IC4RENT

IC4RENT is a property management company run by Len Zielinski. He caters to busy people in training at the university hospital, especially those with children who want a quiet neighborhood. His website states : ?We offer well cared for properties with upscale amenities and spacious yards. Our homes are spacious and comfortable and provide everything you need to make your stay in Iowa City enjoyable.? I rented a house sight unseen as I am a busy physician with small children and I was moving from out-of-state. This was a huge mistake. When we moved in, it was apparent that the house was in disrepair, with a broken tub faucet, broken light fixture and thus no lighting in the master bath, a peeling ceiling covered with black mold in the master shower, multiple broken drawers in the kitchen and bathroom, stained walls and ceilings, holes in the ceiling, cracks in the walls, holes in the kitchen linoleum, bad-smelling old carpet, broken closet doors, broken kitchen pantry door that made it unusable, broken outlets, and multiple areas of water damage to the ceiling that had been poorly patched. The master bath shower door was broken, so that water spilled all over the floor when you used the shower, which had resulted in long term water damage to baseboards, which were rotten and were falling off, and to the subfloor, which was spongy. The ceiling beneath this area, in the garage, was actually being held up with duct tape. The exterior was just as bad, with a broken railing, holes in the exterior siding, overgrown bushes, and an exterior light above the front door filled with dead bugs. A couple of months after we moved in, the house was invaded by tiny ants, who came in underneath all the baseboards throughout the house, and even through the outlets over the kitchen counter, which we had to cover up and then were unusable. He was notified of all the above, and fixed very little, namely the tub faucet, the light fixture in the master bath, the outlet that exploded with sparks when you tried to use it, and the moldy ceiling over the master shower. He also agreed to remove the years? worth build-up of dead bugs in the outdoor light fixture over the front door. When told about the ants, he stated that he ?didn?t think they were a problem.? I fixed the pantry door myself, as he never responded to that request. He did have the railing fixed just prior to the annual housing inspection. It was too difficult to turn around and pick up and move again right away with small children, so we lived in this substandard housing for 7 ? months, by which time we bought a house and moved out 4 ? months early, but still paid the excessive rent for the rest of the lease. A few days before the lease was up, I went by the house to check on it, as he had been in and out and usually left the front door unlocked or open for hours and days on end. Much to my surprise, someone had already moved in, and there were boxes of DVDs and furniture in the living room and a car in the garage. This person had turned the thermostat down as far as possible, and the temp was 62 degrees on a hot day, while the utilities were still in my name. I turned the thermostat up to 72. When I saw the car and a closed bedroom door, I was afraid there was actually someone in there who would think I was breaking in, and I got out as fast as possible. I have told Zielinski he owes me $235 for rent and utilities for the end of the month when someone else was living there while I still had the lease, and he has ignored me. I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. This company?s website is false advertising??upscale amenities?? I don?t think so. I have documented all the above with photos and have also filed a complaint with the local housing inspection services. My recommendation?do NOT rent from this company, unless you want a completely unresponsive landlord and you want to live in substandard, decrepit housing while paying a very high rent.

I would recommend that no one rent from this company.