2008 Woodie Awards
Miami U. students complain about high repair charges
Allison Cole
Issue date: 10/16/07 Section: Community
With pressure to sign an apartment lease coming so early in the school year, some Miami University students are wondering if they made the right decision to sign with Oxford and Miami Commons (The Commons).
Miami juniors Andrew Mahler and Dylan Voris have made complaints, along with other Miami students, of being overcharged for damages from The Commons around move out in May. The males said that after living in a four-bedroom apartment for the 2006-07 school year, they were sent a bill in June from The Commons informing them that they had acquired damages to the apartment in the amount of $1,301.84, or $325.46 per tenant. This amount does not include the $200 security deposit that the males did not get back.
Mahler said that the males went to The Commons office "right away" to refute charges, but were told that they would have to refute the charges in a letter format.
These charges included, but were not limited to: glassesÂ, one small chipped and one mug cracked, to be replaced for $6.58, a replaced mattress for $104 and the kitchen vinyl floor had approximately 13 burns throughout floor, with a replace charge of $254.40. Three of the four bedrooms had reported stains on the carpet that cost in the range of $35 to $108 and bedroom two had eight pieces of double stick tape on the walls that cost $60 to remove or repair.
"There is too much information to accept phone calls," said a representative of Oxford Real Estate, the property management company for The Commons.
According to the representative, a phone call is not a good way to resolve damage complaints because The Commons staff needs time to gather the appropriate documents to review with the tenant, such as move-in and move-out inspection sheets and videotape of each apartment taken by The Commons upon tenant move out. The representative noted that videotape is taken in any instance where tenants are being charged for damages.
The representative said that in a case such as Mahler and Voris', the tenants have 30 days to respond, in writing, to any charges on an apartment. Should a tenant respond within those 30 days, The Commons staff will gather all proper documentation, while pulling documentation from previous years, to be sure they are not charging the tenants for damages present when they moved in.
Miami juniors Andrew Mahler and Dylan Voris have made complaints, along with other Miami students, of being overcharged for damages from The Commons around move out in May. The males said that after living in a four-bedroom apartment for the 2006-07 school year, they were sent a bill in June from The Commons informing them that they had acquired damages to the apartment in the amount of $1,301.84, or $325.46 per tenant. This amount does not include the $200 security deposit that the males did not get back.
Mahler said that the males went to The Commons office "right away" to refute charges, but were told that they would have to refute the charges in a letter format.
These charges included, but were not limited to: glassesÂ, one small chipped and one mug cracked, to be replaced for $6.58, a replaced mattress for $104 and the kitchen vinyl floor had approximately 13 burns throughout floor, with a replace charge of $254.40. Three of the four bedrooms had reported stains on the carpet that cost in the range of $35 to $108 and bedroom two had eight pieces of double stick tape on the walls that cost $60 to remove or repair.
"There is too much information to accept phone calls," said a representative of Oxford Real Estate, the property management company for The Commons.
According to the representative, a phone call is not a good way to resolve damage complaints because The Commons staff needs time to gather the appropriate documents to review with the tenant, such as move-in and move-out inspection sheets and videotape of each apartment taken by The Commons upon tenant move out. The representative noted that videotape is taken in any instance where tenants are being charged for damages.
The representative said that in a case such as Mahler and Voris', the tenants have 30 days to respond, in writing, to any charges on an apartment. Should a tenant respond within those 30 days, The Commons staff will gather all proper documentation, while pulling documentation from previous years, to be sure they are not charging the tenants for damages present when they moved in.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Lauren Wilkins
posted 10/17/07 @ 8:26 PM EST
We moved out of Miami Commons last year and received a bill for approximately $1,600 before accounting for the $200 deposit. Some of the charges included: bent tines on forks, dull knife blades, removal of tape on walls, etc. (Continued…)
Kathryn Siegel
posted 10/19/07 @ 10:04 AM EST
I got railroaded in the same way by Oxford Real Estate. We ended up in a year long dispute. After living in the house for TWO years I was charged for things like "dirty inside of the washing machine". (Continued…)
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