WINDERMERE PROPERTY MGMT

Newly remodeled condo on the fourth floor. After the renter moved in there were problems with water leaking from the dish washer onto the floor. When she began using the shower water appeared on the ceiling and wall of the apartment below. Bruce James got a plumber to tighten the connections and also reseat the toilet which was improperly installed. This took several trips as the problems appeared over time. On the final visit the plumber checked and tightened every fitting in the condo. The diverter on the bath tub malfunctioned and Bruce went to several stores to find one that matched the finish. Through all this and the several thousand dollars damage to the unit below, Bruce kept me informed and and dealt gracefully with the exasperation of the renter due to all the intrusions and annoyances caused by the contractor I had hired. The renter is happy now and has agreed to sign a new lease. I highly recommend Bruce James.

It is easy to understand why landlords, in their modern incarnation as property management companies, have justly earned their unsavory reputations for ruthless and predatory dealings after you have dealt with one for a year as a home renter as I did. I rented a house in a Seattle suburb from Windemere Property Management. Here are a few of the highlights (or maybe, more accurately, lowlights) of my experience: >I had to ask multiple times for a light in the garage to be fixed. It was a serious safety issue, because, without this single bulb light, I could not see at night to walk across the garage to the switch that controlled the lights that illuminated the whole garage. When it was finally fixed, the management company's agent tried to pin the bill on me, claiming that I had informed the repair technicians that I had installed a coat hook on the garage wall that had penetrated the electric wire from the switch to light fixture, damaging it and rendering the light inoperable. Since I had done no such thing and was easily able to disprove this brazen lie, the agent beat a hasty retreat on this one. >During the past winter when the tempatures got down below freezing and the norms for Seattle weather, I discovered that several of the baseboard electrical heating units were not functioning. Once again, I had to make requests, which eventually became pleas, for the agent to send someone out to fix it. Among other responses, I had to fill out a repair request form and send it in to the company by the US Postal Service, this in the modern digital age in one of the premier high-tech cities in the world. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the form I had to fill out was sent to me electronically by email? Add to this the fact that the lack of heat was a clear and present threat both to my health and to the well-being of the house. I purchased a space heater and kept it on high for several days to make sure that the water pipes didn't freeze and burst. But space heaters are notoriously inefficient, and I ended up with a huge electric bill. Want to guess as who would have been charged for repairs if the pipes had burst? >Because of this and other incidents, I had had enough after eleven months, so I decided to move, even though it meant paying for a month of rent while not living there. I and a relative worked hard to prepare the property to look good to enable me to get my deposit back. I used a cleaning company, recommended by the company, to prepare the house interior. while my relative and I worked on the yard. One of the neighbors came over while we were working and complimented us on how good the house and, in particular, the yard looked. Yet when I finally got the deposit check (and this took many, many days too), the agent had deducted several hunderds of dollars from the total because of the alleged but unspecified need for yardwork, along with the allegation that I might not pay the final utilities bills, even though I have a meticulous credit rating. My advice to prospective home renters: Avoid Windemere Property Management Company like the plague. Other landlords might not be much better, but it is hard to imagine that they could be any worse.