A Level Up Realty LLC. - Tucson, Arizona

nolan

I lived at rental property 156 E 21st St for approximately 1 year. After my lease ended, there has been zero communication on there end about receiving my security deposit. It is already past the threshold amount of time legally allowed by Arizona. A Civil Suit is set to be served early next month. This realty company will always do the bare minimum and see what they can get away with. Grecia Brenner also lies about her tenants to save her job. A very disappointing experience after what seemed like a genuine company. Also before the realty company tries to lie and say I never stayed with them, I will attach proof of my residency. This company has ignored multiple phone calls, in person office visits, and more. One of the worst overall realty companies in Tucson. The image attached is my rent receipt, the other is when I showed up the 18th of November during active business hours and was ignored. I also visited the office the previous and following day, with no answer, as well as no return to my phone calls for messages. My lawsuit will help ensure this pathetic customer service doesn’t continue to future and current tenants. I have recorded evidence of me requesting my security deposit and evidence of my in person visits, and my messages I left your receptionist because you choose to ignore my calls. They had until the 21st of November until they have to pay me the security deposit and 2X penalty. All communication stopped after on their end after I advised I wouldn’t be renewing my lease. Stay away from this place if you’re easy to walk all over, you’re their target demographic. In my year lease, I never once paid rent late, never had complaints about me from anyone; and in fact helped around the complex more than the property owner. I have no nuisance service request, as two broken windows and a broken water heater, a light fixture that fell on my head, many things had to be replaced, so don’t allow the future response of the property management to tell you otherwise.A police report was filed due to homeless people coming onto the property pretending to be the manager, and I have record of the 911 call. I never raised an issue, unless I already tried to fix myself. Grecia will lie on all aspects of the situation.You can clearly tell she does not care about the tenant at all, and just wants her career. Any one that has questions about my personal experience with A Level Up Realty, please feel free to reach out. As you can clearly see from the response, Grecia is blatantly lying about requesting any new address or confirmation of any previous known address. I’ve attached the move out notices which state nothing about where the deposit will go. Grecia claim that lights that don’t fall on your head, or a working dead bolt lock on your front door, as well as running hot water and non broken windows, as unrealistic expectations. I have everything collected for my case through the past year. I’m sure your snarky responses will help my case. As checking in with the united postal services there has been no confirmation of any mail going to any of my previous addresses, which my father still lives at, so for them to lie and say I’ve received my deposit; when they know nothing has been deposited it’s just outrageous and immature, there’s a reason this company hasn’t made it out of Tucson. Grecia’s selfish behavior makes the company she works for look awful, claiming my immature behavior and lack of tenancy has anything to do with the poor living conditions and lack of communication on her end to ensure I receive my security deposit.

Jennifer K.

I was very disappointed in my experience with Grecia at A Level Up Realty. I asked to be shown a little place located within 10 minutes of my job. The property was adequate. Unfortunately the property manager, both by telephone exchanges and in person, was unprofessionally ill mannered and I decided to pass on the rental. Over time, the place was still unrented and the price dropped $50/month. I ignored my gut instinct and decided to apply. I also reminded the manager that she had verbally told me during the showing that she would not charge me an application fee. After applying, the manager told me via email that one of the utilities was going to be a flat fee of $50/mo (the same amount that the rent had just been reduced.) I sent her a screenshot of the rental websites (including their own) which specifically said that utility was included in the rental price and reminded her that she had verbally confirmed that when showing me the place. She responded that that was only true before she had dropped the rent, but not now. I again reminded her that the websites, including her own, at that very moment, still indicated that utility being included in the new rent price and that if she wouldn’t honor her word, I would have to rescind my application. In direct response, she emailed me a form letter saying she was not interested in renting to me. I have never before been denied a residence I applied to, never had an eviction, and remain on exceptional terms with all landlords I have rented from in the last 30+ years.
I also immediately saw that an application fee had already appeared on my bank account. So not only had I lost a great deal of time, the manager also was not honoring her word about not charging me an application fee. I told Grecia I would disclose on review sites what she had just done. Her response was Over The Top. I will just leave it at that. I have spent more of my valuable time getting a stop payment put on her application fee and writing this review. But it is worthwhile if I save someone else the ordeal of attempting to do business with this dishonorable individual.

Nicole P.

I rented a house through A Level Up Realty for a year with 2 roommates. Overall, I would say they were okay landlords. They were fast to fix major problems but refused to fix anything else. For instance, we were told that the nonfunctioning blinds were for our convenience only and that we could install our own blinds if we wanted. Additionally, when we told them the fridge was making loud noises, we were told to submit another maintenance request if it completely broke down. During move out, we were also charged a series of damage charges even though we thoroughly cleaned the house before we left including getting the carpets professionally cleaned. When I asked multiple times for a breakdown of the charges to understand better what we were being charged for, I never received a response.

Other than instances like those, I had no major problems with them. The rent was relatively cheap for the size of the house, so it is definitely a "you get what you pay for" kind of situation.

Also, just a FYI to future renters, a lot of the other reviews are by property owners not renters. They also offered us a financial incentive to leave a good review after we moved in.

Steve D.

Level Up has the BBB logo on their site and yet they will not respond to our complaint tothat organization. Why is that? Because they steal from people !!!!!!!

After being threatened by Grecia yesterday to sue me for harassment, I was delighted to post this negative review. Harassment? It is not harassment when you call her office many times and no one returns the call. My son and I rented a unit from them last year that started in the summer months. Air conditioner was not working.....slow to fix my son had to find another place to stay for a week. Now, he moved out after being an excellent tenant and just wants his deposit back. As I'm sure is part of their game plan to rip off people, they mailed the check to the address for the rental. AND, they deducted 700.00 for repairs.......correct landscaping? There is no landscaping!!! Touch up Paint......Normal wear and tear. All amounts deducted were even 100 amounts which shows they just made up amounts to deduct. Grecia and whoever owns this business is a crook.....DO not ever rent from this group. You will get limited service and theft of your money when you cancel the lease. One star is not low enough to describe this business !!!

After the owner responded......as anyone who reads the response, he does not address the fraud in deducting bogus repairs and shorting the deposit amount returned. His response is directed at my son. Take ownership for your cheap, crooked business and refund the full amount. I have already posted here, filed a complaint with the BBB and posted a yelp review. Next will be filing a complaint with your realtor association that manages your licenses. Please stop directing your negative comments to a 21 year old and put that ownership on me. I will be the one to drive reality here and expect a full reimbursement to an address we tell you, not to an old rental address. I'm sure you mail checks to old addresses in hope people have moved on and forgot about the deposit. Not the case here. I left you a message in your office today. Will see if you step up and return the call. Steve

anthony B.

Our property is incredibly nice and at a very affordable rate, it cannot be beat. Grecia has been so incredibly helpful to us since before we even moved in, and has been quick to answer any and all questions we may have. I look forward to staying with A Level Up as long as I continue renting!

Nolan D.

I had a frustrating experience with my landlord and real estate agent regarding my security deposit. There were numerous discrepancies, including unfair charges for broken windows, a broken AC, excessive fees for normal wear and tear, landscaping fees, touch-up paint charges, damaged blinds, and cleaning fees. Additionally, I was charged a No Utility Fee, which seemed completely unjustified.

Moreover, there were several unethical practices. I was informed that the AC was serviced and the unit was fully move-in ready. However, upon moving in, I discovered two broken windows and a broken AC, making the unit unlivable in the extreme heat. Despite maintaining the yard myself, I was fined $50 for landscaping and charged $250 for touch-up paint and door frame damage caused by stray cats, which I noted as natural wear and tear in my move-out notice. Requests for bills proving the work and costs were denied.

All of these actions are illegal. As a result, I have reported these issues, and she is currently being investigated by the Arizona Department of Real Estate. Overall, the handling of these issues was very disappointing and felt like an attempt to unfairly withhold my deposit.
*edited response You have half a star for a reason on Yelp🤭

Lindsay L.

I took a self-guided tour of a casita i was very interested in yesterday. after concluding the tour, i contacted the number that had texted me regarding the tour to express interest but also to report that i had concern about a leak i found under the kitchen sink that was apparently coming from behind the wall and not from the sink itself (I honestly don’t care and would have tightened the plumbing junctures under the sink on my own if that were the case, no biggie). i was advised "No the inspection didn't show any leaks but leaks are repaired" and "Thank you for alerting me". i expressed interest in the opportunity to view again when the leak was repaired and was advised "Ok if it's still available then you're welcome to move forward. Thank you for your interest". To maintain my expressed interest, i continued the text conversation with a question about the lease agreement and then this individual no longer responded to me. later in the day i picked up the phone to call the office to see if i could speak with someone directly. i reached an answering service during business hours. i asked if it is typical for the answering service to be reached during business hours to which i was advised i was calling after business hours. i asked in what time zone as it was only 3pm in tucson. the individual was answering remotely from the east coast. i was advised that my message regarding my interest in the casita and my desire to speak with someone about the state of the repairs directly would be forwarded to the office and that I would receive a call back. in response i later received a text that expressed concern about MY energy in DEMANDING a repair when i hadn't even applied or reserved the listing. the text went on to tell me that a plumber had been dispatched after my prior communication (this was never stated and if it was the case, would have been stellar to have been advised) and that at this point I was advised "I do not want to move forward with you.".

Ok. Let Me Get This Straight: i had valid questions and concerns to be addressed before spending a dime applying for someplace i wasn't confident in due to maintenance needed. i also questioned reaching an answering service during business hours simply because i have been burned in the past with property management that does not answer the phones during business hours. this is all extremely reasonable as a customer making a choice in patronizing a business. so here's what this all very much feels like to me based on the way this business communicated to me: likely the home owner contracted A Level Up Realty to manage and maintain the property as a means to lessen their burden in dealing with tenants and maintenance. but A Level Up Realty would like to just rent it property as is without investing in maintenance of the property. this has been demonstrated to me by the vague communication about the state of repairs and then advising me that the right thing may have actually been done by dispatching a plumber, but that it doesn’t matter for me because I’m not allowed to apply. either this or the individual i was texting with has zero critical thinking, communication or negotiation skills. if you have trusted this business to manage your property and you've found your property vacant or unmaintained for a period of time, this is why.

p.s. the response from the business to this review below - THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED. there was no "outburst of frustration". i was seeking a timeline. what a bunch of clowns.

Marisa M.

I have not rented from A Level Up Realty yet but have seen two houses and gone thru the application process. Grecia has been a pleasure to work with, is professional, prompt and answers all questions.