Complaint Review: Tenney Properties - Show Low Arizona

Mrs. Moore was an owner that decided to sign up on our Long Term Rental side with Joanne and Cherrel.  She asked to be on the Vacation side with me, Amanda Lynn, but I told her if she wanted to be on both sides, there is a marketing and set up fee that would be required on my side, as well as the Long Term owner start up fees…and since it was my slower season for vacation rentals at that time, I didn’t want her to have to pay out so much money all at once for start-up fees.  I recommended that she wait until it was closer to summer, which is my busy season, and if the Long Term side did not find her a renter, then I could start marketing her home full-time on the vacation side at that time.  I offered that once I found her a tenant, then I would be happy to take her marketing fee at that time instead…something I have never done for any other owner since it is at least an 8 hour process to take pictures, resize & upload them, and all that I need to do to market a property onto websites.  And I did agree to verbally market her home from that moment on, and I kept in touch with Cherrel, the Long Term Property Manager, to see if it was rented or not when I had a potential renter on a short-term basis… and once I received a renter on my side, then I could take my start up fees out of that rent.

According to Cherrel, she had 2 potential year-long renters, but the owner refused to allow even small dogs at the time, and refused to partially unfurnish the home and put away some of the MANY knick-knacks on the walls (one tenant was worried about breaking something).  Apparently, the owner did finally mention that a tenant could box up stuff themselves and put them in a shed out back…but the owner would not do it herself.  And we cannot ask a tenant to do this. 

When we first looked at the home, and the owner said she did not allow dogs, I suggested she take down the “Beware of Dogs” sign that was on the front gate, which she never took down.

After several months, the long term side was unable to find a suitable renter that liked the home and did not have pets.  So I decided to do a full marketing campaign for the home on the vacation side.  I spend MANY hours of my own time getting this done.  And it did NOT take over a year as she mentions in her report…she was not even in a contract with us for a full year.   

I showed the home several times, and spoke to many possible tenants over the phone.  3 major things that my vacation home renter has looked for, since they are normally coming up here for the summer to get out of the heat, are as follows…

1. A/C (this owner’s home does not have A/C).

2. A lot of the renters have pets…especially little dogs (owner did not allow ANY pets in the home to start with).

3. Lots of Pine Trees & being close to activities & stores (owner’s home is too far from town for shopping and activities and not a lot of trees in this neighborhood).

After time, I was finally able to talk the owner into allowing SMALL dogs, but by this time, it was too late for the offers we received, and those possible renters were forced to look elsewhere.  For many possible tenants, not having A/C was in issue too, but the owner feels that fans are enough to cool the home, and felt that tenants should be happy enough with that.  Summer Pines is about 10 degrees warmer than Pinetop, so people choose the Pinetop area first before looking at other areas in town.  This home is partially a mobile home and the owner made renovations for add-ons that made it larger.  It is a cute home, but older, and does not offer a lot of the amenities that some renters are looking for.  Every tenant has different taste…some are OK with older places, and some are not.  They want to get out of the heat and to FEEL like they are on a special vacation.   They want to be comfortable, like in their own home, but also feel that they are on vacation. 

I also told her NOT to turn on the cable/internet/phone until I had a definite renter booked for her home in order to help keep her expenses down.  I further told her that this could hinder a last minute renter for a short weekend stay since we are in a rural area, and it is next to impossible to get services turned on with only 1-2 days notice… The Owner decided to turn on those services without my knowledge, and did not inform me of it.  Therefore, I was not aware that I could reserve it with little, to no notice on the vacation side.

In the few months that this home was on the vacation side, I showed the home several times, but no one was interested.  Some comments I had were concerning not having A/C, older furnishings, & guest bedrooms are too small.  Other comments were no covered parking, hot/humid inside the home, and too far away from amenities.  I worked relentlessly to attempt to rent this owner’s home.  I do not get paid for my time and marketing of the home until it is rented…because of this, I do try to rent the homes, as I would like to be paid as much as an owner would.  So it would not make sense for me NOT to market and rent the home.

Everyone gets sick occasionally.  As for her mentioned that I was “sick,”  I had laryngitis one time, and was unable to speak verbally over the phone…I assumed since she was texting me, that it would be alright with her to text her back.   I texted her my apologies for not having a voice and offered to communicate with her via e-mail or texting that same day.  And she texted a message back to me stating that it was fine, and we would talk the following week instead.

I feel that I went above and beyond what should have been expected of me, especially by even agreeing to take time away from my family on a Sunday (per her request) to return her call and discuss multiple issues with the home.

Mrs. Moore also suggested that I never returned her calls, but I tried to reach her several times over those months, and she was rarely available. 

As time went on, I continued to show the home, but could not find anyone interested due to same the reasons stated above.

Then towards the end, after refusing to speak to me verbally, the owner texted me that if the home was not rented by that weekend, that “we are going to have a SERIOUS COME TO JESUS MEETING!”

Then, she demanded a detailed report of everything that had been done during the past year, including marketing, receipts, etc.  At the same time, she wanted this all done by NOON that same day.  It is extremely unreasonable to think anyone could put this type of report together in less than 3 hours.  

I offered to have the report for her the following week, but this was not acceptable for her.  She stated VERY strongly that she expected everyone in my office to stop what they were doing and furnish her the report as requested by noon.  Our office is divided into different departments, (short term, long term, sales, etc,)  Not everyone works the same hours in the office either, so it is difficult to pull everyone together to furnish the necessary information for this kind of a report in such short notice.

She then requested that my Broker call her that same day…unfortunately, due to family obligations, he was unable to call her until that Monday…

When the Broker returned her call, she then told him that she was cancelling her contract with us, and stated that she felt our company was a SCAM.  She then posted false and unfounded accusations against our company on this website.

I understand her frustrations, and apologize that I was unable to do more for her, but feel she is being very unreasonable. 

If she had given me a little more time, as we were so close to the summer rental season, I am confident that I could have rented her home for her.