- Report: #411664
Complaint Review: Michael Vincent Cox - DeLand Florida
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Michael Vincent Cox
746 E. Cox St DeLand, 32724 Florida, U.S.A.
Phone:
407-259-8451
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Michael Vincent Cox Horrible tenant, bad check, damages, utility theft liar DeLand Florida
My husband, who was not used to the rental process rented to Mr. Cox. He presented himself very well, provided verifiable references and gave one month's rent with security deposit. Part of his rental agreement/lease stated he must have the utilities in his name. He was given the keys on 10/25/09 and showed my husband something that showed he had ordered the electric switched into his name on 11/1, the actual lease start day. We gave him free rent for 7 days. When he paid his rent in December he still had not had the electric switched.
Shortly before Christmas they still had not been switched so my husband got a check for the utilities he'd used and a promise to have them switched immediately. A few days later the check bounced. He could not pay his rent nor make the check good. I asked him to vacate rather than face eviction. He stalled until I had the utilities shut off on 1/5 but didn't actually vacate until the 10th. The porch light was on, indicating the power was still on when checked on 1/7. I called the electric company thinking they either had not turned it off or he was "stealing power". They put in an order to investigate.
On 1/13 the power was turned off. When I called the power company to have it turned back on I was told I had to pay the investigative fees ($82.77), usage charge ($54.99), turn on fee ($28.00) and a doposit of $270.00. That's another "Ripoff" by the electric company.
If you're considering renting to this man my advice is get a huge deposit up front. Good luck.
Ms check
Mills River, North Carolina
U.S.A.
Shortly before Christmas they still had not been switched so my husband got a check for the utilities he'd used and a promise to have them switched immediately. A few days later the check bounced. He could not pay his rent nor make the check good. I asked him to vacate rather than face eviction. He stalled until I had the utilities shut off on 1/5 but didn't actually vacate until the 10th. The porch light was on, indicating the power was still on when checked on 1/7. I called the electric company thinking they either had not turned it off or he was "stealing power". They put in an order to investigate.
On 1/13 the power was turned off. When I called the power company to have it turned back on I was told I had to pay the investigative fees ($82.77), usage charge ($54.99), turn on fee ($28.00) and a doposit of $270.00. That's another "Ripoff" by the electric company.
If you're considering renting to this man my advice is get a huge deposit up front. Good luck.
Ms check
Mills River, North Carolina
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Vince11
United States of AmericaSlum Lord
#2REBUTTAL Individual responds
Thu, October 20, 2011
I am very capable of figuring out how to file a rebuttal to your report Laura. The one thing that she is completely being honest about is the fact that I did present her with a check. The check was presented to her husband with the understanding that it was not to be deposited until 12 days later due to complications in my pay. The check was presented for deposit 2 days later, which caused the check to bounce. I was persued by an attorney and the check was paid to the state attorney which kept me from going to court. If she has not received any monies from this check, then wouldn't I have been in jail or had serious legal issues at this point? Laura is a liar in herself. She is not professional but according to her, she has many properties that she owns and rents. According to her I was stealing power. Once again wouldn't that cause me to spend time in jail? When I first moved into this house, everything seemed up to par. After only a few weeks of living there, the vinyl tile in the kitchen and bathroom was coming up. When I told Laura about this she told me that she didn't have the money to fix it right away. The heater barely kept the house warm and when I notified her of this, she told me that she just had it repaired, but she choose not to have another repair come look at it again. Funny. Laura was a horrible landlord, would rather refer to her as slumlord. I have never met this woman that owned this house. I always wondered why. I have very verifiable references giving me great compliments on renting their homes. Laura is very bitter because I did move out early but the reason was because of the bugs and the fact that the house became unlivable. So I think it may be her that needs to be avoided.
Ms check
Mills River,North Carolina,
U.S.A.
Threat to sue received from Mr. Cox almost a year later.
#3Author of original report
Sun, January 17, 2010
Apparently Mr. Cox couldn't figure out how to write a rebuttle on Ripoff.com. So I thought I'd post his only reply to me concerning his criminal behavior. It is interesting that he'd claim that he'd made the bad check good (in effect confessing to writing a bad check) in one sentence and threaten to sue me for slander for posting the warning to other landlords in the next sentence. As far as stealing utilities, anyone who wants can check with FL Progress Energy and the city of DeLand, FL for verification. I don't intend to remove my report on him and actually look forward to seeing him in court, that is if he can find an attorney to take his case. . . . . watch for any updates
Received 1/17/2010 at 12:31 am from Mr. Cox.
Laura,
Ma'am I am writing you this email to you to inform you that I have paid the check off. I am currently employing a lawyer to look into this thing you put about me on Ripoff.com. This is slander. I am currently looking into suing you for slander. I am please asking you to remove this posting about me, since I have paid the check off that I owe you. I am not a utility thief as you mentioned in this report. You have lied about me. Once again I ask you to please remove this posting or I will be seeking legal damages against you for slander.
Thank You
Michael V. Cox
My answer:
Hello Mr. Cox,
Nice of you to respond to my email almost a year later. I've not received any money from anywhere to cover the bad check we turned over for prosecution. Neither have I received any money for your move-out charges. Threatening to sue me about the posting on Ripoff.com is interesting.
Robert
Buffalo,New York,
U.S.A.
I sympathize.
#4Consumer Comment
Tue, January 13, 2009
You're lucky your down there. Up here, it's foolishness to kill the power during winter unless you like repair frozen water pipes. I own rental properties and what I do is I do a joint meter reading for utilities with the new tenant which is memorialized on paper, dated, signed by both parties. Then I give the tenant 2 business days to switch the utilities (gas and electric) and then I call the utilities to confirm the switch. If the switch has not taken place, I then do a 3 way call on my cell phone to the utilities with the tenant on the line to have the switch accomplished and to give the utility the METER READING. This works well for me.
Robert
Buffalo,New York,
U.S.A.
I sympathize.
#5Consumer Comment
Tue, January 13, 2009
You're lucky your down there. Up here, it's foolishness to kill the power during winter unless you like repair frozen water pipes. I own rental properties and what I do is I do a joint meter reading for utilities with the new tenant which is memorialized on paper, dated, signed by both parties. Then I give the tenant 2 business days to switch the utilities (gas and electric) and then I call the utilities to confirm the switch. If the switch has not taken place, I then do a 3 way call on my cell phone to the utilities with the tenant on the line to have the switch accomplished and to give the utility the METER READING. This works well for me.
