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In the spring of 2005, three consumers reported to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) they had each signed a lease on the same home on Nordell Ct., Florissant, Mo. After providing security deposits, the consumers learned the home was not available for lease. It was not owned by the party leasing it, and a new owner recently had purchased the home.

Since February 2005, the BBB has received 13 complaints and reports against Perfect Peace Property Management, a real estate firm. Complainants allege the company executed leases to several individuals for property that was not available for lease, failed to honor the terms of leases, and failed to refund deposits.

Perfect Peace Property Management has an unsatisfactory record with the BBB due to a serious pattern of complaints and failure to respond to several complaints. The firm is located at 2045 Huntington Dr., Florissant, Mo., but also has used 748 N. Highway 67, Suite 108, Florissant, Mo. and 224 N. Highway 67, Suite 108, Florissant, Mo. as mailing addresses.

Irvin Williams is the owner of Perfect Peace Property Management, according to the Missouri secretary of state’s Web site.
A Berkeley woman said she signed a lease and paid Perfect Peace a $1,500 security deposit and $650 for the first month’s rent on a home on St. Olaf in Berkeley in January 2006. She was unable to move in as scheduled due to the company’s failure to complete necessary repairs and obtain an occupancy permit from the City of Berkeley, she explained. She added that the company failed to refund her security deposit after promising to do so.

She later told the BBB that she filed suit in Small Claims Court and “won because he didn’t show up to court.” The consumer said she is trying to collect the judgment but “I need his bank account information to do the garnishment. Because I paid with cash, I don’t have it.” The BBB received no response from the company to this complaint.”

A Jennings woman reported a similar story to the BBB involving a home on Guthrie in Woodson Terrace. In August 2006 Perfect Peace agreed to make repairs to the home but failed to do so, and neglected to obtain an occupancy permit from the City of Woodson Terrace. The company failed to return her $1,000 security deposit. The company did not respond to the BBB concerning this consumer’s complaint, and she has filed suit in Small Claims Court.

A Ferguson woman told the BBB that she paid Perfect Peace a $1,200 deposit to lease a home on Garseshe in Jennings. After moving her belongings into the home on July 30, 2006, she was informed that Irvin Williams was not the homeowner. The property owner told her he was not aware the home had been rented, and that Mr. Williams had been hired to find a buyer for the home.

The BBB offers the following general information tips:
•Do not use cash to pay your security deposit.
•Review the lease carefully for any unacceptable provisions.
•Get everything in writing. Keep copies of any correspondence and follow up an oral agreement with a letter which sets out your understandings.
•Keep communications open with your landlord.

Visit the BBB’s Web site at www.contactbbb.org or call (314) 645-3300 for a reliability report on a company.

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