My family and I rented a home managed by Space Coast Realty for several months. While the first few months were fine, exiting the lease has been awful.
The broker, Brenda Muh, violated the lease by showing up at the property unannounced and demanding to show it to a potential renter. We could not accommodate the request, as my wife and I were working from home, both of our kids were doing school work, and my dog was not put away. She angrily threatened to place a lockbox on the property so that she could enter whenever she chose to. To avoid escalating the confrontation any further, we agreed to leave the home an hour later so that it could be shown.
We followed this incident up with an email requesting that they not enter the property again without providing at least 24 hours' notice(and attached a copy of THEIR lease that requires this) and we were assured that they would not.
Less than a month later, we were working to vacate the rental. I asked Erlin He (Research Assistant/Licensed Realtor) to confirm the final date of our lease, so that we could complete our move out requirements (removal of the last of our belongings, minor repairs, and cleaning). He provided the date and we planned accordingly. A few days before this date, we were told by Erlin that keys and garage openers must be turned in during the week (our lease ended on a weekend), since they would not be in the office over the weekend. I returned the keys and openers, but advised that we'd be at the property on and off throughout the weekend - which our lease clearly allowed for.
I visited the rental to remove our personal belongings, do some cleaning, and meet the landscaper who we were paying for a final lawn service. Someone was already at the homeworking inside and outside the home (3 days before our lease expired). I spoke with the office and Erlin called me yelling and very angrily told me that, had I completed the moveout cleaning, they wouldn't have needed to. Again, I was still under lease on the property for 3 more days! I advised that they were in breach by entering the property, to which Erlin agreed. He then said that I "should consider it a favor" that they were doing work, even though my personal belongings were still at the property.
They have fought us at every turn, attempting to bully us into accepting whatever terms and rash decisions they come up with. We have dealt with many realtors over the past 25 years, and Space Coast Realty is BY FAR the absolute worst that we have encountered. Their blatant dishonesty and lack of moral or ethical standards are appalling, and we have initiated reports with the Space Coast Association of Realtors, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and the Better Business Bureau to bring their actions to the attention of regulators. I would encourage anyone with similar experiences (there appear to be many of them) to do the same.
There are many other options in the area and I would strongly suggest you look elsewhere for your real estate needs. read more
