Richdale charges its tenants bogus damage move out fees and does not actually repair/replace for what they charge you for, this constitutes fraud. Fraud is a felony. Listed below are ways to prevent these illegal actions from being used against you!
Obviously the easiest way to avoid being scammed by them is to not live at any of
their properties. By moving there, you are helping to support a company that routinely, without conscience, defrauds it's former tenants out of hundreds of thousands of dollars every year (collectively). Together, we can force them to change their business practices by showing them that we won't accept it (and not only won't pay them their bogus fees, but won't move in to begin with) and tell everyone about it when they try, and gather evidence to turn over to the authorities.
How to protect yourself:
1) When moving in (if you have
absolutely no alternative places to go), mark
everything down on the move in sheet. Don't fall for the employee's carefree attitude about the small things. Mark them down, have them repaired -- I don't care how minor the issues are, they will charge YOU on move out if you don't have it written down and FIXED. Miniblinds bent? Replace them! Scars on the walls? Have them filled! Any and every stain on the carpet should be marked down. (You must realize that the majority of the time they
already charged the last person for these damages so you aren't costing them anything, and you not forcing them to repair the issues gives them the opportunity to charge you when you move out.) Take your own pictures (or video) and have them printed out with dates (from a source that can't be faked)! I had issues where things had been marked but since I didn't consider it bad enough, did not request it be fixed. But even though it was on my move-in sheet, they
still charged me on move out. MARK IT, HAVE THEM FIX IT! If you don't, you will be charged for things that were already wrong with the unit. If you didn't do this and are currently a resident, you can maybe relax, there are still ways to prove you didn't do the damage, like request/subpoena the move-out charges for the last renter to show they already charged someone for the damages and/or demand the related invoices to the charges to show no work was ever actually done (by the lack of any invoice. If they don't have an invoice for work that would be contracted, it was never done.). Be creative, write a letter to the new resident (you know their address) and verify that what you were charged for was actually brand new when they moved in. The best practice is to always get them to sign the move-in sheet, let them have a *copy* and you keep the original.
2) Request (and keep) receipts for
everything. From my own experience and reports I keep hearing from others, Breckenridge/Richdale's ability to keep track of their money is not always reliable, and when there is an error they
always blame the tenant saying you'd not paid for something that you actually had. Some even bring in the canceled check and Richdale does not accept that they made an error and continue to act as though they are owed more. GET RECEIPTS!
3) Keep any work-orders for anything done. Most likely you won't need them, but occasionally you will. My sprinkler in my office started to leak. The Breckenridge workers came and checked it out and filled out a work order for the sprinkler company to repair it. The company came, cut a hole in the wall, Breckenridge was supposed to have their workers repair the drywall but never did. It was so close to move out that I didn't report it, figuring they'd fix it after I was gone and see the work order. However, I was charged for the dry wall damage! Why would I cut a hole out around the sprinkler?? It was a great thing I still have that work order! The charge was deducted, but because I fought back and had the work orders, I was able to (after the BBB got involved) able to get Richdale to reverse these charges. KEEP WORK ORDERS!
4) On move-out, request invoices/receipts for
anything and everything you are being charged for. If there is a $165 charge for the air ducts being cleaned and they are unable to produce the invoice, assume they never did it (seriously!). Make them prove it! It is one of your rights as a tenant and one of
their responsibilities as a landlord. If they are charging you without proof that they actually incurred a charge, this is illegal --
do not let them take that money. Richdale is intent to take money that does not rightfully belong to them. They will try to get away with whatever you let them.
Assume everything they say is a lie until they show you the proper invoices to prove otherwise. Charging you for something that was never actually done and all of their lies and runaround to keep that money
constitutes Fraud, which is both criminally and civilly prosecutable for both Richdale and the individual employees involved. Fraud is a felony charge and those convicted face incarceration, punitive fines, restitution, probation, community service, and other penalties. This is
very serious crime and one of the most powerful charges against them!!! REQUEST INVOICES!
5) If you are really on top of things, record every phone call. Remember that
Nebraska is a "one party state" meaning that only one of you has to know it's being recorded -- and that is you. So record it, and do not tell them. I guarantee you that with their track record of lies and denials of things they tell you on calls, that the voice recordings will come in
very handy! They stopped emailing me once I started posting their emails, but they didn't realize that calls can be recorded without notice? RECORD PHONE CALLS!
6) Do not endorse a check if it is not full payment of what you are owed. On the endorsement line, their stamp states that you are accepting the check as payment "in full". A check is a legal contract signed by two parties and if you sign something that says it's in full, but it's not... that document can be strong in court. They know this, and even if a worker tells you to go ahead and cash it and that it's just a standard stamp, DO NOT! Yes it is a standard stamp that is designed to prevent you from getting your money back. In law, this stamp accomplishes
"Accord and Satisfaction". By signing it, you are releasing them from repaying the full amount and only have a limited time window to reverse it once you realize what you did. If you do not do it within the specified time window, you have to then additionally prove
"Affirmative Defense" which shifts the power to their side, and they know it! They tried to tell me to go ahead and just sign it and not worry about it (as you can see in the
email history with an employee). As soon as I declined to endorse the first (incomplete) check, telling them I preferred to have the full payment before I signed that statement, they said that waiting was no problem but then
ignored every email after that until I got the BBB involved! DO NOT ENDORSE A CHECK OF THEIRS THAT IS NOT FULL PAYMENT.
7) Don't be afraid of them. They will treat you as though they have the upper hand and for people who are not familiar with tenants' rights,
you will probably believe them and give in to lesser payments and sometimes tenants even fork out
additional money for completely bogus charges (due to fear/threat of being sued by Richdale), because tenants don't know how to properly fight back and don't realize how the laws the protect the
renters. Remember that by law they are required to return the money unless they can show that they incurred damages. They will treat you as though giving back your deposit is optional or that they are being nice to give you back the tiny fraction that they are. It is
your money unless they can show legitimate damages! They lied to me so many times with all of my dealings, making stuff up left and right to try to convince me they were justified. Force those scheming liars to prove every bullshit deduction like the law requires!
Don't be desperate to get back $100 if you are owed $400 and DEFINITELY do not pay them money that they are not owed. They prey on people who don't know their rights and those who are intimidated by them. For instance, if you contest a charge (which you have every right to do), they may tell you that it will "go to committee" to decide. Then they come back and tell you that the "committee" has decided to reject the claim. Realize, that this "committee" (if they even talk to anyone else) is just their other sleaze ball, lying coworkers! It's a tactic intended to make it feel like there's no where left to go so that you give in to bogus deductions. They prey on people who trust their carefree attitude (During initial walk-through: "Oh don't worry about that damage, that's normal wear and tear, you won't be charged for that on move out..." or when asked to prove that they incurred expenses they are charging for: "Oh yeah, we'll get you those invoices..."). As soon as I demonstrated that I knew that what they were doing was illegal, they changed their story and gave me back
nearly every penny I asked for (~4x their initial refund). If the charges are bullshit, I can definitely help you get the full amount back, call me! DO NOT FEAR THEM!
8) Contact the BBB! I discovered much too late in the process that Richdale takes BBB claims much more seriously than just a tenant emailing/calling. Make sure you have already asked for invoices demonstrating they actually incurred charges, etc before
filing with the BBB so that the absence of the invoices can be part of your claim (that they could never actually produce the invoices, this is a strong statement because
you're exposing their illegal activity). Once the BBB got involved, Richdale suddenly started talking to me again after months of ignoring emails and voice mails. I learned this lesson many months too late! It's
free and
very simple, they completely take it over, log everything, & send you copies of all correspondence and ignored calls by Richdale, I love the BBB!!! --
I cannot stress the importance of this enough!
CONTACT THE BBB!!!!! (It will ask for a company name search, they're listed under "Slosburg Company" just search on that and confirm the address of "10040 Regency Cir # 200 Omaha, NE 68114". There is also a "Richdale Group" listing in IA, but only use that for their IA properties. Slosburg/Richdale are two names for the same beast)
9) If you really want to exercise your rights, refuse to sign their standard settlement agreement (that they send out if you are getting back more money than their initial check) that states you cannot discuss the terms of the settlement. Remember,
they owe you the money -- PERIOD. You do not have to exchange your silence for something you are already owed! This may make some feel uncomfortable since Richdale will tell you they'll send you a check
only after you sign the agreement. Be firm! They had wanted me to sign (and take down my blog and my review) but I refused. They are stealing from you,
you do not owe them your silence, so do not give it away. That would be like if a mugger stole your wallet, you hounded him for a year and a half and he says "ok, jeez! I'll give it back, but you have to sign this legally binding agreement that you won't tell anyone how I stole from you and if you do, you have to give your money back to me."
That's complete BULLSHIT!!! Other potential tenants have a right to know what is going on with Richdale! Richdale will act like signing the agreement is your only way of getting your money,
that is a LIE -- know your rights, signing the document is giving away your rights! DO NOT SIGN ANY AGREEMENT THAT REQUIRES YOUR SILENCE!
10) Post a review. Take advantage of the fact that you haven't signed away your silence. Apartment review sites are becoming more and more popular and important to renters. Of course, Richdale knows this and former employees have admitted to creating false reviews and they are asking residents on move out to write a positive review due to their horrible ratings. This is backfiring since Richdale hasn't stopped scamming people so it just encourages
reviews like this one. Be detailed in your review. I've seen some reviews that just say "these people will rob you!" And while that's true, you need to include as many details as possible so that the readers can understand what they are guilty of. Obviously, you don't need to go into as much detail as I have in this blog, but specifics help people make up their own mind. Knowing your rights will help you along the process so that you know what to ask Richdale and can show the runaround/lies they gave you, to more clearly demonstrate the illegality of their actions. If you see comments that blame the renter on review sites (one commenter told me that I "must have done something to provoke them"), understand that these are Richdale employees. They also post
obviously fake positive reviews (employees posting reviews is a
Terms of Service violation of that site). The fact that they are actively telling people to go post a positive review to counter the negative ones and even bother to tell people that I'm insane and a liar shows how important they know these sites are. The fact that they first told me they'd only give me money if I took down the blog and removed my review also shows how much they don't like having their illegal activity revealed. My response was "mmmmm, yeah... I don't think so."
POST A REVIEW!
When talking with a supervisor at Richdale (after the BBB got involved and suddenly Richdale responded to me) I commented to her that I hadn't been too concerned about some of the minor damage on move-in, because "if it passed inspection for the last tenant, then I'd be ok too." She scoffed and while laughing said "You don't know what we charged the last tenant!" I responded, chuckling, "Well, if you charged them, then you would have repaired it, right?" She was caught in her self-made trap and had no answer. This was clear confirmation that they see no correlation between charging a tenant and
actually doing the work they deducted from your deposit, something I'd only casually suspected to that point (
fraud).
Realizing that what they're doing is illegal makes it much easier to not back down; know you've got the law
clearly behind you. Fight any unjustified charge (well, not the rekey charge and cable disconnect -- those are charges you agreed to when you moved in), demand to see either the invoices/receipts relating to the deductions or demand to get the money back. It's not only Richdale that is guilty of fraud, but the
individual employees who participate are also on the list for prosecution in the future. Remember,
they get bonuses based on how much they screw their tenants and they have a bunch of tricks they use to accomplish that. After reading this blog, now you'll know how to recognize and defend yourself against their tricks.
If you are currently a Richdale employee,
QUIT IMMEDIATELY snagging copies of as many incriminating documents before you go. Please call me first! I'll tell you exactly what types of documents can best show their guilt, and you probably know about crimes I'm currently unaware of. Contact me through the VM widget on the side so that you can help the prosecution and not have any charges filed against you personally. No job is worth having felony charges brought against you. I know that you probably signed agreements at the start of your employment stating you will never talk about what you did there, but look into
whistleblower status which allows you to break those agreements when exposing illegal activity. You'll be ok, but get out now... and contact me, otherwise you are part of the problem and will be prosecuted as such. Management will tell you to ignore all of this, dismissing it, laughing it off, telling you that it's all fake and lies. Or they will tell you that what you're doing is not illegal.
For your own protection, I suggest hiring your own attorney to get legal advice if you do not believe that what you're doing is illegal or that you risk criminal prosecution,
you can be charged with a criminal offense for the illegal activity you were trained to do (whether you realized it was illegal or not). You are also exposed to civil law suits as well. Past employment records can be subpoenaed and employees that participated in these activities & did not report them can definitely be prosecuted. Quitting now is not protection enough from criminal charges, you must join forces with the prosecution to protect yourself.
A watched pot never boils. Because of the truths that are surfacing, Richdale employees are realizing that what they are doing is fraud. While they already knew they were trained to lie, they may not have realized that lying for gain is the
definition of fraud and that they can be individually prosecuted both criminally and civilly, "They told me to do it" is not a legitimate excuse. By this blog training Richdale employees that they were coerced to do illegal activities without their knowledge of the illegality, that it will cause them to think twice before they do it again. Also, by exposing their practices to the tenants and providing guidance through the move-out process through the Hotline above, it shines a spotlight on Richdale. Defrauding any more tenants while being watched so closely would be far too risky. So, I really hope that your move-out experience is very different from what was happening to prior tenants. They'd have to be really ballsy (or just plain stupid) to do anything right now. We're watching you!
If you have proof of charges for move-out expenses that were never done (demand invoices!) or any other tidbits of experience with Richdale that confirms/supplements anything I've stated here, please contact me.
In addition to the blatant fraud mentioned throughout this site, here's some legal rules about security deposits that I know that Richdale is guilty of violating (either from my experience or that of others), taken from
"Landlord Legal Mistakes":
7. Using Security Deposits for the Wrong Projects
The most frequent types of cases heard in small claims court are arguments over security deposit retentions. Yet the basic rule -- that deposits should be used only to cover damage beyond wear and tear, needed cleaning, and unpaid rent -- isn't hard to understand. Still, landlords routinely use the deposit to cover appliance upgrades, cosmetic improvements and other refurbishing, not repairs. Not surprisingly, many of these landlords lose these cases in small claims court.
9. Keeping Security Deposits When Tenants Break a Lease
When tenants break a lease and leave early, landlords often keep the entire deposit, reasoning that the tenant's bad behavior justifies doing so, and that they'll ultimately need it anyway to cover rent. In many states, this is illegal -- you must take reasonably prompt steps to re-rent, and credit any new rent toward the tenant's obligation for the rest of the lease. Keeping a two months' rent deposit and re-renting within a month is not legal.
10. Failing to Return Security Deposits According to Law
This list wouldn't be complete without another reference to security deposits. Not only are they used improperly, they're often not returned according to state law, either. Many states have deadlines by which landlords must itemize their use of the deposit and return any balance. It's not uncommon for tenants to wait many weeks or months for this accounting. In some states, the deliberate or "bad faith" retention of the deposit will result in harsh penalties against the landlord, such as an order that the landlord pay two or three times the deposit to the tenant.
They tell their employees that the tenants cause a lot of damage and they have to recover the expenses in some way. If the damage is legitimate, then of course the tenant should pay. But Richdale's practice is to use bogus charges, or they charge for actual minor damage (which was actually there prior to move in) but then do not repair it to see if the next tenant won't mark it down on their move in... then charge them for it again on move out. It's clever because if you challenge it when you move out, they can show you the minor "wear and tear" damage (landlords are supposed to absorb that cost) so tenants who don't know the law just roll over and take it. 1) By law, normal "wear and tear" damage is not to be paid by the tenant 2) By subpoenaing past tenant move-out charges you can prove that while they charged the previous tenant, they never did the repair, and charged you for the
same damage which constitutes fraud... which is much more significant. So they're not just charging one person for "wear and tear" damage which was already illegal, they keep charging for the same damage over and over and over until someone marks it on their move-in sheet and demands it be repaired prior to move in. Most times that damage is so minor, tenants don't put it down. Richdale is full of liars, cheats, swindlers, thieves and crooks... most of the time,
you should believe the opposite of what they tell you. Seek legal counsel, google your way to knowledge, or contact me for help out of the mess you didn't know you accidentally stepped into.
Always remember that you have rights too, and many of Richdale's tactics are simply not legal! FIGHT BACK. You will get your money back if you know your rights and refuse to back down! Hopefully with all the pressure on them right now, you won't have to. Good luck!
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