I rented a house from Townsend, there was significant rot on the exterior of the house when we moved in, and our renting of the house was supposed to be conditioned on the landlord repairing that damage. We also complained that the deck was sloping toward the house, which caused the kitchen to flood every time there was heavy rain. Later in the tenancy a seal broke in the plumbing under the kitchen sink. They fixed the leak, but not the water damage. Then a few months before we were planning to move out, the deck collapsed. After that I called the city inspectors, who wrote the property owner a citation requiring them to fix the rotten siding and the kitchen floor, which was about to collapse. Later, the kitchen floor did collapse, so we were forced to move out and find temporary lodging just a few weeks before we were about to move out of state.
When we finally got the accounting of the security deposit, they were billing us for the collapsed deck, the collapsed kitchen floor, the water damage under the sink, and the damage to the exterior wall, which was already rotten when we moved in. To add insult to injury, the mailbox was broken but not completely unserviceable when we moved in, it was in the same condition when we moved out, Townsend replaced the mailbox and billed us claiming we removed it. They also billed us for repainting every room in the interior, which didn’t need to be repainted, except for the kitchen cabinets, which we half painted but had to stop when the kitchen floor collapsed. And they billed us for yard work when the hedges had been trimmed less than a month before we moved out, and the yard was mowed and raked on the day we moved out.
In addition to all of this, there were some charges that we were being billed for that were clearly erroneous (ie. the bill from Townsend had the contractor bills attached, Townsend was billing us more than the contractors had charged Townsend). Townsend’s bill said that they were reporting me to the credit bureaus. I have disputed Townsend’s bill, but Townsend refuses to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act by responding to my disputes. Even after I notified Townsend that I had reported them to the FTC and the NC Real Estate Commission, they did not reply. Even after the Real Estate Commission told them that they should reply, they did not.
Soon I will be initiating a lawsuit against Townsend Real Estate, the lawsuit will include a RICO Act claim, which requires a showing that Townsend has participated in a pattern of illegal activity. What happened to me establishes enough of a pattern, but it would be helpful to have stories from other victims.
If you are a landlord or a tenant who has been victimized by Townsend Real Estate, please email me your story and contact information at townsend.fraud hushmail
com.
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