ComplaintsforWolfnest Property Management

• Initial Complaint

  08/19/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was very close to renting a property from these people. I cannot explain how glad I am that I did not! Before even seeing the property I was interested in I was pressured into an "fully refundable" "application deposit" of $499. I paid the fee and very shortly after they began tacking on additional fees and ensuring me that I can agree as soon as possible to begin the move in procedure. It took them 11 days to accept my application, 2 days after I was planned and needed to move in! During these 11 days I was forced due to timing and the additional fees they tacked on to find other housing! I am a ****************************** need of housing for my senior year of school and waiting 10 days for approval was not disclosed nor agreed upon. Now, the "fully refundable deposit" became zero percent refundable and they forfeited my $499 deposit even with honest communication and sincerity on my end. I have asked them politely for my deposit multiple times. Please hear my concerns.

  Business response

  08/23/2021

  Thanks for reaching out Chase. You left out three very important details that we addressed with you in our email on 8/18. Namely 1) All fees were fully disclosed to you before you applied and in our email correspondence. 2) The delay in approval had nothing to do with us 3) Your application deposit is fully refundable if you are denied for any reason. In this case, you were approved, but changed your mind about moving in. You must understand that when we hold a property for you, significant costs are incurred. Our email stated:
  
  "Hi Chase,
  Thanks for the email and respectfully, I disagree with it in its entirety. We have been in constant communication with you via call, email, or SMS since we began processing your applications. From day 1 of you being conditionally approved, we did our best to complete your rental and employment verifications and put it out as urgent as I understand you need to move in asap. ****** updates you every day of the progress and seeks your help because we cannot get a hold of your co-signer's employer. We have records of calls and SMS to you and your Dad trying to complete your verifications. I am sorry to hear that you still feel disappointed with our professionalism despite constant communication. As for the application process, it was laid out from the beginning, even on the first page of the application form that the $499 application deposit is part of the application requirements. You sent us an email last Aug 10 asking if you can view the property before the deposit becomes non-refundable and we have let you because it is okay. I have provided you with the code and your email afterward says - "Just viewed the place. Ill submit the deposit now." I am sorry to hear that you feel pressured however, we have answered all of your questions before we have proceeded to the next step. All the fees associated with renting this property are posted in our ads and emails. We had gone over your risk mitigation fee concerns before you accepted it. You asked and we agreed for you to have more time in accepting the terms as you said "Id like to have a few more hours to ensure confidence in my decision." As much as we want to have a tenant move into our properties as soon as possible, we have a process to follow and we do our best to complete them asap too. As we have previously discussed with you after getting conditionally approved, unfortunately, the signed application states, "7. If You Withdraw After Conditional 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, there will be a $499 cancelation fee." Please confirm how you want to proceed and if you have any additional questions or concerns."
  
  

  Customer response

  08/23/2021

   
  Complaint: 15780359
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  you left out key details to your counter claim. Firstly, you claimed I was fully informed of the additional fees attached to the lease signing before I applied to the property. I disagree because it was only discussed that the "Tenant Benefits Program" of $49 dollars a month along with the "credit surety fee" of $20 was not negotiable only after I submitted the $499 "Application Deposit". Just to inform those at BBB what your tenant benefits program does in a simplistic and ethical manner, I will explain.  The Wolfnest Tenant Benefits Program forces the tenants to pay $49 a month for the upkeep of the Wolfnest website, allows for online rental payment (with additional transaction fees), allows tenants to have pets (at select properties with additional monthly charges), gives you updates when your monthly rent is due, and allows the tenants a single late rent "voucher" (with additional fees). This is a non-negotiable fee that Wolfnest only informed me was non-negotiable till after I submitted the $499 application fee. I was only informed of the "credit surety fee" again only after I submitted the $499 "Application Deposit". Continuing to counter argument 2 of the Wolfnest representative. While the application timing may have taken longer than any of us expected, I paid you a large sum of money for your paid employees to make this happen before the planned move in date. Your company decided that it was necessary to contact, my current employer, my current property manager and my fathers employer. These three contacts should not have taken a professional business 10 days to complete. Remember, I paid for this to happen before the planned move in date. Despite depositing my hard earned money into your accounts, it took your employees 10 whole days to make three connections to legitimate phone, email and professional contacts. Moving to Wolfnest counter argument three about me changing my mind about moving into your property. This is false as I was REQUIRED and FORCED to find other housing due to Wolfnest's inability to approve my paid application in a timely manner. I am a **************************************************************************** need of responsive and professional housing. I am rejecting this response as I am still in need of a full refund for my deposit.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************

  Business response

  08/24/2021

  Hi Chase. Thanks for your response, but you were informed in multiple places. The first was on page 1 of our rental application where it says: "PLEASE NOTE: Once a completed application has been submitted, we assume that your intention is to lease the property. Following application approval, we remove the property from the market in anticipation of your move in. If you are approved and fail to enter into a lease agreement, a cancellation charge of $499 will apply." Also, the second is on the form where you submitted your payment, it says: "If applicant is approved by the landlord and a lease is entered into, the application deposit shall be credited towards the required security deposit. If applicant is approved, but fails to enter into a lease within three calendar days after notification of such approval, the $499 application deposit shall be forfeited to the landlord as liquidated damages." I suppose it's possible you missed these, but you were absolutely informed. 

  Additionally, the speed of an approval is typically based on how quickly your reference/employer responds to our request. This is clearly outside of our control, and despite multiple attempts to attain this information, it took some time to receive it. While that certainly doesn't make the delay any easier, hopefully it demonstrates that it's not from a lack of trying on our part. Ultimately, I'm sorry that things didn't work out, but we did our best to keep you in the loop every step of the way and did not deceive you as claimed.

  Customer response

  08/31/2021

   
  Complaint: 15780359
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I understand that you are capable of copy and pasting statements from documents written by your lawyer, but this does not shed light on the fact that I was forced to find other housing due too your lack of timely approval. I understand that this was not entirely in your hands but it was very much less so in mine. Again, due to the fact that you took 11 days to verify employment and housing of three contacts I was FORCED to find other housing before your approval. Wolfnest properties is very capable of finding additional tenants quickly and easily for this property. Myself, a ****************************** need of housing before the beginning of school was NOT CAPABLE of making timing exceptions to this need. I was FORCED to find additional housing. I am rejecting this response. Please refund my application deposit of $499 dollars in a timely manner. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************

  Business response

  08/31/2021

  Hi Chase. I understand your position, but I fear you are only viewing this situation from your perspective. No one forced you to apply for this property, but we did explain the process and all potential costs up front. No one forced you to put down an application deposit, but we did disclose all relevant information regarding how these funds are treated. No one at Wolfnest prevented you from receiving a timely approval and in fact tried to work with you to help get our verifications completed with your help. No one forced you to withdraw your application after being approved but we did explain how these situations are handled. We have communicated with you every step of the way and tried our best to keep you informed. Contrary to what you may believe, when a tenant backs out after being approved the owner is harmed via lost rent and it's not as easy as snapping our fingers to find another tenant. In all honesty, we dislike situations like this as much as you do because no one wins but to say you were somehow treated unfairly isn't accurate. 

  Customer response

  09/01/2021

   
  Complaint: 15780359
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I am indeed viewing this from my perspective, the perspective of a college student in need of housing. For you, it is as easy as snapping your fingers to find another tenant in this market. You know that. I was FORCED by your untimely approval to find different housing. I am not concerned for the "damages the owner has suffered" due to the fact that they are having tenants pay their mortgage times 3! I have a hard time believing that my application deposit when directly to the owner but instead to your unethically driven property management company. I am rejecting this response. Please refund my application deposit of $499 dollars immediately.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************

  Business response

  09/02/2021

  Hi Chase. Clearly you have your mind made up that you were treated unfairly, and no explanation from me or written terms you agreed to are going to change it. Likewise, unless you are able to produce any facts that contradict what I've provided to you, there isn't anything else I can do. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/07/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Billed $374 for professional home cleaning services by the property management company. The lease terms require a receipt demonstrating that professional cleaning service was hired to clean the house. This was completed as outlined in our lease and the receipt was provided via email by the cleaning service. The receipt was provided to the property management company on 5/4/2021 and the response was that the information would be forwarded to the team processing the move out. We received our ledger two weeks later with the charge for the professional cleaning service. Two follow up emails were sent to the company with the cleaning service receipt attached, both of which without response from the company.

  Business response

  06/08/2021

  Hi ******. Thanks for reaching out and I can appreciate your frustration. It appears you absolutely had the property professionally cleaned and provided us with an invoice. However, the issue is with the quality of the cleaning done. For example, if you reference your move out packet, you will find a cleaning checklist. This is the same cleaning checklist that we use with our cleaners before you moved in and many of the items were not addressed. Those included: Kitchen cabinets were not wiped down or cleaned, the oven was left very dirty with a pan still inside, all baseboards were not wiped down, the toilet had ring stains that were not properly cleaned, the bathroom upstairs was dirty, many doors and walls needed grime and dirt wiped off, etc. As a result, we had to schedule another cleaning to address these items. 

• Initial Complaint

  04/30/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I rented part of a house in Park City. The owner insisted on using Wolfnest Property Management. Upon moving out 3/19/21 we have not been able to contact Wolfnest at all, and they have been unresponsive to our phone calls/emails. We have not recieved our security deposit back, in arrears of the 30 days mandated by the State of Utah, and have no resolution to this in sight. We would like our security deposit back, in full. This business should not be allowed to continue to operate.

  Business response

  05/03/2021

  Thanks for reaching out and for your patience. We apologize for the delay as we've been waiting on vendor invoices before processing your disposition. We expect a resolution on this today. 

  Customer response

  05/12/2021

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The charges that remain are egregious.  It may be at the fault of the owner, but that is between the two of you.  All of that aside, you went well beyond your 30 day limit, PER UTAH STATE LAW, and are required to return the ENTIRE security deposit, NOT a portion of it.  Your team has finally been somewhat communicatitive, but it does not change the fact that you were in arrears with returning our security deposit, and still have not returned it in full.  Please return the security deposit, in full, if you would like me to accept that this has been resolved.  If not, there will continue to be an open, and public, complaint.
  
  Sincerely,
  ***** ***********
  

  Business response

  05/13/2021

  Thanks for your response *****, but I believe you are basing your position on bad information. All charges are legitimate and documented, and there is no such requirement to return the deposit in full. In fact, under Utah law if a deposit disposition takes more than 30 days, you must submit a notice. 

  Link: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title57/Chapter17/57-17-S3.html?v=C57-17-S3_2015051220150512#57-17-3(5)

  That notice, which you did provide, then allows us 5 days to respond and comply - which we did. At this point we are in compliance with the law. However, please don't take my word for it and feel free to discuss this matter with your attorney. I'm confident he will agree that we have remedied the situation in accordance with Utah law.

*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. ↩