Home Rental Services Inc

Ayopks, we are sorry that you had a bad experience with us! We tried to figure out which renter or home you are referring to but could not based on your username or your review text. We work very hard to keep our renters and owners happy. We would love to talk with you about what happened, please give me a call at (913) 469-6633 to discuss. Typically the “inspections” that are done are performed by a vendor of Home Rental Services, Inc. The purpose of these inspections is not mechanical like you would do when you are purchasing a home. These inspections are totally cosmetic. (We have even toyed with the idea of calling them "walk throughs" instead of inspections but that sounds so casual and these "inspections" that we do are quite detailed.) They are used to determine the cosmetic condition of the property just immediately prior to the move in of a renter. When you came into the office to pick up the keys you were given a copy of this inspection and signed a form that you understood that you had two additional days to add anything additional that you found. This inspection is done to serve as a basis to return your security deposit to you. The reason we don't do a mechanical inspection is that the maintenance for mechanical systems in the home are to be paid for by the home owner. If a problem is reported, we open a work order and get the repairs done as quickly as possible once we receive approval from the home owner. Occasionally we have situations where repairs must be delayed for a period of time because our client, the homeowner, directs us to wait. The only repairs we can make without an owner’s permission are repairs that affect habitability of the property. Even then, we are limited by contract to emergency items under $500 until we can get owner approval. Even though it sounds like you have been on the renter side of an owner who is not doing all that they should to maintain the property; I would hope that you can appreciate that we cannot spend the homeowner's money without their permission. It is definitely a challenging situation when an owner will not make non-essential repairs on things in a home. When that happens with a property, we will continue to manage the property until our renter moves out and then we will cancel the management agreement with the owner. We won't continue to manage homes that owners will not properly maintain. Again, please give us a call so that we know who you are and which property you are referring to. If we have missed something, we want to correct it as quickly as possible.

When renters do not receive their entire deposit back they are usually angry. It would make our lives MUCH easier if we could refund every renter’s deposit in its entirety. If we could, then the renters would be happy that they got all their deposit back and the owners would be happy that their property was so well taken care of by the renters and we would have lots of happy customers and clients. I am writing this because there are facts that should be part of this discussion. On Friday June 15, 2007 a structural engineer with Norton & Schmidt went to the property. This engineering report was ordered because the renters had reported a crack in the foundation wall and seepage coming through that crack. (The basement is not finished so it was easy to see.) The engineers report said: “An examination of the exposed portions of the foundation walls revealed a few vertical cracks. It is my opinion that he majority of these cracks are due to the heaving and differential shifting of the subsoil beneath the concrete and to the normal shrinkage of the building material. These cracks are typical of house in the Kansas City area and rarely represent a major structural concern.” It goes on to say: “Indications of possible past differential shifting and drought related settlement were noted. This was also noted during the inspection completed in 2000. This drought related shifting appears to be due to the seasonal fluctuations in the moisture content of the subsoil beneath the home due to the large trees especially on the east side of the garage. This type of seasonal shifting can generally be kept to a minimum by maintaining positive drainage and watering during dry weather. Since the home does not appear to have returned closer to it’s original position, it may not do so in the future. However, to minimize future settlement issues, the grading should be maintained with positive drainage and the exterior ground watered.” So….the trees on the east side were trimmed at a cost of $500, there were multiple yards of topsoil installed around the entire perimeter of the house, by Lightning Grounds (removing shrubbery and replanting and tapping down the new soil) $840 and the 4” gutters were replaced with 6” gutters, new downspouts and extensions and a “roll out” style sump pump discharge was installed at the property at a cost of several hundred dollars. The above expenses are only related to the basement issue. We have not had any water or basement issues since July of 2009. So it would seem that the work done with the dirt and the gutters resolved the basement issue. Of course all day to day repairs…problems with faucets or toilets or things such as this were handled by professional property managers with work performed by professional contractors in a timely manner. In addition to the day to day maintenance that is always the responsibility of the landlord; weed control and lawn fertilization was provided to the renters and at least two times mulch was provided to the renters. Ms. Horton makes this property sound as if it is just about ready for the bull dozer. This is not a run-down decrepit property. This is a beautiful house located in a highly regarded part of Johnson County. As I said at the beginning, it would be much easier if we could just refund every dollar of every deposit but it is not always possible to do that.