Fort Hood blacklists rental firm
Posted On: Wednesday, Jun. 30 2010 11:25 PM
By Amanda Kim Stairrett
Killeen Daily HeraldA Harker Heights property rental agency was blacklisted by Fort Hood officials after "long-standing, unfair commercial business practices" directed at those in uniform.
Colonial Real Estate Property Management, Sales and Investments Inc. is off-limits to active-duty service members at Fort Hood. They are prohibited from signing lease or property management contracts today and after, according to a memo signed recently by Maj. Gen. William Grimsley, III Corps and Fort Hood acting senior mission commander.
The business, owned and operated by Patsy and John Cooney, is at 580 E. Central Texas Expressway in Harker Heights. Post officials stressed that the company is not to be confused with ERA Colonial Real Estate and its affiliated property management company, Colonial Residential Properties Inc.
ERA Colonial is at 777 Indian Trail in Harker Heights, and is owned by Dennis and Cheryl Dewine.
ERA Colonial has an A rating from the Better Business Bureau. Colonial Real Estate has a D- rating, according to the bureau's website.
Better Business Bureau ratings
The bureau rates businesses on a scale of A+ to F, with F being a "total failure," said Richard Kitterman, executive director of the BBB serving Central and Southcentral Texas.
Grades represent the BBB's degree of confidence that businesses are operating in good-faith efforts to resolve customer concerns filed with the BBB, he added.
Colonial Real Estate received 43 complaints during a 36-month period. Two of the complaints were not resolved, and it failed to resolve underlying causes of a pattern of complaints, according to the BBB's website.
The Army respondsThe BBB's findings are similar to those of the Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board and Off-Installation Liaison and Operations.
The Fort Hood memo cited what it called "concerns and questionable business practices" by Colonial Property Management. They included:
Charging prospective tenants large up-front fees before signing leases, which were kept by the company if the tenant didn't sign a lease. That was used to coerce tenants into accepting lease terms they might typically refuse.
Charging tenants excessive and often unnecessary cleaning and damage fees to keep security deposits and often charging more.
Failing to make efforts to alleviate damages when tenants vacate before the leases end, and extending repair and cleaning time and charging leaving tenants pro-rated rent.
Assessing excessive charges to tenants with pets.
"What the Better Business Bureau found didn't contradict what the Army agency saw," Kitterman said.
Establishing off-limits areas may be used by commanders "to help maintain good order and discipline, health, morale, safety and welfare of service personnel," according to Army Regulation 190-24.
They also can be established to prevent personnel "from being exposed to or victimized by crime-conducive conditions," the regulation reads.
Deeming a business off-limits is a multi-step process, according to the regulation. Installation commanders must attempt to correct issues through the assistance of civic leaders or officials, boards must send written notices to the business owners and operators in which they specify a reasonable time for corrections to be made and those individuals are given the opportunity to interact with the board.
If another investigation shows that no changes were made, the board can declare a business off-limits, according to the regulation.
The intent of the restriction is not to punish property owners or renters who do business with Colonial Property Management, Fort Hood's memo read. Those who have owner or renter contracts with Colonial Real Estate can maintain their contracts until they expire or for as long as they choose to remain at the property.
"We expect Colonial Property Management to continue to fulfill their responsibility under existing leases and we are hopeful that questionable business practices will cease in the future," read the memo.
An ongoing processA spot on the off-limits list isn't permanent. Colonial Property Management may lose that status if it shows responsible and significant improvements in its practices, read Fort Hood's memo.
Kitterman said that Patsy Cooney has contacted the BBB in recent weeks and is in the process of trying to remedy its complaints.
The Cooneys referred questions to their attorney.
"Obviously, they disagree with the Fort Hood decision," Robert Alex Bass, of Michalk, Beatty and Alcozer, said of his clients. "We are currently petitioning to remove that submission, and we hope it is just a matter of time."
Bass said the Cooneys are "taking the appropriate measures to resolve this."
Staff Writer Mason Canales contributed to this report.
Contact Amanda Kim Stairrett at
astair@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7547.
For more informationFor questions about Colonial Property Management's off-limits designation, contact Fort Hood's Client Services Office, Legal Assistance at (254) 287-7901, (254) 287-3199 or
hood.3c.sjalegalasst@conus.army.mil. The office is on post at 72nd Street and Santa Fe Avenue in Building 4617.