Hi Leno,
So what exactly makes you an expert as well? Lifesave, I wasn't burned by LCAP, me and my brothers were justly compensated by Massachusetts Law.
I'm not bringing up the lawsuit as bitterness (again, justice was served) but to illustrate a point.
Here ya go:
http://www.mass.gov/portal/index.jsp...itie&csid=Eoca
That link took me less than 2 minutes to find and it outlines everything a Massachusetts landlord needs to follow the law.
Unfortunately, LCAP decided to violate about 60% of those rules, especially the part about security deposits. The brothers that represented me at court said the Clerk Magistrate was shocked at the blatant violations by LCAP.
Their lack of research resulted in LCAP paying, if I remember correctly, somewhere around $750 to each brother renting from them. If I recall correctly there were 15 brothers, which would mean their mistake cost them about $11,250 in damages.
Again, it would have taken a whole 2 minutes to find that information to prevent a lawsuit. We even warned them that what they were doing was illegal. You don't need to be a lawyer. But it is common sense that when you handle a security deposit, there are strict rules that you MUST follow.
What is their excuse? They didn't know Mass. law? They have owned the Worcester, Mass. house for years so it's not like they didn't have the time to do a quick internet search.
What I want to know is how many other times did this situation happen? Do you think a professional property manager would have made that mistake, someone with experience? That one mistake cost them around $10,000.
I'm telling you this to illustrate a POINT. I didn't live in the 50 other houses they own, I lived in one and that was my experience with them.
Now I ask you. If you had my experience, where it was very clear that LCAP had violated state law, a law and regulations which could easily have been found and complied with, that they were WARNED about the violations, and they still chose to ignore them: and then to find out that the same people who took no responsibility to perform even the most basic of tasks, got PROMOTED?
If it were a private firm in which these violations were found, and then it was discovered that the person in charge of the house could have easily avoided paying out damages, that person would have been fired, not promoted.
That is my experience. Maybe you'll understand now why I am questioning the expertise and qualifications of these people. A bunch of college 19 year olds knew the law better than the hired property managers. So yes, I AM qualified to question the background and qualifications of these people.
If you would like, instead of my nightly installment of my journal, I could do a step by step of the violations, relate them to Mass. Law and the contract that was signed (the sample contract on the website is almost exactly like the one we were presented.)
Please remember: This is MY experience with them. You probably had a great experience with them, where they were knowledgeable, hard working and knew all the information available. I'm glad you had a good experience and I respect it. Me and my brothers, on the other hand, did not have a good experience in which they showed they were not knowledgeable and did not know all the information available. I hope you respect that.
Now, I hope you can at least UNDERSTAND, I'm not asking you to accept or change your mind, why I have reservations.
*Goes into the basement, blocks off the doors and windows, hides under a table with emergency food and water and prepares to be flamed and assaulted.*