Colonial Property Management Grossly overcharges soldier

This link takes you to a whole other slew of complaints from Colonial victims.

http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3722504187

omg.. can anyone help me im tyin to get married in killeen... and my fiancee gets out at 5 but all the courthouses close at that time do any of u know if they have acourthouse for military ppl there in ft.hood

Well, Patsy since you are the owner I guess you would be upset about the people you have literally ripped off. They say money is the root of all evil and I guess that's why you and your employees don't mind ripping off soldiers and their spouses.It's not a wonder why you're company made the army times but, I'm trying something different it's called. Attorney General Office, Congressman,FBI, I'm quite sure they would like to know what's really going on. And for those of you who have had no problems with them.COUNT YOURSELF LUCKY because everyone is not lieing. Check with BBB!!!

It seems everyone is trying the same organizations in order to get this company investigated. If you are reading this you were probably looking to see if anyone else had any problems. It's time to get someone else involved instead of the standard companies nothing upsets me more than to read this data and I know that is there is an organization out there to help these soldiers and if not let's start one their actions are ridiculous and it's no big deal to them please write your congressman, FBI, Attorney General, Post Commander, whoever and lets get this resolved!!!!!!!!!!

metoo wrote:

I was just going online to see if our property was listed for rent yet(with Colonial)and found this! Renters are not the only ones...they do not treat their "landlords" any better! They take money out of the rent before we ever get it (as in our "iron-clad" contract), we never know how much we will get. It sounds like they charge renters and the homeowners for the same things;we've been charged for pictures too. They do not "protect the landlord" by any means! We are just down the road in Austin, so it doesn't matter if you are out of state or out of country! I'm going to contact the above as noted (BBB,Texas Real Estate Commission, & TAAC,) please do the same. I hope that a lawyer reads this and gets all tenants and homeowners they manage in together on a class action law suit.

I hope so too.

CJM wrote:

This tenant has been in contact with our company and the claims are under review if the statemant she gave our office are found to be true that she did not have a pet than the pet fee with be cleared from her file. There is what looks like pet damage to the property and a beware of dog sign on the fence which was not noted on her move-in inspection sheet which is 7 pages long and very detailed and was given 7 days to fill out if that information was supplied there would never been a doubt.
THIS FILE IS UNDER REVIEW
<quoted text>

CJM,

Your company is a scam. You know like I know all that you have to do is pull the inspection sheet from the last move out. It is comical to me how your company operates. Instead of building a good relationship you guys are burning bridges.

What happen to good customer service? I take it you guys don't do that either. Most of these tenants like (like myself) never paid rent late not even once. Then, to turn around and receive a bill for ridiculous BS is a slap in the face. If you try to dispute the charges you are faced with nothing but rudeness. I never spoke to Patsy a day in my life and the next thing I get is a letter from her telling me to stop wasting her time complaining.

Well, as a property owner who trusts Colonial to maintain my property, I must say I've enjoyed using them and feel better now, reading these articles.

The last family that lived in my home did $6,000 in damage beyond their deposit. Until we can get it back from them, guess who had to absorb that hit? Not Colonial, the homeowner does. How is that fair?

They put holes in the walls, holes in the doors, holes in the bath tub... How do you put holes in doors and in bathtubs?) They left stains all over my carpet, they obviously carted food all over the house eating. Their kids wiped crusty boogers on my walls, various marker colors all over my walls, and the house wreaked of the stench of cigarette smoke. No wonder it wasn't re-renting... They mesed my house up so bad, I almost want to put a "no kids" disclaimer on my property. But, I can't really fault the children. I foult the parents who let this happen.

Since we left, we've had at least four familes call our home their home, but this last family obviously had (or took) no control over their children. They obviously took no pride in the place they called home. Sure, it wasn't their home, but there is such a thing as self pride, and being proud of where you live. These folks were obviously poor parents, poor tenants, and poor people.

Every place I've rented, I've always goten my full deposit back. ften to the coment of "Wow- it looks like no one ever lived here". IF you're in the Army, then you know how to clean... Unless the Army's changed since I ETS'd.

I GI-Party every place before I leave. As a 10-year Army vet, and current property owner- I am GLAD to read here that Colonial holds soldiers and their spouses accountable for the damages they leave behind. If you can't be responsible enough to take care of other people's property entrusted to you, stay at a hotel, guest house, or live in the barracks until you get housing. Waiting list is only what, 1 - 2 years?

Otherwise, be respectful of other peoples property (most of whom were/are soldiers too, so no free passes on the fact that you are serving the country), take care of it, and you should have no problem getting your deposit back.

i just moved from there property and they suck i was charged 440 extra after my move out i was charged 255 for damages 75 for administration fee 110 for a reinspection that i don't have proof they even did the first inspection because i was not there BIG MISTAKE on my park but once the military gives you orders you have to go i guess i did come out better then a lot of the other people but what gets me the charged me for shampoo of the carpet when i didn't have carpet in that house the charged me for lawn care because i was reposible for it until the end of my lease i'm out over 1100 dollars total my advice to anybody renting from these folks read your contract carefully oh and by the way i was charged for not turning in the right keys to the place when they sent a locksimth out to change the locks if you rent from them be aware and read your contract good please

TDP wrote:

i just moved from there property and they suck i was charged 440 extra after my move out i was charged 255 for damages 75 for administration fee 110 for a reinspection that i don't have proof they even did the first inspection because i was not there BIG MISTAKE on my park but once the military gives you orders you have to go i guess i did come out better then a lot of the other people but what gets me the charged me for shampoo of the carpet when i didn't have carpet in that house the charged me for lawn care because i was reposible for it until the end of my lease i'm out over 1100 dollars total my advice to anybody renting from these folks read your contract carefully oh and by the way i was charged for not turning in the right keys to the place when they sent a locksimth out to change the locks if you rent from them be aware and read your contract good please

NO THERE IS NOT A REINSPECTION DONE. You are just charged the fee! I worked there as an INSPECTOR...I quit due to their practices and unfair conduct

I would like to comment on Colonial. I rented from them for approximately 2 years. I returned from IRAQ and was immediately put on orders for another assignment. to Big Sarge, I was a 1SG for 37 months and have been in the Army 19+ years. I as well as my wife are responsible and live extremely clean. We were thorough with our move in Inspection and noted everything on the inspection sheet. This does and will not matter at the time of your move out. Colonial will find any and every reason to charge you additional fees. Me and my wife GI'd this home for 5 days and it was White Glove clean. However when we moved out, the inspector wven stated, it is refreshing to see such a clean home. She stated it was the cleanest and most well kept rental they had ever inspected. The insepctor also stated we would recieve nearly is not all of our deposit back. We left and went to our follow on duty station where in 30 days we expected a refund of our over $800 deposit. What did we get? Our 800 dollars was forfeited for charges and in addition we recieved a bill for over $400 dollars. We did like all the others and filed a complaint with the BBB, The texas real state commission and anyone else that would listen. I also personally worte all BN Level and higer CSM on FT Hood to inform them of my experience with this company. I was lucky and couls afford to pay the bill and then fight, however I think a lot of young soldiers woulod not be in that position. I conversed with the rudest person ever "Patsy". She claims to be associated with the military but she sent me an email that said "go ahead and sue, you just sueing the homeowner which is another soldier, actually this should be fun to watch". Now Big Sarge, would you acccept this from your Soldiers? I know some renters do not take care of the property and should be held liable. This company however has a track record of taking advantage of nearly all who rent from them. Patsy is a such a horrible manager, that when she responded to me, she actually put in a copy of a memorial service program of a loved one who had recently died. You would think that she would check what she puts in a package when she responds to a complaint. Luckily I have keep every communication, email, bill and even the memorial service program. I have said this before. If anyone lives in the Killeen area and wants to take action. I will assist in legal expenses. This is one of the worst companies that I have dealt with in my almost 20 years of service. They feed off of Soldiers and say they serve them. Please pread the word about this company, I personally brief every Soldier PCSing to Ft. Hood abou this Company's practices. If your a leader in the Army, so should you.

Regards

My husband and I just deployed and like the other Soldiers we had nothing but issues with Colonial and I would not recommend them to my worst enemy. First off, we were charged like $50 for digital pictures that were taken when we moved out. The lady that did the walk thru kept commenting on how great the house looked and how great it was kept (I had that thing cleaner that it was when we moved in). I replaced all the light bulbs 3 days before the walk thru with the energy efficient ones, had the carpets cleaned and the house inside and out sprayed and I gave them reciepts. They not only took my damage deposit but they also charged me $800. Please, I don't recommend that you rent thru them but if you do take pictures of everything when you move in and when you move out - inside and out. Oh yeah, I got charged for a supposed broken window.(There were NO broken windows on my house!!!). Also, another Soldier stopped by there while I still lived there and warned me this would happen to me, he said that hime and his wife lived in the same house and to be careful. I thought he was probably a crappy tenant who deserved being charged. Boy was I wrong. That was the first place I ever lived that I did not get my deposit back and we took care of that place. Please go through a big name company like Century 21 or Coldwell Banker - someone who has a big name for a reason. Yeah, they area all military affiliated somehow but they still love to sit back and screw you over - how do you think they make their money?

Also to add onto what I just said (sorry about the mis-spellings and errors i am tired and writing fast here. We ended up paying them all the money they wanted just so they could not ruin our credit but they charged us to redo the carpets, redo the spraying inside and outside all because we went through companies they did not like. Nevermind that I spend $150 of my own money between the two and gave them reciepts but they still needed to find a way to charge me. I will stop by the house when I return from this deployment and warn the new tentant. Also, I would have taken legal action but with my husband and I just being deployed it was not worth the headache and the nightmare - plus I did not know what I could do from here. Please be careful and read the reviews. We are not just careless tenants who ruined property or destroyed things we are people who have been taken advantage of because we are Soldiers and because they figure we are either PCSing, ETSing or Deploying so it's easy to rip us off when we are not around to fight it. It's time to get this company out of business or under some new management who cares about Soldiers. I have warned all my Soldiers and my husband has warned his I don't think any will be going thru them upon their return home.

Edward (Top), I certainly hope you were the exception, and not the rule.

As I mentioned, I went back recently and my home was in bad shape. We had it repaired- but, as I looked around the neighborhood I watched grow from what had been nothing more than rocky dirt around Killeen, clearly many of the soldiers who followed us and currently living there now do not care about the places they are living in.

The grass is overgrown, I saw blinds ripped but still on the windows, garage doors dented, leaky cars oil staining the driveways, and that's just the outside. God only knows what the inside looks like if the outside looked that bad.

If they have stopped, I think the Army needs to reinitiate health & welfare inspections again, of soldiers living conditions off post. I also think, since there are so many complaints, that part of clearing would be to have a platoon of NCO's from JAG who did nothing but accompany the inspectors, and sign off on the clearance package, so no soldier is unduly charged, or have off-post soldiers clear their off post housing until 30-days prior to ETSing, so claims like this could be addressed face to face.

But, for those who damage the property- I say, take them to the bank...

I'm still trying to figure out how a joker put a hole (A big hole) in my bathtub. He/she needs to pay for that.

I own a home in Killeen and Era Colonial is "managing the property" by managing they mean they take $$ from me for the lack of common sense tennants who are overloading the circuits and then calling an electrician to come out and flip the breakers back on after unplugging the 30,000 electrical appliances from the single outlet. The tennats cannot live without food so I pretty much have to pay for food as well. The tennant got fleas, I had to pay to have the entire property sprayed for fleas.

ERA COLONIAL are a bunch of thieves, do not do business with them...

You do realize that half, if not homes have no solider there. They have been depolyed for several months so you might only have a wife and small children in the inspection. How much more burdern do you want to put on us?

Big-Sarge wrote:

Edward (Top), I certainly hope you were the exception, and not the rule.
As I mentioned, I went back recently and my home was in bad shape. We had it repaired- but, as I looked around the neighborhood I watched grow from what had been nothing more than rocky dirt around Killeen, clearly many of the soldiers who followed us and currently living there now do not care about the places they are living in.
The grass is overgrown, I saw blinds ripped but still on the windows, garage doors dented, leaky cars oil staining the driveways, and that's just the outside. God only knows what the inside looks like if the outside looked that bad.
If they have stopped, I think the Army needs to reinitiate health & welfare inspections again, of soldiers living conditions off post. I also think, since there are so many complaints, that part of clearing would be to have a platoon of NCO's from JAG who did nothing but accompany the inspectors, and sign off on the clearance package, so no soldier is unduly charged, or have off-post soldiers clear their off post housing until 30-days prior to ETSing, so claims like this could be addressed face to face.
But, for those who damage the property- I say, take them to the bank...
I'm still trying to figure out how a joker put a hole (A big hole) in my bathtub. He/she needs to pay for that.

Correction= half, if not all the homes have no solider there.

try working for the witch and her underlings....my boyfrinde and i worked there for awhile,while waiting for his VA disibility to start. his only means of getting any money at the time..was to work for this co. we worked all hours of the day and night so we could get payed..after we cleaned some houses and billed her she told us that we didnt do those houses that other cleaning teams had,and that she wasnt going to pay us anything(which she didnt)i have copies of all the houses we cleaned. she wrote me a nasty letter belittling us and calling us liers.(i also have that letter too) I waited at the office for 3 hours waiting to talk to her to get my money,but the coward wouldnt come out,she sent her workers to get rid of me..long story short is SHE IS A LIER AND A THIEF and i have the documents to prove it,and as to her for treating my 100% diabled veteran like a piece of shit.....she should be put out of bissness. I have it on good faith that she cheats alot of her employees like that

I really don't know why everyone bad mouths Colonial Real Estate Property Management. I also have rented several houses from them, actually I'm renting a beautiful home from them. And yes my husband is military and has not gotten screwed over. BTW they are not black listed with Fort Hood, if anything they praise them at Fort Hood....call and ask.
Yes, when I rented the first time from them, I did owe them money after my move out. But I also paid my debt to them. I understood why I owed, which was my fault since I didn't comply with the rules & procedures. But the last time was quite alright. I followed the rules and even got some money back.
As of right now, the home that I'm renting from them is wonderful and they are on top of repairs and concerns. I have not had any rude encounters with any of their employees or even the owner.
You guys are just mad, that you rented a house that was not 100% ready. You look at the home before you pay your deposit right? So you are the one that has choosen a bad home. Do you read what you sign before signing? I do. And I had no problems.
If you leave the place a mess and violate the rules, what else do you expect? You violate the law you go to jail, right?(if you get caught)
They are using a lease contract that explains everything in detail. You watch a video about the contract and someone will answer all your questions (if you ask of course!). How detailed does it need to get for some people to get the point?
I really think ya'll should stop slandering this company if you are in the wrong. The people that complain the most are most likely the ones that have not followed the rules.

pat wrote:

It seems everyone is trying the same organizations in order to get this company investigated. If you are reading this you were probably looking to see if anyone else had any problems. It's time to get someone else involved instead of the standard companies nothing upsets me more than to read this data and I know that is there is an organization out there to help these soldiers and if not let's start one their actions are ridiculous and it's no big deal to them please write your congressman, FBI, Attorney General, Post Commander, whoever and lets get this resolved!!!!!!!!!!

ya'll dont have better things to do then complain. "A complainer is nothing but a lazy person"

Lina wrote:

<quoted text> ya'll dont have better things to do then complain. "A complainer is nothing but a lazy person"

Hmmm..I find it interesting that you are saying,” A complainer is nothing but a lazy person". Since, you are complaining about the people on this forum complaining that means that your theory applies to you as well. BTW there is a such thing called business ethics which this company lacks. I am all for admitting when I am wrong but when I come to company for clarification of were they are coming from I find it out right rude to be told “Stop complaining”.

My problem was I did not get everything in writing when I first signed my lease which is my fault. I left off some things from the move in inspection because I was verbally told that it was going to be taken care of. I was also told if I wrote down too much stuff I would have to pay for a new inspection.

After false items on my move out report I spoke to the new tenant and found out that almost all of the things I paid for were not done and that she moved in before the dates listed on the move out sheet. When I pointed this out I was told that the tenant moved in without their knowledge. Kind of funny since they gave her the keys to move in. She was charged rent for the month and so was I. They also made false reports that the house was filthy I looked at the pictures with one of the employees and she said in her opinion it was not filthy but they have to charge the tenants what they pay the contractors to do the work for. The new tenant inspected the house when I was still leaving there I was called that afternoon and she was at my house by the time I got home. She stayed for almost 30 minutes talking to me and looking in every corner of the house. She said it was the nice one she had seen. When I asked her later if she thought the house was filthy she said she would have never signed the lease the next day after leaving my house if she thought it was.