Century 21 East Lake is not a property management company you want to work with. I have rented a home through them that has needed repairs that went unanswered and ignored. I reported to Sherry the maintenance supervisor that a bathroom shower head pipe from the wall had broke making the shower unusable. She said she would contact the owner. Sherry never called back, nor did anyone from Century 21 come to fix the shower. I called again and again, but nothing happened. I bought the supplies from Lowe's and fixed the shower myself quite cheaply ($20) and deducted from the rent and sent the receipt in with a note. The same day I received a curt, rude phone call from Sherry stating that that was NOT the way things were handled. According to Florida state law 83, that is the way things are supposed to be handled. Next our home due to massive amounts of rain became overwhelmed with ants that were coming in from behind the shower heads, cracks in the walls, almost everywhere imaginable (no where near the kitchen). Century 21 lead me to believe that the problem was mine, because it was occurring inside the house. Florida statue 83 says the landlord must provide a pest free home unless it is excluded in the lease. The lease stated that lawn maintenance was included, yet no one cut the grass from January through May, and the Broker, Kathy Erikson said that I was such a nuisance from calling the office so many times to inquire regarding the lawn service (I could not cut in because of congestive heart failure) that everyone knew me and the situation. The house appeared abandoned and strangers began knocking on the door looking for odd jobs such a mowing the lawn. The neighbors would harass me on how the property looked. Also contained in Florida statute again is the specificity regarding plumbing. The icing on the cake was me going without a shower for 6 months. I called them to tell them there was a horrible leak; the main was the only way to shut it off. I couldn't go without water in the whole house. It took me 3 days to ""Suction off"" the handle to the shower so the water would stop until someone came and got it down to a trickle. I called over and over again to Century 21, only to be told they had contacted the owner, she would be calling me, she was going to take care of it, etc. etc. Century 21 finally sent their own maintenance repairman out, Russ, who broke the shower handle off completely, and a professional plumber had to come repair it. I am disgusted that they lied to me that I could not do the repairs myself and withhold the repair cost from the rent. The law clearly states this. Not maintaining a pest free, safe property with adequate plumbing is against the law. They bullied me to pay, pay, pay or they would evict, and did not care that the owner would not repair and breached the agreement. I have had to contact an attorney, because I informed Century 21 that the property was in foreclosure, sent them proof from the bank, that the owner hadn't paid since July 2011, and they still asked me to sign a lease in September of 2011, and 2012. It is not against the law for a homeowner to rent a foreclosed property, but it is fraud to not notify the renter that foreclosure is imminent and occurring. This would explain the lack of concern for repairs and maintenance. Century 21 rents foreclosed properties, takes the renters money, bullies them, refuses to follow state law, tells tenants they are responsible for state statute mandated landlord upkeep, and very difficult to work with period. Stay away. The foreclosure attorney for the bank said I could take them to small claims court for the rent I have paid since last year for them not disclosing the foreclosure while having me sign the lease.
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