The Villages Hometown Management "Rentals" are a racket
 

There I said it.

The Villages rentals are totally dishonest. They trumped up "charges" which were ridiculous. When they said there were marks in the cutting board, we knew we were in big trouble. They did retract that later after we explained as simply as possible that if you don't use the carving board, you end up with cuts in the granite. Kind of the purpose of a carving board. Then they said there was dog hair...Well...hmmn....that is what the nonrefundable pet security deposit of $150 was ostensibly to cover, no? Then later they said we took 1 towel and 2 pillowcases and 3 wash cloths for a total of $92. . Wow. Never thought I would be accused of taking a pillowcase or towel that didn't at least say Hotel Danieli or Plaza Athenee..:) Really ridiculous. Not to be ostentatious but to make the point, we just built a very stretched lantana on the golf course with a very large pool...I think we can afford our own wash cloths.

So after being gracious and allow inspectors and workmen in for several different days because the owner's one year warranty was up while we were there (and we could have easily refused but were doing them a favor)

After being screamed at "You have no business being here" at by a maid that was angry when we returned after our check out time to return a cable cord that was mixed with ours as we were moving in to our new home) yelling the place has "dog hair" over and over, ( I suspect she just didn't want to have to actually clean since it was a Saturday and had hoped to do a light dusting)


After then meeting with the power man, Joe Cozensa, and being told there would be no problem, three weeks later (after the date by which they need to return your security deposit) we get a registered letter saying they are taking an additional $160 (which they had already done after the legal date) from the main deposit of $500 and we should refer to section blah blah blah of Florida statute. Typical of a sneaky mentality, they try to make you think they are in the right by throwing out a statute but, if you actually refer to that statute, what they did was illegal.

It says clearly that they cannot just take your security deposit (which they did) but they need to inform you of the discrepancy and you have 15 days to dispute it.

We rented through them because it was TV. Oh wait. Actually, we discovered through this it isn't ..exactly... TV. TV franchised it to these guys two years ago. You get your contract on TV letterhead, you pick up and return your keys to the sales office in Lake Sumter...it certainly quacks like a duck. I still don't understand TV pretending and supporting kindasorta it being a Village operation. It is really quite disappointing to us The Villages plays into this shenanigan. It isn't something we, and probably everyone else, would have expected.

So here is what we suggest for those who are going to engage these dishonest people. DON'T! You are better off going with a home owner where you build an honest relationship. If for some crazy reason, you feel you still want to rent through TV Hometown Management, absolutely make them do a walkthrough with you when you take the house and make sure they give you an itemized inventory which you sign off on. Otherwise, you end up with charges that are ...bologna.

And as for the incidents above, I have left out details that would make your jaw drop in the interest of trying to make this a concise and germaine post.

I have heard others that are not happy with the rental program of the Villages. Often it is the home owner who is not happy.

Most like they are playing both sides of the game.

mmmm maid yelled at you..this won't help you now, but our home had things missing and come to find out it was the housecleaner that removed our things. when you spend this much money on renting a house what do you need a wash cloth for..we let her go and now have someone who takes care of our house like we would. sorry you found out the hard way...some do not want to rent from thevillages4rent.com but this gives a good reason to deal with the owner direct.

Yes, we wonder about the maid. In fact, while my daughter and I were there, I went to write thank you and invite to our new home in the welcome book which we had been remiss in doing. The maid started screaming something and called her superior to say we were writing nasty things in the book about her. My daughter was a bit apprehensive with the erratic behavior. We left totally rattled by this very peculiar person. When we got in to the meeting with "owner" Joe Cozensa (sp?), he said the maid told him my daughter shoved her niece. We were speechless...for about 3 seconds. My daughter is demure, stands 5'2" and is a 0-2. At this point, nothing was surprising us anymore. We do wonder if she took those things and, to bolster her position, she invented that story. Or she was so angry about cleaning, she wanted to make us pay for it? We don't know but the response "Joe" had was, "That's why we don't like clients to be there when the cleaning people are there."
We didn't rent from thevillages4rent.com because we thought we had a relationship with TV and they were building our house. We were looking for a seamless move. We had rented one house for two weeks (BTW: the sheets were dirty and had to be washed when we moved in and we got a big ...aww that's too bad from the company about that) and then moved for two months to this one. It seemed logical to go with a company that was operated by TV. Had we known it really isn't TV standing behind this ...although they pretend it is them...we would have rented directly with a home owner. I hope others, after reading this, will recognize the benefit to rent directly. Chances are if someone owns a house in TV, they are a relatively nice person because TV attracts nice residents. This franchise Villages Hometown Property Management is apparently trumping up charges on both renters and home owners. Not nice.

I am a homeowner that has rented in the past. But not through them. At the time they got 20% of everything! including 20% of the cost of rebuying the stuff they alleged YOU BROKE. And if you are so unfortunate to have your A/C go or Washer they take care of it and pocket 20%! the homeowner is left with less than the rental agency!!!

The OP should give their salesperson a copy of these complaints with a cc to Jennifer Parr. If The Villages gets enough complaints that effect their customer service, perhaps they will end their franchisees contract.

This is good advice.
Would like to hear Jennifer Parr's response.

I agree.

Good luck with that

We are staying in one of their rental homes now for a week. I will let you know how it turns out. So far, we could not not be happier with the home (a Bridgeport on the golf course and large pond on Inner Circle in Amelia) or service. Home was spotless on arrival and everything works. Better than expectations.

I think the big thing is folks need to know is that the company is owned by Blackhawk something or other. No longer owned by the villages and hasn't been for a couple of years.

We looked at a home we were told had a "newly remodeled kitchen" one year and walked out never ever thinking to do business with them. The kitchen showed signs of severe water damage. Stained linoleum and very very stained carpet into the dining room from the linoleum. I was thinking possibly mold versus stain. How can they call this a remodel??? Hubby had opened the fridge and said he was glad I hadn't because it would not have been walk but run out of that house. :(

I guess by saying this you might want to think twice before allowing them to rent out your property as well as being weary of renting through them. Didn't look like good upkeep at all :(

Why do you think the salesperson will care? How does one send it to Jennifer Parr. Wonder if she would care since they are not the "real" owners...just the sortakinda pretend owners :)

Actually we believe TV does still have an interest. From our understanding from the hospitality manager at the sales office, TV franchised it to these two guys. What is "Blackhawk"?

Regardless, it is very bad form to have people working off a Villages contract, picking up and returning the keys to The Villages offices and then say it isn't a Village business. Or responsibility. I think that is the part that is the most unexpected part of this disappointing and dismal experience.

Wow! Good information to know in this thread. We have friends who just ask for rental suggestions in TV.

Guess you know to go to any other resource. Sure wish we had. Shall we say it put a damper on our TV enthusiasm.

TV Rentals
 

You could start by contacting Janet Tutt. She seems to be reliable and would be able to lead you to the right group of people.

Who and where is Janet Tutt?

We rented a CYV in Sabal Chase to overlap time for our closing and time to slowly move in to our new home. Still waiting for the time period to end for release on our deposit. My husband made sure the carpet was clean and we cleaned bathrooms and such to leave the place nicer than we found it... The Service told us none of that was necessary to leave it as a hotel room. So I hope they are honest and fair on the return of our fee as we watched our dogs like hawks and made sure all was well if not better than when we arrived. I had to inform the Service that we found some areas not well kept in the kitchen aka Dirty Silverware and pots/pans.
Sure glad we are home owners now!
Ebsmom

take pictures of each cabinet and closet, furniture hard to say its not there if you have a picture that is was, or they could say you removed it after picture, but still might be worth it

Found it :BLACKHAWK UNLIMITED INC. D/B/A The Villages Hometown Property Management

They're the contractor running the villages hometown property management now. Had a friend interview with the office and they don't have any of the job perks aka charter, medical etc that the village jobs have.

Wow. Thanks so much. It is really unethical for TV to allow them to use their letterhead, have keys picked up and dropped at the sales office so it appears it is a TV owned enterprises. I imagine that is why they are collecting a percentage. Lending their appearance of legitimacy. Very disappointing and very unexpected from what I usually consider TV to be a great company. I wonder if there are other "franchises" that TV is putting out there as "their" businesses.

I'm certainly not questioning anyone in this conversation, but playing devil's advocate here, I wonder what TVPM would say about this incident?

What is TVPM?

Sorry, I meant The Villages Hometown Property Management

That is who we have been talking about. That is who has behaved so poorly. That is who is really Blackhawk d/b/a Villages Hometown Property Management.

I know, initally I was just abbreviating The Villages Property Management (TVPM) but left out an H for Hometown.

Oh. Hmmn. I am confused. You said: Wonder what TVPM would say about this incident. They are who we have been talking about throughout the thread. If you look at the original posts, it explains they are fully aware and are behaving very poorly. Sorry if it wasn't clear.

I probably wasn't clear initally, we've heard just one side of the story here.

I know it won't happen but it would be interesting to hear what they would have to say on the matter.

Yes it would be interesting to hear what they have to say about all the comments on here. It seems they aren't very well regarded. Wish I had asked questions on totv before we rented :) Hindsight is 20 20.

We have rented from TV Property Management and an individual homeowner. Both were very pleasant experiences and full deposit was refunded both times. The individual rental had more to offer as far as a homey feeling i.e. grill, maps, magazines, games, etc. The property management rental was bare bones - almost like a souped up hotel room. Both of these were done in the past year.

Very interesting gomoho. How long were each of the rentals? BTW: We found the ladies who booked the rentals to be terrific.

as a homeowner we have our home with everything we need as if we live there...even that wine carrier to go with the plates and silverware to go for dinner on the square....i wonder what the homeowners were told about this problem, after all its their home

I don't know what they tell the homeowner. I do know that the women who rent the houses are told nothing when there is a problem. The woman who rented both houses to us didn't know anything. Also, she thinks she is working for TV. She told me her checks come from TV. She doesn't even know it is a company d/b/a and that it is technically not TV. It is a small office but everyone only seems to know their little piece. In fact, when I spoke to the owner of the "owner" and mentioned we opened the house to workmen for several days and even use of the shower for repairs, he poopooed it saying that was for the villages warranty and we weren't doing anything for them but we helped the owners. If you really consider it, that was use of property. If they had control of this house, they knew the end of the first year was coming. They should not have rented it and expected the renters to give up their time and use without a compensation. We never made an issue of it and, again, it was an example of how they take advantage.

What the OP is saying is shocking. I hope that The Villages divorces this bunch and quick. It sure does not sound good.

Bogieshooter? How do you send this thread on to the right folks who can take to the eyes of the decision makers?

The OP is right about the graphics used on their site being the EXACT graphics of TV and the fact that the sales office is their agent is equally troubling.

As most know, I LOVE how things are run here, this sure looks like a fly in the ointment. :yuck:

Each rental was only for a week - but, I agree with you the lady that helped me with TV property management was awesome - too bad they may be working for some less than caring folks.

If they are this bad all of the time with all customers wouldn't they be out of business or at least a change in management?

We have rented three different homes, unfurnished, through Hometown Management, one with the current folks running it and by the way one of them for sure is a long time Village executive employee.

We could not say enough good things about the entire operation, we were treated like guests, we had no problems of any kind with them and that includes the financing items and payment of security deposit.

Good Experience
 

We rented a CYV in Hadley for 3 months this past year from TV Hometown Property Management while our home was being built. We had a very positive experience. We had 2 cats and I was very keen on no hair being left behind, no smell or damage. I put my own towels on the furniture to ensure no hair on furniture. Called Property Management as one of the smoke detectors was chirping. They came out right away and fixed. Granted the hot water was not hot enough for my taste but we managed and the washing machine was an old top loader that didn't do such a good job at cleaning but it beat going to a laundrymat. No, the pots and pans etc. weren't as good as my things but we ate out so much didn't have to worry about it too much. We got our deposit back with the exception of the pet fee (which we knew was not refundable) within 30 days after we vacated the residence. Guess we got lucky.

I had never rented before last August when we sold our house in Hunter's Creek and moved to a rented home in Liberty Park, through The Villages 4 Rent. When we moved out in December, I cleaned that house top to bottom. Long story short.....they kept part of our deposit because they said we took 2 measuring spoons, a travel mug and a measuring cup. Total $35. I was so surprised!

I had cleaned mold from the front and back porches, the outdoor furniture and outdoor lights and the window sills. I fixed moldy caulking in the shower. We felt we left the house better than when we arrived.

It was a real eye opener for me!