COMMENT OF THE DAY: I WAS A SCHMUCK FOR MICHAEL B. SMUCK “. . . We, as managers, were forced to lie to residents about repairs as no company would sell us supplies. We had numerous occassions where trash service and water were stopped due to non-paynment. New residents were moved into dirty apartments with shoddy repairs, old uncleaned carpet and were expected to deal with it. All ‘extras’ tenents had come to expect were discontinued when MBS took over. I was also employed when our christmas paychecks bounced, although it didn’t happen at all properties. Forget a refund on your deposit as well. Even if the apartment was left in perfect condition we were forcefully told to find something to charge them for to keep all their money. Keep in mind all of what I experienced happened before Katrina — I was long gone by then. Working for those people made me leave the apartment industry for good.” [Laura, commenting on The Lodge at Baybrook: Smuck Survivor]
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While this is an extreme it pretty much sums up the apartment industry in Texas. What is fraud in most states is perfectly legal in Texas. As quite a few tenants have found out in our courts when they attempted to exercise their rights. Contracts in Texas apply only to tenants. Not to landlords.
I’m one of the residents that never got a deposit back (from a property in Austin, TX) and I know I left the apartment in tip-top shape. I even went so far as to get a judgment through small claims court. After what I’ve read on this site about the charges Smuck faced in May of this year, I guess I can hang up the idea of ever getting that money back.