RIO Real Estate — Attraction in Denver

I lived in the Elaine Apratments at 1424 Pennsylvania St.

I got a job in Denver starting the next week, and I showed up on Wednesday to view an apartment in The Elaine Apartments in Capitol Hill with Jared.

He asks if I am Steve, Brad, or Mike. There was no Steve, or Brad viewing the apartment, he just wanted to instill a sense of urgency, making me think I had to act quick. Earlier that day, I informed him I was starting a job next week and had to act quick. He must be so used to pulling these scams that it just comes second nature. He struck me more as a shady weed dealer than a real estate agent, but I was desperate.

I should have turned around and walked away, but I needed an apartment fast, and the location was good enough to look over how much I was being over charged by an unprofessional staff.

I showed up to move in, and the apartment was filthy. The baseboards and window sills were painted white, but they were black from dust accumulation. The apartment itself was in disrepair, but I was willing to overlook all of this to have a place to live on such short notice. I would have never moved into an overpriced dirty outdated apartment if I had more time to look.

Pinnacle preys on young people that do not have much rental experience. They will steal your deposit if you do not follow their convoluted contract to the word. I promise that a renting verteran would not get their deposit back. Pinnacle is not beyond telling lies.

I verbally told Correna Lucas that I was moving out a month in advance in May, 2013. After not receiving any move out instructions, I sent her an email to make sure she knew I was moving out. She informed me that I needed to give her written notice, and my verbal notice was not enough. She said that she would count my email as written notice, and I would have to pay rent for June and pay rent for July, or until they rent it out. I argued with her and her manager Gene, but they were legally correct, and would not budge.

I paid rent for June and moved out. I never got any of my $800 (one months rent) deposit back. I went back at the end of August to see when the new tenant moved in. I was informed that they moved in on July 15th, meaning that I should have gotten half of my deposit back, as they rented the apartment before my last month of rent was paid. I did not bother to argue, as I would rather pay $400 than deal with Pinnacle again.

After all of this. I got a bill in the mail for $100 for "cleaning" I left the apartment much cleaner that I had received it, and paid the, $800 for no reason. I threw the bill in the trash, and I never heard anything about it again. I assume that it was just a lost shot at trying to milk me for a little more money, and it was not worth their time to pursue.

Also, somebody was stabbed to death in the alley a block away, and another person was shot three times in the chest ~50' from the back door. They crawled to Colfax, and somebody called an ambulance. Definitely not worth $850 a month to get shot.

Although, I would highly recommend these apartments if you smoke crack, as many crack dealer loiter around the back of the building to offer you their wares. I unfortunately do not smoke crack, so it was just one more layer of filth to get through when I had the pleasure of leaving...

Since Yelp wouldn't post my review, I will post it here also. I just want an honest experience with this company thus far.

I currently live at The Botanic Place Apartments 1160 Josephine St. The reason that I moved into this apartment last June was because of the owner/property manager. He took great care in picking his tenants and he kept the grounds immaculate. He also communicated very efficiently with all of us and was easy to get a hold of and prompt on returning calls. The courtyard was kept immaculate with beautiful flowers and trees. He took great pride in this building. Rent was reasonable. Unfortunately, because of health reasons he decided to sell the building. He sold to Pinnacle. Since Pinnacle has taken over, I feel that there has been a mass exodus of tenants. I'm assuming it is because they are raising the rent for "market adjustment." The beautiful flower gardens are now basically weed gardens with a few pots of flowers. The maintenance people.....when they are here to maintain the grounds are friendly. In the winter, the snow would get removed maybe 3 days after it fell. When I notified them that I would not be renewing my lease via email I received no acknowledgement even after calling to confirm this. I asked Amanda if an email would suffice as written notice. She said that it should. I left Gene a voicemail asking him to let me know if he received my email and if an email would suffice. After calling Gene again, he answered the phone and said he didn't know he was supposed to follow up. I see on craigslist that they have significantly raised the rent and say that utilities are included.....but, then there is utilities charge. All utilities and internet were included except electricity. The previous owner charged $30 a month for parking when a space opened. Now, I see they are charging $75 per space. My apartment itself is small but cute. Outdated bathrooms and some kitchens without a dishwasher. The washers/dryers are coin operated, not in unit and a bit outdated. But, this was all very acceptable and it was a pleasure to live in this building with the previous owner/landlord/manager! He truly cared about this building and it's tenants. Pinnacle cares about nickle and dimeing it's residents and does not seem to take pride in their buildings. I'm not surprised at the mass exodus of residents who lived here under the previous owner. The people moving into the building seem to be nice. I'm moving because I am relocating. If I were to stay in Denver, I would look to live elsewhere. I wanted to give an honest review of how things were and what they are now.

Update: I asked to schedule a move out inspection/walk through. Paige said "I'm sorry we do not do walk-throughs with the tenant. We do them once you move-out." I followed up with an email asking why and that I have rented for the last 20yrs and have always been asked by landlords to do this with them. NO response. It will be interesting to see what happens when I move out. They are advertising a community grill. There is no...

If you're looking for a small commercial space, run far far away from the Pacific Business Park, Rio Real Estate and the Doublebay Partners.  I rented a space at 8200 E Pacific Pl, Denver, CO 80231 for the last twelve years.  The management group for the first decade was wonderful.  Then the complex was sold.  The group of new owners and managers are probably all 30ish and frankly just don't have a clue, despite their fancy new DU Degrees and lack of experience.  I was left without working heat for most of last winter, I had to protect their pipes and keep myself warm with space heaters.  When a giant wasps nest formed in a bush out in the common area, I was told that extermination was my responsibility.  This was not a pest issue inside my office, but out in the common area where the management team had the duty to maintain the landscaping.  The mailman and our staff could not walk past this bush to get to our front door without risk of being stung.  I went back and forth with Nick at Rio probably 20 times and he would not budge, I had to call an exterminator to maintain an area the landlord is absolutely responsible for.

Then came lease renewal time - despite the lack of heat and overall bad service, they saw fit to try to increase my rent by 25%.  I decided to buy a property instead of continuing to rent, but construction completion was going to be a few months after my lease expired.  I offered to continue renting the space for a few months but was told only if I paid the 150% holdover rate.  So now almost 4 months later, they still have a vacant unit where they are asking too high of rent.  Per Loopnet, it appears they have about 20% of the units there empty, which isn't at all surprising.  Talking to my neighbors before leaving, the dissatisfaction was pretty widespread.  The only income they've received from my empty unit since June is my security deposit that they wrongfully and illegally withheld.  Colorado Revised Statutes state that a landlord "shall refund a tenant's deposit...and that no deposit shall be withheld to cover normal wear and tear."  I cleaned the unit very thoroughly when I moved out, and additionally, management and one of the Doublebay boys walked the property with me before I vacated, making it known they planned to tear down walls and change the footprint of the unit.  The carpet and paint are now over 12 years old, so I think any judge on earth would agree that they should expect to have to change those for any new tenant.  Their statement of deposit, detailing their reason for withholding my deposit reads "Sec deposit held."  I hardly think that complies with the requirement in the law that I be provided with the "exact reasons" for withholding any deposit.  They didn't itemize carpet or paint or anything else, just that they're keeping it, which I believe subjects them to a claim for...