OREM, Utah (ABC 4) - Dozens of cars, trucks and motorcycles, shackled with wheel-locking boots over the Labor Day holiday weekend. It turns out, that was only the beginning of renters' problems at the Remington and College Terrace apartments.
“It really ticked me off because I live here; I pay rent here," says Ryan Walls, a six-month resident of the Remington apartments.
Renters were ranting, saying they didn't know the tiny parking stickers came with an august 31st expiration date.
“It totally took me by surprise,” says Walls.
And it cost him $65 to have the boot removed from his vehicle.
"Nothing's changed in the last couple of years since I worked there," says Linda Spencer, a former leasing officer at ProStar Management, the company that manages the two Orem apartment complexes.
Spencer only worked for the company for five weeks, but she says she saw policies and procedures that punished and cheated renters, included failure to refund deposits.
"They had over 150 tenants that had moved out and some of them had been gone six to eight months and still had received their refunds," she says.
When we went to the Remington and College Terrace management office, we found more residents complaining about more problems.
“I got charged an extra 50-dollars for not paying my rent when they told me that I got my first month's rent free,” says Ashley Fairborne.
She and her roommate say they signed contracts in response to the company’s “One Month free Rent” offer. Today, they were disputing a $50 late fee managers slapped on them when they didn’t make their first rental payment on September 1.
"Do you think you were misled?" I asked Abby Riddick. "Yes,” she said.
While we were at the management office, a man identifying himself as a ProStar corporate officer showed up.
On the spot, he ordered managers to remove the impound boots at no charge. He told ABC 4 all deposits have been refunded. And he ordered managers to waive late fees and give tenants who responded to the offer the rest of their free month's rent.
When I pressed him, the man told me he was Gary Brinton, owner of the two apartment complexes.
“Our policy should be to make our tenants happy,” he said.
