Warning: Madison Park townhomes/Cotter enterprises

[DaveC]

My wife and I left Rucker last week, and we just got hit with a bill from Cotter Enterprises for $701 after our moveout. This was after an initial assesment of $46 when they did our moveout inspection. Conveniently they waited until I was already out of the area on our PCS move to send us the bill so that it's harder to fight it.

 

The did something similar to our friends a few weeks ago. Pretty clear that they're playing a fun little game to try to squeeze more money out of flight school students. I'm getting legal help on the situation, but not being in the area it makes it harder to fight them.

 

I'm posting this as a warning to those who will be arriving at Rucker and looking for housing. The woman at the rental office told us multiple times that we were the best renters she's ever had and she wished all of her tenants were as good as us. They have a funny way of showing their appreciation.

[electron_si]

My wife and I left Rucker last week, and we just got hit with a bill from Cotter Enterprises for $701 after our moveout. This was after an initial assesment of $46 when they did our moveout inspection. Conveniently they waited until I was already out of the area on our PCS move to send us the bill so that it's harder to fight it.

 

The did something similar to our friends a few weeks ago. Pretty clear that they're playing a fun little game to try to squeeze more money out of flight school students. I'm getting legal help on the situation, but not being in the area it makes it harder to fight them.

 

I'm posting this as a warning to those who will be arriving at Rucker and looking for housing. The woman at the rental office told us multiple times that we were the best renters she's ever had and she wished all of her tenants were as good as us. They have a funny way of showing their appreciation.

 

 

It sounds like the took a page out of Realty Executive Meade & Associates operating principles and practices becuase we had the very same thing happen to us over there, and they were blacklisted twice while we rented from them.

 

Sorry to hear that, good luck with your legal fight

[UH60L-IP]

My wife and I left Rucker last week, and we just got hit with a bill from Cotter Enterprises for $701 after our moveout. This was after an initial assesment of $46 when they did our moveout inspection. Conveniently they waited until I was already out of the area on our PCS move to send us the bill so that it's harder to fight it.

 

The did something similar to our friends a few weeks ago. Pretty clear that they're playing a fun little game to try to squeeze more money out of flight school students. I'm getting legal help on the situation, but not being in the area it makes it harder to fight them.

 

I'm posting this as a warning to those who will be arriving at Rucker and looking for housing. The woman at the rental office told us multiple times that we were the best renters she's ever had and she wished all of her tenants were as good as us. They have a funny way of showing their appreciation.

 

You need to contact the housing office at Fort Rucker and let them know what happened. They can both help you with off-post housing issues and ensure that future students don't/can't rent from them.

 

http://www.rucker.army.mil/newcomers/housing/index.html

 

 

When I left Rucker the first time I actually got one of the weighing scales blacklisted for the games they played. They have since closed - probably due to a lack of business.

 

You need to be treated fairly so please don't drop it.

[SBuzzkill]

The place I stayed at refused to schedule the inspection until after we dropped off the key. They found all sorts of stuff to take out of our deposit.

[DaveC]

I got them to knock about $200 off the bill so far, but when I brought up charges that should be covered under normal wear and tear, their response was "that's just how we do things here." I pointed out that even though it's what they always do, it still might be against the law. At that point the woman at their office got angry and started threatening to increase our bill again. Seems like that counts as retaliatory conduct (been looking over Alabama landlord/tenant law to pick up some key terms to throw at them).

 

I've contacted the Ft. Rucker housing office, and I'll keep them updated as this plays out.

[Joe_P148]

Honestly,

 

I have heard both sides of the argument. Home owners are also a bit tired of getting our houses trashed every 18 months by flight school folks.

 

One thing we can all agree on is that realty executives has a monopoly and are the worst for both owners and renters!

[UH60L-IP]

Honestly,

 

I have heard both sides of the argument. Home owners are also a bit tired of getting our houses trashed every 18 months by flight school folks.

 

This I can really agree with. I would say that you should treat the home you rent like you own it but a lot of people don't care for their own homes, so treat the home you rent like you would want someone to treat the couple hundred thousand dollar sports car you let them rent for a couple of hundred bucks per month.

 

I rent out the home that I already owned in another state before joining the Army. I've had to evict tenants that didn't pay for the last two months, and then pay to clean up their mess. I rent it out for $100 less per month than I pay in mortgage. I assure you that I haven't made any money for my trouble but the market is such that you can't let it sit for months on end while it sells either. I worry each month that I will have to replace a furnace, an air conditioner, carpets on move out, holes in the wall - you name it.

 

People do not rent their homes out just to make a buck, in fact many people lose money doing it. There are a lot of reasons to rent out one's home, but in any event we should reasonably expect that the tenants will do the right thing and leave it in better shape than they found it, like any responsible adult should do with someone else's property big or small.

 

If you meet (met) this standard and you still are not getting your proper refund, I would wholeheartedly agree that you should be able to have recourse. If you didn't meet that standard, do the right thing as well.

[DaveC]

Still fighting this one, but the message today from the woman at the rental office was that if we continue to contest the charges we will be receiving an additional $500 bill. She refuses to communicate by email, only by phone, so that makes it much harder for me to prove her behavior to the Ft. Rucker housing office.

 

If we actually damaged the place, I would pay for it, but my wife and I were model tenants. We were never late on a payment and left the place in immaculate condition. Many of these fees are listed as "coordination fees" tagged onto their normal cleaning charges, which apparently they charge regardless of how much cleaning you do yourself.

 

Clearly this organization has decided to bite the hand that feeds it by squeezing as much money from flight students as possible on their way out of Rucker.

[aeroscout]

I hope that Landlord/lady gets put on the off limits list, and gets hurt financially by their poor decision.

[Joe_P148]

Aero scout. It's not the landord's fault they are probably some aviator in a different duty station. It's the property managers fault but not really, it's thier policy that is in question..

[MileHi480B]

Hey Bro ... you're in my back yard. This is what I do. Send me a PM with your contact info and I'll get you out of this. Never a charge! Trust me ... I CAN do it.

Edited December 10, 2013 by MileHi480B

[DaveC]

Aero scout. It's not the landord's fault they are probably some aviator in a different duty station. It's the property managers fault but not really, it's thier policy that is in question..

This isn't a property owned by an individual. It's owned by a Cotter Enterprises Inc, managed by an on-site office.

[wopilot]

I own a house in the area still, albeit Dothan, so it's not conducive for transient flight students, but those who PCS generally like it better than the trifecta area.

 

I use a real estate company in Dothan to manage my property while I'm not there, and they market specifically that they are NOT a certain real estate company in Enterprise because of fiasco's like this.

 

Sorry you are having to go through this.

[WolftalonID]

By law, you can notify them that they can no longer contact you by phone. They are not allowed to after they are notified. Further calls warrant legal harrassment claims. Save for one final call the collector is allowed to confirm the request.

Send a letter by certified mail stating so. Also in that letter request proof of damage, proof of repairs, and a copy of any contracts proving you agreed to the charges they are trying to collect.

Very important its done via certified mail.

They have 30 days to respond in writing with all requests fullfilled. If they don't, its your advantage in a court room to dismiss the charges.

 

Btw, tid bit of legal help. If they respond in time, but send it regular mail and it is not a reply via certified mail, dont open it, and in court, they have no proof of sending it on time, and if you never looked at the contents, you can legally say you never "saw" any information you requested.