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Mark Bishop Remax Realty Rental Scam Birmingham Alabama
My fiance and I recently relocated to Alabama and needed to find a place to live in only 2 weeks. After months of research trying to find a location that was close to my new job and close to grocery stores and other living needs due to her current health disabilities and only being able to drive short distances we thought we found what was the perfect place.
We drove over 10 hours to hand deliver first and last month deposit and fill out paperwork on 12/15/2017 and drove back to Florida to pack up our home and move so that I could start work on 1/2/18. When we arrived at the property it was just after dusk and upon entering the home we noticed it looked nothing like the photos that were displayed on Zillow. Being a real estate investor and previous landlord I understood not to have my expectations high and since we were limited to time a financial resources, we willingly rented the property knowing that it wasn't what we expected. During the tour of the house we were aware of some small issues that are common for a home of this age, and common for a home that was sitting unrented for a few months. We addressed this in the short time we were there and were verbally promised those issues would be fixed ( ceiling fan cover put back, washer water hook up was leaking, carpets needed cleaned as it smelled like a animal rescue ). Knowing that the location was perfect for us and that the rental was only temporary we decided to except the terms because it was very easy to rent (which should have raised some flags), and we were pressed for time so we really didn't have an opportunity to look at other properties and there was nothing in the area where my fiance could have access to local ammenties such as food, gas stations, etc. since she could only travel a mile or two due too her condition and recoverying from a car accident where she was hit by a drunk driver. We explained in detail our financial situation, her disability, and asked every question possible about the house from the electric bill and cost to maintain the home and anything else an experienced investor/landlord would want to know.
Here is where the scam starts.
Upon arriving to the property to move in on 12/29, there have been issue after issue and I have been in a he said she said with the realtor who rented us the property and the landlord since that time. Here is everything that we have experienced with the home since we have arrived and I finally decided to write this report after we received our first electric bill of $550 for 2 weeks of usage.
1. Outside of house and yard covered in debris, yard and back porch completely covered in leaves and limbs. We cleaned it up.
2. Refrigerator didn't work, I brought my own and actually had to assist with removing the old one and putting in the new one. Doesn't fit in the original location so we now have a refrigerator sitting where we would normally sit down to eat.
3. Half of the lights outside didn't work, landlord fixed after two weeks
4. Interior of house had to be completely cleaned, wood floors were filthy, cob webs all over the house, fire place still had half burnt logs in it and was full of ashes.
5. Interior of house had not been touched other than carpets were cleaned, previous tenant was there for over 3 years so you can imagine what it looked liked.
-Nails and other hardware were still hanging on the walls
-Damage to walls, chipped paint, dirty floors, broken drawers in the kitchen, guest bathroom didn't have a shower head, bathroom sink leaks, kitchen sink leaks, half of the light bulbs had to be replaced (by us).
6. Gutters were filled with leaves
7. Some of the windows on the outside were busted or needed to be replaced.
Currently the house is not insulated which we did not know at the time of renting as we didn't have much time to see the house during our walk through, when I asked the realtor what the average costs were for electric, his reply was no more than $300 at peak months (summer/winter). After researching further the average costs to heat/cool the home were $300 with peak bill over $600 a month.
Basically this home was not ready and after showing it to renters for 4 months you would think that given our situation ( urgency to rent, financial woes due to moving expenses, additional surgeries for my fiance, hurricane Irma, and just about anything else you can think of) he would have been candid with us so we knew what we were getting into.
We knew upon starting work 1.2.2018 I would be leaving for overseas to meet with my new company and would be gone for two weeks. My dissapointment in this comes from having to pick up and move into a home that wasn't ready and leave my fiance behind with two dogs in a home that is what I would consider not liveable in a new town with no other family members around. My 65 year old mother drove from Pennsylvania to help us move, during the move she suffered a severe fall so while she was there to help us, she spent 1 day in the hospital and several days in bed. As you can imagine the entire situation was just emotionally overwhelming, as we did everything we promised from day 1, from telling him we would rent the place, give a check for almost $4000 and basically did all of the work the landlord should have done.
The problem is the landlord blames the realtor and doesn't understand why the realtor didn't let him know about all of the issues, as the agreement between them was he would handle the rental so he wasn't involved with communication during that time. Either way, being a previous landlord, and having purchased, sold, and rented properties with my family for over 20 years, we would Never put someone in a home in this condition. Regardless of our personal issues at the time, what kind of professional would let these things go overlooked, and would think that any of these conditions would be okay to put anyone in a home like this.
I now understand why it was so easy to rent and they were so nice to us while we were going through the process. It is because they knew if they were honest about the condition of the home and its many, many issues, they would have never been able to rent or sell the property without seriously investing money. Come to find out after multiple conversations with the landlord, he hasn't been working and is in his own financial problems. He also claims the last tenant never paid rent for an entire year.
So with that said, they bascially saw a young couple, urgently needing a place to live and took advantage of the situation. Had I known the home would have been a money pit and would have given us this much grief, I would have pushed back my start date of employment to give us more time to look for a property that was acceptable to move into.
I accepted the fact that it is what it is, but after receiving the electric bill after two weeks of living here, it was the straw the broke the camels back and anyone who does business with Mark Bishop should seriously consider it. We had such a good feeling about the area because everywhere we went people were so warm and friendly and it was such a nice change from South Florida where these type of Realtors run rampid. We never expected someone could be so inconsiderate and deceitful knowing our situation and everything we have been through the past few months.
Normally I would let Karma take care of a situation like this but I do not want to see anyone go through what we have since moving into this home and I strongly advise you do not do business with this man.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Disgruntled Renter
Birmingham,Alabama,
United States
Additional issues
#2Author of original report
Sun, January 21, 2018
These are additional issues with the house that were left out from the previous report. 7. House came with one key for the front door which had a realtor lock pad on it that we had to remove ourselves and the door didn’t lock so we had to replace the entire door fixture 8. Fence was broke on one section and the latch to the fence was falling off 9. The a/c and central heating unit occasionally leaves out a puff of smoke when shutting off so most likely the condenser is about to go . 10. Coy pond pump in the back of the house stopped working after 3 weeks of living there and is now shut off