Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  02/06/2025

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a property (*** ********* **, Summerville, SC 29483) with my adult son, **** *******, on June 28, 2024. I hired Molly H***** as a property manager in July 2024 & signed Property Management agreement. She listed this property for rent. She signed the first legal contract with a tenant on 10/23/24 and submitted a Closed Transaction into the *** system on 10/28/24, that this property is "RENTING" for $2300 from November 1, 2024. There is no tenant in place, and I don’t have a ratified contract with the tenant. On 11/8/24 she explained that the tenant had never moved in. On 11/8/24 I sent a 30-days termination notice to Molly H***** to terminate the agreement since she couldn’t find a tenant for a long time & it looks like she didn’t have time to take care of my property, and she communicated with me very rarely. She took out the door lockbox the same day. On 12/11/24 she asked me to pay a balance due $989.99 to cover her expenses. I asked her details of these expenses. She didn't explain anything and just threatened me with the collection. Mrs.H***** also refused to cancel the *** listing. It’s still active. I've never seen a security deposit and the 1st month rent. This money was supposed to cover her advertising & other type of expenses. Since 01/05/25 I’ve made over 20 attempts to reach her by phone, email, text and VOICE messages. No result. She is ignoring me. She threatened to report me to collection. It’s not an appropriate way of doing business. Please let me know if you have any questions or I need to provide additional information. Kindly ask you to review the BBB rating of Emmantee Real Estate Solutions and support me with handling the consequences of this questionable business practice.

  

  Business response

  02/06/2025

  Please see the attached signed Residential Management Agreement and note Section 5 titled Broker's Compensation. ***** is responsible for Section 5(a) and 5(g). 5(a) refers to the account set-up fee of $300. 5(g) refers to the cost of advertising and "all other out of pocket expenses actually and reasonably incurred." 

  Our signed contract began on July 8, 2024 and was terminated by ***** on November 8th, 2024 in which the listings were deactivated and the property was turned back over to her.

  
  

  Between July 8th, and November 8th, 2024 I have over 17 documented email strings, several with multiple messages. On October 21, 2024 I notified ***** that I had an approved tenant for the home and a lease contract had gone out for signatures. The lease was signed by the approved tenant and he said he would pay the deposit and first month's rent plus lease administration as soon as he got the moving allowance from his job. The tenant notified me that he was making the cross country trip and would be arriving in Charleston on November 1, to take possession. He was thoroughly screened, with employment, income, and references verified. That was the last I heard from the tenant. Between October 21 to November 2, I made over 15 documented attempts to contact the approved tenant and locate him. In the meantime I provided all services needed to ready the property for the tenant to include professional cleaning (the home had not been cleaned in well over 4 months), and a third party, professional move-in inspection. I notified ***** on November 4th that the tenant did not take occupancy, and that this was not acceptable, as the signed lease agreement is a legally binding contract. On November 8th, ***** made the decision to terminate our contract, and I ensured that the listing was removed from all rental websites and the keys and lockbox were removed on the same day. The property was back in her full possession on November 8, 2024. On the *** it states the property was rented for $2300 as that is the amount for the signed lease agreement. That is the equivalent of "closed" on the sales side. It was marked as "Rented" on the contract ratification date as in line with CHS *** rules. It cannot be marked as "closed" as that is not an option for residential rentals, and it cannot be marked as "cancelled" as the home had a signed contract. It was my intent to provide ***** with the option of pursuing legal remedy, but she terminated the contract and I promptly returned the property back to her possession. 

  
  

  On November 13, 2024 I had the account fully reconciled and ready for payment. ***** received a message through the Owner Portal to clear her balance. I made attempts on the following dates for her to clear her account balance on 11/13/2024, 11/18/2024, 12/7/2024, and 12/11/2204. 

  Finally, on 12/16/2024 she responded asking how to login to the portal. On 12/19/2024, we responded to her questions. We did not hear from her again until January 3, 2025 when she wanted to dispute the account balance. We notified her that her balance was very delinquent and it would go to collections in February where she would be able to dispute charges. ***** has had a detailed invoice since November 13, 2024 with all receipts, invoices, and services provided. It is also attached here for reference. The paperclips on the ledger show all attached invoices, receipts, and services. They are also all attached here for reference. 

  
  

  As we conducted a thorough critique of this very unfortunate circumstance, we discovered that this property was purchased as an "OWNER OCCUPIED" property on 6/28/2024. Please see the attached Berkeley County Property Card showing this home as OWNER OCCUPIED. Additionally, on the Berkeley County Register of Deeds it shows the mortgage for ******* ******** ******** that on Page 5 of 12, Section 6 OCCUPANCY: Borrower must occupy, establish, and use the Property as Borrower's principal residence within 60 days after the execution of this Security Instrument and must continue to occupy the Property as Borrower's principal residence for at least one year after the date of occupancy..." The borrower on this home is **** ******* and ***** ******, both of whom signed a Residential Management Agreement with me on July 8, 2024, as they represented this property to our business as an "Investment Property." We have also attached the mortgage document for reference. At no point did either ***** or **** occupy the home or begin using it as their principal residence during the time we had a management agreement in effect. They have secured their own tenants, and it is being utilized as a rental property. These findings give us concern that ***** and **** have misrepresented this property as an investment property, further placing our business at risk should they be fined and penalized for fraud on their current mortgage. These findings would warrant immediate contract termination if our contract was still in place. We have currently updated our onboarding process and are conducting a thorough audit of all of our properties to ensure all owners are following the laws of real estate and mortgages. We will not conduct business in an unlawful manner, or subject tenants to properties that are in violation of mortgage contracts and real property laws. 

  Customer response

  02/09/2025

  
  Complaint: ********

   

  Thank you BBB for your support: I got more information with your help in 2 days that I could have for 2 months.
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1. Please see enclosed confirmation from Molly that she is going to cover cleaning expenses as professional courtesy (please see confirmation enclosed). Why is she claiming these expenses from me now? In addition, these expenses were excessive & not required as the house has several 15-minutes showings & was clean after remodeling. So, I need a refund for move-in inspection and cleaning fees. 
  2. Move in inspection was not necessary as well since she had never got security deposit & 1st months rent as Molly stated. 
  3. For 4 months period, between July 8th and November 2nd Molly reached us out 6 times by email: 08/13, 08/20, 09/6, 09/18, 10/14, 10/21. The last one dd 10/21/24 was regarding finding a tenant. That is all. It couldn't be 17 documented email strings. 
  4. I need a ratified lease contract with the tenant. 
  5. I send a 30-days termination notice. So, it was enough time for Molly to proceed with collecting balance due from the tenant since she has a ratified contract. It was her insufficient due diligence not to collect the required payments from the tenant.   Instead, she chose to threaten me. 
  6. I require Molly to send me pictures & video of our property since I've already paid for them. I require her not to use them for her needs. 
  7, I require Molly to destroy our personal data (***** ****** and **** *******) and not use them since the contract was terminated on November 8th. Now I see that she is using our personal data and information. We require Molly to destroy all our personal information that she obtained from us. According to Data protection Legislation Molly and her company are not allowed to use, collect, or share our information.  
  8. Molly has never sent me any account balance notice to my mailbox. I can provide confirmation that neither of her emails have any information on account balance. It was not personalized. So, it led to misunderstanding. It's the same that I get an email from Molly on 01/23/25 regarding her sending me 1099 (please see confirmation enclosed) that I've never got. 
  9. I was not able to rent out the house In November 2024 since the *** status of the house was not reported by Molly correctly. That is why on November 24th the house was occupied by owners. So, Molly can put aside her assumptions on securing tenants. Speaking of that, I require Molly to stop spying on my property. 
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ******

  

  Business response

  02/11/2025

  Emmantee has all the documents, supporting emails, and receipts needed to verify and support their initial response. These documents will be made available to all legal entities should they be requested for any future litigation and investigation. Emmantee stands firm in it's commitment to ensure they are not violating laws of real property and mortgage. Emmantee Property Management will not hold Management Agreements with people in violation of current laws. Emmantee operated in good faith when ***** presented this property to the PMIC as an investment property. ***** and her son purchased *** ********* ** as an Owner Occupied and Principle Residence, and then attempted to defraud Emmantee Property Management by engaging in a contract to utilize this property for real estate investment and profit.  

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