Action 9: Renters claim to lose thousands to corporate landlords

ORLANDO, Fla. — Action 9 has a warning about a new kind of landlord people would never expect. Thousands of local families are renting homes from Wall Street investment companies, Channel 9's Todd Ulrich learned.

When something breaks, many renters said getting basic repairs can be a nightmare.

“We're pissed. We lost a lot of money,” said Morgan Murphy.

Murphy called it a rental home wreck, and said there were busted appliances, broken plumbing and a defective air conditioner that doubled his power bill.

“Well from day one we had problems. Everything failed in the house,” Murphy said.

Tajuana Rushin said her rental house had a slab leak. So she only turned the main water line on to use in the bathroom.

“I hated going home, like hated,” said Rushin.

Ashley Santiago says that inside her rental, the dryer's vent is so badly clogged she fears it could cause a fire.

“It's a big risk I'm taking every time I run my dryer,” said Santiago.

These renters all have landlords from Wall Street, Action 9 learned. Their homes were bought by investment companies that have controversial records.

“And they screw people over and they just don't care,” said Murphy.

He rented from Waypoint Homes that's owned by investors, and is rated F at the Better Business Bureau.

Complaints involve ignored repairs, billing errors and missing deposits.

Rushin said the water leak that the landlord didn't fix cost her $1,000.

“They honestly did not care. It did not bother them,” Rushin said.

Another investor landlord is American Homes 4 Rent, and the BBB issued an alert for its customer record.

Santiago said her repair calls were ignored.

“They basically take our check and say, 'You’re on your own,'” Santiago said.

The companies own thousands of homes, and Action 9 found more than 140 local houses available for rent on a single day.

Waypoint Homes told Action 9 that it handles repair requests as quickly as possible, and responds to complaints.

American Homes 4 Rent did not respond.

“Don't let us be the guinea pigs to figure out that's wrong with this house, and then nickel and dime us,” said Murphy.

Waypoint Homes said that some renters complained about repairs after violating the terms of their lease.

Cox Media Group