Stefan

Feb 7, 2025

WORST COMPANY I'VE EVER DEALT WITH!!!!

This company is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!! We contacted them on Dec 9th regarding a broken outside patio outlet cover. When the maintenance person came to fix it on Dec 16th, I specifically asked him if we would be responsible for any other charges other than the replacement part and he told me no, the charge was just specifically for the replacement part for the amount of $8.25 (I even took a pic of the actual receipt for our records) and that it would be added to our rent. He did not have the part on end so he drove to the local Home Depot (2 miles away from our home) to pick it up and then replaced the part in 5 minutes. Darwin then emailed us on Jan 23rd informing us that WE OWE $240.50 FOR THE MAINTENANCE FOR A $8.25 PART!! Naturally, we contacted Darwin the same day trying to get an explanation of why we were being charged this much. The property manager Zack did not get back to us until Jan 28th stating that he will review it and will get back to us the next day. We informed him that we wanted to make sure we would not be charged any late fees while they were investigating this issue. After multiple emails asking for a follow up and paying our contractually agreed upon rent on Feb 1st minus the disputed amount, Zack did not get back to us until Jan 3rd telling us that they upholding the charge and that the majority of the invoice was for the mobilization/trip charge and one hour of labor, which includes sourcing the materials!!! We responded to Zack that we once again were never informed by the maintenance rep of any additional charges so would like to discuss this issue with a General Manager over the phone and further asked for an itemized receipt/invoice providing a break-down of the charges so we could fully understand what specifically we were being charged for so we can fully review before agreeing to make any payment. After 2 days we called Darwin directly and spoke to customer service rep asking to speak to manager so we don't get charged any late fees and to get an itemized receipt/invoice so we specifically know what we're being charged for. The customer service rep said that there were no managers present but that he would escalate the situation. They very next day on Feb 6th we saw that Darwin charged us the late fee and we now owe $355.65!!!! Zac finally got back to us that day to told us that they considered the matter fully closed and that we owe them everything including the late fee. Just for reference here is what our lease agreement says: 5.5.3 Payment of Repair Costs: Except as otherwise specified in this Lease, Landlord will pay to repair the Property only if Tenant complies with the procedures for requesting repairs as described in this Section 5.5; provided however, that Landlord shall not pay for cost incurred to repair the following items: (i) conditions caused by Tenant, Permitted Occupants or any guest or invitee of Tenant; (ii) damage to interior doors, windows, and screens; (iii) damage caused by windows or doors being left open or unlocked; (iv) damage from wastewater stoppages caused by foreign or improper objects in lines that exclusively serve Property; (v) items that are cosmetic in nature with no impact on the functionality or use of the item; and (vi) any damage caused by the negligence or misconduct of Tenant, Permitted Occupants, or any guest or invitee of Tenant. 5.2 Tenant's Obligations 5.2.22 in general, all nominal and/or incidental repairs to the Property – i.e., repairs that cost the Nominal Repair Amount or less. Nominal Repair, per our lease agreement (Page 3, subsection 1.7) notated Nominal Repair Amount: $100 We have been nothing but reliable tenants and have ALWAYS PAID RENT ON TIME! Darwin homes obviously tries to take full advantage of their tenants and would not even allow us to speak to someone over the phone to dispute our case or provide us with any info explaining what EXACTLY we were being charged for. This company uses EXTREMELY DECEPTIVE TACTICS bordering on EXTORTION We tried to contacting a General Manager but we're almost positive that now we will need to speak with a lawyer regarding our issues with them. RUN FAR AWAY from this company!!! There's obviously a reason they're not even accredited with the Better Business Bureau