Customer ReviewsforDorman Real Estate Services Inc

DO NOT RENT FROM THIS MANAGEMENT COMPANY! We had to break our lease early and despite complying with all their early termination fees, paying two months rent while waiting for it to get rented and all the other fees. They kept over $700 of our deposit! For illogical fees such as charging us the difference in rent for two months because they lowered the rent 2 months after we moved out, a cleaning fee despite us getting the house professionally cleaned as per the lease agreement, a yard cleanup fee, which we also cleaned before moving out as per the lease agreement. However, the house is located in a very windy part of town on a corner lot with a brick wall. This causes the yard to collect debris from all over the neighborhood! If the yard was dirty after we left that's not our problem. Plus a fee because the utility company switched our utilities out of our name at some point in the last month or so. Not to mention the house in shambles when we moved in. A huge hole in the garage, original molding and doors etc. From the 70s when the house was built and an oven/stove that was filthy and about 2-3 decades old that they're accusing us of not cleaning or more like the professional cleaner we hired. I have to add that we have perfect rental history, have owned the last three homes we've lived in, this was a temporary situation until we found a house to buy after moving here, never been delinquent in ANY bill we've had and have perfect credit! This is not a disgruntled former tenant who was evicted or the like. This is an abuse of power and what seems like a punishment for breaking our lease. Despite us paying all the fees, two months rent, etc. But to keep 1/2 our security deposit based on lies. Makes them a thief. I'm currently seeking legal counsel.

Thank you for reaching out regarding your security deposit charges. I have reviewed the charges again and will respond to each of your disputed items individually in this message. Upon review, we feel that all charges are valid and will not be authorizing any changes at this time. I will provide evidence for each charge below and will also provide photos or documentation to collaborate why you were charged for each item.Dispute item #1: Unpaid Rent Per your lease, you are responsible for all rent and utilities until the end of the lease or until a new tenant is placed. We had listed the property at the rental rate of $1995 which was the same as you were responsible for per your lease through 5/31/23. We were not getting applications and on January 23rd I sent you an e-mail asking if you would be willing to pay the difference in rent through the end of your lease if we lowered the rental price to place a new tenant faster. I explained that if I lowered the price to $1895, you would be responsible for paying that difference of $100 per month through 5/31. You responded on January 23rd saying do whatever you have to do to get someone in thereA new tenant moved in on 2/24/23. Per our conversation and your acceptance of that payment, we charged you $300 for the difference in rent for March, April, and May. Because we had discussed this and you agreed to the charges we withheld $300 from the deposit. This charge is justified and we will not be adjusting anything from this disputed item.Dispute Item #2: Cleaning Per your lease, section 16 Move Out Terms: **** A says Tenant shall have all the dwelling professionally cleaned after all personal belongings have been removed from the premises. Tenant shall use one of Agents preferred cleaning vendors, for this service. Per your cleaning receipt, the cleaner you used was not one that was a preferred cleaning vendor. Also, per your cleaning receipt, the cleaning was done on 12/21/22, though keys were not returned to us until 1/3/23. On 1/3/23 I completed my move out inspection. There were numerous items that were not cleaned to our standards and I had to send a preferred cleaner to the property to complete the job. Please see attached photos showing the condition of the home per the move out inspection on 1/3/23.<20 photos>The cleaner was able to do the work needed for a total cost of $225. This is what was withheld from your deposit and was a justifiable charge. We will not be altering anything with this disputed item.Dispute Item #3: Yard Work When I did my move out inspection on 1/3/23, it was noted that there were excessive pine needles and leaves in the yard. The charge to your deposit was for the removal of these items and dumping fees.Please see photos for documentation.<4 photos>Upon review, the $175 charged by the vendor for yardwork and dumping fees is justified and we will not be altering the deposit for this disputed charge.Dispute Item #4: Utilities Per your lease, section 18 Early Termination, **** C says, If the Tenant terminates possession of the property under this Lease Agreement for any other reason prior to the Term end date, Tenant shall be liable for the following costs: All utilities until the property is re-rented. The fees charged from the deposit were a total of $308.71. This is directly what was paid to ************************** for the dates of 1/3/23-2/23/23. There were not any fees charged to you, just the direct amount for the utility bills for this time period. I will attach the utility bills to this e-mail so that you can see them. This is again a justifiable charge and we will not be altering anything at this time.Thank you again for reaching out with questions about your security deposit. Upon review of your disputed items, we feel that all charges are justified and we will not be altering anything at this time.

I and my husband entered into a lease agreement for the property located at ************************************************************************* on February 6th 2022. We signed a lease that was going to end on April 31, 2023. During the initial walk through of the house upon our move in, we were informed to list all issues that we found, including photos that were to be updated into an app on our phone. During our walk through of the house, it became apparent that the house was in disarray. There was a very large hole in the garage that had been haphazardly covered up with putty, the door leading to the crawl space would not fully close, molding and doors were scuffed, scratched and gouged, windowsills and windows were dusty and not cleaned, the fridge and kitchen appliances were dusty and dirty, the oven was stained from spillage and years of use, walls were chipped, gouged, and stained, the toilet in one bathroom had urine under the toilet seat and was loose, the shower had big chips missing and was stained from years of use, the main bathroom toilet leaned towards the wall as if the floor was uneven and or rotting and had a large crack in the toilet bowl, both showers and sinks were clogged with human hair and scum buildup, the curtains were sun faded and peeling from years of use, blinds were dusty and dirty, the outside garage light did not work and a drawer **** was missing, there were gouges and chunks missing from the floors, there were holes in the walls under the kitchen sink that led to the crawl space and allowed rodents to enter the house, the front yard was full of debris and garbage that had been blown into the yard from neighboring houses, stairs and handrails were scuffed and scratched and there were giant holes in the ceiling in the master bedroom, the driveway was falling apart with crumbling cement, and the garage floor was stained and crumbling as well, the laundry room doors were heavily damaged, there was a large crack in the tile in one of the bathrooms, and their were electrical issues with the outlets upstairs. I could go on but I have already listed a lot of issues with house. All of these issues were noted in the app upon move in, as well as some photos that were uploaded. The app only allowed a couple photos per room so I did my best to include everything. Almost immediately after submitting the form, a maintenance order was submitted to repair the garage light and the clogged drains. Nothing else was fixed despite my requests. In November 2022, I contacted *************************** in regards to breaking our lease early, do to moving. I was informed that I would need to pay an $800 lease breaking fee, that I would be responsible for the entire rent ($2070) each month until our lease was up or until it was rented, all utilities, that I would need to pay for a professional cleaner of my choosing, a carpet cleaner provided by Dorman, and a chimney sweeper who was also provided by Dorman. I informed ************************* that we were buying a house and asked if their was anyway that we could get the house listed so a tenant could be found before we had to make two house payments ( the rental and our new house). He informed me that this would be a possibility once I paid the $800 lease breaking fee, had a walk through performed to check the condition of the house, and gave an official move out date. I agreed to these terms and submitted an $800 payment, made the house available for a walk through and gave a move out date of 12/31/2022. Upon receipt of the $800 lease breaking fee, a walkthrough was performed and the house was put on the market and showings were beginning to be booked. After the walkthrough was performed by *************************, there was no information provided to us as to the condition of the house, or that we would need to make any repairs or have special cleaning done. During the months that we lived in the house, as well as the weeks leading up to us to vacating the premises, we had kept the house in a very clean and habitable way. There were no nail holes in the wall, no stains on the carpet, no marks or scuffs on the wall, all appliances were kept cleaned and in working order, the windows were cleaned and the yard presentable. Overall the house was cleaner than when we moved in and in the same condition as when we moved in. During the weeks before we vacated the premises we witnessed several parties enter the house to view it. During this time we witnessed the showing agent allow the prospective tenants to wander the house alone, while she made personal phone calls and/or stood outside. This was all captured on security footage from our cameras both inside and outside the home. Upon vacating the premises, we hired all seasons carpet cleaning, a cleaning service, and a chimney sweeper to perform the necessary cleaning per the lease agreement. We also cleaned the front and back yards of all trash and debris, and made sure the house was in better condition than when we moved in. All receipts were submitted to Dorman as proof these services were performed.Given the fact that our move out date fell on a weekend directly proceeding a holiday we were unable to return the keys until January 2nd, 2023. Which were returned first thing in the morning. We continued to pay for utilities and rent despite not having access to the house because we had already turned the keys in and according to Dorman we were still responsible for all utilities and rent until our lease was up or new tenants were found. Somehow during this time **************** Utilities removed our names from the utilities and placed them back into Dormans name. I paid one more bill the beginning of February. We also paid rent on time and in full on January 1, 2023 and on February 1, 2023. In January **** contacted me and said the house had not rented and asked if I would be ok if they lowered the rent by $100, I was also told that I would still be responsible for the full rental amount per my lease agreement until new tenants were found or our lease ended, per our lease agreement. It had already been listed for over 2 months so I told **** to do whatever he had to do to get it rented as we could not financially pay for two houses. On February 20, 2023 I was informed that new tenants had been found and that they would be moving in on February 24, 2023 and that I would be receiving a prorated refund for the final four days of the month that I had paid rent on already. After several weeks I received our deposit back and was shocked to see that over $700 had been withheld from our deposit. These fees included $300 rent difference for March 1, 2023 - April 31, 2023, a $240 cleaning fee, $175 yard cleanup and dumping fee, a $25 vendor coordination fee, and $308.71 in unpaid utility fees. Upon our move out there was no move out inspection forms as per standard practice with every other rental agency, nor was there any opportunity given to have the cleaners come back and fix any areas that they missed. If that were actually the case. **** never communicated with us that there were any issues with the condition of the house or yard after his final walkthrough inspection nor during the nearly three months that we were no longer living there but were required to continue to pay rent. During December 31st, 2022 and February 24, 2023 there was no communication from **** or anyone at Dorman that we would not be receiving our entire deposit back, or that the utilities had accidentally been placed back into Dorman name. We had no control of the house, nor anyway of knowing when **** actually inspected the house after we moved out or that it was actually being shown to perspective clients, Given the lackadaisical and careless way at which the showing agent showed the house to perspective tenants during our final month of tenancy and the lack of a move out inspection or final walk through inspection with anyone at Dorman there is no way of knowing when the inspection took place, who had access to the house during that time and if they were allowed to peruse the house unsupervised. We are model tenants, have owned three homes, never been late on any payment, have perfect rental and credit history and have never had any portion of our security deposit withheld until now. We will continue to pursue legal action against Dorman unless this issue can be resolved and we are awarded the amount of $715.00 for fees wrongfully withheld.