I do not recommend renting a home from Cathie Richards with ReMax Masters.
We have rented 6 homes so far while in the Military and have never had such a poor experience with a property management company/agent. From every other company we have used, we have received our full security deposit back and compliments regarding our outstanding care for the homes. Below are some of the specific examples that occurred to us in one year of renting, but I have have heard HORROR stories from other military families and neighbors renting from Cathie Richards.
Some examples of the issues we experienced personally:
The owners of the home were the tenants prior to us renting. The owners were not held to the same standards of cleanliness that we were. The carpets were not professionally cleaned and the home was infested, indoors and out, with fleas. We were responsible for the cost to rid the home and yard of fleas, as we signed the lease prior to our arrival to the home and the lease states pest control (with the exception of termites) is the responsibility of the tenant.
Upon vacating the home, we were required to use a specific carpet cleaning company (All-Pro cleaners), and they charged us over $400 to clean the carpets. We have many neighbors/friends who have houses of similar square footage and paid anywhere from $150-$200 for carpet cleaning of the entire house. Also, All-Pro carpet cleaning confirmed what we already knew, the previous tenants (the home owners) did not have the carpets cleaned by all-pro cleaners.
After 9 months of on-time rental payment, I received this e-mail March 6, 2013 (Note: the 1st-5th of the month there is no penalty for late payment, the 6th of the month is when a $100 late fee occurs). "We have not received your march rent. you will need to include late fees. When will you be getting this to our office?" After several back and fourth e-mails letting the company know that we did indeed mail the check, she continued to state that they do not have the check and the late fees were adding up (now $125 on March 7). After paying $30 to cancel the rent check we mailed, we received a phone call from the secretary of the company stating that they found the check at their office. We were then told we needed to bring them a new check, immediately. All we received was a little "sorry for the mix up" e-mail from Cathie. I was appalled by how we were treated in this situation.
At the move-out inspection, Cathie was very trying very hard to hold us responsible for flaws in the home which were clearly marked on the move-in inspection. I feel very strongly that she would walk all over tenants who are not strong and tenacious. She knew I was going to fight for our security deposit if she tried to hold us accountable, because my move-in inspection was very detailed. One responsibility of the tenants is to putty and paint the picture holes on the walls. My husband puttied and painted (with the paint left by the owners) and she asked us to redo it, as she didn't feel it blended well. She even pointed out areas which we did not paint (it was that way from the owners). My husband repainted the areas where we had pictures hanging and explained that the slight difference appears to be due to a difference in paint finish (satin versus a matte finish) and she still charged us from our security deposit to repaint some of the walls. This is not "normal wear and tear" and should not be the responsibility of the tenants after we kindly painted the walls twice.
There are many companies in the area and this is the only agent/company which I have heard such negative comments about. read more
