Century 21 Southern Star - Prattville, Alabama

Sandra H.

This rental company, southern star property management or prestige management is the worst rental company I have ever dealt with. Needless to say that I had not dealt with a lot of rental companies. I moved to Alabama from Pennsylvania. I was a home owner in Pennsylvania and I thought I would buy in Alabama but decided not to. I lived on this property for three years and took very good care of the property. When it was time for me to move because we bought a home in North Carolina, they gave us a big runaround. First, they gave me this ridiculous move out instruction list. When I had moved in this property, it was not clean at all. My daughters spent hours cleaning this house. they stated they wanted us to power wash the house treat for fleas professionally, clean it, and a whole bunch of other things, including replace a drip pan for the refrigerator. That was not there when we moved in which I informed them off. I took pictures and videos of us cleaning that house and how we left it. At first Jennifer stated that nothing had been done. I had videos showing that the house was spic and span. Upon moving in this house I had paid a double deposit. I guess she assumed that she was going to be able to keep my $2400. But that was not the case I was ready to fight for my money. Jennifer is a piece of work. So she kept $25 for a drip pan that was never there. I am contemplating court action against her and the house owner.

Stacie D.

We rented from this company for 4 years. We first had Nicole Rich as our property manager. Terrible. In the first year, a leak from the front yard from a pipe exploding left us with a $300 bill we had to pay the Water company for the gallons of water pooling in our front yard we got billed for before the Property Management company would reimburse us. Needless to say, six months later we were still waiting on our $300 bill after about eight emails and countless messages and texts to get our money. When we did finally get a check, we were still out about $75 because I guess they didn't feel like paying us the full amount owed? By that point we were so fed up, we just let it slide. In calling Nicole all those times she flat out, no joke, word for word told us "You're just a renter so you're not a top priority." While you may think that, that's beyond rude and obviously not an awesome thing to say in a customer oriented business.

Our microwave would randomly turn on and off, and again, after asking for it to be replaced because obviously, a short can cause a house fire, it never was.

Our house was randomly broken into a year ago. Bricks were thrown in the back master bedroom window. It took A WHOLE MONTH after multiple phone calls and emails for the window to get fixed. AN ENTIRE MONTH. Ridiculous. It's 100 degrees outside, my AC is being sucked out the window, and I was pregnant and had an 11 month old. By now, our new property manager is Lana Taylor and she's not any better than Nicole, unfortunately. We asked her to replace the locks on our house (wouldn't you if the robbers stole your house keys?). They never were, again after multiple attempts to get them changed.

We finally got to leave (we are a military family) and upon moving were told that we needed professional carpet cleaning. That's fine. In our lease it also states professional house cleaning. My husband spent three days scrubbing the house so that there would be less to clean and hence, less for us to be charged. No such luck. Not only did they take out $175 for carpet cleaning, they tacked on a ridiculous $250 "deep cleaning fee." Deep cleaning for a house that was immaculate. As in the baseboards and each window blind had already been scrubbed. I'm pretty sure the house cleaning lady and property management company must be best friends because when we asked Lana for the receipt, she produced us with a generic, non-itemized paper, dated three weeks after we moved out (after the owners had been in, I might add, so how do I know they didn't trash the place and have us pay for it?). The house cleaner woman also mentioned that she mowed the grass, and again I'm assuming I'm paying for the grass to be cut and tacked in the $250 bill, because I totally called to ask her if she had cleaned our house. Ridiculous. When we did the house inspection and final outing, Lana was 45 minutes late for the 8am appointment, even after having emails sent earlier that week confirming the date and time.

While the actual house was great, and our neighbors were awesome, and while I have never in my life left a negative review on anything like this before, I too would say DO NOT rent from this company if you can help it. Lazy and uncaring people do not manage houses well. I don't think that asking for a new microwave, or having your window be replaced in a timely manner, and locks changed after your house is broken into and vandalized and the keys stolen, are unreasonable requests. Terrible experience as a military family with this company. Sad for the next people that have to deal with them, but so happy to be gone from that company!! (There are so many other examples of crazy I could add from the past four years, but I just don't feel like it) It's just beyond frustrating to deal with this company. I'll leave it at that, but in summary, try to stay away!!

Mai W.

My boyfriend and I contacted this company about renting a home. The property manager stated the home was available and we paid $50 for an application, just to receive an email saying we were not approved and we both have over a 600 credit score with no poor rental history, in fact this would have been our first home together. Judging from the previous reviews, We are grateful for being denied. Definitely contacting Fair Housing and reporting them because we both make over the average salary for the State of Alabama and they gave us a bogus excuse for why we were denied. I assume they needed the $50 for lunch.

Olga D.

We have been renting with the Century 21 Southern Star for 3 years and it's been a great experience! From the beginning, our property manager Kim has been courteous and professional. She responded to our requests in a timely manner and always followed through with promises. She didn't get upset when I texted her phone during holidays. Our overseas landlord has been a saint! Microwave replaced, kitchen faucet replaced, counter re-caulked, loose stone reattached... The house was almost brand new and super clean when we moved in. No, I don't get perks for writing this. We honestly enjoyed our stay here and if we ever return to the area, we will not hesitate using this agent again. It is such a blessing when people you depend on do their job well.

Jennifer C.

I apologize for the long review...but I just need to tell about my experience...especially for the new military families that are moving here this summer.

I had a terrible experience with this company when I took a trip to Alabama last summer to "house hunt". I had been researching homes and only had a few days that I could see properties. I emailed and called Southern Star and expressed my interest in a particular property one afternoon. By the next afternoon, I still hadn't heard from them via phone or email. I didn't want to miss out on seeing this property...so I went directly to their office. They weren't very friendly when I went into the office and they told me the property manager in charge (Kim Lambert) was not in the office. They had me fill out an application anyhow (and pay $25 for a background check). I really wanted to see the house, so I did this. I let them know my situation and that I would be flying out in a couple of days. After I filled out the application, they let me know that Kim would contact me. I called her cell phone and left her a message as well to follow up. Two days later...I still hadn't heard from anybody and flew back to NJ. I kept checking the site and the home was still available...so I figured they just hadn't been able to get back to me yet. Fast forward to the day I went back to work. I worked for a yearbook company in New Jersey and we were in the middle of production season. I am not supposed to answer my phone or check my personal email at work...but I had listed my work contact info on my application. It was a very busy day...but when things wrapped up in the evening and I checked my phone, I realized I had a message from Kim. I listened to it and she told me that everything was great with the application and that there was another couple that was interested...but she wanted to give me first priority since I came to the office first. I called her back immediately. She did not answer...so I left her a message telling her that we definitely wanted the property (even if it was sight unseen at this point) and I would just need to coordinate payment with them. I didn't hear back from her. The next morning I checked the site and the house was no longer on there. I called her and left another message mentioning this and that I am hoping it's just because we confirmed we wanted it. I didn't receive a call back...I received a text instead saying that she didn't hear back from me by 4pm same day (no deadline was mentioned in the phone call) and already let it go to the other couple. This was disheartening as I didn't hear from them for 2 days...yet I got a call on my cell AT WORK and was expected to respond over the course of a few hours. They had my work info and knew I had a job...yet she didn't bother trying to contact me at either my work email or work phone. I let Kim know that this was upsetting. She said she had been sick when I was in town. (There has to be another property manager that steps in to show homes when somebody is out sick...right?). She told me that if there was another property I was interested in...she could help. At this point, I was so upset by my experience that I started looking for homes not managed by Southern Star Property Management. I wish I would have seen the reviews on Google before contacting them.

Other military friends I know who did go with Southern Star expressed that their needs for repairs/issues were not addressed right away this year. I know what happened was actually a blessing in disguise.

Jessica W.

MILITARY and EVERYONE ELSE BE AWARE! DO NOT LET THIS COMPANY MANAGE YOUR PROPERTY. We had Kim Lambert! We were not taken care of properly. Just received a full home inspection report on our home (not even 30 days after final inspection), no renters and no one in our home since then except agents showing the property.

Per home inspection:
broken microwave door handle, small holes in the guest bathtub, broken toilet handle, kitchen sink is still leaking(that we supposedly had paid to be fixed), guest bath sink is linking, gash in the garage wall, this is just to name a few items. We also had a storm come through and she never went out to the house until after the fact. Our neighbors contacted us and we had friends go to our home to provide updates. She was supposed to be our eyes and ears while we are stationed elsewhere and she failed to provide this service. When we would ask for documents, we were brushed off or told we will get back to you. CUSTOMER SERVICE- I would rate it at a 0! Be aware! YEARLY INSPECTIONS- we were told that this would be set up, never saw a report.

I hoped that we had found someone that would respect our property. It was left in excellent condition, July 2013. I understand normal wear and tear but I was not expecting to have broken items in our home. As time progressed we did not feel she had our best interest in mind, it seemed like she was more interested in making the tenants happy. We had to contact her concerning more animals. Per original contract, we allowed only 1 animal. They acquired another animal and I had neighbors that informed me about this. A break in the contract- deposit $1k? Per text I was told that the monies were released per her discretion. I was also told that she inspected the microwave. A microwave does not break by itself and no one besides other real estate agents have been in our home. This is concerning! What about all the broken items, tub, microwave, toilet handle, etc? If you truly inspected these items, this would've been found. An empty home on the market does not break itself. Why would agents bring potential buyers to a home and break the mentioned items? Especially small holes in a tub?

The tenants should have not received their deposit back. Compensation should be awarded for the items that are broken and that were poorly inspected. The company that Southern Star uses to fix leaks, appliance issues etc. per our work orders, some of the items in the inspection should have not been an issue especially if this company inspected these items and fixed them. We paid for items to be fixed!

8/8- I called the company directly with the contact information found on the internet. The representative that answered was friendly and forwarded me to the Broker, Larry. He was polite on the phone, but I was calling to make a complaint concerning an agent that is a part of his brokerage/team. I was told that he would contact Kim, and that she would look through our file and contact us.

How can this be resolved?

Nathan H.

Initially we tried to sell our house with Southern Star. They convinced us to accept a $500 security deposit on a $230,000 home and then to allow the buyer to use $425 of it for the appraisal. Bad on us for trusting that it would be ok. The buyers walked the day of closing and on day before we move out of state. With most of the summer move season gone, were left with a second mortgage and a check for $75. Then when it was finally rented the problems really began. Our agent never answered her phone we were repeatedly lied to, ended up working directly with the tenants and contractors because things weren't getting done. To top it all off, when we moved back to the home, the carpets had not been cleaned, pet damage was not repaired, and there was a hole cut in the wall with a vent placed over the top. All of which we were initially assured by our agent that everything was fine and the entire deposit was returned to the tenants. Long story short three weeks later, three contractors, lies, delays, and a day of vacation burned from work to ensure things were done right and the carpets are getting cleaned. Apparently Southern Star thinks their doing us a favor in correcting their error. Maybe I expect too much, ensuring the carpets were clean and the house in good condition were what we've been paying them $160 a month for! What a nightmare. I will not be using Southern Star ever again.

Ashley L.

I wouldn't even give this company one star. They are completely unprofessional and lack any communication skills whatsoever.

I called this company last week on three separate occasions about houses. I left my name and number and never heard replies.

Yesterday, I called a woman (Tammitha Price) about a home I found on Zillow. The ad for the home did not list a realty company, only her name and number. I called her yesterday, no answer. My husband and I are in a time crunch because we had to suddenly and unexpectedly move for our jobs. So, I texted her as well. She replied to the text messages, said the house was still available and would email me an application that day (we were willing to go ahead and put down a deposit). She never sent the application. I called this morning and suddenly, the house is already rented!

I asked why I wasn't aware of this (she should have at least said lease pending yesterday) and she said she was vacation yesterday and they have 6 property managers. Who? She still had not told me what company she was with! Also, how would I know you're on vacation on a Tuesday? Why not just say that and give me another manager's number?

Then she proceeded to say that we should have filled out an application before contacting her. WHAT?! We didn't even know who she worked for. But of course, she says Southern Star Realty. I told her we actually called that company THREE times already about other houses and never heard back.

Apparently this company requires an application to be completed and a fee paid before they will even speak to you. The company is absolutely ridiculous and needs a lesson in how to appeal to the customers who are trying to pay them to live in one of their homes. They give NO information and then try to give "advice" (seriously- she said she wanted to give ME advice to fill out the mysterious application that we never received BEFORE talking to her).

I let her know that we would ensure that we were not looking at any options for renting from them in the future. Listen to the other reviewers - this is NOT a good company. They have poor policies and especially poor customer service. My husband and I have always rented as we have to move frequently for work and we have NEVER been treated this badly. I feel bad for whoever did end up with the house- I can't imagine how poorly this company treats tenants.

Stay away! They are bad news.