I would never recommend someone to do business with Deen Properties Inc. The person in charge is Cecelia Ann Deen, and it seems like the whole operation is run out of her house. She insists that all official business be conducted by Snail Mail, though she will respond to email inquiries. However, when I signed my lease, when I had to send in payment, and when I wanted to terminate my lease due to a deployment, she insisted that all business needed to be through regular mail. She does not have an office for you to stop at, she will not accept scanned/emailed copies of documents, nor will she accept faxes. Also according to her, her printer doesn't print and her firewall prevents document attachments. Through some special exception I was able to convince her to allow my rent to be set up on autopay despite her fervent protestations (she had to call "accounting" - i.e. her bank, most likely - to see if it was possible).
The worst part was when I attempted to cancel my lease early due to an impending deployment departing on Jan 20th 2014. This was an unusual circumstance as I did not know if I was going to be deployed. I had had another deployment scheduled for December 2013 that was canceled (hence my reason for moving into this new apartment in December 2013). When I told Cecelia that I had to end my contract, she complained that she would have to get the carpet and drapes cleaned. To which my response was "that's fine, that's what I have a security deposit for." She tried to get me to retain the apartment for the 7 months I would be gone, however at a cost of $1450/month, this would have cost me $10150 total. I would rather put my things in storage and keep the $10 grand I would have spent on rent. When she accepted the fact that I would not remain at the residence, she said that I had to submit a form to her, I could not make the request in an email. The form also had to be accompanied by a copy of my official deployment orders, which I did not receive until Jan 7th, 2014.
My previous landlord (Property Profiles, Inc) accepted an email when I informed her that I would be leaving in October 2013 for training in conjunction with a deployment in December 2013 (the initial deployment that was canceled). Not only this, my previous landlord only charged me for rent for 30 days after emailing her my intent to vacate. Deen Properties charged me from Jan 7th, 2014 (the date I sent the initial email notice) until Feb 28th, 2014, or 52 days. Further, I only received my orders 13 days in advance of my departure due to security protocol, so I absolutely could not have given them to her any earlier.
As another aside, the original copy of orders I sent her were redacted so that the location that I was being deployed to was hidden. Only the number of days that I would be gone was visible. She told me to send her a copy of unredacted orders, which I of course did not comply with. Where I am deploying is none of her business.
Finally, while I was trying to expedite the lease termination process, I attempted to travel to the address listed on the lease termination form so as to drop it off the same day I received it, rather than waiting for her to receive it through snail mail. The address turned out to be a town house, so I called her phone number. Cecelia did not answer, so I dropped the form in the mail box then called back and left a message confirming that I had dropped the form in her mailbox. She called me back shortly and was frantic. She no longer lived at that address. She yelled at me accused me of not following her instructions to send it by snail mail. While she was angry, she also accused me of trying to play her, and that I had known about my deployment all along. After several frantic phone calls (I would hang up on her if she was yelling and I couldn't get a word in edgewise) I eventually got a half apology email which stated that she made the mistake of trying to help me too quickly, and thus sent me a form with an incorrect mailing address on it, however it was still mostly my fault since I didn't mail it when she said to mail it (despite the fact that she never told me she doesn't have a fax, she doesn't have a physical office, her printer doesn't print, and she can't accept contracts in person... she even claimed that if I handed her a contract that she could go to jail... whatever.)
The point is that they are terribly unprofessional, not only accusing me of lying about my deployment, but then just getting generally frantic on the telephone with me, and giving several indications that she is poorly organized (such as the printer that doesn't print, and having form with incorrect addresses on them). read more
