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George Asberry & Vicki Hardin. CORRUPT JACKSONVILLE SLUMLORDS. Take Your SECURITY DEPOSIT And RUN. RIPPING OFF INNOCENT TENANTS FOR ALMOST A DECADE. Jacksonville Florida
This ripoff report is designed to be an ongoing "blog" of sorts. Several former tenants of George Asberry (and his partner, Vicki Hardin) have decided to get together and document our individual cases with this long running corrupt Jacksonville landlord. If you are considering renting a property from these individuals, you might want to look over this ripoff report very carefully. Among other things, this landlord has been well known for:
- Renting out properties with visible and/or hidden damage or severe problems.
- In almost any case we know, this landlord refuses to return security deposits. They will then re-rent their properties to other victims and manage to collect "double rent" for those months.
- George (and Vicki) have been to court with former tenants on NUMEROUS occasions. They will stoop to any level to rip off former tenants, including perjuring themselves in court. They will also bring in their cronies as surprise false witnesses to testify against any tenant's case.
- George (Vicki?) have been known to break in to tenants properties and violate their privacy. At this time, we don't know if they have actually stolen anything from said tenants properties ... but they have been known to rifle through former tenants belongings, and even take pictures.
- George and Vicki have been known to harass current and former tenants. This has included harassing calls to the tenant's place of work, face to face harassment, following moving caravans, and other general mayhem.
Following is a recent case from a former tenant of George Asberry. There will be one to two immediate updates to this ripoffreport for current and past former tenants. As far as we can tell, this landlord has been ripping off tenants in Jacksonville for nearly a decade.
XXXX
921 Talbot, Jacksonville FL 32205
On August 1st 2007 I rented an apartment from a Mr. George Asberry the apartment was on 921 Talbot avenue jax fl 32205. The apartment was equipped with two small window units to cool the entire 900 square foot apartment, as I had never had window units before I asked Mr. Asberry if the window units would adequately cool the place down, he assured me they would, and that he has never had any complaints from previous tenants. So I went ahead and paid a total of $1100.00 for first months rent and security deposit.
The first night I slept there which was august 1st I found it very difficult to sleep because of the intense heat, which the window units never did anything to alleviate. The next day I brought home a digital thermometer I purchased from home depot, I let the window units run from about 2pm in the afternoon until about 7pm and temperatures in the apartment still read in excess of 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
I contacted Mr. Asberry and he told me he would do nothing to solve the problem. At that point I purchased my own window units for 500 dollars at home depot and installed them myself, that very next day I received a warning letter stating that I had "violated the terms of my lease by altering the property without the owners consent". At which point I reinstalled the original window units, I then contacted Mr. Asberry again and told him I had to leave because I couldn't handle the heat, he then agreed to release me from my lease and refund my deposit and half of Augusts rent within a weeks time.
So on august 17th I vacated the apartment, under the impression that I would be receiving most of money back, so I was quite motivated to leave the place in the same condition I had moved into it. A week and a half later I received a letter from Mr. Asberry stating that I had broken my one year lease agreement, and that in the 2 weeks I was living there I had broken the heater scuffed the hardwood floors and left the place unclean and smelly, and I would not be receiving any of my deposit back.
If anything can be done, even if it's just to prevent this man from continuing to do this to people, I would certainly like to see it happen. Both window units in the apartment are potential fire and health hazards, although both units have covers on them to hide the extensive corrosion and rust that is on the coils, the coils are so corroded that they fall apart when touched, when the units are turned on pieces of the coils flake off and get blown into the apartment.
I was also to find out later that Mr. Asberry entered my apartment while I was not at home and took pictures, I guess in hopes of finding something to use against me in the future, at no point did he notify me that he would be entering the apartment and he had no good reason to. Something should be done about this man, I'm hoping that by posting this here, others who have been treated poorly by George will step forward.
Former tenants of George & Vicki
Jacksonville, Florida
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Steven
Jacksonville,Florida,
U.S.A.
Not George JK
#5Consumer Comment
Wed, April 29, 2009
Just trying to give you some info. Since it's been a while how did this go?
Jk
Jacksonville,Florida,
U.S.A.
nice comment assberry
#5Consumer Comment
Mon, July 28, 2008
So what you're saying is adding pages to the lease and making things up and lying in order to make a tenant be in violation of their lease is ok. Wrong!!! that still makes you a lying scumbag slumlord, but i know this is a pointless argument since George obviously made this comment himself and is pretending to be someone else.
So keep defending yourself and we'll see you later.
Steven
Jacksonville,Florida,
U.S.A.
Did you read landlord/tenants rights
#5Consumer Suggestion
Tue, October 30, 2007
The city of Jacksonville has a site you can go to and file complaints if you feel you were wronged.
Any changes to the property should have been made in the form of a written request or notification to the owners.
Not doubting your problems just saying you should read over rental agreements and check out information for your rights as a tenant.
Doesn't look like you did either here.
Noticed you left out details such as lease length and security deposit return info.
Former tenants of George & Vicki
Jacksonville,Florida,
U.S.A.
George INVADES tenants property and STEALS security deposit AGAIN!!!
#5Author of original report
Sun, September 23, 2007
Psycho George
I would definitely recommend NOT renting from George Asberry, or ever giving him any money at all for any reason.
I rented an apartment from him about two and a half years ago. On the day I moved in, a young gentleman came by and was taking pictures of me moving in. He asked if I had rented the apartment, and I said yes and asked why. He simply said, youll find out. I wish I had pushed the issue because I had not signed my lease at that point and I could have gotten out of the situationbut hindsight is always 20/20. My guess is that he had moved out a few days before, and he didnt get his security deposit back for some made-up reason.
Also, on my move-in day, George loitered in the courtyard area and watched me and my friends unload the truck. He made strange comments about my personal belongings and how they were packed in the truck.
A few days later, I ran into George in the courtyard again on my way to work. He said, Im glad you threw away that banana peel. This was my first indication that he was entering my apartment without the required by law 24 hour notice I had in fact, 2 days prior, left in a hurry for work and left a banana peel in an ashtray on a table in the living room, which I threw away as soon as I came home from work the same day. So, he knew that there was a banana peel there (unauthorized entry #1) and that it had been thrown away (unauthorized entry #2). I didnt say anything in return; I had already decided that the less interaction with him, the better.
While I was living at the apartment, I went to visit a friend of mine who lives in Canada. It was originally supposed to be a one week trip, but while I was there, we received word that my aunt was very ill. I ended up going back and forth between Canada and New York for almost two months, helping care for my aunt after major surgery to try to battle cancer. I obviously wasnt working during this time. My friend in Canada is the best friend I could ever ask for; she has the means and she loves me and she sent George two checks, one for the current months rent that was due, and a second, post-dated check for the following month, so that I would be able to stay with my aunt. No one has ever done anything better for me; my aunt died a few months later and the time I was able to spend with her was priceless.
A few days later, I got out of the shower to see that I had missed two calls. The first one was from George. He did not leave a message. The second one, 8 minutes later, was from my brother. He left a message asking me to call him back, and I did. He proceeded to tell me that George had called him at home (my brother is a lawyer who lives in Houston, Texas), being very rude and abrasive and telling him that he was going to evict me, and sue me, and throw my personal belongings out on the curb. George called my parents but I dont think he left them a message when they didnt answer. I believe he also called my former employer. (these phone numbers had been given to him with my application as emergency contacts. I thought an emergency would be something like a fire in the building)
I called George back about half an hour later (because I really needed to calm down before I spoke to him) and he was overly friendly and laughing and said he had found the second check in the envelope; originally he had just pulled the post-dated check for the following month out of the envelope and thrown the other one away. But now he had found it and everything was fine, ha ha ha. I have to say I didnt find the situation amusing at all. He called my phone, and when I didnt answer because I was in the shower, instead of leaving me a message, he proceeded to harass my whole family and slander me. Had he left a message and waited 15 minutes to see if I would call back (which I would have), the whole thing could have been avoided.
I finally came back to Jacksonville and at this point had decided that I was going to move out of the apartment, due to the difficulties I had had with George. I really didnt feel safe in the apartment, between knowing that he was entering my apartment without permission, and his unstable behavior regarding the check that HE threw away.
When I told him I was moving out, he seemed very happy. (I guess its because he knew at that point that he was going to have my security deposit in his pocket) He told me that he would give me my security deposit back, even though I was moving out early. Ha. About 2 weeks later I received a registered letter, which I assumed was going to be a check, but it turned out to be a barely legible note scribbled on a scrap piece of paper saying he was keeping my entire security deposit due to cigarette burns in the carpet.
There were cigarette burns in the crappy carpet when I moved in. I rarely drop anything, let alone burning cigarettes. I do not have cigarette burns in any of my property, furniture, vehicles, or any prior place that I have lived. I use ashtrays, and I keep close track of my cigarettes when I am smoking because I dont like unplanned fires much. And I find cigarette burns unsightly too, which is why I dont have any.
I would not have been nearly as mad if the note had said, you broke your lease and moved out early because that was true, even though he had told me, in front of a witness, that he would give me my deposit back. The fact that he made up a lie is what got me. But, it didnt really surprise me.
I was extremely mad, but I truly didnt want to ever have any contact with him again so I just let it drop.
I wonder if anyone has ever gotten their security deposit back from him?
Dont rent from George.