Elk Meadow Properties

Horrible experience as their tenants. Signed a two-​year lease with Elk Meadow Properties when relocating to Evergreen, sight unseen — due to the challenging rental market. Having a real estate and property management background myself, the lease was the most one-​sided, oppressive lease I have ever seen, but since there were few housing options for our family, we signed it. We were told that they would be painting the exterior of the house prior to us moving in. When we arrived at the property, it was apparent that the exterior had not been painted, nor was it professionally cleaned. There were personal items and hair in the bathrooms, filth behind the appliances and layers of grease on the windowsills in the kitchen. The dish washer and washing machine were filthy and we had to do a deep clean of the house and appliances prior to moving in.
It took weeks to get Elk Meadow out to do our initial walk through, at which time I complained about the state of the carpets among other things. They were clearly at the end of their useful life, and had been cleaned so many times there were just filthy. We told them that we did not want to be held responsible for the carpet upon move-​out. In the two years we lived there it was like pulling teeth to get anything done. They would just ignore any requests and not return calls, or document anything in emails. It took two weeks to get a dishwasher replaced with the cheapest model available, and a year to get some screens replaced and many, many ignored repairs. Birds were pecking incessantly, making homes in the siding and the multiple holes in the foundation led to mice infiltration in the winter. We were told that pest control was our responsibility according to the lease, and after months of fighting, telling them that we would not be making improvements on their home to keep the mice and birds out, and that they needed to patch the holes so they couldn’t get in, they finally filled the holes and tried patching the bird holes in the siding.
We told them six months prior to the end of the lease that we wanted to renew because we loved the neighbors and they waited until 28 days before the lease was up to finally say that they would renew at $ 200 more/​month. Of course at that point we made other arrangements and purchased a home instead, because I had a family to think of and could not imagine waiting until the last minute to try to find housing in Evergreen.
When we were moving out, I asked Elk Meadow if they really wanted me to spend the $ 700 it would cost to clean the filthy carpets (a requirement in the lease), as they clearly had to be replaced. I offered to give them the money towards new carpet instead, at which they responded «just do what your lease requires», so we did. We had the carpets cleaned, and because all of the ground in dirt that was there prior to our moving in came to the surface when it dried, the cleaning company had to come out again to do it. They were wonderful — Zerorez and came out again on a holiday weekend, no questions asked. No soon as their truck left, Elk Meadow had a team out there tearing out the carpet and installing new carpet. This was clearly scheduled in advance. Of course, they then kept my pet deposit and a portion of my security deposit, falsely claiming that our dog urinated all over every inch of the carpet and the stench was so strong they had to replace it. Unbelievable! I sent them a demand letter which of course was ignored.
At the time, I decided not to pursue them in small claims court because I had a number of personal things going on and did not have the room for the anger that pursuing it would cause. However since I live in the same neighborhood, I now have to watch them continue to do the same thing to the tenants that move into that house — nice people being taken advantage of due to the difficult market.
The house is now infested with mice, the decks are dangerous, rotting and dilapidated, the paint is peeling off and it is an eyesore. Yet that doesn’t stop them from charging top dollar. I wish I had some kind of warning what I was getting myself into when I signed that lease, so I now post this in hopes of giving others the heads up.

I am not posting because of the above review and had no idea about it until I went to post here.
Elk Meadows Properties has served me well, both as a tenant (2 different times) and as a landlord (ughh).
Elk Meadows has kept the company small and manageable enough to provide the places I rented and my rental with the necessary attention.
Their repair fees have been reasonable and if they can’t do it, they have a list of subs that also charge reasonable fees.
My tenant is great and pays on time every month.