Steven Osburn At Investors Advantage Realty rip-off! Slumlord! Woodbridge Virginia
Steven Osburn at Investors Advantage Realty
Scandulous slumlord, harrassment
Woodbridge, VA 22193
My husband and I are currently renting a townhouse from Steve Osburn at Investors Advantage Realty. We reach the end of our lease as of August 30, 2004. Mr. Osburn stated that we are held liable until November because we were to provide 45 day written notification of our intentions. The lease does not state this to be mandatory and that either party may give notice. Once providing him of our intentions he stated that he had people moving in on the 1st of September. And that everything will be fine. A couple of days later he calls back stating the original, that we are held liable until November. Our lease clearly states that the expiration date of our lease is August 30th.
Also, he is trying to make us paint the inside of his townhouse, make all repairs even though the repairs were needed before we moved in, and to also relocate our dog for the last week that we are there so he can come and go with people looking to rent. First of all, Mr. Osburn did not take the proper procedures when renting out a home. We were not given a form to fill out of all repairs needed prior to moving in. We built our own list and had of their employees witness and sign. We have been there a year and still no repairs have taken place. Our back door is broken, the carpet is tearing apart (imitation burber), paint needed on the outside, yard work was not taken care of, paint inside was not done (we had to find our own painter), caulking, and was not cleaned inside before renting.
We have talked to his other tenants and they are experiencing the same problems. A neighbor has had a broke window from the time they moved in and still has yet to be fixed. He has also pressed charges on another tenant for stealing a washer and dryer which from personal observation was broke and were not stolen by this person.
Steven Osburn has purchased cheap carpet and appliances and tries to get you to pay for brand new items with more value. We have retrieved estimates on the repairs to be prepared. This man is a slumlord and I pray to God for his next tenants that move in.
Currently, we pay $1150/month for a 1300 square foot townhouse in a neighborhood off of route 2. He is raising the rent to $1200/month without any repairs taking place. These townhouses were built in 1994 and sat unfinished for 5 years. Property value went down.
We have found Steve Osburn to be a dishonest landlord. He does not take care of his properties and ignores any request for repairs. The only thing he is worried about is not having someone rent the townhouse as soon as the tenant leaves. He will try anything in his power to hold you reliable or trick someone into renting. I have documentation if anyone wishes to research.
Sabrina
Fredericksburg, Virginia
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Sabrina
Fredericksburg,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Charged for Fraudulant Repairs
#3Author of original report
Fri, March 25, 2005
In November of 2004, we received a court order for us to have appeared in court a month earlier for a landlord/tenant pay for damages done to the townhouse. Steve Osburn already kept our $1500 deposit and then took us to court for an additional $3500. Instead of having the subpeona sent to our current residence, he sent the subpeona to the residence that we had rented from him nearly 2 months earlier. We moved out August 29, 2004.
He sent us to court in September. He was fully aware of where we lived but still sent the subpeona to the address where we no longer rented from him. By the court, tenants are allowed to dispute the charges within 2 weeks of the first court appearance.
We received a letter from Steve Osburn a month later showing us a copy of the subpeona and a written note torn out of a notebook that he was going to place this on our credit reports if we did not pay. The letter was addressed to our current residence. This shows as proof that he was aware of where we lived and lied to the courts about our address.
He waited for the time for us to rebuttal so we wouldn't have a chance. If we do not rebuttal then the landlord has all rights and automatically win the case. Where is the tenant rights in situations like this?
We are not the only ones. With extensive research we have found other tenants that they try to drain money out of. We have rented before so we knew what steps to take. We got an estimate of what we should take care of and it did not total $5000.
He has had the townhouse totally remodeled. We had carpet that cost less than a $1 a foot. The contract clearly states that tenants are not responsible for painting and he has charged us for that as well.
We have been checking on the rental of the townhouse we rented from him. He cannot hold a tenant for even 6 months before they are trying to get out. Steve Osburn was well aware of us leaving on August 29, 2004 and still had the papers sent to that address we rented from him in September.
Why would you send it to the address we no longer live at? He wants money and he knew he would have lost against us. We have too much proof against him. We are in search for a lawyer who would be happy to take this case. I have names and numbers of tenants and also Steve Osburn's maintenance man who he is also suing for $50,000. This is a repetitive act by Steve and Linda Osburn.
Again they own Investor's Advantage Realty. The neighborhood where he rents out townhouses is in Fredericksburg, VA in Brookwood. His townhouses are on Corey's Way. He owns at least 3 of them and all tenants had problems with getting him to keep up with the properties.
Sabrina
Fredericksburg,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Harrassment
#3Author of original report
Tue, August 24, 2004
I told Mr. Osburn to not contact me at work that we will make contact in the evenings, he proceeded to call me four more times after that discussion. He is also sharing information on the case he has with another tenant and tries to tell me about while I am work. I find this harrassing and not of my best interest while I am trying to work.