John L Scott Seattle Metro Property Management

This review is specifically about Lori Boss. We had a great experience while we lived in the home for 2 years. Anything we needed, she was right there, very responsive. She wasn’t overly friendly but a great landlord nonetheless. Even when we received a rent increase and we disputed it based on valid reasons (according to the fire department the house was falsely advertised as a 4 bedroom 2 bath, and I didn’t think at the time it was her doing) she agreed with us and did not increase the rent.
Upon move out, she came and did our walk through and commented several times on how amazing the house looked. We not only took great pride in the home when we lived there and made many improvements to the home, we cleaned it immaculately before the walk through. There were 2 things we knew we would be dinged on, small things: a scratch in the hardwood floor in the small bedroom and a very small ding in the drywall in that same room where I hit it with the bed when moving it around. Lori agreed when I brought them to her attention (she did not notice either item) that they were very small and we would pay very minimal for the «damage». Downstairs, there was some crayon under the stairs where one of the kids had drawn and I had not seen it simply because of how low it was. Lori noticed it, asked if I had a Magic Eraser and I did not. I said I would run up to Target and get one so I could quickly clean it and she said that was silly, it would wipe right off.
A few days later, we received an itemized list of all of the «damage» that had been done to the home and letting us know we were getting less than 100 dollars of our 1100.00 dollar deposit back. We were in utter shock. We were being charged 50.00 to «repair» the crayon on the stairs that I mentioned above. We were being charged almost 100 dollars for a broken blind that was broken when we moved in and when we told her that, she said that was untrue and it had to be replaced. Not only was it a small crack and did not affect the functionality of the blinds whatsoever, I looked at Home Depot and that exact same blind was under 20 dollars. The list goes on and on with similar things. We replied in writing asking why these things were not mentioned since our walk through was done early, our lease was not up, and we could have cared for these things ourselves. Her reply was a nasty one. Very unlike what we knew of her.
We then delved in to our rights as a tenant in WA and saw that many of the things in her letter explaining why we were not getting our money back was in no way legal. We very kindly worded an email to Lori explaining that we did not accept her original findings and why and what our rights were. We received no response. Instead, we received a letter a few days with a check enclosed with just slightly more money that originally offered to us and a hand written note on it stating this all you are getting, this is our final offer. We were so stressed out we just cashed the check and dropped the matter.
Needless to say, we were so disappointed and disillusioned with this experience that at every opportunity, we discourage people from renting or even buying from this company and more in particular, from Lori Boss.
The funny thing is, when the rep for the Tukwila Fire Department came through one year earlier when we lived in the home (routine inspection every 3 years) she told us Lori was not on the up and up and that we should be careful. She seemed to be familiar with her from other rentals. I am so regretful we didn’t listen.

Seriously. Do not ever rent a home from these people. My experience is lenthy, but telling. if you give them your money, they will appropriate and re-​appropriate your deposit funds until there’s little to nothing left. We paid 2050 at move in, and got 221 back.
When we looked at the home prior to renting Yvonne Arntson was the property manager. The carpets were disgusting, as was most of the home. That said, we liked the layout and the size, and Yvonne assured us it would be cleaned and the carpets would be replaced if they didn’t come clean. So we signed a lease and put a deposit down. This was in December of 2012. Our move in date was supposed to be February 1, 2013. This did not happen – the existing tenant didn’t vacate the property in time. Then they told me they were replacing the carpets… which was a ¼ truth. they replaced 1 floor living room. The rest of the rooms were still gross – dirt lines along the walls from where the carpet cleaner doesn’t reach, bleach stains, etc. They clean the carpets 2 more times. The home was not cleaned at all. the grout in the kitchen was absolutely disgusting, and after 4 hours of attempting to clean it, gave up. There was cat hair and grease everywhere. The shower door was so covered with grime it took several hours over several days to clean. The cabinet door in the closet was broken and the corner cut my head. We complained, but they only had the carpets re-​cleaned, and not replaced.
During the summer the deck was rotting and my husband broke through. the owners did not want to replace it. We insisited. They replaced the floor boards only – not the railings. They were out there painting them in the pouring rain… kind of telling. Then at the walk through Yvonne said that the owners were going to remove the moss fromt he front yard and reseed. They came and killed the entire lawn in early April, and didn’t come back to fix it until late June.
The worst was when our bathroom flooded. every toilet and shower in our home was flooding out of the main bathroom. We called the emergency line. nobody called back for over 8 hours. We couldn’t use any form of water. The plumber said it wasn’t our fault. We didn’t hear from anyone regarding the sanitation of the carpets or bathroom due to sewage spilling. When someone came out several days later, we were told the repair/​cleanup would be minimal. The next day i arrived home to find the entire bathroom gutted! No flooring, no sink, no toilet. totally gutted down to the plywood. And nobody came to fix it for 8 weeks. Our oven element broke, and it took them 2 weeks to fix it.
I mean, these people are SHADY. We had asked if we could paint, and Yvonne (the manager) said yes. This was our fault – we were talking in person, so we didn’t get it in writing. When the owners came over to work on the deck, they told us how much they liked the paint color. So when we moved out, we didn’t repaint white (they had said they liked it), but we left a full 5 gallon bucket in there for them to touch up as needed. The owners of this home have no pride. the kitchen paint is white eggshell, but they patched and painted over with semi gloss in a different shade of white. The floors are all scratched up and need to be refinished, as do the trim and banisters. There is white carpet in the bathroom – gross.
About 4 months ago, we were sent a letter from John L Scott that Yvonne was no longer with the company and that Lori Boss had taken over. We were alarmed because our lease was about to be up, and she did not know the history of our issues, nor had she seen the home.
Lo and behold, we received a check for 221 from our deposit. They are charging for EVERYTHING, saying they hate the paint (which is a very light neutral beige) and are going to repaint and use a contractor (which they never ever did – the owners are cheap and do everything themselves). $ 25 to remove 6 tacks from the ceiling, $ 50 to remove the AC mount (4 screws) that we forgot to remove. $ 50 for lightbulbs? I mean, give me a break.
We improved that home. the appliances are from th 80’s (i’m not even kidding… they don’t even make replacement parts anymore for them). We bought and had a $ 400 dishwasher installed, and we paid to have cabinets added to the laundry room. We insulated the garage. We had a new thermostat put in that was several hundred dollars. The owners were extremely apprecaitive of everything we did – until we moved out. They liked it all. we did lose one of the garage door openers, and I’m fine with paying for that. But we are bEing charged over 1000 for painting so they can ‘repaint’ our work. Yes, there is some touch up needed, but not the entire house.
I am fuming. We were never given rent credit for the time we were unable to use our main bathroom, nor the entire summer our yard was black from being killed. I am a reasonable and patient person, but this is such a shady place to do business with. Rent an apartment if you have to. BBB, here I come.

This review is specifically about Lori Boss. She was the manager/​landlord of a condo I rented for 2 years. I had very minimal problems with the unit and she was responsive when they occurred-​however, the move out experience is the reason for my low rating. Lastly, shes not very professional.
After much time, I was able to schedule my move out appointment. Walk through was fine-​no issues were identified. After leaving, she messages me about a dent. I ask for a photo. Was told she could not give an estimate to fix. After I receive my check deposit, I see a list of issues that I am deducted for-​ashes in the fireplace, oven cleaning redo, smoke alarm battery, etc. All with deductions!
The point of a move out appointment inspection is to tell me of these things-​I totally could have fixed them! They charged me $ 36 to put a battery in the smoke detector and place back on the wall!
When I explain to Lori that I am frustrated that she didn’t inform me of these ‘issues,’ she writes me an email saying «If you are having a bad day, I’m sorry but thats not my fault.»
Also to note-​she wrote the check wrong (AFTER she asked me to do something to verify it would for accounting purposes).
JLS is fine-​but they need to hire more professional reps. Lori looks like she just rolled out of bed, braless, clogs and all. I go braless (at home or to the grocery store), not to meet with people for work.

I’m also extremely disappointed. My agent left shortly after I signed with the agency. This was disheartening to me, as I live out of state. The owner of the agency seemed extremely unsympathetic, and yelled at me that I should get another agency, since I didn’t seem too happy with JLS.
Huh? And make my trusting tenant sign a new lease, etc?
Don’t make the same mistake I did.
Give JLS a pass!

I had the worst experience with two agents from John L. Scott, Seattle-​Metro, Property Management Office, 1225 S. Weller Street in Seattle.
Anyone considering to conduct business with Michael Boss or other agents with John L. Scott, Seattle-​Metro, Property Management Office, should read the following:
I first worked with Michael Foster, who didn’t notify me in 2006, when the dishwasher died in a condo I had been renting out since 2004. After I received the bill for the new dishwasher, I called Michael Foster, who didn’t seem to think it would have been appropriate to notify me as the owner of the unit. (Maybe I would have liked to provide some input regarding the choice of the replacement unit?)
Subsequently, I fired the agent, only to have an even less enchanting experience with Michael Boss a few years later.
Going through my records in October of 2009, I noticed that the monthly payment from John L. Scott was overdue. I called Mike Boss on October 16, 2009. During the phone conversation, Mike Boss simply stated that the tenant had decided to move out a month earlier and therefore I had not received the payment. Mike Boss also told me that he had repeatedly tried to call me on the numbers on file with John L. Scott. Interestingly, my phone records didn’t show any incoming calls from the John L. Scott office or Mike Boss’ cell phone. When I expressed my surprise about not having been notified, Mike Boss bluntly replied «I thought you were on vacation.» I had not been out of town during the period in question, and I refrained from commenting on his remark, since I thought it would have appeared condescending to enlighten Mike Boss about the global use of cell phones and email and other marvels of 21^st century communication. (My email address was also on file with John L. Scott, but no attempt had been made taking that route either.) Furthermore, Mike Boss stated that the unit was being advertised on craigslist and that he had been showing it to prospective tenants. Immediately after my conversation with Mike Boss, I checked
as well as
but for some reason could not see any listings pertaining to my unit. Still on October 16, 2009, I called Mike Boss’ cell phone number and left a voicemail message and also sent an email describing my problems of finding any rental listings for my unit. About an hour later, I received an email from Mike Boss saying “Our website and craigs list have the ad.” I immediately looked into craigslist and saw that indeed an ad had been posted just minutes earlier and there was also a new posting on the John L. Scott page.
As a result of what should turn out to be exaggerated optimism, I was still expecting Mike Boss to make at least a mildly serious effort to find a tenant for my unit.
During a meeting with Mike Boss at my still-​vacant unit on November 9, i.e. three weeks after October 16, it was clearly visible that the unit had not been professionally cleaned yet even though it had been vacated more than a month earlier. In particular, the bathroom was filthy and apart from spider webs around the bath tub, there was obvious caulking damage around the bath tub.
On the same day, I sent a letter to Michele Rozinek with John L. Scott terminating the management agreement.
In my opinion, the events described above raise some doubts about the professional and ethical standards of agents with John L. Scott, Seattle-​Metro, 1225 S. Weller Street in Seattle. Specifically, I strongly advise anyone against conducting business with Michael Boss.