Tenants. BEWARE of doing business with this property management company. Here was my experience with them.
Around summer of last year, I was informed that I needed to move out and was given 30 days. I was out of town for a week for a business trip, and needed to go back 3 weeks later. I had to vacate the rental property, move my stuff out, find a new place to live, and move in the new place.
I saw the notice of having to vacate on my arrival and saw that they even added the statutes of the city of San Diego that cites how they basically have the right to kick me out since this was all part of the contract I signed (lease was month to month). I guess the land owner passed away and the family decided to rent the property to collect money (for legal fees?) for a probate court to adjudicate who the property was going to go to since there was no will written from the deceased to his family members. And I was caught in the middle of all this mess.
After a stressful 2-3 weeks of not finding anything, being forced to take a lot of PTO, and requesting for more time to move out and not hearing a response from the family who took over the property/and Shore management, the day came for me to move out.
In a rush of panic, i had to coordinate the uhaul, move my stuff out, clean the entire studio, and left at 11 pm that day. I still had to drive up home (3 hr drive) to drop my stuff off and move it all back in and I still had to drive BACK down the next day to drop off the keys COB and do the pre move out inspection. We ended up finishing at like 3 am the day I had to turn in the keys.
The next battle began with their pre move out inspector named Bryan. After the inspection, Bryan informed me that the unit must be cleaned out by a professional cleaner, and he wrote down an estimate of $300-$400. Utter BS. I yelled at him explaining I spent the day prior cleaning the unit. Also, nowhere in the lease did it say that the unit, before turning in the keys, must be cleaned by a professional. Bryan informed me this was the policy of Shore Management via their website. I signed the LEASE, NOT a document agreeing to any AMENDMENTS to Shore Management's policies on their website.
Again, I asked Bryan if he was being serious because this "cleaning policy" made zero sense to me, and he agreed! I don't understand what the difference is between a professional cleaner and someone who can leave the vacated unit in immaculate condition. So did I have to be "licensed" to clean a unit? Does a "licensed cleaner" need to pay ANOTHER licensed cleaner to clean their unit? How does that work? Since the unit was not being re-rented by Shore Management and was being sold in a probate sale, no professional cleaning was needed and told them I am NOT responsible for paying for that service.
Additionally, Bryan informed me that there was a scratch in the paint near the window up on the loft. I brought the folder that held all of the photos taken on the unit prior to me moving in. I informed and showed him that the pictures he took of that exact location were blurry so it's not clear if there was a defect already on that frame. Because I have no recollection of that scratch in paint, I suspected it was already there without my awareness. He told me this would ALSO be deducted from my security deposit. He accused me damage yet he had no proof to show that this scratch was already there. The photos are not clear, as he was the individual responsible for taking the photos. I told him that I suspected all these deductions are nothing but a scam against tenants and that Shore Management was acting UNETHICAL by finding any and all reasons to find excuses to keep the security deposit.
This was after I gave Shore Management and the landlord plenty of time to give me a response weeks in advance for optional dates to move out, and expected a timely answer since I was served with a notice to vacate within 30 days. I didn't get the notice letter until my arrival back from my business trip. I was not notified of an answer until I reached out to Shore Management five days before the 30 day move out date that I wanted to have a pre-move out inspection, and was told by Shore Management admin that I was given a month later to vacate FIVE days prior to the 30th date to vacate the property. I see this was nothing but bad business practice to keep a chunk of the security deposit.
So I say this for you (the renter currently renting, or about rent with Shore Management) to be advised of all this. They will give you a bunch of excuses to keep your deposit. Have everything documented, including any emails sent of any repairs that were done/or not done after requested. Don't let them BS and push you around. They will give you an excuse to charge you for a "cleaning fee" if they even find a sharpie mark a micro inch in diameter.
If all else fails, have a small claims court lawyer at the ready to fight for your security deposit back. read more