Tuski Brian - Bell Real Estate

My experience with Bell Real Estate has been a nightmare. Bell has not returned any of my phone calls requesting needed "essential repairs" that were required by law for them to do. We had an agreement for them to complete these repairs before I was to pay any money to them for deposits/rent and to sign a rental agreement. They lied about the agreement and when they came to inspect, they blamed most of the repairs on my family and also blamed the mold issue which was previously an issue because we just moved in on November 10, 2009. They practice very shady business methods and seems that they take on properties that are run down and just band-aid them to be rentable, but in my case they didn't even do that. I am looking into bringing a lawsuit against them and I would appreciate any feedback from any past/present tenants with Bell Real Estate who have had similar experiences.

Posted 12/21/09 | Report Abuse

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The following is a copy of the letter I sent to Bell Real Estate after receiving my final deposit accounting. I received no response.

I rented 2012 Roosevelt Blvd in Eugene for about 1 1/2 years, ending this last March, during which time I was a model tenant, except for one late rent payment resulting from my being out of town. I received my final accounting statement recently, in which you notified me that of my purportedly refundable $595 security deposit you retained $292. Your explanation for retaining nearly half of the deposit and the reasons these explanations are illegitimate are as follows:

-"Touch up cleaning": $98.70

I was very careful to clean the apartment thoroughly before I left to all reasonable standards, including those on the list you provided. An apartment will always require professional deep cleaning between tenants, so if you were going to charge me for this service you were bound to notify me that this part of my purportedly refundable deposit was in fact a non-refundable cleaning deposit.

-"Paint touch up": $85

I was also careful to touch up the walls myself before I left, and there was nothing wrong with the paint in general beyond normal wear and tear. Even had you been required to repaint the spots I painted, the materials to do so could not have costed more than $5, and the process could not have taken more than 15 minutes. Consequently, I can only think that you either chose to pay someone $335/hour to do this work, or simply made the charge frivolously for profit. Again, if you were going to charge me for touching up normal wear and tear, you ought to have notified me of this in our contract.

-"Blind cleaning over non-refundable paid": $108

It is difficult to conceive how anyone could expect they would be charged additional money for cleaning blinds when a non-refundable deposit for this exact purpose had already been collected. The blinds in the apartment were barely used (i.e. I rarely adjusted them) and were dusted regularly. In other words, there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary that would have required you to spend twice as much as normal on their cleaning.

I am quite sure that you have ensured that you are legally justified in charging me this money, and I have neither the time nor the resources to find out. However, as far as I am concerned this is quite simply an extremely thinly-veiled act of fraud, in which you fabricated reasons to retain deposited funds in order to shift some of the unavoidable maintenance costs of managing the property to your tenant. It is your prerogative to shift these parts of your cost of doing business to your tenants in this way, but I find it despicably dishonest to continue to pretend that all of the deposit you collect is in fact refundable. I must conclude that Bell Real Estate is a simply one of those businesses that relies on dishonestly exploiting technicalities at the expense of its customers in order to succeed; and I am very sorry that I contributed to that success for as long as I did.

Sincerely,

A. Heinrich

Posted 05/12/09 | Report Abuse

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The front desk secretary acted like a property manager - but we didn't know that. She was chaotic, rude and gave verbal information about our apartment choice. Based on her information we paid the required cash application fees and cosigner fees ($50). The agent failed to show up for the scheduled apartment tour. We contacted the office and learned she gave us wrong information about the unit - that made it unsuitable. They refused to refund our cash and lied about giving wrong information. Don't bother with Bell Realty - they are crooks and not nice to students. You would be much better off with Jennings or anyone else. Although it may be a hassle, always get everything in writing before paying fees. Trust no one.

PROS: none
CONS: unethical and misleading representatives

Posted 07/31/06 | Report Abuse

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Having gone to the university in town, Bell owns quite a few houses on campus so you will most likely have to deal with them. They are notorious for not returning your cleaning deposit, as they think students will damage the rental. I've had problems with them not following through on returning my phone calls when inquiring about my deposit. If you can find a house/apt that's not Bell, you're better off.

Posted 12/29/05 | Report Abuse

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