I was a resident at Hampton Meadows in Cramerton, NC for close to 5 years. When it came time to move a few months ago this is when I really got to see how crooked Property Matters Realty (there is no onsite management for Hampton Meadows so they rent their apartments through an offsite company named Property Matters in Gastonia). When I moved in I had to put down a $450 deposit (this is standard deposit for all tenants). It says in the contract that you will receive this money back when you move. I followed by the book when I moved out of my apartment to ensure the apartment was in perfect condition. I went above and beyond to make sure no cleaning or maint would be needed. I patched nail holes, did touch up paint, brought in a cleaning crew myself to clean EVERYTHING TOP TO BOTTOM, shampooed the carpets, bought new blinds, left all of my LED light bulbs in all fixtures, etc.. I was sure I would receive at least a partial (they had to take out some of the deposit to cover for the prorated rent and outstanding water bill that I was told about beforehand). I emailed Wendy at Property Matters only to be told not only would I not get ANY of my $450 deposit back but I would actually OWE THEM MONEY. She sent me a bogus check sheet of items they had to go in and fix and/or repair. A few of the items on there were comical (she even had color photos she sent to go along with the bill). She charged me $45 to "clean out the cabinets". When I pressed for details what that meant she said they "cleaning crew found 2 cups in the cabinets that needed removed'. I couldn't help but chuckle. Since when did it cost $45 to take 2 cups out of a cabinet? Unless you hired an army of ants that had to work the whole day to come together and advise a plan to remove those cups then this charge was just petty. Another charge was to remove "glow-in-the-dark stars" that were left in my kids bedroom. These are the stars that you can purchase at the Dollar Store and stick on the ceiling so they glow while your child sleeps.. I REMOVED ALL OF THEM EXCEPT maybe 5 that I missed and they charged me a $75 "star removal fee". I was BEYOND mad. One last BOGUS charge that they refused to budge on was a "wallpaper" removal fee. This was a wallpaper border that was installed in the master bathroom ALREADY WHEN I MOVED IN THE APARTMENT. So get this through your head, they are charging me to remove something that came as standard in the apartment a few years ago. We emailed back and forth over a dozen times and I tried to convince WENDY that this was already there and she said since I didn't have PROOF or written anywhere in her notes that this charge stayed. I told her the manager that leased me the apartment was named Karen Gray and she should have notes stating my words were TRUE but Wendy wouldn't take my word for NOTHING. Ultimately, after 2 weeks of going back and forth WENDY said they would remove the extra charges and just keep the $450 deposit and call it even. I was so frustrated and mentally exhausted that I threw in the towel and told her I would accept this. I cannot believe after all of the hard work we put in to make sure the apartment was IMMACULATE before we moved that we still lost the whole $450 deposit. I have pictures of the apartment after we cleaned, all 50+ emails from WENDY, and the final bill we received in case there is anyone out there not wanting to believe this email I can show you physical proof how crooked and messed up Hampton Meadows/Property Matters really is. read more