Moving in to my first apartment ever with Kathy Corn realtors was very smooth. I signed the lease and paid the "pet fee" which was 250 bucks non refundable.
Anyways, I had no problems living there. I spent a year there, and about a month before moving out my dog had pulled up a part of the carpet. I told Kathy Corn Realtors about it and they said I could go ahead and replace it, so I paid the 200 bucks to replace that part and I paid an extra 40 dollars to get the carpet pulled over the transition strip so it looked brand new and nice for when I moved out. I gave them my 30 days notice, and went through the whole nine yards of cleaning because I had the whole last two weeks of the month to move into my new place and move out of the apartment. I even had people from my squadron who specialize in structures help me texturize and paint the walls where I had my tv's hung so it looked perfect for move out. I cleaned the place top to bottom, and even cleaned the places the previous tenants forgot to clean when I moved in because I remembered noticing it when moving in. When I first moved in, Kathy Corn Realtors told me how happy they were with how the previous tenants had cleaned and told me that they would get their full refund back for the 700 dollar security deposit. So I thought since I cleaned even better, I'd be set. I contacted the professional carpet cleaners who usually work with them and wrote the check for the 68.80 to professionally clean and pet sanitize the apartment (that is a requirement for anyone who signs the lease) and left it at the Kathy Corn Realtors building so he would be able to pick it up the day he came to clean.
On the 26th day after I had moved out I called them asking about when I would be receiving my security deposit back. The woman who answered the phone told me, "they just told me they sent it today, you should be getting it in the mail." I said awesome, thank you. On the 29th, I received it. I opened up the letter to find that instead of receiving my 700 dollar deposit back, they decided to charge me another 714.68 to pay immediately. I was confused and figured there was a mistake so I called them and asked why I was paying this. They preceded to tell me that they replaced all of the carpet in the house because it was "soiled by pet urine beyond cleaning" which tallied up to 1242.86 and also charged for maid service for each square foot of the 840 square foot apartment which added up to 171.82. I asked why would you charge me for carpet if people previously before me had pets as well and it wasn't replaced before me? How could you put that on me to replace? The only proof they had were stains on the bottom side of the carpet once it was ripped up, which could have been from the many tenants who had lived there previously. There was no way that carpet was all me, but they charged me for it. I asked what about the 250 dollar pet fee I paid? She told me that it was non refundable and it wasn't meant to be for anything a pet might do, it was just a "convenience fee" for being allowed to have a pet in the apartment. I then asked why I was being charged for maid cleaning for the whole apartment when i spent over a week cleaning it spotless with other people? She said, "I opened up the oven and it wasn't spotless so that's how I decide whether to hire for cleaning of the whole place." Are you kidding me?
I then went to base legal because I felt absolutely screwed over. They told me it was BS. They called Kathy Corn Realtors and they would not budge. Kathy Corn Realtors said that I could take them to court, and if I lost I'd have to pay their lawyer fees (it was in the contract I signed upon renting) So, base legal gave me a listing for legal help for in town because they cannot represent military off base. I went to another lawyer. He told me I'd end up paying more for a lawyer than I'd end up getting back but I should be able to do it by myself in court. He also said he's heard of Kathy Corn Realtors in court doing this multiple times to other people, and that if I do it by myself their lawyer would spin it so I would have to pay. He said that the best case scenario would be me breaking even after paying the court costs to take them to court.
I had so much respect for the professionalism of Kathy Corn Realtors until moving out. I figured after I paid 250 dollars for a non refundable pet fee, as well as the 240 dollars to repair the carpet that they told me I could, and 68.80 to professionally carpet clean (even though they replaced the carpet so paying for that wasn't needed but I never got refunded for it) I would be alright to receive my 700 dollar deposit back. But, instead I had wasted all that money and then had to pay the additional 714.68.
Overall, I have lost approximately $1,973.48 because of Kathy Corn Realtors. This is just a warning.... I don't want anyone else being overcharged like I was. I've learned the hard way and I hope nobody else has to. read more
