from him, before we can send it through to the prospect. This may take some time, but we are working with him to get it ASAP.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩