ComplaintsforHomeVault, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  07/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am relocating from California to New Mexico for work. On 5/24/22 I submitted a rental application for a property listed for rent at **** ***** **** ** *** Farmington, NM. This property was listed for rent through Home Vault LLC. I paid $65 (which I understand was a non-refundable amount) in order to qualify for that property. On 6/1/22 I was notified that property was no longer available for rent and was now for sale. I was offered the opportunity to purchase (I declined) or to transfer my application to another property. On 6/2/22 I selected a property for rent on *** ***** ***** ** Farmington NM. On 6/7/22 my application was approved for this property. On 6/8/22 I received a long email of information pertaining to the lease fees, within the email it stated I had 24hrs to pay the holding fee of $1400 since they often have many applicants interested in the same property. Paying the holding fee removed the property off the market and would prompt for them to send me the lease. In one of the many terms & conditions, the company states that a lease must be signed within 3 days of receiving a verbal, written or email approval. I moved to New Mexico on 6/11, after driving around the city, the property on *** ***** ***** ** did not seem to be in a safe neighborhood. I reached out to Jasmine P*** on 6/17 requesting information on a property that was in a much better location. This was the first time Jasmine notified me my holding fee would be forfeited if I moved my application, she informed me my lease would be sent out today (6/17). The lease was sent out on 6/28, 21 days after approval, 11 days after the mentioned date. All these days in between allowed me to do in person research, drive around the city, meet residents and get feedback on the area. I made the tough decision to not move forward with the property and requested a refund. I feel entitled to a refund due to the pressure to move fast on the holding fee and lack of communication and missed deadlines.

  Business response

  07/18/2022

  Dear Sir or Madam:
  
  This letter is in response to the above referenced Complaint.
  
  The customer placed a non-refundable holding fee on June 8th, 2022, for the property their application was on, after the initial property they applied to was removed for sales purposes. At the time of approval, the applicant received an email that stated the breakdown of move in costs and disclosed that the holding fee was non-refundable.
  
  Furthermore, the state of New Mexico states that the holding deposit is to protect the landlord if the tenant does not move in and can be used as liquidated damages.
  
  The fee that was paid, was to remove the property from the market to secure the rental from other prospective renters. At the time of the holding fee being placed, there were two other sets of backup applicants waiting their turn to place the deposit. The property was removed from the market and the backup applicants were disbursed to other available rentals. The property was removed for 30 days before the customer reached out to explain that they would not be moving forward with the rental.
  
  As a licensed Real Estate Professional, my license prohibits me and the team I work with from disclosing safety of the area and the due diligence to research falls to the customer. There are several websites that can be utilized to research criminal activity remotely, without needing to be in the area. The City of Farmington also offers the ability to request daily logs, offense reports, and several other public records which can all be done remotely. 
  
  The holding fee was disbursed to the owner to cover liquidated damages for the time the property was off the market and until the time we can find another renter for the property.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Jasmine P***
  Operations Director

• Initial Complaint

  02/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been trying to contact HomeVault LLC about several 1099-MISC Tax forms filed incorrectly with the IRS since mid December of 2021. They have returned my call, but refuse to help me. I have requested copies of the tax documents- but they have not returned my call nor supplied the forms to me. I am only aware there is a problem because the IRS has notified me. In 2019, I filed for divorce from my spouse. I contacted the former owner via telephone, Independence Capitol, and informed them that my exhusband was alone responsible for all property. I guess they did not change the name on the tax forms to his name. The new company left my name on the tax forms for 2020 and 2019. I have called them numerous times in attempts to correct this situation, but they tell me they are unable to correct the forms and have not even supplied me the requested documents.

  Business response

  02/18/2022

  Dear Sir or Madam:
  
  This letter is in response to the above referenced Complaint.
  
  This client entered into a Management Agreement dated July 27th, 2017 with Independence Capital if which both owners signed the management agreement. The Management Agreement was then assigned to HomeVault Property Management July 1st of 2020.
  
  We have no record or phone calls from either owner indicating a change in ownership, and there wasn’t any record of phone calls or emails directly from the Customer about the change that was needed, nor were we supplied with new W-9 information, or record of severance from either party.
  
  On December 2021, we received a voicemail from the Customer, indicating the situation. The Customer indicated that they had reached out previously but was unable to provide the emails from the conversations they stated took place. 
  
  We were unable to change previous years reporting and indicated to the Customer that there was a potential for offsetting the 1099 to the Ex-Husband to this transaction and address that directly between themselves and the IRS. We were able to contact the existing owner and corrected the year of 2021 by collecting necessary documents to do so.
  
  If you have any questions or if I can provide any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  Jasmine P***
  Operations Director

• Initial Complaint

  08/14/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I want to talk to a human, not a robot. I own property that this agency in New Mexico has the power over my property. I do not want them to be the rental agency for my property any longer. I cannot reach them when i need to. My property that is rented by this agency is **** ******* ******** **** Fort Myers, FL. 33919. My personal residence changed in Feb. 2021 and they do not have it on file. My old address was *** ******* ******* *****, Old Hickory TN. MY NEW ADDRESS IS *** ******** ******, MT. JULIET, TN 37122 my email address is **********************, my cell phone number is ###-###-####. Thank you.

  Business response

  08/23/2021

  Dear Sir or Madam:
  
  This letter is in response to the above referenced Complaint.
  
  This client had contacted us via phone call and through the Better Business Bureau from our Business Profile on August 14th, 2021. We are closed on weekends and had been short staffed on Monday. We took the time to review his voicemail and message on Tuesday and responded to him via phone call on August 18th, 2021.
  
  We are in the process of completing his request and have been in communication with them.
  
  If you have any questions or if I can provide any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  Jasmine P***

• Initial Complaint

  08/10/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Residential Property Rental- **** ******** **, Farmington, NM-87402 We had to pay one month deposited 1350 USD. Contract Period- July 2, 2020 - July 5, 2021 We received the house unclean and untidy on July 2 2020 - Ms Jasmine P*** - offers 50 USD waiver (did not accept) Paid all the bills according to the rental agreements, Clorox cleaned the house and professional carpet cleaned. Returned the house on July 5, 2021 Home Vault handed the house on same day to Ms Mary H***** ( realtor from ******** *******) -she sold the house in two days. On August 4 2021, Ms Julie C*** from Home Vault sends us a deposit disposition - deducts 915.08 USD. she provide on July 23, 2021 Janitorial expenses - 382.03 USD, Aug 3, 2021 Repairs - 424.67 USD, Aug 4 2021 - Make ready co-ordination - 100+ tax 8.38 USD. We strongly don't agree with these charges. We don' agree cleaning and repairing after giving the house to other party and we are not responsible. Never discussed with us for cleaning or repairs.

• Initial Complaint

  08/03/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I feel comped to write about HomeVault, the real estate management company based in Farmington NM with a branch in Flagstaff AZ. HomeVault can be reached at Email: *******************, Phone ###-###-#### HomeVault listed the a rental home (*** ** ******* **., in Flagstaff) on Zillow and kept the listing open past the time they had a viable candidate. They did not answer questions and required $130 in application fees to get a response. Once the response came, it was in the form of an auto-generated email. After informing the company that I would file complaints, they said they reviewed internal policies and found them to be ethical. Upon my request for a refund, they offered to transfer the application to one of their other locations out of state. Homevault appears to swindle potential renters by stringing them along to think there is an open lease, when another renter has claimed it. They are opportunistic, deceitful, and prey on potential renters.

  Business response

  08/09/2021

  Hello. As a company, we are also compelled to respond to your review because all our policies and processes are ethically driven. We do take this very seriously and is something we are constantly reassessing to ensure we are serving our customers through that lens. 
  
  The Policy is as follows:
  
  Once an applicant is approved they will be given 24 hours to pay the Lease Preparation Fee (LPF) and Holding Pre-Payment Fee (HPP).
  If the LPF is not paid within 24 hours, we move on to the next applicant. If there are no other applications in line, we can give the applicant more time to pay.
  We will ONLY remove the property from marketing once the LPF/HPP has been received and has cleared.
  This practice is to ensure we do not do a disservice to our owner by removing the property in case the prospect changes their mind.
  We continue marketing until the prospective tenant pays the fees and shows their commitment to moving forward with the home.
  
  
  Pertaining to your specific situation:
  We originally got your application on 07/28/2021 which we were unable to process since we had to wait for your co-applicants application to show up on our system. We received that application on 07/29/2021.
  On 07/29/2021, we sent you an email to advise that you are a backup applicant for the property and to confirm that we got both of your applications. 
  The first applicant was approved on 07/29/2021 and had 24 hours to pay. They paid this holding prepayment on 07/30/2021. We only remove properties off the market once the said fee is settled. On that day we sent you the email to indicate we had another approved applicant.
  
  
  We do understand that you may not agree with our policy however, this does not mean it is wrong or deceitful. The process you are referring to is the normal standard of many property management agencies when marketing.
  
  
  I do agree that we made a mistake in providing an inaccurate transfer location for your application and sincerely apologize for that error.  Otherwise, we do stand behind our policy and will continue to uphold our ethics in all our procedures. 
  
  
  Thank you. 
  

  Customer response

  08/09/2021

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because your business does not make it clear to potential renters that: 1) another applicant has priority in the queue.  All applicants are required to submit the "application fee," which would imply that the application has a viable chance of being reviewed.   In my case, the application was not looked at, but the fees were simply pocketed. 2) Offering secondary locations is a farce if the locations are out of the area.  

  Again, you are taking advantage of potential renters, because typically renters are less financially stable and have fewer resources.  Your practices are deceptive.  They are simply a matter of choice, but they are unethical.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *******

  
  

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, the consumer must give a reason why they are rejecting the response. If the consumer does not provide a reason the complaint will be closed Answered]

  Business response

  08/13/2021

  Under the terms of agreement in which you signed through the application process, it states the following:

  2. Application Fee (nonrefundable). A Non-refundable application fee (per applicant) will be collected with this
  application, in order to process the consumer reports on each applicant. In the event a chargeback is initiated against
  the non-refundable application fee the applicant is responsible for all chargeback and/or collection fees incurred to any
  reversed credit card payments. APPLICATION COST: The fee that is paid for the application is broken down in case
  by $5 - online application, up to $25 - credit report, $35 - administrative / staff expenses.

  8. If You Withdraw Before Approval. You and any co-applicant may not withdraw your application or the application
  deposit. If you or any co-applicant withdraws an Application or notifies us that you've changed your mind about renting
  the dwelling unit, we'll be entitled to retain all application deposits as liquidated damages, and the parties will then
  have no further obligation to each other.

  9. Completed Application. An Application will not be considered "completed" and will not be processed until all of the
  following have been provided to us: a separate Application has been fully filled out and signed by you and each coapplicant;
  an application fee has been paid to us; an application deposit has been paid to us. If no item is checked, all
  are necessary for the Application to be considered completed. A completed application does not constitute "holding" of
  the property in any manner

  Furthermore, we notified you were not the first in line applicant. The email stated, 'Thank you for your interest in renting one of our homes. We have received your application, but want you to know that there is at least one other application already in process on this home. We will continue to work on all applications so that we may update all applicants on their status as quickly as possible. We process applications on a first approved basis.'

  We are happy to provide you a copy of your background and credit check but the application fee has not been pocketed and has been utilized to run those items as well as the time to initiate screening procedures. Our application procedure is transparent and not deceitful.

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