| Marketplace Homes |
| Poor business practices |
| 23rd of Jul, 2013 by jkat |
My family signed a three year rent to own contract with Marketplace Homes in 2011. Not even a full year into the contract, we began getting calls and emails telling us that we needed to move because the “owner was experiencing a hardship and needed to sell.” As it turns out, the homeowner already had a buyer lined up (who has already completed paperwork for the purchase of the home) and he was unaware that Marketplace had signed us to a three year rent to own contract.
Marketplace Homes signs tenants to longer lease terms, but allows homeowners to opt out every twelve months. If a problem arises, they blame it on a “clerical error” or offer to pay for moving costs in some cases. Just type the issue into Google and you will easily find what I am talking about.
We asked for our deposit and option money back – since they are taking away our “exclusive and irrevocable right to purchase” (that is the language in their lease). They refused. We asked for the difference in increased rent for the remainder of our lease term, because every house that was comparable is an increase in rent. They refused.
They have been randomly sending us a few links to other rental homes that are significantly smaller than the one we are in now. The ones that maybe have an extra bedroom or two are in the slums – these are in areas where I would not even feel comfortable allowing my children to play in the backyard because they are not safe nor are they family oriented areas. Yes, there ARE ghettos in Colorado! But they are sending us these, hoping we will agree, because the difference in rent is extraordinarily minimal and saves them from having to pay for the damages we are set to incur. God forbid that they should have to help us with moving costs, deposit and increased rent for the remainder of our lease term – God forbid they do something honest and right!
We have done nothing wrong – we have lived up to every obligation and expectation in our contract and have always paid our rent on time. We have caused no damages to the home (we even allowed them to send someone in to do an inspection. They claimed it was part of our lease agreement but it was not. We showed the person our lease and she said, “You’re right, it’s not in there.” But we allowed her to do her inspection anyway because we had nothing to hide.) We have attempted to provide a good living situation for our children and parents – but because we made the mistake of signing a lease with Marketplace Homes it has been nothing but a nightmare.
We are disgusted with the way they conduct their business. And for anyone that reads negative reviews online about the company – believe them because they ARE true. We have been back and forth with attorneys and in and out of court since October of last year. We are under constant stress not knowing where we are going to move, not knowing where I am going to send my child to school (which starts in a matter of weeks), not knowing if there will be adequate space for our families, not knowing if we will be in a safe environment…not knowing, not knowing, not knowing. Imagine trying to convince YOUR children that everything will be okay when you cannot tell them where you’re going to live, where they’re going to school, if they’re going to have to get rid of their belongings because there’s not enough room, etc! And all of this when the lease YOU signed doesn’t end until the end of 2014 AND you were SUPPOSED to have the “Exclusive and irrevocable right to purchase!” Hell, just try sleeping at night when you have all of these concerns weighing on you – it is impossible!
I believe the eviction process, in which the homeowner is evicting Marketplace Homes (which in turn evicts us) is set to take place August 31st. What have they done to make it right? Like I said, they randomly email us houses that are in the slums of Aurora, CO – nowhere near where we live now and not in any way comparable to what we have now. So, ONE DAY before my wife’s birthday, we get the pleasure of being HOMELESS thanks to Marketplace Homes.
Thanks Marketplace! |
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