Complaint Review: Mark Patmore Mercia Residential Properties Inc. - Chapel Hill North Carolina

If this individual will provide a name and address I will gladly provide a full copy for every one to see the state of the property that was returned to my company. I provide full documentation including copies of photos and list of damages that the tenants did and what they will be charged for. On move out day I offer the opportunity   for the tenant to do a walk through with me of the property. I Photograph and I also video any issue relating to damages, lack of cleaning etc.

The fact that no complaint has included any indication as to what property they rented clearly shows there is no merit to their complaint. My tenants that follow the terms of the lease and the instructions on the move out sheet do very well, Since including move out instruction for tenants to follow I give out more 100 percent refunds then every. However, failure to be bothered to follow the instructions on the sheet sounds like your mistake. I provide them at the beginning of the lease and again at the end of the lease so there is no excuse as not to follow the terms

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In 20 years in business i have never entered one of my propertues with out advanced notice to my tenants, or an emergency situation.I notify the main person in the house that I will be entering and He or she then shares it with you.If your room mates fails to share that information with you I'm sorry.I keep a log of all emails so if you would be so kind as to provide the address and date I would be more that glad to provide a copy of the email or text notifying the tenants of a visit. The fact that you clearly have not included any name or address clearly shows your lack or credibility.

This guy is an absolute joke! He comes by unannounced, giving ZERO notice and finds nothing wrong with it whatsoever. What if I had my parents over for dinner? Or perhaps my girlfriend was in bed? Welp, he'd be there intruding. The guy is NOTORIOUS for not giving back security deposits, is ridiculously arrogant, and feels that even though you rent from him, he can do whatever he wants. 

Please save yourself the trouble and money by not dealing with this guy. Yes, his properties may appear nice, but the headaches and lack of courtesy that he has make them downright miserable places to live.

As far as doing business with Mercia Rentals, I have not rented from his business but there is a reason for this. I’m not surprised at the behavior outlined in the report filed against him given the experience I have had with trying to communicate with him about renting one of his properties. I contacted Mr. Patmore wanting to enquire about one of his properties I found on an online website and he was anything but helpful. One of my struggles is that I am trying to find rentals remotely since I do not yet live in the area. So naturally, I have a lot of questions about the properties and request more pictures than probably the average rental seeker who can schedule showings and meet in person. When I called the number on the rental website, Mr. Patmore answered with an impatient ‘hello’. I had to quickly establish that this was the person I had intended on reaching and tried to complete a sentence asking about the property I found but before I could, I was interrupted by his impatience and told in a condescending tone that the property was not available until next year and clearly that’s what ‘waitlist’ meant.

Not yet defeated I went on to ask if he had any other available properties that may work for me. I told him my budget and he said he had two that were around that number, that they were both 2 bedrooms, had AC, washer-dryers and dishwashers. Thinking that these sound promising, I asked when they would be available since I already had a moving date in mind, and I told him I wasn’t moving until late July. At that point he proceeded to tell me that a move date that late would simply not work and that ‘my parameters were too restrictive’.  Just in case you are keeping track—yes I had given him two parameters: a budget and a move date. I came back at him and said that I know it’s a weird time and my boyfriend and I knew we would most likely need to pay rent for the whole month of July. Furthermore, after his hot headed comment I still asked if I could get more information on one of the properties and again in his impatient and condescending tone replied ‘I just gave you the information’—which if you are keeping score was that it had AC, a dishwaser, a washer/dryer and 2 bedrooms. I continued further. I asked to have pictures of the property emailed to me and he not only refused this request but also angrily asked me where I got his number. When I told him the exact website where his number is under the contact info he said there was a picture of the outside of the house on that website and the information ‘which I already told you’ was on the website too.

At that point I decided to end our conversation as well as thought it was important to let future renters from this company know of his rude s****.>

Linking this back to the rip-off report that I read earlier, the behavior outlined above does not surprise me given the interaction I had with him. In his rebuttal he states in the same paragraph ‘…I expect my tenants to return the property in the same condition that they were given the property at the start of their lease.’ Yet five lines down ‘…The property should be returned to the landlord ready for the new tenants to move in, Minus normal wear and tare.’ So which is it? Exactly the same or with normal ware and tear such as worn carpets and places where paint is missing? Also he says in his rebuttal that ‘Upon move out the tenants are provided with photos of items and reason for those charges and invoices.’ Yet in the last paragraph for some reason offers ‘If this tenant wishes to provide an address I will gladly provide the pictures that were taken upon move out and the accurate list of what was charged and why they were charged it.’ This seems a little bit off. He claims that he provided these photos, invoices and lists to the ex-renters but is also offering to send them to the ex-renter in the same rebuttal. Why would he feel like he has to offer to give it to them if he claims he already did? Mind you, it took him almost a year to even respond to the report. There is a link to the general lease outline on his website. Unless he gives a separate report of specific cleaning procedures that need to be done on the move-out during the lease signing and that is agreed upon, he cannot make those specific demands such as those outlined in the report above. I know this is true for the state I am coming from because I owned my own property and leased it. We provided a move-out check sheet with the lease and had the tenant sign it so that what we expected was known from the get-go and it could be a discussion.

Mocking his success off of scamming undergraduates is not fair given the little information the public is given about percentages kept of security deposits and reasons for keeping those amounts. I have no experience with that side of his business. But if you are looking for a helpful business that seems transparent, this is clearly not the business to go to. Transparency does not seem to be his game. If it were, he would have not been short with me when I was asking for basic information and photos of the property so that I could find a good rental fit for our situation. His website claims that the company’s mission is ‘To provide them with outstanding customer service and to insure that their stay with my company is a positive one.’ And ‘Mercia Residential Properties is based within a mile of each rental property. This allows for great tenant/landlord relationships and excellent customer service.’ If this is indeed your mission Mr. Patmore, you have failed miserably with more than one interaction.

Having reviewed all rental deposits for the 2012 school year and the amount that this author says they paid. All deposits were done and returned for that time period. If this author would indicate which property it was we could look further into the situation. As of the time  of this response all refunds look correct for the damages that the properties sustained. as of today no individual has contacted me regarding any disputed deposit for any property for that rental amount. my company will gladly provide photographic evidence,and copies of all bills pertaining to this report.

First, sorry that you were not satisfied with the services that were provided you. I pride myself on operating clean and well maintained properties and I expect my tenants to return the property in the same condition that they were given the property at the start of their lease. Since the reporter has not indicated a name and or an address its is impossible to respond with specifics other then to out line the errors in her/his post. Prior to move out tenants are furnished with a move out sheet to follow which outline what they need to do so as not to incur charges against their deposits. They are told what should be cleaned and even how to clean it. The property should be returned to the landlord ready for the new tenants to move in, Minus normal wear and tare. Any work that the tenant fails to perform I have to hire people to do it for them. 

Cleaning rate is $65 per hour.

bulbs are $5 each

Tenants are not allowed to paint my properties the property does not belong to them it belongs to me, it says this in the lease.

Carpet cleaning is required of the tenants and the lease specifies that the tenant is to clean the property  and to return it to the landlord in the same condition as it was at move in. The tenant is provided with a copy of the invoice from the carpet cleaning company, and I do not mark this up,I am not sure where the tenant gets this from because I include the bill with the balance refund. 

Upon move out the tenants are provided with photos of items and reason for those charges and invoices.

Yes I do drive a 2005 Porsche I'm not sure how that's relevant.

I do not have a servant that lives on my property, I do have an employee that works for me and I'm disappointed in this author of this report  that they  considers an African American who works for a White guy a servant. He happens to be a good friend of mine and he takes care of all the properties and cleans up after my tenants. Its sad that in 2012 that people consider this person to be a servant. 

If this tenant wishes to provide an address I will gladly provide the pictures that were taken upon move out  and the accurate list of what was charged and why they were charged it.