Following is a public service announcement:
Renters of single family houses
in Fauquier Co. VA
BEWARE!
You could find that:
- You are paying another tenant's electricity. We are renting a home in Fauquier Co. VA through property manager ARMI where the electrical breaker box for our space (all of the house except for a basement apartment that is rented separately by another renter) is in the other renter's space. In addition to it taking several days to get a breaker reset, we discovered (from a contract maintenance guy) that the house's 3 bathrooms (two in our space and the other in the basement apartment) are on the same circuit.
- The furnace is in the other renter's space.
- The water shutoff for the house is in the other renter's space.
- There aren't working coaxial cable outlets to plug cable or satellite TVs into. Who tests that coaxial cable outlets work before they move in? On the day after we moved in, when the cable guy came to hook up our TV, we discovered that none of the coaxial cable outlets worked. When we called ARMI, Trey Austin responded "Call me back when you have a real problem", and hung up on me.
- About half of the electrical outlets don't work. Who tests the electrical outlets before they move in? Many simply don't work--presumably, wiring problems. Others won't hold plugs--they just fall out. Others are so clogged with paint that you can't get a plug into them.
- The heat that ARMI told you is "all electric" is actually propane, and the propane tank was empty when we moved in.
In June 2015 ARMI lists it wrong AGAIN! FRAUD! 
- You're overcharged. The rent is $1,895.00 per month ($22,740.00 per year or $62.30 per day). The lease runs from noon August 15, 2014 to noon July 15, 2015, a total of 334 days. 334 days times $62.30 per day = $20,808.66. The lease says that the rent is $21,028.00. ARMI overcharged us $219.34; but, refuses to reimburse us. When we asked ARMI to explain how they got $21,028.00, Trey Austin wouldn't. Instead he responded: "The rent is prorated for the number of days that you occupy a property. The amount listing on the lease is what you agreed to and is what the owner expects to receive." In other words, tough luck--we overcharged you and you signed the lease. We're not going to reimburse you for the overcharge, despite the fact that "the prorated rent for the number of days", from noon 8/15/14 through noon 7/15/15, 334 days, is $20,808.66, not $21,028.00. ARMI robs us of $219.34, we catch it and ARMI refuses to make it right--that's highway robbery!
Ayatollah Trey Austin
We noted deficiencies in a move-in inspection report (two and a half typewritten pages) that we were required by the lease to submit. ARMI didn't fix items that we noted in our move-in inspection report. In fact, ARMI never even discussed our move-in inspection report with us, as required by the lease.
With regards to numbers 1, 2 & 3, when we looked at the place before we signed the lease, we noticed that there was a key in the basement door that separates our space from the other renter's apartment. (There is no doorknob on our side--only a key lock.) After we moved in, we noticed that the key was gone. A note is on the door (that wasn't there before we signed the lease) that reads: "PRIVATE Apt. No ENTRY"--which speaks loudly to the lack of honesty and integrity of ARMI, the landlord and the basement apartment renter.
Renters BEWARE!
Ayatollah Trey Austin doesn't get it.
Sadly, the Commonwealth of Virginia doesn't do enough to protect its citizens from financial tyrants, including those who prey on their fellow Virginians. The licensing boards don't do enough and the courts don't do enough. In short, the government of the Commonwealth of Virginia doesn't protect its citizens from scammers. Shame on you, Commonwealth of Virginia!
