[22-Dec-2015] Her experience as a first-time landlord is evident. She is completely unaware of landlord/tenant laws, and completely disregards tenant rights.
The move-out inspection was embarrassing for her. She was attempting to nickel and dime us out of every minor defect, including those that are the regular wear & tear of a 100+ year old house. For example: Her husband, Dave, was present for the inspection. She brought up "issues" that were negligible and not our fault. When bringing up the alleged "water damage" in the upstairs bedroom, she told us it would need to be fixed or replace. Her husbands response? "The window closes just fine." Her response to him...a mean look as if she was saying "Shut up, Dave!"
Untrustworthy. Out of our total $1200 security deposit...we had less than $450 back. She charged us arbitrary, and inflated, amounts for "cleaning" even though she said the only thing that needed to be done was "wipe out a few kitchen cabinets." In addition to that, she charged fees for items that BY LAW are the responsibility of the landlord to fix/replace (i.e. a water filter, smoke detectors, etc.).
Now...the true reason we moved out in the first place. As mentioned, the house is over 100 years old. We had nothing short of a true pest infestation. There was literally a gap in the back basement door of the house which you could see the outside through. Their response to our complaint about the bugs? She dropped off a can of bug powder at the house with instructions to mix a solution together and apply it to the perimeter of the house. THAT is the responsibility of the landlord.
To help illustrate the problem...we moved out about 3 weeks prior to our contact termination date just to get out of the house. After clearing the majority of the house of our belongings, the house sat empty for 7 days before we returned to collect the remainder of our items. Upon return after that 7 days...THOUSANDS of bug carcasses and living bugs had taken over the house. After just 7 days of no humans being in the house to CONSTANTLY be cleaning, the bugs (mainly box elders and Japanese beetles) were covering the windows, on the walls, and had carpeted the floors.
Melissa Sumwalt's lack of personality and "alpha" attitude over her husband translates perfectly into what you can expect out of her as a landlord. She will nickel and dime you out of the majority of your security deposit. We expected 90% of our deposit back...we got around 33%.
Avoid her and her husband at all costs. They disregard the law and aren't worth the time in court to have to deal with her again.
MISCELLANY
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