Cornelius property management firm makes list of worst-rated businesses

A property management company is among the “dirty dozen” area companies with the largest number of complaints made against them in 2013 to the Better Business Bureau’s Southern Piedmont chapter.

Employees of Asset Property Management, a Cornelius-based real estate firm, have also been reprimanded by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission. The commission believes the company is no longer in business, but another company owned by the same man, Sky Mikesell, appears to still do business in the Charlotte area. Messages left on Mikesell’s voicemail seeking comment were not returned.

Asset Property Management operated in the Charlotte area under a variety of names, including Southern Metro Real Estate. The BBB graded Asset Property Management an “F” based on the eight unanswered complaints the organization sought to resolve on behalf of consumers last year and 11 total unresolved complaints over the last three years.

Tom Bartholomy, president of the Better Business Bureau of the Southern Piedmont, said the majority of complaints were from renters who allege that Asset Property Management failed to transfer their deposit money when either a new management company took over or the property was sold to a new owner.

Amanda Hines lost the $890 security deposit she placed on a three-bedroom apartment she rents in Mint Hill. The property was managed by Asset Property Management when she first moved there in 2010. Last year, she received a letter from Talley Properties, the new manager of the property, asking her for a security deposit. Hines said she had already paid the money to Asset Property Management, but the security deposit had never been transferred.

After failing to track down the company, she contacted the BBB for assistance and was told she was “not the only one this had happened to,” she said. Hines’ daughter subsequently researched Asset Property Management and found a number of complaints posted on Internet boards.

Hines said that in retrospect, she should have looked up the company before renting.

Other complaints filed against the company involved an investor and a vendor who both claim they were not paid.

Last month, the N.C. Real Estate Commission issued stayed license suspensions to two Charlotte men, John Hruska and Ryan Cieslak, who had acted as brokers-in-charge for Asset Property Management.

According to N.C. Secretary of State records, Mikesell incorporated Southern Metro Real Estate in 2012. The company did business in Charlotte under the name Asset Property Management, but the Real Estate Commission said the owner was not licensed. According to a commission consent order, Hruska failed in his supervisory role and did not adequately oversee his unlicensed manager’s activities, including the advertisement of property rentals, the signing of leases, and the collection of security deposits and rents. The unlicensed manager was also overseeing the company’s trust accounts.

Reached for comment, Hruska said that not long into his assignment, he began to have concerns about the company, particularly since he was denied access to the trust accounts. Hruska also claims the owner of the company was “smart as a fox,” and was operating without a real estate license intentionally.

A second man, Ryan Cieslak, was also reprimanded by the commission for failing, as broker-in-charge, to supervise unlicensed workers who handled a variety of duties for the company including collecting security deposits and rents. According to the consent order, Cieslak also failed to tell clients when the company ceased doing property management, though the unlicensed employees continued to use the Asset Property Management name and provide services to the same clients when they formed a new firm.

The latest incarnation of Asset Property Management, retireonrentals.com, on its website advertises “‘turn key’ investment properties with tenant and property management in place. All our investment properties have been recently renovated as a superior rental house in Charlotte, N.C., an emerging real estate market.”

Additionally, the website boasts: “We pride ourselves on high moral standards and ethics.”

Three other home-related businesses, Fence Master Unlimited of Chester, S.C., Conover-based Home Energy Services Ltd. and Home Appliance Repair of Gastonia, also made the “dirty dozen” list.

Fence Master had 13 complaints over the last 36 months for allegedly receiving payments that ranged from $1,500 to $9,100 for fencing that was never installed.

Duane Constable made a $3,500 down payment in November for a wooden privacy fence to be installed at his new home in Woodruff, S.C. Fence Master surveyed the property, asked for a deposit for materials and told Constable they would file for permission with the homeowners association. Several weeks passed without any communication until Constable posted a complaint on Merchant Circle, saying he was having trouble getting a response from the fencing company.

Fence Masters called the homeowner at that point saying the company was waiting for the HOA’s approval of the application. Constable called his HOA to verify the story and discovered no paperwork had been filed. At that point, he decided to cancel the project and began calling the company every day asking for a refund.

A few weeks ago, Constable said he was contacted by a detective from Blowing Rock who said that she was trying to build a case concerning Fence Masters based on complaints against the company over the past three years.

Constable said he is resigned to never getting his money back, but in the meantime said he intends on getting the word out about Fence Masters, going so far as to file a complaint with the FBI’s cybercrimes unit to shut down the company’s website.

Consumers complained that Home Energy Services used strong-arm tactics to sell home insulation products and windows. Complainants said they paid up to $4,700 in deposits for new windows and attic insulation, products that were never installed. The consumers told the BBB they had trouble canceling their contracts and getting refunds.

Home Appliance Repair was a triple repeat offender, making the BBB’s list in 2011, 2012 and 2013 with consumers in eight counties complaining they paid Michael David Henderson for appliance repairs that were either not done well or not done at all.

“According to the complaints, Henderson determined that the broken appliance needed a part, collected the money for the part, but then didn’t return to install it,” Bartholomy said. “With frequent business name changes, he has made it very difficult for consumers to track him down to get their money back.”

But the police were able to get their man. In December, the Gastonia Police Department arrested Henderson on six outstanding warrants related to taking money and not performing work. He’s due in court in Statesville on March 19 to face charges.

Among the other “dirty dozen” area businesses selected by the BBB, were two debt collection agencies, PDL Recovery Services and Luchey & Mitchell Recovery Solutions LLC. The BBB said both companies used harassing and threatening tactics in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Act by calling repeatedly, contacting employers to say the individual was about to be arrested and impersonating law enforcement officials.

Rounding out the list:

• Monroe-based Ancestral Books, a seller of historic books and periodicals, also made the list for failing to deliver purchased materials or make good on refunding money.
• Two automotive-related businesses were also graded “F” by the BBB including Charlotte-based Mathis Towing and Recovery and Southend Car Store.
• Charlotte-based Dealer Deal Direct Inc. allegedly sold software that could not be registered by consumers because it was already registered or counterfeit.
• Sole Individual of Charlotte, a street wear brand of clothing and accessories. Consumers said they paid for merchandise they never received.
• Johnson & Associates of Rock Hill, S.C., where owner Tamara Johnson told consumers she could fix their credit, modify their mortgage and get them financed for a home loan for an advanced fee. It is illegal in North Carolina to charge an advance fee for debt adjusting services such as credit repair, but not in South Carolina. The N.C. Attorney General has previously sought judgments against debt adjusting services based in South Carolina that have victims in North Carolina.

Bartholomy said his bureau handles about 14,000 complaints a year, usually involving about 10 percent of the 60,000 companies doing business in the area. He said it’s usually in the company’s best interest to resolve the disputes, but about 1,500 businesses will receive the black eye of an “F” grade.

Generally, the BBB will help consumers contact an unresponsive business. However, if that fails, the bureau will attempt to contact the company on their behalf. There aren’t many repeat offenders, Bartholomy said, because based on the 2 million background searches people do on companies, it would be hard to stay in business.