Complaint Review: Catlin Prpoerties Inc. - kelso Washington

I had rented with this company twice based on being in an emergency situation and the unfortunate fact that they are one of the only two property companies in Longview/Kelso. I will not go into the bad experience i had with them with the first house ii rented. I did rent a second home from them and it was the worst nightmare ii have ever experienced. I am an elderly woman on a very fixed income, like so many others. 

I rented the home and signed a one lease. I had mentioned to them from the very beginning that the back door to the house was literally falling off the hinges and you had to fight with it to open it. I had a friend look at it as Caitlin told me they would send someone out to fix it and three months later did nothing. The door skins were literally falling away from the door frame. It was summer and warm so the fact that the door did not seal or lock was not a huge thing to me. I continued to email and call and talk to gayle there regarding the back door issues. She assured me that they would fix the door. 

The summer in the house was sweltering. I did not blame them for the house being a POS. There was no way to cool the house as i had air conditioners and they did nothing to ease the extreme heat. I soon became concerned as to the fact that the house was uninsulated and my fear was what would it be like during a cold winter, if i were to have one.

I reached out to the Catlin properties team and asked them to send someone out to test and check the wood burning stove that was in the house for safety before fall and winter weather came. They assured me that they were going to send someone out the first time i asked all the way through to the 5th time i asked.

The holidays came upons us at the end of 2016 and the cold winter showed no mercy. Needless to say, I was unfortunately correct about the house being uninsulated. With bitter temperatures slicing through the air leaking walls in the house, i was forced to close up the second floor and not use it at all. i continued my vigil and faith that catlin would get someone out to me to check the woodstove or possibly fix the nonworking electric heaters. My prayers were answered finally, well somewhat.

The person that came out to look at the wood burning stove. The gentleman informed me that there was no way he could fix the stove. The stove had been used to burn trash and thus the inside lining of the stove was ruined and completely unsafe to use at all. He told me that he would tell the management company. I relayed the message to my contact there and even finally stopped into the offices. The day i went into the offices the owner was there. He is a large man with a bellowing voice. He heard my conversation i was having with gayle and he became loudly upset and telling me that there was no way that could be the case and even raised his hand to me. I was very frightened and couldn't get out of there soon enough. 

Christmas is a time of warmth and glittering lights but i did not think it was to be the glittering of space heater lights. I had to purchase many space heaters as the wall heaters in the house either did not work or the one that did work would kick off the electricity in the house. I went to my neighbor, that was a licensed electrician, and asked him if i had the wrong heaters. He checked the electrical panel and told me that the electrical box on the house was not wired correctly and was a major danger. I called and emailed catlin once again about this new issue. I told them that the temp inside the house was as low as 33 degrees and how i could only sleep with heated blankets and even then it would awaken me every morning around 3 am due to the cold. I was told that they had to investigate and confirm the temperature as they did not believe me.

This continued and nothing was fixed until Jan 2017 when my son finally came into the home and was astonished at the fact that it was colder inside the home than it was outside. Being an ex-police officer he said that he had experienced elderly people dying inside homes that were cold like this. He told me to give my notice to the catlin company and move in with him. I did give my notice and cleaned the entire home, with the help of my son. After all of the hell i went through and the empty promises they did not live up to, they took all of my deposits and told me it was to fix the home. They even charged me for a water bill to the city that i had proof of paying as the final bill and this is how catlin properties treat the elderly? Maybe i am the only one that was ignored and had my safety put in jeopardy by catlin properties, or am I the only one?

By all means stay away from this company. They are running a monopoly in Cowlitz county.