Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  12/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Land lord refuses to give back deposit for no apparent reason. Tentant spent hundreds of dollars to repaint the property, and fixed any and a repairs that were needed with their own funds. Landlord Mark Shipp decided to curse the tenant (myself) at our place of employment over having an adult conversation. Tenant, (my self) spent several hundred dollars in paint and fixing other things I'm not responsible for just to be ridiculed by the property owner and threatened with physical violence. This is most definitely a case of unethical Business practices and something needs to be done to correct it.

  Customer response

  12/14/2023

  Per your letter sent to my address asking for additional information, within it it asks me,  "would you like the BBB to pursue a regime of your deposit".

  The answer is yes I would be grateful if you could assist in the retrieval of that deposit. I would also ask you to educate the landlord that they should not continue to put tenants into their property when they still have active rental inspection failures that they had all year to fix. Between the free labor that they guilt tricked me into doing, and all of the money that I put into leaving the place in top notch shape the only reason these people refuse to return my deposit is based solely upon greed. I know several other tenants that have done business with the Shipps and they all were treated the same way. Please feel free to contact me if you need any further information. 

   

  **** ******* *** *** **** 

  Business response

  01/08/2024

  Please see attached response.

  You signed a new lease on September 30th, 2023 through April 3C1h, 2024. You are hereby in violation of the lease submitting lease termination on November 1st, 2023. As noted on lease in agreement letter F; this agreement may be terminated by landlord only or The Deposit will be Forfeited. Furthermore, the property was left in disarray: Multiple blinds in the living room, kitchen, and bedrooms were broken, carpet was stained and unbound in multiple areas of living room and bedroom, the floor in the kitchen underneath the refrigerator sustained non repairable water damage to the hardwood floors, holes in the wall in the kitchen and bedroom, nailholes were not filled, piles of trash left inthe basement and garage, grease on the ceiling and walls of the kitchen that required all new painting, living room required painting as you stated you touched up paint and it was 2 different colors. You painted the properties hardwood floors without permission. There is damage to the bathroom walls and cracked tile flooring when the bathroom was newly remodeled prior to you moving in. The property was a smoke free property and there is smoke smell to the property. You violated the lease with putting up a pool in the yard as well as a hot tub on our patio without the owner's consent. Therefore lease violation and property damage, No deposit will be returned. If you have further questions you may contact us by in writing. If you continue to text or pursue argument at place of work (************) or any public place; we will have a order of protection against you and notify the police.

  Customer response

  01/16/2024

  I am rejecting this response because: their response does not indicate any legitimate legal reasons as to why they failed to complete a final walk through with myself, the tentant, nor does it explain any legit legal reason as to why they choose to withhold my initial deposit of $550.00.

  Not only are the allegations that they made in their response towards me lies but they also, Per Illinois state law, fall into the wear and tear category. Therefore, per Illinois State Law, they cannot be used as a reason to withhold my deposit. I lived at that residence for over 5 years so naturally wear and tear is inevitable. They complain of a few blinds that they alleged were dirty, paint not matching up in the living room, a cracked tile in the bathroom, a small holes in the wall from pictures that were hung. All of these issues fall into the wear and tear category. Irregardless, I can assure you that they allegations are lies and I have provided several pictures as evidence. I can send a 5 minute video if you give me directions on where to send it to further elaborate my case. I can also provide written statements from witnesses that volunteered to walk through the property before I vacated because Mark Shipp and his Wife refused to do a final walk through with me. They allege that there was garbage in the garage. This is the same garage that they have failed to bring up to the City of Galesburg's code to pass the Rental property Checklist. Most of the garbage was either at the property before I moved in, or it was left behind by the cheapest 2 person (cash job) crew they could find to do the siding job last summer to avoid having taxes added to their bill. They still have multiple code violations with the City of Galesburg that they have failed to complete. Their property at **** ***** ****** is far from being in compliance with the City of Galesburg's code enforcement laws that dictate if a property is legal and safe to rent. Yet they are still making efforts to rent that property as is. From my perspective they seem to believe they are above the law in comparison to anyone else. 

  I never violated the lease as they allege. If I did they would have notified me that I was in violation in writing as that is what is required when a landlord needs to notify their tenants of any wrong doing or lease violation. I ask, where is this written notification, and if I was in violation at any time why was I allowed to live at this property for almost 8 years? The answer is because I paid my rent 2 weeks early, fixed almost everything that went bad, keep the place neat and orderly, and I never bothered the landlords. In my almost 8 years of being a tenant they only had to invest around $200 of a furnace issue, and I split that bill with them 50/50. I recently replaced the sink out of my own pocket, left them a $800.00 gas dryer that I paid for, and a $200.00 stove all because I thought at the time I was dealing with an ethical, reasonable, and professional business owner. Unfortunately I was completely wrong in my understanding on how they truly operate and how they take advantage of hard working people that do the right thing. 

  In reality that have absolutely no reason other than their own personal greed and hard headed ways to not refund my deposit and because of that I ask the BBB Bureau to negative credentials towards them as a business publicly. Other folks deserve to know how they operate so they don't become a victim of their unethical, unprofessional and greedy business practices. 

  I gave them a lengthy notice of vacating the premises report 30 days in advance explaining why I was leaving. I never received any response other than a text telling me to leave the keys in the mailbox. They violated the lease with their neglect, those are the facts. 

  My reasons for leaving were legitimate concerns for the safety of myself, family, and my personal property. Many of my issues were also issues that the City of Galesburg held and still hold them in violation for. Issues that they have had over a calendar year to fix but they failed to complete or even attempted to fix. Their lease is null and void when they decided to ignore issues that dictated the safety of myself, my family, and the immediate neighbors. If you contact the City of Galesburgs code enforcement office you can get the public information that will justify everything that I have discussed. I can also send you a copy of the code enforcement violations because they mailed the notice to both the tenant, and the property owner. 

  In conclusion, since they failed to refund my initial deposit, made unwarranted threats to misuse the knox County court house to obtain a order of protection when absolutely no foul play has occurred, and they continue to rent a property that has yet to pass the required city of Galesburgs Rental Property Inspection, I again ask the BBB to utilize every resource available to your agency to ensure consequences are followed through to the greatest extent possible, and ensure that their business is shown to reflect their poor business practices on the BBB public profile. 

   

  That is my response. 

  Thank you. 

  **** *******

  01/16/2024

  
  

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