Complaint Review: Profit From Rentals - Chicago Illinois

As an existing customer of Profit From Rentals profitfromrentals.com (including its principals Justin Ericcson and Willem Young) who has vigorously recommended their products - it really pains to have an experience so bad that it rises to the level of filing a report here and with the State of Illinois Department of Building Professional Regulation.  But, I have given Profit From Rentals nearly a year to resolve this matter and they are non-responsive to phone calls or text messages.  If they’ll do this to one of their existing and experienced customers, be wary of what they’ll do to you.

The property in question is a single family home with a coach house.  This property was to be delivered turn-key, with tenants and rented for (direct quote) “$2800 (low) to $3200 (high) avg $3,000 per month”.

 

The closing occurred on 5/1/2017, this is what followed:

 

5/31/2017 - I inquire about the status of the rental.  No response.

 

6/3/2017 - I get a response from a business associate of Profit From Rentals indicating I need to contact a property manager to figure out the rental situation.   Keeping in mind this is supposed to be a turn-key property, dropping an investor and suggesting that they are now to perform the duties that were promised should itself be a red-flag to any investor.  Especially those who are out of state and do not have contacts such as that.

 

6/4/2017: I contact the property manager indicated.  Then things really got out of hand.  

 

6/14/2017: (Invoice 1202) $600.00 HACC repair list (this is not unrealistic, but hardly a “turnkey” property)

 

6/28/2017: (Invoice 1210) $800.00.  Plumbing was backing up and had to fix repairs that were not up to code:

 

- Replace flexible gas pipe to hot water heater

- Rod drain

- Capped leak in vanity sink

- Attempt to repair leaking pipe to well pump

- repair broken shelving in kitchen and upstairs closet

- replace faulty shower valve

 

It was apparent around this time that the property was uninhabitable.  In an effort to do the right thing, I purchased a hotel for my tenant to stay in while we addressed these issues.

 

7/2/2017: $384.12 - hotel for tenant

 

7/2/2017: (Invoice 1211) $4950.00.  Mushrooms were found growing in the coach house, abysmal work quality, non-functioning appliances, etc.   Here’s what this invoice covered:

 

- Install new flooring (due to aforementioned mushrooms and water leaks everywhere the entire subfloor of the house was warped and had to be replaced)

- Install water shutoff since one was never installed

- Install new countertops.  As remarkable as this is, the countertops were created out of plywood with linoleum attached to them so they’d appear to be food-grade countertops in a photo.

- Install trim.  For some reason the shoe trim were not installed

 

7/2/2017: (Invoice 1212) $8750.00. Many issues found in main house after tenant begin renting.  Sewer lines backing up, water leaks.  Here is what this invoice covered:

 

- Replace water pump, which was inadequately sized for the house and non-functional

- Rodded out main sewer line to discover it was terminated in the middle of dirt in the back yard and not ran to street.

- Other miscellaneous repairs, like a hand railing that unsafe an improperly installed.  Cabinet doors that were falling falling off, leaking water pipes, etc.

 

7/6/2017: $179.81 - hotel for tenant

 

7/12/2017: $376.32 - hotel for tenant

 

7/14/2017: $188.16 - hotel for tenant

 

7/17/2017: (Invoice 1216) $3600.  I discovered that the well pipe was broken.  It was obviously repaired, but the repair was done poorly and broke again.  Further investigation revealed it was made out of lead pipes.   I feel compelled to segue from my fact-based account of this situation and state unequivocally how offensive it is that anyone would sell a 3br home, known to likely have children living in it and to have dug up the ground to do a half-baked repair and then completely ignore the existence of lead pipes.  .. anyways…

 

- Replace water line from well to house

 

8/24/2017: (no invoice generated) $3050.   The coach house work was completed and a tenant found.  However, there were some issues.

 

- Bedroom did not have a closet

- Replace appliances (refrigerator, stove, hood), since non of them worked

 

To this day, 3/3/2018, we’re still fighting ongoing battles with the HVAC - where the upstairs is too hot or too cold compared to the rest of the house and water leaks the keep springing up everywhere and destroying drywall.  There have been approximately $2,500.00 worth of related plumbing type repairs such as this.

 

The total repairs that were made to the property amount to $25,250.00.  The total charges for hotel accommodations for the tenant were $1,128.41.

 

Both houses are rented for $1386.00 (main house) and $875.00 (coach house) for a total of $2261 total.   That is $939.00 LESS a month of income then was indicated in the initial sale of the property.

 

I would also note that this property came WITH A WARRANTY, which Profit From Rentals has refused to honor.

 

The company and people indicated in this report who ripped me off continue to be non-responsive to text messages, phone calls, or emails.  The continue to operate in the city of Chicago and suburbs selling their properties to other investors.