Howdy! I'm new to TexAgs so please forgive me if I'm doing this wrong...

Has anyone had any success disputing fees charged by local Townhome/Apartment Complex for supposed maintenance and carpet replacement? Subject property: The Barracks (The Arena Group property management).

My daughter moved from one room to another in the same townhome. The management company had a 3rd party come in to 'make ready' for the new room mate - after we meticulously cleaned and made the room ready. They charged us $800+ for the carpet stating staining required replacement. They have provided no evidence to substantiate their claim. My photo of the room shows no such staining (it does show vacuum tracks in the carpet and a square section where the bed was that needed to be fluffed after a year of a mattress pressing on it).

Long story short, we disputed the fees. Now they are taking portions of our rent (recall we are still living in the townhome, just in a different room) and paying down the disputed fees. This leaves us short on other areas of the rent, bills, etc. I've sent numerous emails, attempted to call several times... filed a claim with the BBB and TX Atty General.

Nothing seems to phase these folks... they just ignore attempts to discuss the matter and continue to misappropriate rent payments toward what I believe are bogus fees. I've made every effort to remain professional but this has become extremely frustrating.

Online reviews show others having had the same issue.

I welcome any constructive input.

Thanks!

Thanks! I have a lawyer friend who could draft a letter or something… was hoping to 'reason' with them. Ha!

Also might try the phrase "fraud" is she is still in the same townhome and knows they never replaced that carpet.

Could be the case of having to get passes a dbag before you discuss the situation with someone reasonable. I've done that dance before. Good luck.

BurxAg96 said:

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Has anyone had any success disputing fees charged by local Townhome/Apartment Complex for supposed maintenance and carpet replacement?

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just pay your affluence tax that you unknowingly signed up for by being the father of an Aggie female who doesn't want to be embarrassed because said father wants to move her elsewhere due to some alleged carpet stains.

The key words for this are parent, paying, and daughter. Not that the daughter would mess up the room / carpet, but that indicates that the next resident will also be a daughter and thus much higher expectations for the next parent paying.

This wasn't on George Bush. This was a few blocks south. There is virtually no traffic on those streets. A cop was literally sitting there watching for cars to roll through a stop sign. He was apparently ticketing bicyclists as well.

And after I was ticketed going 71 in a 60 on FM2818, and the ticket was $500 (back in Feb 2004), I said enough and moved to Bryan.

I was better with the Bryan type of corruption. Real estate agent is elected mayor and all of a sudden the city needs to sell its golf course and buy a different golf course.

"College Station's finest" wrote the word sleat(sic) under the current weather conditions on my citation. Dumbass couldn't spell sleet. Also asked me what my major was. I was 32 at the time.

Decades ago when I was a student I had an apartment pull this on us. There was a free attorney offered by the university, but we ended up just taking the hit. I remember the apartment saying that our dishwasher was dirty. How does a dishwasher get dirty?

Not sure what any of that has to do with me thinking cyclists need to obey traffic signs, but ok

71 What?

Furlongs per fortnight?

Uncle Howdy said:

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Not sure what any of that has to do with me thinking cyclists need to obey traffic signs, but ok

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Honeslty I'd be good with it too. The amount of students (well people in general) who blow through parking stop signs astound me. I am SO glad I got cameras installed on my car.

Apartment tips that I never had to pay another deposit after doing this:

Take pictures before move in and take pictures after you cleaned up for move out. No furniture to block anything. Get walls, floor, ceilings, fixtures, bathrooms, cabinets, appliances if included, the doors, even exterior stuff like the front and back doors and windows, screens, etc.

Then if they charge you anything on the way out, tell them you need an itemized bill and then simply cross reference everything they mentioned with the pictures.

Oh and also I always bought new stove drip things (like these on amazon or just buy them from Walmart). They're impossible to clean and they're $20. I had an apartment that charged a ton for those being "damaged" and frankly looks like you took ridiculously good care of the place.

Like, you might still need a lawyer to write you a letter, but the places I've lived that was enough to keep that from happening. Unless you actually trashed the place I guess.

Ginormus Ag said:

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You are definitely doing this wrong, and I don't forgive you for not following the rules.

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You caught me! Busted

If your daughter hasn't reached out to the student legal dept, might be worth a try. It's a free service on campus that helps students deal with tickets, landlord issues etc. Good luck, it's insane what the various apts try to pull.

https://studentlife.tamu.edu/support/appointment/

dabo man said:

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Which town isn't doing this?

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Something of a tangent, but College Station scams it's student population like no other place I've ever seen. I worked on campus for 17 years. I had a student worker ticketed for rolling through a stop sign in Southgate... while riding his bicycle. Another student paid a Southgate resident $10 to park in his front yard during the tu game and was ticketed by the city for doing so (that should be on the home owner).

They'll ticket for jaywalking on Northgate. Remember when their thing was to target residents walking home (instead of driving) from Northgate bars at closing and charge them with public intoxication?

I threw a BCS title game party in January 2004 (last winter before I moved to Bryan) and had a guest ticketed for parking on the street with his truck facing the wrong direction. This was on Pedernales in Southwood Valley. My block of that street got about two cars per hour worth of traffic.

It's a petty/crooked/scheming city, and I'm not terribly surprised to hear similar things about an realty company operating within its city limits.

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The city government in College Station are turds.

Take pictures.

Pay the $800 so you haven't violated any agreement. File grievance in civil court to get your money back. If you can prove your case you should get your money back.

It would be great to have pictures of the place when she moved in, maybe some picture during the time living there(any picture that would show a well kept space) and when you left with a check list of things damaged.

Sucks to pay $800, but it does put you in a positive light.

Ok, Barracks manager

Thank you!!!

Seems this may be the path forward… staying current on our obligations as a renter… maybe look into small claims court as a matter of principle. Appreciate all the feedback!

Borrowing 'institutionalized fraud' for my opening remarks!

I was lucky, or maybe things weren't so sketchy back in my day.

Lived in Huntington, Parkway Circle, Brazos House (now "Brazos Point"), and Timber Creek (now "Halston") apartments. Never more than a minor withholding from my security deposit, and we did some minor damage... especially at Huntington.

MouthBQ98 said:

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The old damage deposit scam. I think almost everyone I know gave up part or all of it no matter how spotless their place was when they moved out. Some of course was justified. It's a college town, they count on renters being non-local and unwilling to fight it so much it's been institutionalized fraud for decades.

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The last apartment i moved out of (not in CS), the day i moved out the a/c drain line backed up and started leaking like crazy into the bathroom. I left my small bathroom trash can behind to catch the leaking water, told the property manager what was going on when i turned in my keys, and they told me i would be charged for leaving items behind in the apartment. Didn't feel like fighting it. Never got my deposit back.