I estimate I lost about $25,000 by deciding to have Muse manage my rental property. Over the six…read moreyears I was with them, all three of the tenants they had supposedly vetted, simply stopped paying and/or trashed my house. After realizing in year three how much money I'd lost up until that point (only $11,000 then), I tried to fire them, only to learn that, due to shady contract language, I had to boot out the current tenant in order to get rid of Muse also. Knowing what I know now, I should have kicked them all to the curb then. Instead, my losses were as follows:
1) The first renter just quit paying. It took two months to get him out so, after the deposit, I lost a month's worth of rent that Muse said they sent to Collections but is now too old to get back (around $1,300).
2) My second tenant started having problems paying and, by the time they got her out, they told me she had caused damages totaling around $6,000 - half of which Muse forced me to pay for. Muse also threw away the washer and dryer the renter had broken even though both appliances were covered under warranty and could have been replaced for free, adding another roughly $1,700 in irretrievable losses.
3) After booting the second tenant, I realized Muse had not been increasing rent with every lease renewal as they should have been. At this point, that came to a little over another $5,000 in losses.
3) My third (and final) tenant wrecked my house, leaving behind $14,000 worth of damage. Some of this included such simple things as never replacing the air filters (which meant I had to replace all the ductwork) - something Muse was supposed to be checking for during every six month inspection.
I should have walked away on day one when Tami accused me of leaving poop in one of the toilets during the first showing. My mom and I had spent 13 hours the day before making it spotless. Turns out Tami hadn't bothered to check, nor to notify me, that they were letting people into my house, unsupervised, and that one of the potential renters had decided to use the facilities.
Things like that have had me working on this review for the entire six years I was with Muse as it was the only thing I felt I had any real control over. I will say that Deborah and Ke'Arah did consistently respond and always made me feel like a valued customer. Everyone else however, bullied me, refused to take responsibility for blatantly obvious errors, or simply ignored me when they didn't feel like responding.
The one good thing to come from Muse Realty's continual decline in service over the years was that it forced me to look for another agency. I'm happy to report that I found one that is actually competent and keeps me in the loop. I strongly recommend others look elsewhere as well. Your pocketbook and your sanity will thank you.
