Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/16/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  8/20/2022 to 8/20/2023 $290.00 was taken from my account for no services rendered. I cancelled my contract with ***************************** or White Diamonds ********** on 7/20/2022 because she was taking an extra $50 from the tenant for almost six months before the tenant complained to me about his feeling. I called ******* and she stated that the tenant was paying his monthly rent late, the tenant disagrees and explained that he paid on time but ******* said that it was late because credit card payment too 2 days to clear. ******* was taking that $50.00 on a monthly basis for her company. When I contracted with ******* to rent MY property, she took the entire 1st month rent of $2900 and she keep the tenant security deposit of $9000.00 dollars so I decided to try to make things work but ******* continues to harass me with emails on a monthly basis stating that she will go an put a 3-day notice on this tenant door, MY house even though we do not have a contract and she never did anything for me except for finding the tenant, which she got paid for with 1st rent and $290 for 1 year 7-20-2021 to 7-20-2022. The Tenant does not want to have anything to do with her, I told her that, I was sending her $290 even without a contract because she is holding the tenant money hostage and I feel that she would disappear with his money but she continues to harass me on a monthly basis so I want her to refund my money because she is causing me too much pain and suffering. Contract End 7/20/2022 I am only asking for money back from when the contract ended.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/20/2023

  We are reaching out to address the complaint filed against us on November 16, 2023, ID # *********
  We are deeply troubled by the accusations filed against us in this complaint, and we feel the need to address everything in full, with as much detail as we can offer to better create context for the situation. 
  On August 10th, 2021, the owners signed a standard management agreement with us, White Diamond Rentals, regarding the rental property in ************ ** *****. Per the terms of the agreement under section 3, TERM,
  The term shall begin on the 10TH day of  August, 2021 and will be in effect for one year and will automatically renew for successive year periods at the anniversary date so long as there has not been at least a thirty (30) day written notice prior to the next term given by either party to terminate. Termination by LANDLORD is effective when actually physically received by BROKER. In the event this agreement is terminated by LANDLORD, the BROKER shall continue to receive the rental commission set forth below as long as the tenant(s) placed on the property by BROKER shall remain in the unit. In the event this agreement is terminated by LANDLORD, the Brokers rights provided for in paragraph 15 through 19 shall survive such termination.
  
  While we did receive your notice of cancellation of the contract on July 20, 2022, we explained to you at that time the terms of your management agreement, specifically sections 17 and 19. 
  Section 17, FEE, states: BROKER shall be entitled to a rental commission from all rent monies collected and shall retain any charges deemed additional rent or fees in the lease agreement.
  Section 19, MANAGEMENT FEES states: 
  BROKER shall be entitled to an additional management fee of $_______ per month payable  __monthly or X one months rent collected. THIS MANDATORY FEE covers a wide variety of services such as,fully computerized system, arranging for and supervising repairs, inspections,collection and payment of applicable ******* state and local taxes, from funds received from tenant(s), preparation of Federal Form #****, etc. LANDLORD agrees to pay an additional fee of $75.00 each time lease is renewed.
  
  To reiterate, as long as the tenants are still residing in the home, we are entitled to 10% of the monthly rental commission. 
  
  The complaint also mentions the security deposit, and with it, an accusation of holding the tenants money hostage. 
  We are abhorred at the accusations that we have kept or wrongfully taken the security deposit, as the full $5,800 amount paid by the tenants per their lease, signed on Sept 16, 2021, is currently held per the terms of that lease,under section 3, SECURITY DEPOSIT: 
  SECURITY DEPOSIT: LANDLORD and TENANT acknowledge and agree that any security deposit will be held by LANDLORD, who will hold said funds in a non-interest bearing account with TRUIST BANK, a ******* financial institution on account for TENANT, but subject to the terms of this Lease and Landlords rights to impose claims on
  said security deposit. The Security Deposit is being held by Landlord and/or Landlords agent as security for TENANTS full and faithful performance of any and all provisions of this Lease, and for any amounts incurred or to be incurred by LANDLORD and such amounts due and owing by TENANT which are not limited to, but do include the following: any unpaid rent, late fees, interest,court costs, attorneys fees, the cost(s) associated with the replacement and/or repair of any missing or damaged property of Landlord (including but not limited to furniture, appliances, drywall and equipment) and/or repair any damage to the PREMISES caused by TENANT, members of TENANTS family, any person on or off the PREMISES, guests, invitees, tradesmen, materialmen, TENANTs representatives, pets, animals or any other person, entity or occurrence which was not caused by LANDLORD. Further, LANDLORD may also impose claims on TENANTS security deposit for payment of outstanding bills for gas,electricity, water, sewer or trash collection used by TENANT, any cleaning or trash removal which may be required when TENANT vacates the PREMISES, for replacement of locks, and for keys not returned.
  
  When the owners sent the notice of cancellation of their contract, they asked us to, Please send the full amount that needs to be repaid to the tenant when his lease ends on August 15, 2022.  The tenants did not move out upon the expiration of their lease on August 15th, 2022, which section 27 of their lease, RENEWALS, refers to: 
  RENEWALS: If LANDLORD consents to TENANT remaining in the PREMISES after the natural expiration of this Lease, and no new Lease is signed, the tenancy will be extended as a month-to-month tenancy at an increase of $100.00 rent per month and may be terminated by either party giving written notice of not less than 30 days prior to the end of any monthly payment period or LANDLORD giving written notice not less than 30 days prior to the end of any monthly payment period. 
  
  As no notice was received from the tenants, their lease is still currently considered active, and the funds held for the Security Deposit and Last Months Rent, totaling $8,700, are still held in a non-interest bearing escrow account, per law.
  
  In a conversation that I personally had with the tenant, he complained about having issues paying through the online tenant portal. I informed him that no other tenants who paid through the portal were having issues, so we were confident that the problem was not with the portal. I reminded the tenant that it was their responsibility to pay their rent on time, per their lease,and that they had numerous ways to pay their rent; they could pay with a personal check, a money order, or a cashiers check either dropped off or mailed to our office which was two miles away from their home, so not a far journey out of their ****** he refused. He insisted that he would continue to pay through the portal, and that the issues were on our side, and I insisted that he would be held responsible for the legally binding lease that he signed,including the late fees. 
  On Thursday, **** 23, 2022 at 11:00am, ************************* and myself conducted a walkthrough of the property and noted no issues other than dirty A/C vents.We mentioned the importance of replacing the A/C filters but the tenant who was home, along with her mother, were incredibly unfriendly and uncommunicative and we left shortly after. 
  After the walkthrough, we were instructed by the owners that we were to have no more communication with the tenants. The tenants were not willing to communicate with us at all, including making their monthly rent payments to us.As such, the owners instructed us to not contact the tenants in the future for any reason. 
  Further, In the complaint it is mentioned that we were taking an extra $50 from the tenant for almost six months before the tenant complained and while we dont know what the tenant did or didnt say, we did look at each monthly payment made since October 2021:
  We found that for the first four months of the tenants lease excluding the First Months Rent, from October 2021 to January 2022, the tenant was only paying, in addition to their monthly rent, a $3 convenience fee, charged by the online tenant portal, as is standard; 
  After that, for the months of February and March 2022, the tenants paid an additional $85.70 for a credit card processing fee, which would have been charged by their credit card company. Again, the tenant was always aware of other options that were available to them in regards to paying rent; 
  On May 16, 2022, the tenants were charged $2,900 and we did not receive the payment through the online tenant portal until May 18, 2022. Per the tenants lease, they were charged a $50 late fee on May 17th, and a $5 late fee on May 18th, bringing their total to $2,955. The tenant refused to pay the late fees and we ultimately waived them. 
  
  In May, they only paid a $5 convenience fee, again charged by the online tenant portal and not under our authority. 
  Again on **** 16, 2022, the tenants were charged $2,900 for their **** 2022 rent. A late fee of $50 was charged on **** 17, 2022. On **** 17th,the owners sent us the full rent payment of $2,900 for **** rent through the online tenant portal. We removed our 10% management fee and returned the remaining $2,610 to the owners. 
  **** 2022 was when the tenants began paying the owners directly, and the owners would send the payment to us. As such, we dont understand how we can be accused of taking high amounts from the tenants for such a length of time.
  The same thing happened on July 15th, and then on August 17th, 2022, the owners sent us $290, the equivalent of our management fee for August 2022 rent.This pattern continued each month, where the owners would send the management fee directly to us, until July 2023, when we stopped receiving the monthly management fees. Upon reaching out to the owners on September 21, 2023, we reminded them of the management agreement, and received the management fees for July and August 2023. 
  On October 24th 2023, we reached out to the owners through an email inquiry about the September and October 2023 fees, and received no response.With no other information, we reached out to the owners again on November 13,2023, asking if they would like us to schedule a walkthrough of the property with the tenants, or post a notice of non-payment on their door, because to our knowledge, the tenants hadnt paid their rent; if we didnt receive the management fees, and with no other communication from the owners, how were we to know that the rent was even being paid? We asked the owners how they wished us to proceed, and received no response. 
  Instead, we received a complaint, accusing us of harassment. 
  We hope that we have been able to provide adequate context, as well as our perspective, of the events. We do not see any manner in which we could have been in breach of any contract or how we can be accused of mishandling or unlawfully keeping funds from the tenants in any way. The complaint uses verbiage like too much pain and suffering and harassment, which we think is entirely inappropriate, and we hope that the owners will be held responsible for misrepresenting our company in such ways. Please be assured that we have always strived to provide top-tier service to the owners whose houses we manage, and that includes holding the tenants responsible for their leases in all manners, including rent payments. 
  
  
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/21/2023

   
  Complaint: 20873354
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I cancelled my contract with this company and will not be held hostage to a company that I do not wish to work with. I am done with White Diamond and *******. This tenant does not have a lease and he asked that this company not harass him or his family so what work will this company be providing for me or a tenant that do not wish to work with them. I do not want to work with this company and I do feel that I am being pressured to work with a company I do not want anything to do with anymore.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********* St ****

  Business Response

  Date: 11/27/2023

  We are troubled by this response, particularly the lack of willingness to communicate with us. As we pointed out in our previous response,the owners have signed an active, legally binding contract, and we are simply holding them to the clearly-outlined terms in said contract.
  They have not reached out to us personally, or tried to work out any of these issues privately before coming to the Better Business Bureau to publicly shame and harass us.

  
  We have clearly explained the direct line of responsibilities both the current tenants and owners hold, and we do not understand how these responses are constructive or conducive to the issues at hand in any way.

  
  As we clearly stated in our previous response, per section 27 of the tenants lease,

  
  RENEWALS: If LANDLORD consents to TENANT remaining in the PREMISES after the natural expiration of this Lease, and no new Lease is signed, the tenancy will be extended as a month-to-month tenancy at an increase of $100.00 rent per month and may be terminated by either party giving written notice of not less than 30 days prior to the end of any monthly payment period or LANDLORD giving written notice not less than 30 days prior to the end of any monthly payment period.

  
  As no notice was received from the tenants, and the same people are still residing in the house, their lease is still currently considered active; as such, as previously stated, the owners management agreement is still active as well, and we are entitled to our monthly commission. This was all clearly stated in our previous response.

  In the interest of magnanimity, we would like to offer the owners a total buy-out option, but do not wish to discuss that publicly, on an open forum. If the owners do not wish to contact us, then we intend to hold the owners to their contract, and do not wish to continue this unprofessional, repetitive,unproductive communication. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/27/2023

   
  Complaint: 20873354
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I am required to cancel a contract anytime if I don't want to work with an agent anymore, I cancelled the contract and I need to move on and get another agency which I am able to work with, I do not want to work with White Diamond agency, why is this so hard, the client does not want to work with this agent, the property is mine, I am the one paying all of the expense for this property, why is this agency fighting so hard to work with someone that is no longer willing to work with them, something is wrong somewhere. I want this agency and its agent to stop contracting me because I feel threatened by their actions. It is my right to cancel this contract and not work with this agent and her agency. Please stop harassing me, I feel very threatened by White Diamonds actions. I cancelled the contract and I want to move on. Please stop harassing me, thank you.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********* St ****