Colorado to return nearly $1M to former tenants of Four Star Realty

Nearly million will soon be returned to former tenants of Four Star Realty a Colorado property management company that settled last year with Attorney General Phil Weiser after a state examination located multiple instances of the company unlawfully withholding money from its tenants shield deposits and charging unfair and deceptive fees Four Star specializes in managing off-campus housing for students in Boulder Fort Collins Greeley and Denver as well as a variety of non-student properties across Colorado To be eligible for restitution a tenant must have moved out of a Four Star property any time between Jan and Dec and had money wrongfully withheld from their precaution deposit to pay for normal wear and tear such as maintenance painting cleaning rekeying locks or charged an unlawful move out coordination fee The attorney general s office is now in receipt of all payments from Four Star Realty a representative of the attorney general s office announced to the Post Payments to tenants will be determined by the number and type of indicates that the attorney general s office receives from eligible tenants Payments may not make the tenant whole but payments will provide specific relief for the harm they experienced The restitution process will begin on Monday June and requires the attorney general s office to return of the settlement to tenants On that day a dedicated webpage will go live featuring a list of frequently demanded questions and an electronic claim form The same day the attorney general s office will also email approximately tenants inviting them to submit a claim for restitution Tenants must submit a claim by Sept Florida resident Glenn Soechtig whose daughter lived in three separate properties managed by Four Star in Boulder for college announced they encountered numerous issues such as uncleaned appliances mold in the showers and several code violations Looking at the price that you re paying and how the kids were living It was shocking he explained As a construction company owner Soechtig mentioned he documented any problems he saw and often had to repair them himself but despite reporting them he mentioned Four Star s communication was horrible and that they wouldn t answer for months What really stated me something was going on was when the house that she was in his daughter had no lawn no grass just concrete parking around it and they tried to charge us an invoice for lawn maintenance for a year That s what kind of started setting off the bells with me Soechtig disclosed he started posting on Facebook to find out if other parents and families were facing a similar situation What he discovered was an overwhelming number of responses confirming that they were Soechtig along with two other parents brought their concerns to the Boulder District Attorney which he commented led to the state review While various reimbursements are expected Soechtig announced countless parents may not receive compensation because of the restitution timeframe the amount of time that has passed and the lack of documentation The kids graduated years ago We don t have the paperwork really anymore he declared It s kind of challenging to come back with all that information when it happened five years ago In addition to paying restitution the attorney general s office publicized that Four Star must clearly disclose all fees rent and other costs on lease documents and comply with state utility billing laws For three years starting in the company must maintain and provide records of property inspections shield deposit withholding and other documentation upon tenant request Additionally Four Star may only withhold precaution deposit funds for tenant-related damages must minimize repainting costs for minor damage ensure carpet cleaning is necessary before charging tenants and may only charge for rekeying if tenants request it and the cost is disclosed upfront Ahead of the Consent Judgement last year Four Star Realty voluntarily and proactively implemented various remedial measures stated a Four Star Realty Property Management spokesperson when urged about the settlement We ve implemented staff training to improve transparency and consistency in how we handle lease terms charges and maintenance requests including internal seminars and a new Learning Management System LMS to track training completion We ve also implemented a dedicated prevention deposit training project for all personnel involved in deposit reconciliations Related Articles Legal advocate for workers renters announces run for Colorado attorney general Jena Griswold announces run for Colorado attorney general Colorado property management firm to pay million after state probe finds renters were illegally billed for services Colorado Springs landlord shocked underground club was operating on property Denver judge dismissed suit against Cedar Run Apartments but tenant advocate says conditions have improved The property management company does have low ratings on Yelp including negative reviews as up-to-date as this month and is the subject of complaints on other social media sites A Four Star representative informed The Post in an email that they were surprised to hear about the contemporary social media complaints We couldn t identify any complaints in our system they wrote If a resident believes they ve been charged in error or had a poor move-in experience we encourage them to contact us directly at - - We remain committed to addressing any issues they may have Founded in in Boulder Four Star manages units across Colorado and employs well over property management professionals according to their website Get more business news by signing up for our On The Block newsletter