Anybody heard of CJM Refinishing on STX?

Sounds fishy Neil.

I'd contact the DCLA and the police.

This well known rental management company likely hasn't paid gross receipts tax on this money either.

There is no such company and its a scam to cheat you out of your deposit.

Report them to Licensing; your invoice should be from a "real" company. Vicanuk is probably correct; someone from the rental company did the work to make a quick $$.

When the time is right, let us know the company

If you can't get satisfaction directly then just file against them in small claims court. They've broken the contract by not returning your deposit along with any written accounting of any deductions within the 60 days. Give Power of Attorney to someone on island to appear in court on your behalf. Good luck and hope you get it sorted out before that becomes necessary.

wrong wrong wrong-follow other posters advise.
normal wear and tear is not something that should be duductable from deposit

The mgmt company says it was the owners who procured the refinishers and they are asking the owners for details.
7 months after we left they finally showed us this invoice dated last month for what was supposed to be a water ring repair.

Here's the plain-jane invoice.

(trying to post a link but the process here seems broken right now)

This wasn't the only thing they tried to ding us for. I had to argue that we were not responsible for washing their walls all the way up to their 18 ft ceiling. (The condo had no glass windows, just wooden louvers and screens.) We paid $2700 a month for the place and left it in good shape.

Our lease was up January 28. Date on "refinishing" invoice: August 10.

if you dont get it back and have no luck with dcla, sue them for the money in small claims court. seriously bad business practice

They are probably just trying to get what they can, betting that since you are off island you won't bother to take them to court.

It is always wise to take before and after pics when you are a tenant or a landlord of the rented premises.
Have each party sign and date.
7 months is an unacceptable amount of time for a delay in a deposit return unless an agreement has been reached between parties.
Stuff can happen to delay a deposit return but the owners have a resposniblity to keep in touch with the person that is awaiting the deposit to let them know what, exactly is going on and thank them for their patience if there are circumstances above and beyond control and there shall be a time delay in refunding deposits along with a full accounting of the deductions..

depending on where you live, some jurisdictions will also if you win in court double or triple because they did not follow the landlord laws on deposit returns-

Invoice has no name or address or contact info of any kind. Also, no one "sands, polishes and refinishes" an item. And if they sand anything it will cost a heck of a lot more than $500 to bring back three pieces. Scam.

wonder how they got the water ring out....our housesitter left several water rings on a table.
you moved out in jan.neil? and invoice was dated august? wonder if any statue of lim. on being able to do that? 7 months later does sound a bit fishy

Thanks for all your replies.

The "author" properties of the Invoice pdf has the name of "June Spencer".

Anybody know of such a person on STX or connected to Carambola?

This June Spencer? Good luck.

SPENCER, CAROLYN M
SPENCER, JUNE M
SPENCER, JUNE
SPENCER, C JUNE
(DOB: 01/1939) (Age: 73) (DOB: 01/1939) (Age: 73) (DOB: 1940) (Age: 72)

162 RIVER SOUND LN
DAWSONVILLE, GA 30534-0723
DAWSON COUNTY
(07/2003-Current)

Most Recent Telephone Listing 706-265-8329 SPENCER RICHARD (07/2003-Current)

1271 FAIRFIELD E
ATLANTA, GA 30338-3229
DEKALB COUNTY
(07/2005-09/2012)

102 SAMAN VILLAS
FREDERIKSTED, VI 00840
ST. CROIX COUNTY
(09/2005-09/2005)

The Saman is the one. Thanks Iris.

Keep in mind that your argument/claim is not with the alleged furniture refinisher but with the property management company who used it as a basis for not refunding your security deposit. They already broke the rental contract by not returning your deposit (less itemized deductions) within the agreed-upon 60 days and the refinishing bill is just the icing on the cake.

Looks like the bill is from the unit owner.(td)

Looks like fraud to me...creating a fictious invoice for repairs done by a business that does not exist.

I'd contact June directly and advise her that you'll be proceeding with charges unless she refunds your money.

Looks like fraud to me...creating a fictious invoice for repairs done by a business that does not exist.

I'd contact June directly and advise her that you'll be proceeding with charges unless she refunds your money.

Again, and unless I'm not reading properly, Neil's claim is against the property management company who deducted the invoice from his security deposit. They were the entity with whom he had a contract, NOT the furniture refinisher. And the PMC already breached the contract with him by not returning the security deposit to him with any itemized deductions within 60 days.

Its matters not...fraud is fraud and whomever created the invoice did so to deceive.

Its matters not...fraud is fraud and whomever created the invoice did so to deceive.

Yes, it does matter. I understand from whence you come but it doesn't alter the fact that, legally, the dispute is between the property management company with whom the OP had the rental contract and who breached that contract by not returning the full security deposit (less any itemized deductions) within the time frame stated in the contract.

Its matters not...fraud is fraud and whomever created the invoice did so to deceive.

Yes, it does matter. I understand from whence you come but it doesn't alter the fact that, legally, the dispute is between the property management company with whom the OP had the rental contract and who breached that contract by not returning the full security deposit (less any itemized deductions) within the time frame stated in the contract.

Dunno. I'm gonna side with Mr. Canada here. If a party fraudulently creates a document for the purpose of obtaining undue financial gain, regardless if they passed that fraudulent document through another entity who may or may not have known of the fraudulent nature of the document, that first party has STILL COMMITTED FRAUD, which is a tort and, yes, Ms. June Spencer can be sued for it. Actually, sounds like Neil has multiple causes of action against both the management company and the property owner.

I have contacted the mgmt company many times, including this past week asking for my money back. Trying to be patient as I know they must talk to the off island owners. I dispute the alleged damage, and their breech of contract for going six months past the 60 days they had to act, but their SILENCE over the apparently fake invoice seems to be proof enough. Wouldn't you think this large well known STX realtor could confirm whether the "CJM" refinishers actually existed? The island isn't that big.

I'm giving them until Monday.

"Mr. Canada"...I love it!