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Securing your security deposit
How to avoid a nightmarish renting experience
By Kristin Kern
Tips to protect yourself as a renter.
-Research your landlord and building manager
-After signing your lease, fill out a move-in report
-Take pictures of the inside of your apartment upon move-in and move-out
-Stop by the Neighborhood Housing for more information
-Check out pickalandlord.com to see how area landlords have been reviewed
Student renters beware. When choosing a place to rent for the school year, what may first appear to be the ideal housing situation may turn into signing a lease that will leave you burned.
Natasha Fahey-Flynn, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student, describes her apartment experience with Olson Management.
“Moving in, our apartment hadn’t been cleaned or painted which my roommate and I spent four hours each doing,” she said. Later, after many rounds of unanswered and unreturned phone calls from the landlord, some of her security deposit was withheld for painting the dirty walls.
According to complaints filed at the UWM Neighborhood Housing Offices, it appears that she and her roommates weren’t the only ones at odds with apartment management.
Rebecca Klabacka, another Olson Management resident, alleged the following in a complaint to the UWM Neighborhood Housing Offices:
“We moved in June 1, 2005 and the apartment was not painted and everything was very dirty. They also told us to paint and at the end of our lease, they said they never said that and charged us $600 for it. They mailed our deposit back late and lied about it. They would also never return our phone calls.”
Other tenants in the complex claimed their security deposit withheld for similar reasons. Additionally, they alleged that it would be weeks before the trash was picked up and that tenants were not informed of break-ins happening inside of the building, adding to their frustration.
Olson Management employee Sean, who has been with the company for nine months, was asked about the dirty move-in conditions. He was unsure why they were not clean and commented that the company was previously managed by Ogden Management.
He explained that they have since hired new cleaning staff and three full time maintenance staff members.
Sean was unsure as to why the company seems to have a reputation of withholding student security deposits.
“If apartments are given in good condition then we expect them back in good condition,” he said. “Overall, we have good relationships with students outside of those who are not paying rent.”
According to Neighborhood Housing Office records, several students were also upset with Lubbad Investment.
Nicole Schumann filed a complaint stating:
“When my roommate and I moved in we had to move out three layers of peed-on carpet and clean some rooms that were never cleaned before. When we complained about our heat not working or our sinks being moldy he said that there was nothing he could do about it. The house was in better shape when we left than when we got it and he still took money out of our security deposit.”
Katie Mann, another Lubbad Investments tenant, complained that her landlord was unresponsive to phone calls or e-mails, and was unreliable in fixing things around her apartment, even after repeated notifications. Lubbad was unavailable for comment.
Many UWM students filed complaints at the Neighborhood Housing offices on landlords throughout the Milwaukee area for dirty move-in conditions, slow response on repairs, unwillingness to return security deposit and failure to return tenant phone calls.
In order to avoid such problems, it is important for students to know what Beth from Northland Apartment Company suggests. She said the top three reasons why students security deposits are withheld are, “Past due balances, cleaning and damages and items not noted on move-in reports.”
Sean from Olson Management also said that “leaving units dirty and broken, (and) people not paying and damage such as holes in walls” are the reasons security deposits are with held from students.
While some students are faced with renting nightmares, others have had good experiences with their housing arrangements.
“I have been renting in Milwaukee for the past four years and the landlords were really good about the security deposit, I got the full amount back,” said UWM senior Michael Poser.
Tory Perreault, another UWM senior, commented on her landlord. “Whenever a problem occurred they were quick to respond to fix it,” she said.
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