When my roommate and I moved into our apartment a year ago, the carpet was dirty, smelly, and worn, and felt damp in places. We complained to management several times about this, but were met with little to no support. We finally gave up complaining since it did no good, and were very rarely even at the apartment anyway. All of our complaints about the condition of the carpet were listed on our move-in sheet. Right before move out, we went to the office to get a copy of the move-in sheet, at which time the lady in the office made a comment that she knew we had concerns about the carpet. Therefore, we were shocked when a few weeks later we got a letter saying Foxfire was taking half of our $200 security deposit because they had to "kilz and seal the carpet due to pet urine." This is obviously ridiculous since the carpet was disgusting to begin with AND we NEVER had a pet in that apartment. We are thinking that the carpet probably WAS wet considering it felt damp the entire time we lived there, but that has to be from some other issue with the apartment because there is absolutely NO WAY it was pet urine. My roommate and I stopped by the office to complain and the SAME LADY who a few weeks earlier had told us she knew our carpet was bad, told us that was their final decision and there was nothing she could do. The manager said the same thing without even hearing us out. They were very rude to us. Does it make any sense at all to charge your tenants for the VERY thing that was wrong with the apartment when they moved in''' They should pay us for having to live in an apartment for a year with damp carpet! Yuck!

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/18/2009
I am the roommate of the girl who wrote this summary. We followed up with our complaints to the better business bureau. The case was unresolved as Foxfire refused to admit wrongdoing. They were highly unprofessional with us and basically knew they could get away with it. We planned to take them to small claims court for the principle of the matter, but it seemed ridiculous for the small amount of money we were seeking to ask time off of work, etc. Which is exactly what foxfire was hoping for. Below is our complaints to BBB. FOXFIRE APARTMENTS (More) Business Info NAME: FOXFIRE APARTMENTS BBB MEMBER: NO CONTACT: Tammy Reedy ADDRESS: 5020 GLENWOOD Mission, KS 66202 PHONE: 913 362-9391 FAX: 913 362-5640 Website: --None-- (Less) Complaint status: Case Closed UNRESOLVED (More) Activity Date Activity Description 07/28/2009 Case Closed UNRESOLVED 07/28/2009 Inform Business - Case Closed UNRESOLVED 07/28/2009 Inform Consumer - Case Closed UNRESOLVED 07/28/2009 Bureau judged complaint to be closed UNRESOLVED 07/28/2009 Receive Business Response see pdf 07/28/2009 Forward Consumer Rebuttal to Business BLT.cf.rtf 07/28/2009 Consumer rejects business' final offer (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) No we are not satisfied with the response from Foxfire as there has been no resolution whatsoever. I understand from the last letter written by Foxfire that they do not plan to change their position. However, since in their first letter they stated they had assumed that we were satisfied with the nasty apartment we were given since we stopped complaining (we stopped complaining knowing they would not do anything more for us not because the smell had been resolved), I suppose I will not stop complaining on BBB because then both parties will assume that the issue has been resolved when it has not. The simple fact of the matter remains that WE DID NOT EVER HAVE A PET/ANIMAL IN THAT APARTMENT. We complained about the carpet on move-in (the smell, and the dampness), then were charged for the very thing we had complained about (and is documented in our move-in comments, but it seems that those mean nothing). We are being taken for a ride by a corporation and being wrongly charged for something that we did not do. I can guarantee you that there WERE NOT fresh pet urine stains on that carpet because WE NEVER had a pet. Once again, if pet urine stains were found then that is absolutely disgusting because that means we had to live with someone else's pet urine smell for 12 months. No this issue has not been resolved and I hope that others will be able to see how poorly managed Foxfire Apts are currently, and be sure to check the reviews on different apartment ratings as they will be able to confirm that it is not a good place to rent from. I will continue to write a response as long as it keeps the issue open. 07/27/2009 Forward Final Response to Consumer see pdf 07/27/2009 Received Final Response from Business see pdf 07/17/2009 Forward Consumer Rebuttal to Business BLT.cf.rtf 07/17/2009 Received Consumer Rebuttal (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I am not satisfied with the response from Foxfire Apartments as it does not settle anything from my original complaint. The fact of the matter is WE NEVER HAD A PET IN THAT APARTMENT. My roommate and I did sign an addendum saying we would not bring a pet into the apartment, and we did not bring a pet into the apartment adhering to this agreement. The smell was not faint in the apartment, you could smell it prior to entering, and it was a smell that you never got used to regardless of whether you were there for 5 minutes or 5 hours. We used the Ozone machine and told them this did not help. We wanted the air filters changed, I believe they were changed, but maybe they were not, however we did ask for this. Their final response to the matter was, ''We do not smell anything, even this staff member who has a really good sniffer.'' And told us there was nothing else they could do but we should open our windows and air it out, and they were sure this would help. As I mentioned in my original letter, my roommate and I were rarely at our apartment, we spent approximately 10-15 actual nights at our apartment throughout the entire 12 months. We never even used the stove or oven, which would have been obvious during Foxfire's 'extensive walk-though' that it was spotless with clean drip pans. We filled out an extensive move-in comments, on which we listed several stains and the fact that the carpet was not attached to the walls, and that the smell was coming from the bedroom like the carpet never dried, which is the absolute truth. Had you had discrepancies with these comments, then Foxfire should have brought those forth at that time. The floor under the carpet probably WAS wet, considering the carpet felt damp the entire time we lived there, even to the point of rotting the leg on my wooden dresser (which we could show as "proof" if need be). However, there is no way this wetness was due to pet urine, unless it was urine left by pets of the previous owners. Foxfire certainly never told us they would be happy to help us, but quite the opposite. My mom was present when she told us they didn't smell anything and there was nothing else they could do. They knew that the issue was never resolved. Regarding the reason why we moved out. My roommate Sarah was getting married, so she checked that particular box for her reason while I was not present and prior to my signing the sheet. She even called me that day saying that's what box she checked and that there was no box regarding the condition of the apartment. We would have moved out due to the condition of the apartment regardless of whether my roommate was getting married. There was NO box to check the reason for vacating regarding anything about the apartment being unsatisfactory, poor management, or anything else referring to the condition of the apartment. I left it as Sarah had already marked it and because there was nothing to check regarding why I would choose not to stay in the 1 bedroom with study, which is because the apartment was unsatisfactory. Had there been a box to check regarding my reason for vacating, you can be assured I would have checked it. We were very glad our lease was up, so we could stop wasting our money on a gross apartment that we never even stayed at. Regarding the check being received in greater than 30 days. I will again refer to 58-2550 (b) ...the landlord shall return the balance of the security deposit to the tenant within 14 days after the determination of the amount of such expenses, damages or other charges, but in no event to exceed 30 days after termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession and demand by the tenant. (c) If the landlord fails to comply with subsection (b) of this section, the tenant may recover that portion of the security deposit due together with damages in an amount equal to 1 1/2 the amount wrongfully withheld. The actual check was dated July 2, 2009, which is already beyond the 30 days that it should have been returned by. The envelope it was sent in was dated July 6, 2009. Delivery is generally assumed when something is placed in the mail, and since the envelope was postmarked on July 6, it was again not in accordance with this act. Should a tenant date a rent check June 29 or even July 2nd but not turn it into the office until July 6, you can be assured that the check will be considered late, and same applies to this scenario. Also, the comment made by Foxfire saying it took extra time to do a final walk through is incredulous. Are they really saying it took them over 30 days to 'walk-through' our apartment. Really, I mean really? One: There was NO pet damage, as stated earlier, we DID NOT have a pet. Funny, Sarah is highly allergic to cats and could produce a statement from her physician proving this fact. So, there was no extensive damage in the apartment. Two: We didn't even live there. The apartment was 10x cleaner when we moved out than when we moved in. Three: If Foxfire says it took so long to do the walk-through, ie. 30 days, how could Foxfire even determine that those so-called pet stains were fresh, if the walk through had not been done until a month after we moved out. Four: We received a statement regarding what was being withheld from our deposit several weeks prior to receiving the remainder of the deposit, hence the walk-through was obviously completed in plenty of time to return our check to us within 30 days. Again, I would like to reiterate that we NEVER had an animal in that apartment. We were not allowed to see their so-called proof either. We have statements from a reputable carpet cleaner that it would be impossible to determine that a stain is fresh pet urine without sending it in for samples. So, Foxfire, did you send in the actual carpet for samples. Or was whatever you claimed to have found, actually there when we moved in? Do you have pictures of the carpet from before we moved in to prove that this was actually not already there? Which would explain all of our complaints and our reasoning for being so upset over this matter. Do you really believe that we had a pet in that apartment? And that we would be making such an uproar over $100 if we had a pet and knew our pet had made such damages? No, we would simply accept the charges if they were rightfully made. We are very upset over this whole situation because we have been wrongfully accused of damages that we did not make and are being charged to fix something that was already damaged when we moved in. What a terrible way to run a business, and I hope that others will be forewarned before renting an apartment at Foxfire. We are still seeking a full refund of our security deposit plus the amount owed to us for not returning it within the 30 days. 07/16/2009 Forward Business response to Consumer see pdf 07/16/2009 Receive Business Response see pdf 07/09/2009 Inform Business of the Complaint 07/09/2009 Send acknowledgement to Consumer - OTTO 07/09/2009 Complaint Validated by BBB Operator 07/09/2009 Complaint Received by BBB (Less) Case Description: Security deposit not given back due to false accusations about having a pet and pet urine damage. Remainder of deposit... (More) Security deposit not given back due to false accusations about having a pet and pet urine damage. Remainder of deposit not returned in 30 days. We were shown an apartment at Foxfire prior to signing our lease in May 08 and were never told that this was not the apartment we would be moving into. The actual apartment we were given was unsatisfactory. It smelled strongly of smoke, mildew, and other odors. There was a cigarette butt in our toilet and trash in the closets. The carpets were in bad shape, crusty floors, many stains, not attached to the walls at the edges, and the bedroom's carpet was damp. Staff claimed they couldn't smell anything, even a member who they told us 'had a really good sniffer', which is asinine, because you could actually smell it before you even opened the door. The staff attempted to clear the smell out with an ozone machine and by changing the air filters. They stated that we just needed to air it out and that we should leave our windows open. None of which worked. They also claimed that they couldn't be sure someone had been smoking in there, even though there was a cigarette butt in the toilet. We were tired of dealing with it, and knew it was hopeless as the staff was quite unhelpful and unsympathetic, and were rarely there anyways. Had we actually had to spend all of our time there, we would have tried harder to get a new apartment. The smoke/mildew odor never went away, and upon moving out I had to wash my things several times and have my bedspread dry-cleaned to remove the odor. The following is a list of our comments regarding the carpet from our move-in sheet: Living room: "worn, dirty around edges, yellow and pink stains, not attached at edges." Bedroom: "really dirty around edges." General:"Apt smells terribly of smoke and other odors. Doesn't go away, don't get used to it. Carpet was in bad shape on move-in. Worn, dirty, not attached to floor. Not comfortable sitting on it. Think smell in BR is carpet (didn't dry)" When we moved out I went to the office to request a copy, and one of the staff members says, "Yeah, I know you guys had problems with your carpet, is that what you are worried about?" This member of the staff acknowledged that there were problems with our carpet We received a letter in the mail in June09 saying that we were being charged $100 for a 'kilv and seal' to pay for damages caused by fresh pet urine. We were rightfully outraged and dumbfounded, as we NEVER had an animal in that apartment, and had clearly stated that the carpet was damp, dirty, and had a pungent odor on move-in. We went to the office and told them we never had a pet in that apartment, reiterating this fact multiple times along with the fact that the carpet was the very thing we had been complaining about since move-in. The member of the staff who previously acknowledged our problems with the carpet now told us that they had proof, pictures, it was their final decision and they were unwilling to hear us out. We asked to see the pictures, and they said that that was not possible. Why were we not allowed to see the pictures? If we are being charged for something, shouldn't we at least have the right to see what we are being charged for? We knew it was impossible that they had proof of pet urine, since we did not have a pet, which is why they were unable to produce it when asked. We feel they are trying to charge us money in order to fix something that was disgusting and damaged before we moved in. I think they should be paying us damages for having to live with this 'apparently fresh pet urine' for 12 months. The manager only came to speak to us after we refused to leave until we spoke to her. She haughtily stated that the decision had been made, the proof was the carpet, and she would call the police if we did not leave. Not once was an apology extended or an offer made to discuss the situation further. Foxfire has wrongfully accused us of having fresh pet urine stains on the carpet. They are withholding money that is due us. We also did not receive the $100 within the 30 days in accordance with KS-58-2550. (Less) Category: Refund or Exchange Issues Case opened date: 07/09/2009 Case closed date: 07/28/2009 Desired Resolution: We are seeking the return of our security deposit in full ($200). Also, since the remainder of the deposit ($100)... (More) We are seeking the return of our security deposit in full ($200). Also, since the remainder of the deposit ($100) was not returned to us within 30 days, we are requesting 1 1/2 times the $200 in accordance with Kansas Residential Landlord & Tenant Act, so $300 in total. An apology would also be nice, considering we are certainly not up in arms over the actual withholding of our money but over the principle of the matter. (Less) Download a copy of this complaint so you can print it for your records *** This complaint has been closed. If you have more information to provide to the bureau regarding this complaint, please click here. *** All attachments for this complaint. NOTE: You may need Adobe Reader and/or WinZip to view these files: Please click on the link(s) below to view attachments or response: Receive Business Response (07/28/2009) Forward Final Response to Consumer (07/27/2009) Received Final Response from Business (07/27/2009) Forward Business response to Consumer (07/16/2009) Receive Business Response (07/16/2009)

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