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Top > United States > Vermont 
| Vacation Rental Complaints |
| 7. |
Property not as described
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My husband, 2-year-old son and I rented a house at 351 Lane’s Lane in Charlotte, Vt., from John Zeeman of Massachusetts and Florida in July 2010. We found the property on Vermontproperty.com. It is listed as a “Charming 2 - 3 bedroom camp on Thompson's Point in Charlotte. Direct lakefront, great lake and mountain views, sunrises. Lakeside deck off lower level bedroom. Includes dock and is fully equipped.”
We sent in half of the total rental and security deposit ($700) by the due date. Mr. Zeeman told me his bank account number, then asked me to find a branch of his bank in my area and deposit it there. That seems like an extremely questionable practice, but I complied, and was unable to find a local branch of his bank. He then asked me to simply send the check to his residence in Florida, which I did. I asked later if he’d received the payment, and he responded that he’d gotten other checks and didn’t know which deposit was from which renter, but that he was pretty sure he’d gotten it.
I sent the balance in by the next due date as well, this time to his residence in Massachusetts. Again, when I called to confirm that he’d received it, he asked me to go back through my bank records to see if I’d gotten the cancelled check back.
I also asked him for some information regarding the house, including, are there baby gates at the stairs? Is there a TV/DVD? What do we need to bring? His answers were somewhat vague, and he said that he hadn’t been to the house in a while. He said he didn’t think there were baby gates and that I should bring some (it turns out there were baby gates at the bottom of one set of stairs and at the top of the other). He also said that residents of houses along the lake don’t drink the water (although he didn’t say why) and that his cleaning person would leave water for us. There was not water left for us. He also said there was no cable although the TV got 2-3 channels, and there was a VCR player but not DVD player. He said that it was “pretty primitive living” which, in retrospect, does not jibe with “fully equipped.”
When we arrived we were shocked at what we saw. To get from the driveway to the house, you have to walk down a fairly steep slope. There seemed to be steps cut into the slope and held in place by railroad ties, but the steps had not been well maintained, and it was a hazardous walk from the car to the house; definitely not suitable for young children or my 66-year-old mother, who was supposed to share the house with us. There was a large gap between the slope and the wooden walkway leading into the house, and the railing was too high to be of any use to my 2-year-old son. Plus, it only bounded one part of the walkway, leaving the slope side unprotected, and it had no rails.
The house itself could have been charming, but there were so many cosmetic and hygienic issues with the property it was hard to fully appreciate it. A huge cobweb was draped over the front door, and we had to duck to avoid it, making me wonder how the cleaning person could have missed it, unless he/she was shorter than 5 feet tall. While the kitchen and bathroom were clean, the floor of the entire property still had dirt, sand, crumbs and dog hair all over. I found a raisin on the floor in the living room and another on the bedside table in an upstairs “bedroom.” Several windows in the house didn’t open, and the ones that did had filthy, bug-encrusted screens and bug carcasses along the bottom of the windows. One screen had a big enough rip to let mosquitoes in.
In the kitchen, it seemed as though all the appliances were plugged into a power strip. There were baby gates, but only at the bottom of the stairs that led to the “room” my son was supposed to sleep in, and the top of another set of stairs that lead to the lower level bedroom. The “room” Zeeman said would be good for my son turned out to be an approximately 6’ x 8’ alcove off the top of the steps that had a day bed but no door and no closet. I would not have felt comfortable allowing my toddler to sleep in that room. The lower bedroom smelled strongly of mildew. There was a washer and dryer but either the light in this room didn’t work or we couldn’t figure out how to turn it on.
The outside of the property was a disappointment as well. There was recycling in the front yard that hadn’t been picked up, as well as some old car parts. We were hoping to be able to swim off the dock but the water seemed to be filled with concrete blocks and other debris. Zeeman said there was a canoe and a rowboat, but the rowboat was filled with water and resting on the bottom of the shoreline. I didn’t check the condition of the canoe.
After trying to contact Zeeman about the condition of the property, we left to find other lodging. Zeeman said he’d “make it right” and offered to cover the cost of the hotel for the night. However, we could not imagine staying in the property in its overall condition. We stayed in a hotel the rest of the week, and had several frustrating conversations with Zeeman, including one in which he said he could have rented to other people that week, overlooking the fact that we could have (and DID!) rented another property. He also told us we’d signed a contract – one which he emailed us and spelled my name wrong – and so he was not obligated to return our money. Eventually he said he’d speak with his mother, with whom he owns the house, about a partial reimbursement.
In the meantime, I considered cancelling the second check I’d sent him, but did not, as I stupidly hoped Zeeman would do the right thing and give us at least half of the rental fee back. It turns out he didn’t even cash it until Wednesday of the week we were to stay (two days AFTER we called to complain).
A few days after we returned home, and after another phone message and email, Zeeman returned our entire security deposit ($300), and $100 of the $1100 rental. Here’s what he said in the final email I received:
“I understand the place is rustic, and that you have a small child, but i went to see it the other day and the condition was normal....there was a metal object on neighbor's property line, no idea why, but other than that condition was ok and was ok with all other tenants this season. i always try to describe accurately, but understand things may be different with a 2 year old along” [sic]
Overall this was a very negative experience. I feel the property was not as represented. If you are interested in renting this property you should take our experience into consideration, and certainly do not rent it if you have a young child.
Date Added: Aug 24, 2010
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| 8. |
DO NOT RENT THIS FILTHY, MISREPRESENTED PROPERTY
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WE RENTED THIS PROPERTY FOR A WEEK IN JULY, 2010. WE ARRIVED TO FIND THE HOME IN FILTHY CONDITION. AFTER PAYING A CLEANING FEE OF OVER $300 TO ENSURE CLEANLINESS UPON ARRIVAL, WE FOUND A HOME THAT WAS IN POOR CONDITION.IT WAS OBVIOUS WITHIN MOMENTS OF ENTERING THE HOME THAT IT HAD NOT BEEN CLEANED AT ALL IN A VERY LONG TIME! THE KITCHEN WAS DIRTY AND CONTAINED A LONG BROKEN DISHWASHER (UNDISCLOSED PRIOR TO OUR ARRIVAL). THE CEILINGS IN THE HOME WERE UNFINISHED, WITH EXPOSED SHEET ROCK TAPE. THE FLOORS LEFT THE BOTTOM OF MY CHILDREN'S BARE FEET BLACK!! THE BATHROOMS WERE ABHORRENT (ONE HAD A LEAKING TOILET WITH A FILTHY TOWEL ABSORBING THE STALE, FOUL WATER OFF THE FLOOR). THE MASTER BATH SHOWER DOOR WAS SO COATED IN GRIME THAT THE GLASS WAS NO LONGER TRANSPARENT. THE MASTER BEDROOM REEKED OF STALE CIGARETTE SMOKE. OUR CLOTHES ACTUALLY SMELLED OF STALE CIGARETTES AFTER LEAVING OUR LUGGAGE IN THAT ROOM FOR JUST A FEW HOURS. ALL OF THE WINDOW SCREENS WERE RIDDLED WITH HOLES, BOTH LARGE AND SMALL. THIS ALLOWED MULTITUDES OF INSECTS TO ENTER THE HOME. THE WALLS WERE CRAWLING WITH HUNDREDS OF INSECTS AT DUSK AND THE WINDOWS HAD TO BE CLOSED IN 90+ DEGREE HEAT TO AVOID INSECTS OVERTAKING THE INTERIOR. THE AIR CONDITIONING ADVERTISED ON THE WEBSITE AND WHICH WE PAID AN EXTRA FEE TO UTILIZE CONSISTED OF 3 TINY, FILTHY, OLD WINDOW UNITS THAT BARELY FUNCTIONED AND WERE COMPLETELY INADEQUATE TO PROVIDE ANY COOLING OR DEHUMIDIFICATION IN THE HOUSE. THE FINAL INSULT INVOLVED THE WATER SUPPLY IN THE HOUSE. THE TAP WATER REEKED OF SULFUR (ROTTEN EGGS) AND WAS COMPLETELY IMPOTABLE. MY HUSBAND GAGGED WHEN HE TRIED TO USE THE WATER MERELY TO BRUSH HIS TEETH. THERE WAS NO MENTION OF THIS UNTIL WE HAD ALREADY ARRIVED AT THE HOME. A TINY PIECE OF PAPER SAT UPON A NON FUNCTIONING TELEVISION WHICH EXPLAINED THAT THE WATER CONTAINED SULFUR BUT WAS FILTERED FOR SAFETY. THE ODOR OF WHAT CAME FROM THE TAPS IN THAT HOME DID NOT SUGGEST ANY FORM OF FILTRATION. IT ACTUALLY LEFT AN ODOR ON THE SKIN. AFTER 12 HOURS OF SHEER HELL DURING WHICH WE RECEIVED LITTLE TO NO COOPERATION FROM THE OWNER (WHO ACTUALLY LIVED 30 FEET AWAY, ON THE PROPERTY, IN A GARAGE...ALSO NEVER DISCLOSED), WE ABANDONED THE PROPERTY. THIS RENTAL IS A SCAM!! DO NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING ON THE WEBSITE OR ANYTHING THE OWNER TELLS YOU. BE SURE TO LOOK AT THE OTHER REVIEWS AND COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PROPERTY AND IT'S PROPRIETOR. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL PRIOR COMPLAINTS AGAINST THIS OWNER FILED WITH THE VERMONT ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE. UNFORTUNATELY, WE DID NOT INVESTIGATE THE OWNER UNTIL AFTER HE HAD SWINDLED US. WE DO NOT WANT HIM TO SCAM ANOTHER FAMILY!!!
Date Added: Aug 24, 2010
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| 10. |
Fraudulent description of property
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This house does not show in the adverts that 2/3rds of its view of the lake is blocked by the landlords house which sits in front of it closer to the lake. Creative photo taking also misses that most of the lakefront is also ruled over by the landlords house, and only about 30 feet of it is private and ours for the renting. The old rickity wooden dock they provide us looks like its going to collapse at any moment. There is no beach left after counting in the boats parked there. It also does not describe the house as being directly off of West Shore Rd, as in being ONLY 10 feet from the road.
Oh, and the landlords, well they are always around and in your face. If you want to have a nice quiet and private vacation, forget that happening, besides the cars driving right next to the house, these people will want to know your life story, and it's a small island so everyone will know your business!
The house itself has siding falling off of it, and the septic truck had to come while we were here, and there is a smell of sewage, so it appears their having sewage and leach field problems too. The lake area for this house is so small and has zero privacy from the neighboring homes, not a single tree for shade anywhere!
They have a few horses out back, which appear to have alot of smelly poop to go with them! That part of the yard is useless unless you want to wear a gas mask.
The house itself looks old and antiquated, and the furniture all looks like repainted hand-me-downs a half century old.
Date Added: Dec 29, 2010
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