A replacement key will probably cost $1.86. I would refuse to pay it and then scream at the owner. Afterall, the customer is always right.

Pilates: Yeah that would be annoying if everyone on this board called her! Ha!

Neopolitan: I haven't called her every day. The last time my mom called her, which was last Friday, she said her friend was supposed to mail the check and she would call my mom back after speaking with her friend. Well, of course her friend did not send the check but she would Friday. This is after she told me she had mailed it the previous Sunday. She also told my mom last Friday that she left a message for me and I never called her back. This lady is a liar all the way around.

beetlekat, if this woman is untruthful I hope she doesn't say that she needs to change the locks because you didn't return one of the keys. That would cost a bundle.

I would file in small claims court to get this problem solved. I hope you have documented everything including the dates, times and conversation regarding the phone calls.

If you county is like mine it will take some time to get a date for Small Claims Court so I would get on that this week.

Once she is served she may "decide" to refund the deposit rather than go to court. She will probably have to pay your court cost also. Best wishes.

Update on calling this crazy woman. She insists that her time to get the key made in worth something and she intends to deduct it and the cost of making the key from the deposit. I asked her why she was lying about sending the deposit earlier and she said that she wants her key--my mom told her my sister found a key in the bottom of her purse and she wants it even though we told her that the key was not to her house! I will have to send her a certified letter before suing her in small claims court.

My goodness. That lady is a mess. If it's her stupid (non existant) key that she is waiting for, just send her any ol' key. When she sees for herself that it isn't hers, maybe she'll get her butt in gear and make one.

What a shame. As far as VRBO is concerned, I've never heard of a problem like this. It's too bad that this experience has soured you on private rentals, but I sure as heck understand why it would. Good luck to you. If you ever get it back, let us know.

We rented through Vacationrentals.com--not VRBO--just to clarify.

Yes its a mess and has indeed soured us on ever renting through an owner again. Will always go through a rental agency unless I know someone who has rented from the owner before and has had a good experience.

Well, I have rented though VRBO, which works the same way as vacationrentals.com so far as I can tell. You deal strictly with the owner. My experiences have all been perfect. I've actually had more problems (all minor, thankfully) when renting through agencies. They usually don't know how to deal with specific problems with the apartments as well as an owner.
I think you just got the world's worst (or most dishonest) owner, beetlekat. I don't think it's the system, just the luck of the draw.

By the way, this week there was another thread by a woman who has rented throught two different agencies -- her problems literally make yours look like minor details!! So you don't necessarily avoid problems by using an agency.

I would have an attorney call now, and forget about calling yourself. Ask an attorney friend to make a quick call and set a date that the check must be in your hands and if not, file a complaint with the court.

Since she is in your area, you might also write a story for a local paper on what happened. That kind of story is always interesting to local press.

Thanks so much for all of your responses. I really appreciate it. My mom has a friend who is an attorney who was going to write a letter, however, my mom got the check today. The owner said that she wasn't obligated to send us the check until 2 weeks after she received all of her property. We had inadvertently taken one of the gate openers and mailed it back to her return receipt requested immediately upon finding it in my mom's car. The owner received it on Sept. 9th but insists that she received it on the 15th even though we have a receipt that says otherwise. She enclosed a note with the check that said she was not obligated to return the money until 2 weeks after she had her property which she claims was today. She also noted, again, that we stole her keys which we did not. Why would we do that!!! If she had just calmly explained the above to us instead of lying about sending the check and then saying she was going to send it and changing her story every time, it would have been a lot less stressful.

Neoplolitan: Do you know the thread of the other person who had trouble with an agency (or the name of the poster)? I would like to read it. Thanks.

http://tinyurl.com/pk2r5

After you read the confusing story, click on the name of the original poster there to find the other stories from the past couple of years.

There have been many reports here of problems getting deposits back from agencies as well as many other problems with agencies -- including renting the place to some one else and the renter gets there to find it not available, for example.

Hi BK. Well good for you. I'm so glad you didn't have to go through the pain of small claims court.

I knew you had gone through vacrentals, but what I should have written was, "As for VRBO they have a good reputation. You might consider them, but I understand why you wouldn't."

The owners we have contacted through VRBO always seemed like super nice people. Did you pick up any good or bad vibes when booking your house with this woman? She just seems so unreasonable. Especially the lying.

Is this complex listed in Trip Advisor? Now that it's over, have you considered sharing your story there?