This is a dishonest company, and I don't say that lightly. They rented my house without properly screening the applicants (who had a prior eviction) and failed to provide any reasonable supervision for about two years. The tenant did over $10,000 damage over that time due to multiple pets in the house including four dogs (lease was no pets), a leaking aquarium, and destruction of doors, walls, floor coverings, appliances, etc. as a result of the domestic violence between the spouses. The local police report that they came out to the property 27 times over that two years. The neighbors complained to Tri-Tal repeatedly but were told that I had been informed and would do nothing--which was a lie. I remained unaware of any of this until I made a visit to the property--two years to late.
Description of Work: Full property management of my rental house located over 4 hours drive from where I live.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
1.0
value
3.0
professionalism
2.0
responsiveness
1.0
punctuality
2.0
$2,000
Response from TRI-TAL REALTY
I have been a real estate broker for 33 years and have operated Tri-Tal Realty of Modesto since 1985. We are a small family owned and operated business. Both of my daughters are licensed agents and work with me. I have always taken pride in our honesty, integrity and diligence in doing a job to the best of our ability. We work mainly on referral and many of our clients have been with us for more than 20 years. We even get referrals from other realtors because they trust us with their clients. We have tried to take care of the properties we manage as if they were our own. I have never met or dealt with the Miss Member. My only contact has been with Mr. Member. He has never allowed us to make improvements to his property that might generate a higher quality tenant. He only wanted to make repairs and improvements that were absolutely necessary. We discovered recently that prior to our purchase of his account in 2006, his property had contained a hazardous Meth Lab. If that had been disclosed to us, we wouldn’t have kept that account. It was a pretty good indication of the type of tenants he had in his property. We wanted to drop his account several times, but knew it would be a hardship for him since he lived out of state. We had a better look at the kind of person we were dealing with in 2010. There was a break in the sewer pipe on New Year’s Day, causing raw sewage to leak into the backyard and back bedroom, a definite health and safety issue. We called a very reputable and respected company from Modesto to repair the leak quickly so we wouldn’t have to relocate the family. The pipes were more than 45 years old. After assessing the situation, the company found it necessary to replace the pipe from middle of Mr. Member’s property to the connection on the neighbor’s property. Since it was an emergency situation, the company neglected to give us a total estimate after the initial estimate to repair one leak. Mr. Member got all new pipes and fittings but left $5,700 owing on the bill. He wouldn’t even negotiate to cover only the materials. He thought we should pay that bill, too. I have never had a client treat a vendor so unfairly. Regarding the tenants in question, they met our guidelines for income and credit. They didn’t have judgments or liens. They didn’t have any pets when they moved in and they paid their rent on time. Periodic drive byes didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary, just some toys in the front yard. When the agent in charge of that property did an interior walkthrough, she didn’t see any damage or pets, but then tenants were definitely not good housekeepers. The 2nd year of their tenancy, after the sewer leak, the tenants seemed to start having problems. After the neighbors contacted Mr. Member about domestic problems at the house, we suggested giving the tenants a notice to move, but he didn’t want to be without rent. It was an impossible situation. On July 27, 2011, we finally gave Mr. Member a 30 day notice that we would no longer manage his property, to be effective August 31, 2011. That should have been the end of it, but in September, Mr. Member decided he wanted the tenants out. We no longer managed the property, but against my better judgment, I agreed to help, since he was out of state and I was semi retired. I worked for the next 3 months for free getting the tenants out, meeting with Mr. Member and other trips to Escalon to get bids for the property cleanup for him. Except for removal of all the trash and exterminating the roaches, which the tenants said originated from the sewage leak, the majority of the fix up was deferred maintenance. I have included a copy of the California Property Management Agreement, which holds the broker harmless from any property bills for any reason. Please see Paragraphs 3D, 3F, and 4B. If not for this protection, management companies would not be able to stay in business. I have also included a copy of the “Meth House” Report and pictures from a prior tenant, turned in when they moved into the property. I would be happy to answer any question you might have.
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Service Categories
Property Management,
Real Estate Agents
FAQ
TRI-TAL REALTY is currently rated 1 overall out of 5.
No, TRI-TAL REALTY does not offer free project estimates.
No, TRI-TAL REALTY does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.
No, TRI-TAL REALTY does not offer a senior discount.
No, TRI-TAL REALTY does not offer emergency services.
