Complaint Review: Terry Hershberger

Yes, we were there only 4 months. No, I was NOT persistant, Terry had the option not to rent to us, that was his choice as the owner. He had an ad on Craigslist for the mobile home, which stated month the month rental option. He told me he originally wanted $1,000 per month due the the gas and oil workers looking for inclusive rentals in our area. He called us back a couple days later offering the $695 per month rent.

We have verification from the propane company, Amerigas, stating that we could not put the propane in our name, since their was already an account through the landlord. Several calls were made by us to Terry regarding the propane that were not answered.(Yet after we moved, he called us 5 times within two days, and my mother-in-law on Christmas Eve.) Due to cell phone reception we did not get the messages until a couple days later.

We have a receipt for carpet cleaning. less than a week before we moved. We paid the last month rent with the key drop off, and the final electric bill was to be deducted from the security deposit.

We are not asking for our full security deposit back, just what is owed to us, we agreed that the electric and propane should be subtracted. Bt their were other trumped up charges, like the futon, "general cleaning," and more, that we fully dispute.

The fact that slander is mentioned is ironic, since we also have proof of calls made to a friend and a relative, that slandered us.

The keys were left on the table because Betty, Terry's Mom and on site property manager, was not home.

Terry only owes us $400 and some change. Two different setlement statements were sent. The second had even more charges. This was in retaliation for mentioning yet again the that mobile home became rodent infested once outside temperatures turned cold, which was ignored, then denied.

We did not leave the place a "shambles" as one of the slander calls made to someone atated. We cleaned up, emptied the  trash, cleaned the carpet, etc. Our dogs didn't do any damage. ( Betty met and approved the dogs prior to us signing the lease.) Until I told both Betty and Terry about the mouse infestation at the end of November, we had a good relationship. Other than being told we wou;d have free use of the laundry room during our stay, but the water was shut off to that building at the end of October, so we only had about 6 wks. use.

We are long time, responsible home owners. We are clean, as many can verify. In fact the person we borrowed the camper from stated and can tesify that we left it cleaner than it was prior. Everyone we've talked to about this situation, and that visited us while we were staying at Dogwood Acres, knows we were ideal tenants.

Jeff & Kathy Persic which now reside @ 71665 Broadhead Rd. Kimbolton, Oh 43749 contacted me in July of 2012 and wanted to rent a small mobile home I own while they were building a home. They were living at the time in a friends camping trailer in their friends driveway. They also had 3 beagles. I told them that I would not allow pets there. Kathy was very persistant and begged me to please make an exception for them. She said that they were going crazy in that small camper and could't live there any longer and just needed a place for a few months. I told her that I did not do month to month leases and that I require a year. She again was very persistant and assured me that if I made these exceptions for them that I would not be "sorry." Well, out of the kindness of my heart, as I felt sorry for their situation, I rented them the mobile home fully furnished on a month to month basis and allowed them to have their 3 beagles on the premises. I also even waived the pet depost that I would normally charge if I allowed pets on any property which is standard. It would have been $250.00 per pet.

I  received a letter in late November dated November 15th that they wanted to end the month to month term. The letter also said "Thank you for letting us stay, we appreciate it. I received a phone call from Kathy in December stating that we are not going to be able to move out by the move out date as our home will not be finished. I reminded her that they had until the end of December since it was a month to month lease and that there was no hurry. At this point, she had not paid her December rent. i asked her for it when she called and reminded her that there would be late fees for the rent. She said i am not paying all of December, only for half of it as we are moving. i again reminded her that it was a month to month lease that started on the beginning of a month and would end on the end of a month, not in the middle.

The Utilities were the responsibility of the tenant. It is their own fault that they let the propane run out. She should have set up an account in her name and I am sure the propane company would have delivered her propane as they have for any other tenant, however I feell she didn't care as she was planning on moving out on the 15th of december and it didn't run out until the 20th and she was still living there. She also never made any attempt to call me about this even though it was her own responsibility.

We also wanted to do a final inspection upon move out however they simply left the keys on the table on the porch of our office and left. We attempted to call them but they would not return my calls. Upon inspection, we realized that the carpets were in need of cleaning even though they were only there four months. A new futon that was in the spare bedroom was also destroyed beyong repair. We also had to now have a leak test done on the propane tank per regulations when you allow a tank to run empty which was their responsibility to keep propane in the tank as being responsible for the utilities. They only paid $448.40 rent for December check number 1387 and the rent was $695.00. It was also not paid until the 21st of December. It was 21 days late and the lease allows for a $10 per day late fee. The following is the list of fees due.

Unpaid December Rent  $296.60, late fees @10.00/day of $240.00, Carpet Cleaning done by a professional $135.00, Broken Futon Bed $100.00, Cleaning of mobile home inside to get reid of cigarette smoke and dog smell $100.00 (all our rentals are non-smoking), Propane Rep[lacement (60 gallons) $168.60, Propane Leak test due to tenant leaving tank go empty $107.00 Final electric bill through december $99.51, Broken dirt devil vaccuun $$50.00. These all add up to $1,296.71. Thier depost was $695.00, so yes I kept their deposit to help cover all these items and I am in cpmpliance with the lease and Ohio law which reads:

"Upon termination of the rental agreement any property or money held by the landlord as asecurity deposit may be applied to th epayments of past due rent and to the payment of the amount of damages that the landlord has suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with section 5321.05 of the Revised Code or the rental agreement. Any deduction from the security deposit shall be itemized and identified by the landlord in a written notice delivered to the tenant together with the amount due, within thirty days after the termination of the rental agreement and delivery of possession." This is what I have done.

I was willing to forget about the balance owed after the deposit was deducted from the amount owed of $1,296.71 which left a balance due of $601.71. However, due to this personal attack, I am now considering a lawsuit which would also now include slander and libel charges.