We rented an apartment from Hamel. Overall it was an OK experience, maintenance calls were usually promptly answered, it was at the end of our stay with them we ended up having problems.
We had our situation change, and approached Hamel about getting out of our lease early. They were happy to oblige, we had agreed on September, and let them know we could leave in August if needed. At the beginning of July, they asked us if it would be August or September, we told them August. We requested to get it in writing, they told us not to worry about it, and since we had overall had positive experiences with them, we thought they could be trusted, well we were wrong. A week before we were prepared to move out, I get a call from Bill telling me they did not find anyone for August first yet, and we should try to make our apartment look more show-worthy, or else we would have problems, I was taken back since I was under the impression we were set to move out, and had already found another place.
His response was that we should just make the apartment look better so they can find someone and it becomes a non issue. Okay fine. Did it. Hadn't heard from them, so I called to ask about setting up a time for a walk through for our security deposit. We set it up, cleaned cleaned cleaned, our appointment time comes, and Tim, the person in charge, doesn't show up. Calls us about 10 minutes later to tell us that he had walked through himself, and we were all set to get our security deposit back. (He took a copy of our lease we had on the counter, fishy. Good thing we had an extra!)
It was August 23rd when I contacted them to ask about the status of the deposit, and they told me to stop by the office for it. When I did, they had taken out "rent" for August (conveniently until August 23rd) Saying that since they didn't find anyone for the first, they took out the prorated rent until they did. When I asked them to prove it, they wouldn't. Mike, the bookeeper, seemed to already know it would be an issue, as he handed it to me he said "If you have any problems you need to talk to Bill, not me." With his hands in the air.
I called Bill, and he promptly hung up on me, then after I called him back, spoke to me disrespectfully. I was not nice at this point. I would only recommend this company to someone who knows nothing will change and they will never ever have to "break" a lease, and is okay with overpaying for an apartment. We decided not to bring it to court, because it would cost us as much in legal fees just to get back what they took (a little over 700 dollars.)
Hamel Real Estate Reviews
We rented an apartment from Hamel. Overall it was an OK experience, maintenance calls were usually promptly answered, it was at the end of our stay with them we ended up having problems.
We had our situation change, and approached Hamel about getting out of our lease early. They were happy to oblige, we had agreed on September, and let them know we could leave in August if needed. At the beginning of July, they asked us if it would be August or September, we told them August. We requested to get it in writing, they told us not to worry about it, and since we had overall had positive experiences with them, we thought they could be trusted, well we were wrong. A week before we were prepared to move out, I get a call from Bill telling me they did not find anyone for August first yet, and we should try to make our apartment look more show-worthy, or else we would have problems, I was taken back since I was under the impression we were set to move out, and had already found another place.
His response was that we should just make the apartment look better so they can find someone and it becomes a non issue. Okay fine. Did it. Hadn't heard from them, so I called to ask about setting up a time for a walk through for our security deposit. We set it up, cleaned cleaned cleaned, our appointment time comes, and Tim, the person in charge, doesn't show up. Calls us about 10 minutes later to tell us that he had walked through himself, and we were all set to get our security deposit back. (He took a copy of our lease we had on the counter, fishy. Good thing we had an extra!)
It was August 23rd when I contacted them to ask about the status of the deposit, and they told me to stop by the office for it. When I did, they had taken out "rent" for August (conveniently until August 23rd) Saying that since they didn't find anyone for the first, they took out the prorated rent until they did. When I asked them to prove it, they wouldn't. Mike, the bookeeper, seemed to already know it would be an issue, as he handed it to me he said "If you have any problems you need to talk to Bill, not me." With his hands in the air.
I called Bill, and he promptly hung up on me, then after I called him back, spoke to me disrespectfully. I was not nice at this point. I would only recommend this company to someone who knows nothing will change and they will never ever have to "break" a lease, and is okay with overpaying for an apartment. We decided not to bring it to court, because it would cost us as much in legal fees just to get back what they took (a little over 700 dollars.)