Complaint Review: Brian Craig LUTCF Partner New York Life Insurance Company - Mckinney Texas

In November 2009 I leased my house in McKinney, TX to family of 4. I bought the home in May 2007 and the house was built in 2005 and owned by a single man before I bought it. That man did nothing to the house. It was virtually brand new before I bought it. Builder grade carpet, gold hardware, white walls. I replaced the carpet in July 2007 with 20 year Stainmaster Plush carpet. The carpet cost was $3500 to replace the entire house. I repainted the house with designer Ralph Lauren colors and replaced ALL the hardware and ceiling fans throughout. I lived in the home for 2.5 years before leasing it to the Craig family.

I bought a Boxer puppy in July 2008 and, at the time, I worked only 4 days a week. Four days a week my boxer puppy went to daycare while I was at work. He was also trained at this daycare. So for the first year of his life, 4 days a week, my dog went to daycare. I had special ordered a doggie door and had it installed in my house for when he was at home and he never once had an accident in the house as he was also crate trained.He had zero access to my house without me there. When I wasn't at home, he was crated. I am also insanely meticulous with my things and with cleanliness and I absolutely deplore messes and odors of any kind. I am just a clean person.  

For four years this family lived in my house. They were late on rent once most definitely, and barely twice. That was the only good thing. I trusted them to take care of the house. WHAT A MISTAKE. They had an elderly dog at move in that they said was completely trained and would use the doggie door at all times and was crate trained and would stay in his crate most of the time. When i visited the house on occasion they would crate this animal and light candles throughout the house, later I realized it was to disguise the smell. When I would walk in the house it always had an odor but sometimes people just smell so I just chalked it up to that being their "odor", a dirty smell. The carpet didn't show any damage from the surface,so I never really questioned them but in hindsight,  I should have known better. If it smells like poop, it is poop. One day I got a phone call from Brian asking if they could bring a puppy to the house and I said not without a pet deposit. He later told me that they decided against getting another dog. He lied. They brought another dog to the house without permission and without a deposit. sneaky.  Kimberly, the wife, works from home as a photographer. She worked out of my garage. For someone to work from home you'd think the house would be immaculate. Wrong.  

Repairs: The garage door stopped working, immediately I replaced it, the entire door. The AC thermostat went out, I immediately had it replaced/repaired/tested. The sprinkler system stopped working properly, I immediately had it repaired. The fence in the backyard was replaced. The dryer stopped working because of the vents being stopped up, I had the vents cleaned immediately. This is a nice house. The nicest investment property you'll find and I intend to keep it that way bu the Craig family did a number on me and tricked me into believing they would take care of it like I did. Wrong.

One day I received a text from Brian stating they put a contract down for a new house they were building. He sent the text giving proper notice. In the beginning of May I put the house on craigslist to start looking for another renter as the Craigs were supposedly moving out on June 1. I had several people call on it in the first two days it was listed.  Brian and Kimberly wouldn't let me show my house without them there, which was unusual to me. I had to coordinate with THEIR schedule to show MY house. But I did it, to accommodate them. Every time I showed it, they had candles going but that smell was there. Just a dirty smell. I noticed dust all over everything and Brian noticed me noticing the dust everwhere and said to me that they’ve “always had a problem with dust in the house”. That also was unusual to me as I never had that problem when I lived there. The last time I showed it, to my current tenants, the prospective tenants pulled me aside and said they wanted the house but wanted to make sure the carpets would be deep cleaned before they moved in because “there's an odor in the house”. I of course said absolutely. They signed a two year agreement. About a week before the Craigs were to move out, I got a text stating that the financing on their house fell through. Not surprising considering they filed for bankruptcy just before they moved into my house in 2009, nevertheless, I let them stay until my new tenants moved in.

I told the Craigs they could stay in my house until June 12th as June 13th my new tenants were moving in. On June 12th I had a carpet cleaning company at the house, chimney sweepers, AC technicians and house cleaners all ready for the final walk through. Brian was there too, without his wife Kimberly. The power had been turned off in the house and in the dead of Texas summer, the smell I had always smelled when I walked in was so overwhelming I felt like I needed to wear a mask to walk through the house. I knew immediately it was pet urine and feces. The carpet technician was there to clean and stretch the carpet and I asked him if that was urine I smelled. He said “absolutley and it is all over the house”. He asked Brian if the carpets had been cleaned, Brian says yes, he paid something like $170 for it. The carpet tech then said, “that's what we call a blow and go. The most basic carpet cleaning possible. Basically they just tried to deodorize the carpet and that never works for long term”. I then asked if the carpet can be deep cleaned so that smell goes away, he said “no. It's too extensive and the carpet needs to be replaced”. Infuriated, I asked Brian how many pets he had in the house. He told me 2 dogs and 2 cats then he tried to argue with me that I knew about the pets. Blatant lie. He was only allowed one pet. Just before the  family moved out, Brian text me asking for a letter of recommendation as to the condition of the house at move out since they had to rent another place to live after having lost the house they were supposedly building. I, of course, complied thinking the house was in good shape. I wrote the letter before the final walk through. How manipulative on the Craigs side and naïve on my part that I trusted them enough and wrote a nice letter, in good faith, to help them out. 

Come to find out they had not only 2 dogs and 2 cats but they also had rabbits and ducks in the house too. My neighbors confirmed this as these animals would regularly escape out of the backyard and into my neighbors yards and my neighbors would have to return them to the Craigs. The ducks would be kept in the bathtub and how I know this is because my neighbor told me that Kimberly would complain that Brian hated it when she kept ducks in the bathtub. From a hole in the fence, that same neighbor would see a plastic childrens pool in the backyard with the ducks in them. Of course, farm animals were not allowed in my house either, so no wonder the house always smelled like a farm. Along with cats, that would mark the entire house and a 2 untrained dogs. Just look at the pictures.

June 12, 2014 was almost a $3000 day for me. I had to find someone to tear that beautiful carpet up and lay new carpet in the house. The concrete had to be treated before they could lay the new carpet padding so the stink wouldn’t seep up into the new carpet. The air filter for the AC unit hadn’t been changed in almost a year causing the dust to accumulate all over the house. All over everything. The dust was so bad it literally was stuck in the door jambs. The dogs destroyed the back side of the fence with their digging and they also tore up the door frame for the back door. The Craigs claimed that was damage done from my dog but the pictures prove different as that's NEW wood showing not old. The air filter for the AC clogged up the pipes which lead to a leak which led to the rusting of the drip pan and subsequently a hole in it due to the rust causing water to leak all over my attic.

I wrote the Craigs advising them that I would be keeping their deposit of $1050 for the repairs that had to be made in the house and also advised them that they are responsible for the rest of the cost of the damage to the house.  They argued that the carpet had reached its lifespan and they do not owe to have it replaced. They thought it was there from 2005 but I still have the receipt for the carpet when I had it replaced in mid-2007 (receipt attached). They took me to court for $465. They showed up with a friend who happened to be an attorney and used him as an intimidation factor. They wanted to settle out of court and said they wouldn’t pursue the case if I didn’t pursue the case. The judge then said to me that if I pursue and I lose, then I would have a judgement against me and it would go on my credit. I have very nearly perfect credit and couldn’t chance it so I just agreed. So the Craigs got away with destroying my house and costing me over $2000 more than their deposit. I was ripped off by Brian Craig and Kimberly Craig.

I write this to warn other landlords of what the Craigs do. Brian Craig and Kimberly Craig are not good tenants, DO NOT RENT TO THEM OR DO BUSINESS WITH THEM WHATSOEVER. They will destroy your property and then blame you.

Brian Craig LUTCF, Partner New York Life Insurance Company -

Kimberly Craig - Photography by Kimberly -