I am writing this review to warn other investors about how this company practices business. My experience with Maplewoods Property Management, Lou Ann Stoner, Al Hampton and Brandee Hampton is that they are more interested in making money from doing repairs than placing qualified tenants and collecting rent. It was not unusual to be charged a few hundred dollars every month for some repair or another and not getting an advanced notice. They did call me to let me know about large things like a furnace which is thousands of dollars, so you would think that they would tell me they were doing repairs that would cost thousands of dollars.
I went out to inspect my properties in July last year. I got the quote for repairs from them to fix a unit in the range of $3100-$3500. I told them NOT to do the repairs because I had a huge repair going on at a different property and could not add to the financial burden. In addition, all the tenants they placed in this particular building defaulted on their rent so there was no rush on my part to put a tenant in. It had been a cycle of placing a tenant, they default, they leave or get evicted, I pay for damages, then another tenant gets placed, defaults etc. Well, I got the statement for August and they had charged me $6500 to fix the unit. I was NOT notified that they were doing the repairs and NOT notified of the increased cost! I asked for invoices and receipts to justify the costs of the repairs and they told me they don't have to provide any and have not provided any. Lou Ann said the original amount was just "an estimate" so of course it will go up. I have not ever had such blatant disregard for my instructions, my financial situation, my property. Brandee asked me why would a person leave a unit empty when it could be earning money with a tenant in it. I said, if there's no money to repair it, it will just have to wait. The tenants you are placing in it will end up not paying. I need to use whatever rent money there is to pay the mortgage and property taxes. Instead, they used my property to pay themselves.
I spoke with Al Hampton who runs their maintenance/repairs and he told me there was a hole in a wall as if someone had been thrown in it. There was no such hole when we were there inspecting the unit. They did, however, not repair a small hole in the wall in one of the bedroom closets. They charged me for putting in new carpet. Well, I called the company that Al told me where they get the carpet from and found out that Maplewoods and Al have not ordered from them in years and definitely not in August 2017. Sounds like fraud to me.
I fired Maplewoods at the end of October after they had taken the rent money to pay off their bogus repair bill, leaving me in a bind to cover the mortgage and property taxes. Well, one of the tenants paid his November rent to them, $524 and they listed it on the statement they sent me as $11.60. Sounds like fraud to me. They listed the tenants' deposits as having been refunded to the tenants, but the tenants did not receive any money from them. Sounds like fraud to me. The November statement shows that they owe me money, over $2600, and they have not paid it to me. They have not answered emails, phone calls or letters from the attorney demanding payment. They have collected and kept far more than that repair bill. Sounds like fraud to me.
I found out that they may have won a settlement from evicting a tenant, but they named themselves/Maplewoods, not me as the beneficiary to receive any monies. Lou Ann had told me several months ago that there was no settlement. Al told me a few weeks ago I should be getting some money in the future, but the number he gave me was almost $1000 less than what the attorney said was listed in the record. Sounds like fraud to me.
So if you are looking for a property management company in the Elkhart/Goshen area, I would not recommend this company. If you are working with them, then start scrutinizing every statement you get from them. Lou Ann recently sold the company and it is now called Maplewood PMG, Inc. Al and Brandee still work there. read more