Complaint Review: Parker Real Estate Management

When we rented from Parker Management in Bloomington Indiana they were nothing but professional and courteous. Until we moved out. After cleaning the house thoroughly, from top to bottom, their inspector came through and marked everything "dirty", which is not only insulting, it is unscrupulous seeing as how Parker Management then went on to charge us for 7 hours of "cleaning charges", not to mention charging us for damage to the building that was already present on move in. Reviews online confirm that Parker regularly keeps tenants entire security deposits based on bogus charges--clearly the company suffers from a corrupt, unethical culture that victimizes its mostly out-of-state, student tenants. I wish I had read the reviews before--otherwise I would have withheld our last month's rent.

In addition, what they withhold from security deposits is also not covered by Indiana Code, which states that what can be deducted from tenants' security deposits include:

• for the payment of accrued rent;
• for reimbursement of actual damages that are not the result of ordinary wear and tear;
• for the amount of damages that the landlord has suffered or will reasonably suffer by reason of the tenant’s noncompliance with law or the rental agreement; and
• for any unpaid utility or sewer charges that the tenant is obligated to pay under the rental agreement
  
  

There is no mention of deducting funds for cleaning, which should be a standard cost of operation for a property management company.

I wouldn't recommend renting from this company if at all possible, but if you do, be sure to refuse to pay your last month's rent as protection against their predatory policies regarding security deposits.