We rented from Rich Realty for nearly 5 years (same house). When they raised our rent at renewal (without advanced notification) for the third time and wouldn't allow us to sign a two-year lease, we decided to look for another living situation. A few months later, we bought a house. We gave more than the required 30 day notice of intent to move, and had to break our lease early. Reletting this house should have been fast and easy because it was in Civano (East Tucson) and homes in that neighborhood rent nearly same day. This was reassured by Rich Realty when they said we'd have "nothing to worry about, the house would rent very quick". We were confident that this was true because two homes (in the same block) that listed were rented within a few days. We were reassured again by the office staff at Rich Realty and told that, "the cleaner we left the house the faster they could get a new renter into it." Rich Realty told us that "they've shown houses to people same day if the houses was clean enough". So we were diligent trying to meet that mark.
In the meantime, my wife posted that we were moving out on a local area Facebook page in an effort to assist Rich Realty in renting the house, so we could prevent having to pay rent on the house and our new mortgage. Needless to say, her post got a lot of attention and she directed numerous people to Rich Realty. Our first concern began when we got a message from one of the interested renters saying that Rich Realty said they wouldn't be able to rent the house for another month. This is the point where I called and was told not to worry. They said they had to play it safe, but not to worry because THIS house will rent very fast. We even turned the keys in early on the 19th of the month so that they would have the extra 8 business days to show it- even though their website claims they will show on weekends.
When we turned over keys, my wife asked for notice of the home inspection (as required by the AZ tenant landlord act), so we could be present- no notice given. They completed the inspection the following business day (Monday) but our concerns were allayed as the email said "thank you, and that this was one of the easiest inspections" they've done. Woohoo! Right...? We got a few more messages from people in the Facebook post still saying that Rich Realty said it wasn't available, and a few were told that the keys hadn't been turned over... which was false at this time. We called, got the same "don't worry, it will rent fast". At this point we noticed that the house never listed online and that they didn't even put a sign in the yard. We heard nothing back from them aside from that post-inspection email saying we'd get our deposit on the 8th (3 weeks from the keys being turned over). On the 8th we got a nasty email at 5pm saying rent was due, plus $120 late fee and a warning of another $120 fee if we didn't pay that night. We've never been late on a payment so you can imagine how upset we were. We sent an email to them asking about this and stating much of what I've said here. I also went in the next day on my lunch break and was "reminded about our obligation to the lease". The owner is a nice guy, so I heard him out, voiced my concern about their lack of communication, lack of advertising, turning people away, etc. I was told they had a renter ("a nice lady" that has rented from them before) but she was to move in two weeks from then. I left the office called my wife (who was angry at the news) and we paid the rent for the month. They never listed the house, never put a sign out, and turned away numerous potential renters that we sent to them. They could have been more diligent trying to rent the house, or they were holding it for a friend.
As stated, the owner is a good guy. We just didn't have a good experience as renters. Up until this point they were generally slow to respond to repairs, they raised our rent at every lease renewal (3 times, without proper advanced notification), showed up at the house without informing us (set off the alarm), and clearly not good at communicating with tenants.
Although we were obligated by the lease to continue to pay, Rich Realty did not do their due diligence to rent this property in a timely manner. We are an honest military family, and the owner of the house is military as well. They put both of us in an avoidable situation costing us money. I'm sure if you don't have to leave a lease early with them, you'll be generally satisfied. As a home owner, I would not have them as my rental company. read more
