Complaint Review: American Homes 4 Rent - nashville TN

I received the keys to my home on 3/31/2019. I walked in and immediately noticed that the home wasn’t clean. It was actually filthy:

• Urine on the toilet seat in the guest bath.
• All surfaces in the home were sticky.
• Refrigerator wasn’t clean

There were many other things that I would find later, but I had to fly back to Phoenix. I emailed Jeanette Riley on 3/31/2019 asking about the move- in inspection and spoke with someone named Diane Garrison who stated that I would be reimbursed if I had a cleaner come in to the home.

I received the “inspection report” which was odd because it only had photos—no notes to say what the issues were or if there was anything noted. If you just look at the photos she took, it looks like the house is in perfect condition—with a few minor cosmetic issues—to be expected in a rental home.  This becomes important later.

On 4/4, I emailed requesting a new walkthrough and how the conditions I noted upon move- in would be handled.

I received no response after 2 follow up emails and after I stated I could come into the office if no one was able to respond to me, I received an email from Ashleigh Owen—who asked me what was going on—completely ignoring each bullet point outlining my issues in previous emails.

She stated that the home was cleaned “to standard” after the previous tenant moved out but would provide me a credit on my account for the cleaning company that I hired to clean the home. She said that there would be normal “foot traffic” because of home viewings. I let her know that a dirty refrigerator and urine on a toilet seat is not normal foot traffic.

I also emailed about a rack that needed to be rehung in one of the bedroom closets. Upon entering our home on 4/10/2019—instead of hanging the clothing rack that was IN the closet—someone put up a BOOK SHELF.  The evening of 4/10/19, I continued to email photos of the condition of the home—conveniently left out of the inspection report. Ashleigh stated that she couldn’t “see” anything wrong.

4/13/2019: Walked downstairs and stepped in a pool of water—the half bath downstairs had flooded. We had just moved in and I had to go to the store to buy towels to soak up the water.

• We immediately turned off the water and put in a ticket with the office.

4/14/19: We received no response, so we called and put in another emergency ticket.

4/14/19: received notification that the contractor would arrive Monday 4/15 at 3PM to look at the issue.

• The kitchen sink began to back up and leak as well. We called this in to the emergency line.

4/15/19: Contractor arrived at 8AM and fixed the blockage issue.

4/18/19: Followed up with Ashleigh about our previous conversation on who would be out to fix the book shelf in our bedroom closet.

• Ashleigh added Alexia Peebles in maintenance. Someone is coming to replace the shelf on 4/23.

4/19/2018: A inquired as to whether or not the contractor coming out on Tuesday could also fix other issues that we had noticed:

• Kitchen island drawer broken and unusable.
• The ice maker isn’t working.
• The fireplace doesn’t work.
• Loose spout on the master bathroom tub.
• Master bathroom toilet isn’t secure and is wobbling.

I also reached out to Josh Mcleod on linkedin who stated that he would escalate my issues in the Nashville office.

As we continued to unpack and move our items in—a smoke alarm went off. It continued to go off every hour because of a dead battery—this was when I noticed that there wasn’t a smoke alarm in each room and I had yet to see a carbon monoxide detector. I then took the time to reread the lease and look over the inspection report again. I also looked into other tenant reviews and I sent the following email to Ashleigh (which included photos from the inspection and my photos)  I also sent this because I never got a response on my request for an additional walkthrough to be done:

Good Morning,

I’d just like to add to my list in the previous email. At around 3AM, the smoke alarm (one or the other or both) kept going off. I am assuming that this is because the battery is dying. In reviewing our lease, I see that we, as tenants are responsible to replace the batteries.  That’s fair, but I’m haven’t trouble locating all of them— I believe there is supposed to be one in each room on each floor? Also where are the carbon monoxide detectors?

I’ve also done some research and I’ve noticed a clear pattern with AH4R and its tenants. You seem to make it a practice to hold on to security deposits and I can see why you are able to do this. There is a clear disconnect in what my inspection report showed and the actual condition of the home. 

For example, this is a photo from the inspection report of the closet that now has a book shelf in it and not a clothing rack:

I’m not even sure what was supposed to be captured here as there are no notes. If there are, I haven’t received them. 

If she had opened the door:

There are a couple of gaping holes, marks on the walls...which I’m sure is considered excessive and I would be charged for it. If one were to only look at the provided inspection report, it would look like the house was well maintained and in good condition except for a few cosmetic errors. I actually think that some of the photos are filtered or strategically taken so that issues wouldn’t be reported in the initial documentation. 

The lease says we are to maintain the home, but it’s hard to maintain when nothing was initially fixed prior to our move in. Another example is how I will not be changing any of the dirty dead insect encrusted window screens. Or the one that is already broken in our living room. 

So, since I am stuck with you for the next year, let’s make it easy on both of us. I am requesting:

1. Notes from the inspection report or notes to be made of what she was actually taking a picture of. 
2. I will be making a detailed spreadsheet of all the issues that were seen when I moved in and I would like an AH4R representative to sign off on this as I refuse to pay for any damage or excessive wear not caused by myself or Emmanuel during our lovely stay here. I would like this detail to be included as an addendum to the inspection report. 
3. The name/contact info of the agency or provider or person that cleaned the home. 
4. A detailed list of repairs that were made to the home prior to our move in. 
5. Each time I have to put in a service request such as the one for the book shelf removal or the toilet overflowing my 3rd night here and ruining the hard wood floor—I would like an AH4R representative to send me an email stating that the issue was no fault of myself or Emmanuel’s and we are not responsible for any damage caused by the incident when our lease is up. 

I’m only doing this to protect myself from your companies shady practices. I will continue to escalate any and all issues and grievances until I am comfortable in my almost $2000/ mo rental home. 

Thank you,