My roommates and I lived at 7 Cameron for two years, and while living there had a great experience…read more The units are sunny and spacious, and the location is great. Under 10 minute walk into Davis Square, and the 77 bus stops right across the street that will bring you right into Porter or Harvard Square. The units are also very quiet despite being right on Mass Ave. The staff working in the building were all great and were really on top of maintenance.
This review was prompted, however, by the experience we had upon moving out of the apartment with Acorn Holdings, the owner of the building. We left our unit on August 31st after living in the unit for two years in great condition - cleaning counters, sweeping, vacuuming, and spackling any holes in the wall. The lease very specifically mentioned "broom clean" as the standard, which we honestly went beyond.
However, when we heard from the property manager the next week they informed us they would be withholding $2,100 of the $3,000 in our security deposit. A couple things about that:
- First, $2,000 of that security deposit was collected from us explicitly related to the two dogs in the apartment - $500 was charged upon move in and an additional $1,500 collected when we added a second. This is a dog friendly building, and there are many canine tenants. However, in the course of this experience we found out that these deposits are illegal in Massachusetts.
- The majority of what they were charging was for cleaning the apartment (none of it dog-related) which is also not an appropriate use of deposit funds in Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/find-out-what-landlords-can-use-security-deposits-for
- Beyond whether or not they are allowed to use the money for the things they were claiming, the amounts were ludicrous. For example, they claimed they needed to withhold $700 to clean the carpet in a single bedroom which had zero stains or rips, simply was a carpet in a 100 sq ft room that had been lived in for two years.
So, they were withholding exorbitant funds they shouldn't have collected in the first place.
We raised our concerns about this and stopped hearing from them. We sent several emails and attempted to speak on the phone with our property manager. We were ignored.
30 days passed and we hadn't even received the small amount they were saying they planned to return. Again, breaking housing regulations https://www.mass.gov/info-details/learn-about-returning-or-getting-back-a-security-deposit#failure-to-return-. It was only when we sent documentation showing that we were going to file a housing court claim (which could result in a $7,000 fine) did they reply to our concerns and return the deposit.
This behavior would be inappropriate - and illegal - under any circumstances. But in the midst of a pandemic when folks are juggling economic stress with so much else this is nothing short of predatory. Overcharging, ignoring follow up, and hoping that the complexity of housing regulations would prevent pushback.