Do NOT rent from Rathbun Realty, and if you do DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! We lived in one of their rentals for a year. The house was great and the price was exceptional, however the drama we dealt with was not worth re-signing a lease.
First, they do not have an emergency phone line, so when we returned home from a two week vacation (on a Saturday evening) and discovered that our main water line had broken we had to wait until Monday morning to inform them. This meant no running water until Monday night. Their solution? Contact a licensed contractor next time and they would reimburse us (which they would not legally have to do).
Second, when our swamp cooler broke, it took them six weeks to fix it. Leaking kitchen sink into our cabinet? Over two months (and then they tired to charge us for damage at move out).
Third, in the final month we lived in the home we received request for them to show our house to prospective tenants. Because we have dogs and I do not feel comfortable with strangers going through my home when I am not there we offered for them to come over any evening after work. However, this would have required one of their employees to work late, so they decided instead to serve us with papers to force their way into our home. Meaning I had to take time off of work to let them into our home.
Fourth, when we moved out we were charged $1900 for repairs. Including over $800 for painting due to cigarette smoke damage...only WE DO NOT SMOKE!! After multiple attempts to work something out with them I was forced to take them to small claims court...what a headache! I was lucky enough to have free advice from an attorney otherwise it never would have been worth it. Luckily, I was awarded the majority of my deposit back...it just took 6 months!
Overall, Rathbun treated us with nothing but disrespect during our time there. I even overheard them calling me names, including ""little b**ch"" while at their office. I would highly recommend to anyone to avoid renting from them. However, they offer nice places and cheap prices (which they will raise on you every year) so, if you decide to rent from them DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!! It's the only thing that saved me in court!
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