Featured Reports

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Francis ("Marty") Mullen -Don’t Rent To Him!

This guy moved into my 2-BR unit last December, and stopped paying rent in September. He gave me several bad checks, then left owing 3 months’ rent! I took him to court and won a judgment in the amount of $2,806.00 against him, but I still have not seen a dime that he owes me. I now have to hire an atty. to put a lien on him. He never cleaned his apartment, and left his filthy furniture for me to haul away. I had to use half his escrow for cleaning & furniture removal. Don’t rent to him; he is bad news!

LANCE LATTA --NEVER RENT FROM HIM

SPOKANE, WA, LANCE LATTA WAS A HORIBLE LANDLORD.  HE HAS SEVERAL HOUSES HERE IN SPOKANE, WA AND AN APARTMENT COMPLEX IN COEUR D’ALENE, ID.  WHEN I RENTED FROM HIM HE WAS NICE UNTIL MY HEAT WENT OUT.  I HAD TWO GAS LEAKS THAT I CALLED AVISTA UTILITIES AND THE FURNACE GOT “RED TAGGED”, WHICH MEANS THEY WON’T TURN YOUR GAS BACK ON UNLESS THE FURNACE IS FIXED.  HE REFUSED TO FIX IT AND ME AND MY NEPHEW (WHOM I AM RAISING) HAD ONE SMALL HEATER TO WARM THE ENTIRE PLACE IN THE DEAD OF THE WINTER.  IT DIDN’T KEEP US WARM.  THE COLDEST THE WEATHER GOT WAS DOWN TO 9 DEGREES.  HE DIDN’T OFFER TO FIX THE HEAT, NOR OFFER TO PROVIDE OTHER HEATING RESOURCES FOR US, FORCING US TO STAY AT ANOTHER HOME.  AFTER TWO MONTHS, AND ME FINDING PLACES TO FIX THE HEAT ON MY OWN, IT WAS FINALLY FIXED.  I PAID RENT FOR THOSE TWO MONTHS, AND ONLY STAYED THERE ABOUT TWO WEEKS OUT OF THOSE TWO MONTHS.  AT THE END OF THOSE TWO MONTHS HE OFFERED TO DEDUCT 1/4 OFF ONE MONTHS RENT EITHER THAT MONTH OR THE NEXT MONTH, BUT AT THAT TIME, I WAS HANDING HIM MY RENT AND A INTENT TO MOVE OUT.  STUPID ME, DIDN’T REWRITE THE CHECK AT THAT TIME BECAUSE I DID NOT HAVE MY CHECKBOOK WITH ME AND I FIGURED I’D TAKE IT OFF THE NEXT MONTHS RENT.  UPON PAYING MY LAST MONTHS RENT, I TRIED TO TAKE THAT AMOUNT OFF AND HE REFUSED.  I WAS VERY UPSET.  THEN AFTER MOVING OUT, HE DIDN’T GIVE ME BACK A FULL DEPOSIT.  WE DID A WALK-THRU AND I EVEN HAD A WITNESS WITH ME AND HE SAID I WOULD RECIEVE MY FULL DEPOSIT.  THIS PLACE WAS A MESS WHEN I MOVED IN AS IT HADN’T EVEN BEEN CLEANED.  I CLEANED IT SO WELL, YOU COULD EAT OFF THE FLOORS.  HE IS A WORTHLESS LANDLORD.  KARMA WILL COME AROUND.  I PRAY THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE, AS I SURELY DIDN’T DESERVE THIS AND NEITHER DOES ANYONE ELSE.

Do Not Lease from Steve and Jeanette Schwarzbach

These shady landlords own buildings on the North Shore and in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago but live in Wickenburg, Arizona. They do not have repairs done in a timely fashion, and when they do finally send someone to perform a repair, the “technician” is of mediocre ability/credentials; the repair is not done satisfactorily and requires repeat visits until the problem is corrected.

On one occasion, a technician who was contacted in an emergency situation spoke with Steve and Jeanette Schwarzbach on the phone concerning the severity of the issue and the ramifications of not fixing it. The landlords questioned the magnitude of the problem and requested a “Band-Aid” repair at a minimum cost. After talking with them at length, the technician (who was highly knowledgeable and competent and also happened to be the business owner) handed me the phone in exasperation and stated, “I do not want to deal with your landlords; they are shady people.”

In addition to delayed responsiveness to requests for necessary repairs or maintenance, the Schwarzbachs do not conduct background checks on prospective tenants (evidently, they don’t want to be burdened with the cost associated with such screening measures). Thus, one might end up suffering through a lease with a neighbor who, e.g., is a drug addict, doesn’t pay his/her bills, and asks to borrow money.

In short, these landlords do not maintain their property, and they don’t care whom they lease an apartment to; their only concern is receiving their monthly rent check. In retrospect, I had just cause to withhold rental payments on several occasions. How foolish I was not to have been more assertive. I could write much more about my unpleasant, and even nightmarish, experiences with these landlords; however, all that potential lessees need to know is that they would be wise to rent elsewhere. Simply put, the Schwarzbachs are people of highly questionable character and business ethics, and they will take advantage of you if you let them.