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:10/20/2023

  Type:Customer Service 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.

  On October 10th, 2023, we received an email from Buckeye Real Estate with a "Notice to Leave Premises" and a $314.19 balance in our account. There was no previous notice before this was sent out of any bills. Along with that, there was a paper of this same notice taped to our front door.
  
  We immediately paid the bill due to the significant verbiage within the notice such as, "YOU ARE BEING ASKED TO LEAVE THE PREMISES. IF YOU DO NOT LEAVE, AN EVICTION ACTION MAY BE INITIATED AGAINST YOU." This induced panic within all three of us (the tenants).
  
  I personally called Buckeye Real Estate office and asked about the notice, bill, and if any further action needed to be taken. I was told as long as the bill was paid we were fine. Upon investigation, it was an "electric" bill.
  
  The next day, October 11th, we asked our neighbors (we live in a split duplex) if they received any bill or notice. They told us they had not and were unsure as to why we would have. My roommate, ***** *******, and I went to the office and different times that day to figure out what was going on. The manager informed us that it was a mistake because we actually pay electric every month within our rent and leasing agreement.
  
  So, with that, there were a plethora of opportunities for when this should have been caught. There is absolutely no reason as to why a "Notice to Leave Premises" was plastered on our door for a seemingly nonexistent bill. We received nothing more than an apology and an "oops" on their end. We are all beyond frustrated and our days were completely affected by this.
  
  As college students, but even more-so young women, we unfortunately feel as though that is why we are subject to this with no real consequences on their end.
  
  We are seeking compensation from Buckeye Real Estate to resolve the problem.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/27/2023

  An electric bill was received by our office for this property and was erroneously added to the resident account.  3day notices were printed on the 10th of the month for any balance that was over $300.  This balance triggered that threshold.  ***** stopped in our office the next day and asked about the billing amount, it was then that I realized the AEP bill was invoiced to the residents in error.  I spoke to accounting who figured out the mistake, fixed it in the system and removed the invoiced amount from their resident ledger.  I sincerely apologized to the resident as that bill should not have been added to their account.

  There is nothing more we can do for this instance.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/18/2022

  Type:Billing 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.

  ******* and **** **** rented an apartment from Buckeye Real Estate at *** ** **** *** during the 2020 and 2021 Ohio State Academic years. Both are college students and rented the apartment with two other classmates. They paid a full months rent as a deposit for the apartment at the time of signing of the lease on 11/22/2019.
  
  When they moved out of the apartment in early August of this year, both my husband and I were present and made sure that the apartment was clean and that there was no damage to the property. Despite this, we received a letter from Buckeye with a deposit refund of only $600. The attached Tenant Ledger indicated that there were repair charges of over $1300. There was no explanation other than the ledger deductions which claimed that there were blinds and doors in the apartment that were damaged and had to be replaced.
  
  We called Buckeye Real Estate and were told that they would have pictures of the damaged items and that we should file a dispute. We did this in early September and received a letter back from Buckeye Real Estate on September 30th stating that after looking at the information in their records. they did not have information to support the charge they had made to us for $440 for broken blinds and sent us a check for $280, but that they would not refund the rest of what they claimed were repair costs related to 2 broken doors ($600), light bulbs (74.19) and regrouting of the bathroom tubs ($130).
  
  At that point, I sent an email to ***** *********** Property Manager-Leasing, and again asked for photos and proof of the damaged doors and other repairs. She then sent me an email response saying that she did not have pictures of the damage (even though they had stated that this was their standard practice when I first called them to dispute the charges) but would send a copy of the repair order as evidence of the damage of the doors.
  
  When I received the email from *****, she sent a repair order that was for *** * *** ** **** ****** (the property is a split house) where our sons lived on one half and the other half was leased as a separate rental property by Buckeye Real Estate. It did not say which property the doors were for or indicate which doors on the property were replaced.
  
  I can only assume that the repair was for the property at *** as there was nothing to support that it was for *** E. 13th and we had multiple parents that witnessed that none of the doors were damaged on the property at *** E. 13th. I again requested pictures or evidence that the doors were damaged at the apartment at *** E 13th. I have not received any further correspondence from Buckeye Real Estate and they have refused to refund the remaining deposit amount. In addition, my sons actually know the students that moved into the property after them and they say that the doors in the apartment were not replaced and are not new.
  
  I am requesting that Buckeye Real Estate refund the $600 for these doors and the $130 related to the recaulking of the tubs as this seems normal maintenance when you have renters living in a property for 2 years.
  
  I think that this company has a practice of taking advantage of students who do not have the ability to defend themselves. These are bad business practices and ones that should be stopped. These students have little money to support themselves and should not have to deal with companies that take it without justification.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/23/2022

  This dispute is the product of a deposit dispute previously submitted to our company.  The original dispute was for the blinds, the doors, and the caulking of the tubs.  After further review, I found that 11 blinds were replaced, but only four were actually broken, so seven of the blinds were reimbursed.  As previously stated to the resident, two doors were replaced.  The bathroom door was split/had a crack in it and a closet door in the upstairs bedroom was broken.  The caulk had mildew permeated into it.
  
  Per the resident, they wanted to see the photos of the broken doors.  The bathroom door had a split in it, not a hole, so it wasn’t in a photograph.  The other door was within the upstairs bedroom that was not inspected due to the door being locked.  When the maintenance tech when to do his punch list, he popped the lock on the door (and replaced that knob), and found the closet door was broken.  He replaced both the bathroom door and the closet door.  The work order is attached, the first line says ******* E. 13th Avenue as that is the property. The second line lists *** E. 13th Avenue as the service address.
  
  As for the caulk, regular cleaning of the tub/shower surrounds with a bleach solution will keep mildew at bay.  When the residents moved in, the caulk did not have mildew in it, when they moved out, it needed scraped and replaced, that fee is charged back to the resident.
  
  We realize that our former resident disagrees with our findings on these charges, however, we did expend the time and manpower to make the repairs and we do consider these items beyond normal wear.
  
  Best,
  
  ***** *********

  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/16/2022

  Per the request of the last email, I have included a copy of the resident lease.

   

  I have provided the inspection and the photos that we had for the charges.

  The photo of the bathroom door shows a crack in the facia.  It's not a great photo of it, but the crack is visible.

  Photos also show mildew within the calking around the shower tray and the tub.

  There are no photos of the door because the bedroom door was locked.  Per the statement by my maintenance tech, there was a crack in the front of the door.  I looked through clients photos and see that only the back side of the door is visible in their photos, so it does not show the crack in the door.

  Per my maintenance tech, he replaced the closet door in the bedroom next to the bathroom, and the bathroom door.  

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/16/2022

  [If you do not say why you are rejecting the company's response, BBB must close your complaint.] 
  
  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: we still have not received any photos and we have provided photos that show that there was no damage.  They have said that they do not have photos of the door and that the one provided does not clearly show the crack.  Without evidence of the damage.  They should reimburse the deposit. 
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ******* ****