As property owners, we found working with Fuze RE, property management division, unnecessarily…read morecumbersome and frustrating. Communication was one of our biggest concerns. It was difficult to speak directly with someone by phone, and email was their preferred method of communication. However, numerous employees would respond to the same issues, making it difficult to determine who was responsible for resolving them. On multiple occasions, one employee would tell us one thing and another would contradict it. Significant employee turnover only added to the lack of continuity.
We also found a troubling difference between the response time expected from us and what we received from Fuze RE. On at least one occasion, we were given as little as 20 minutes to respond to an email before being told a decision would be made on our behalf. Yet matters requiring a timely response were sometimes communicated only by email without a phone call.
Most concerning, Fuze RE failed to follow the terms of its own Property Management Agreement. Our signed contract states that Fuze RE does not determine security deposit deductions and that those decisions are at the sole discretion of the owner. We also specifically elected for Fuze RE to hold and release the deposit according to our instructions. Despite this, they released our tenant's security deposit without our authorization. Fuze RE has since acknowledged both privately and publicly that this occurred and that they failed to follow the agreement.
We also had serious concerns about their recommended security deposit deductions, which in our experience were substantially less than the actual cost of returning the property to rentable condition. After the deposit was released without our approval, we were left to absorb costs ourselves or pursue the former tenant through litigation.
We also found their move-out inspection inadequate. After taking possession of the property, we discovered obvious additional damage their inspection failed to identify, leaving us to pay for those repairs. Our final tenant also moved out early and disconnected the electricity, and Fuze RE failed to notify us.
Before terminating our relationship, we received Fuze RE's updated changes regarding Maintenance Reserve, Security Deposit Handling, Rental License Processing, and Turnover Autonomy. We did not find these changes reassuring. In our opinion, they give Fuze RE greater authority over an owner's property and important decisions while reducing the owner's control. This was particularly concerning when our existing agreement already gave us authority over the security deposit and Fuze RE failed to follow it.
It is also important to clarify Fuze RE's proposed resolution. The only compensation offered was a credit toward future property management services with Fuze RE. Since their acknowledged failures were precisely why we were terminating the relationship, requiring us to continue doing business with them to receive any financial benefit was not a meaningful resolution.
Fuze RE has publicly stated that our experience has prompted changes to its procedures, including reinforcing contractual compliance, improving inspections, retraining staff, and changing owner communications. We sincerely hope these changes benefit future property owners.
However, changing procedures going forward is not the same as taking accountability for what already occurred. Fuze RE has acknowledged the unauthorized release of our security deposit, failure to follow the Property Management Agreement, communication breakdowns, and inadequate inspections, yet the financial consequences were left with us.
Apologies and promises of future improvement mean little without accountability. True accountability includes making a meaningful effort to correct the financial burden their acknowledged failures placed on the property owner.
Based on the entirety of our experience, we would absolutely not recommend Fuze RE for property management.
