Complaint Review: Real Property Management Elite

I don’t know how RPM Elite was voted “Best of State”. They must have paid someone for that title because they are the WORST rental agency I have ever dealt with and in my time I have dealt with a few so I do know of which I speak.

They have a bad reputation in the Salt Lake Valley amongst renters and unfortunately I had the displeasure of dealing with their shadiness.

From the very beginning we had problems with RPM Elite but only until after they got our money.

They would send us threatening letters and try to charge late fees for rent and deposits that were paid on time. It was like pulling teeth to rectify the situation, as the staff was argumentative and impolite.

 Maintenance requests were handled poorly.  Our issues with heating /cooling and plumbing were unresolved.  On a few occasions, I had to light the pilot light on the water heater myself (which seems pretty dangerous for someone who does not know what they are doing.) We had to buy and change our own heater filter.  The repairs we requested to have completed (reported to the inspector) were flat-out ignored.  RPM’s excuse was that the owner of the house we were renting did not want to pay to “fix” these issues and so we were required to “fix” them ourselves.  

When we wanted to vacate the property, we were told that we would have to buy-out of the lease or forfeit all deposits and risk being sued. We had only one month remaining on our lease and yet they were going to nickel and dime us.  I understand that a lease is a binding contract but I also know that landlords can make exceptions.  We had been excellent tenants---not late even once with the rent and yet they refused to work with us toward a solution.

While there were other issues with RPM Elite, including the lack of giving 24 hour notice before they showed the property to prospective tenants, the biggest concern of ours is the amount of money that was deducted from our security deposit for normal wear and tear. They deducted $600.00!  When they came to inspect the property and show the house to prospective tenants they remarked on how nice the house looked.  

All of a sudden, now that it is time to give the deposit back, they deduct a large sum of money for a “cleaning fee”.  There were absolutely no damages to the house and we cleaned before we left. Per RPM’s request, we even had the carpet in the entire house professionally cleaned. There is no reason $600.00 should have been deducted from our deposit and the lack of RPM’s response says it all. I have requested that they provide us with an itemized list of deductions and my request has been ignored by two property managers and the office manager. 

If you are interested in renting from this agency, I advise you not to. There are other agencies in the valley that are much more honest, accommodating and less greedy.  Take my advice, and look elsewhere.