Invitation Homes — Local services in Tampa

DON’T EVER RENT WITH INVITATION HOMES!!!

On October 27, 2025 our tree snapped off and hit our neighbor’s house. It was one of two dead trees on our property. I sent in a maintenance request, notified the local office, and they canceled the request. Now our fence and their property was hit. It’s upsetting to see the lack of care for tenet safety. See photos.

We moved in September 2023 and nothing has changed. We are now being fined by the HOA for landscaping (see pictures below and notice that there should be grass or healthy bushes) and we’ve only been here 5 weeks. And landscaping will be $1k plus and it’s on us and not them. Our pest company found rat feces in the attic, insulation that has been shredded, and electrical cords that have been shredded. We put in a ticket and Invitation Homes’ pest guy sprayed the equivalent of Lysol in the attic. Our kitchen power and lights stopped working a few days after that, but that turned out to be a loose wire that overheated and shut off the power. The shower handle was installed wrong causing pressure issues so you can’t flush the toilet and take a shower. The new flooring they installed bubbles up and has residue from the glue. We battled an infestation of ants upon moving in. They came in through openings in my son's room, daughter's room, kitchen, and the outlets from the wall.

$2600 a month in rent and in your first 60 days you will be responsible for additional charges, services, or fines to get the house up to code that Invitation Homes should have handled before you move.

Update: 11/2024 We are now over a year into our lease and they still never fixed our landscaping (see pictures attached). We have now received 3 violations for it. I was told that they would reimburse me for any repairs to the grass but it’s been 3 months and two inquiries later and they have not resolved it. $600 to fix was way cheaper than their landscaping quotes. They also charge me fees for the violations (see below).

They also have not fixed our fence from the hurricane to the HOA standards which we received a violation for that. It took maintenance two occasions to fix the fence. See photos of their labor which is still in violation of our HOA. The lanai is still not fixed and we received a violation for that as well. The maintenance ticket has now been canceled on three different occasions. They also charge you $35 every violation you receive, which means even if Invitations Homes is responsible they will charge you the fee regardless.

There is still no 0 star rating, which I would give them. My HOA has stated they have been in violation for this location for 2 years and they have not fixed anything. They wait until you sign the agreement and push the violations, charges and fixes on you. Invitation Homes will also charge you for every spot found on the driveway, every small wrapper in the garbage can, and every mark on the wall and floor to charge you $250 or more to create violations larger than your deposit so they can keep it. They will threaten you with a legal paper stating they will take you to court to recoup the money but their intention is to just keep your money because they won’t ever come after you.

Google their lawsuits.

Update 1/2025 The fence is not fixed still. The people who fixed it before did not poor concrete for the fence posts and put foam in it post hole. It’s not longer safe to have pets or kids in the backyard. We have now received a notice to have the fence replaced 30 days ago and we will receive fines for the failure of Invitation Homes.

Update 5/2025 It’s now May 2025 and they have not fixed the fence up to code. Our HOA has now named us in their document for the Board of Directors to assess a $1,000 fine.

We also sent local property management a notice from the HOA about painting the fascia on March 29, 2025. I followed up in April and May on the notice. We just now received a HOA fee from Invitations Home about the violation. When we called in March 2025 the call center stated it was their responsibility and to send the notice to the...

Where do I start? My experience with Invitation Homes has been nothing short of a headache. Communication, maintenance orders and quality of work completed, overall condition of the home, and move-out process left much to be desired.

Upon moving into our house, we immediately ran into issues with Invitation Homes not coordinating with the local HOA to process necessary fees and acquire gatecode access. This led to us being unable to enter the neighborhood during the first week without another resident letting us in. We attempted to contact our property manager, Gina Hatch, to resolve this issue. We were then directed to contact another individual, Heather Eales, who was responsible for coordinating with the HOA. After multiple attempts to contact her with no reply, we reached out directly to the HOA to resolve the issue. The HOA informed us that "the home owner, Invitation Homes, must be the one to submit all documents and manage communications." However, due to the inability to connect with Heather, the HOA worked with us to finalize all necessary documents and establish a gate code for entry. This was the first of many communication issues that we experienced during our time with Invitation Homes.

Our house was damaged during hurricanes Helene and Milton. Due to the severity of damage in the Sarasota area, we were informed that it may take longer than normal for a maintenance crew to assess and fix the damages. No problem, as long as the work is completed and the problem doesn't persist. We ended up not having a working fence for nearly a month, which caused considerable issues as we had a dog in the house. Additionally, when the maintenance crew came through to fix the fence, they simply put the broken parts back on instead of replacing them, which did not allow us to use the gate from inside the yard. In addition to this, there was extensive damage to our roof and interior walls from the wind. At the time of submitting our maintenance request, there was no water damage to the house. After nearly a month, a crew was finally sent out to patch the roof and address the lifting in the walls between the ceiling and upper portions of the wall. Due to this delay, water was able to enter the house and cause damage to the walls. To further add insult to injury, the maintenance worker that came to complete the repairs left behind an extensive mess and utilized one of our decorations as a trash bin. We voiced our concerns with Invitation Homes about this, and their response was to send the same individual back to "clean up." We denied this, given the initial quality of work, and opted to take care of the clean up ourselves. All in all, the slow response time and crews assigned to maintenance on our property showed a total lack of care.

Prior to moving out, we were given the "move out packet", describing the responsibilities of the tenant and expected timeframe for return of the security deposit, as well as any additional fees that may be associated with the condition of the home. In accordance with the packet, we had the house cleaned and left in the condition that we received upon moving in. Roughly a week passed after move-out and we had not heard anything about charges associated with the house, so we assumed all was good. We then received a list of charges on our online account, which was terminated shortly after being posted. I reached out to our local office to inquire about these charges, and they did not have an answer for me and deferred to an account manager. The manager didn't establish contact until 29 days after moving out about our associated charges, some of which were a result of the damage caused by the hurricane and not adequately repaired by the maintenance crew. As I am typing this review, I am currently still struggling to receive word on our security deposit refund. I have been in contact with Jazmine Fuentes, who has failed to provide timely feedback about our deposit.

Unfortunately, our experience with Invitation Homes was terrible, and we do not recommend nor will we ever rent...

Unhelpful and Unprofessional Company!

Signed an 18-month lease starting January 2024. Here’s a timeline of events:

January: moved in. Hooked up my washed dryer and on the first drain cycle, the plumbing backed up, flooding my laundry and kitchen areas. Placed a ticket and Invitation Homes (IH) sent someone out to clear the piping in a timely fashion, but it was discovered a bigger fix was needed.

February-July: multiple companies brought out to look at issue and give IH their opinions. In July, IH picks LSC & Partners to correct the issue, which is discovered to be a septic issue.

August: (8/2) I get a notification that LSC “completes” the job. When I check it, I see a large hole in my exterior wall and the septic cover in the yard is removed and chunks of the wall are “filling it” which has left an open pit. I immediately place a ticket with IH. (8/14) AH sends someone out to correct the exterior wall. There is still a hole in the yard. September: no issues. I’m dealing with the hole in the yard myself for now so we don’t fall in when we mow.

October: I go to pay rent and there is an additional $226 charge on my account for repair fees for the exterior wall. Since the damage was due to IH’s contractors, I called to file a dispute. And since you must pay all charges in full through the portal, I put in a request for the local office to help me split payments so I can pay my rent. (10/15) I get a call from the local office to temporarily separate the $226 repair fee so I can pay my rent.

November: (11/1) The $226 fee is still there and I need to pay rent again. I call and another ticket is sent to the local office for them call me back since the help line is not authorized to split payments. (11/4) Still no return call and rent is now late so I call and put in another escalation to the local office. I do this again multiple times throughout the month. (11/27) There’s still no call back and I’m panicked because I haven’t been able to pay November rent and December rent is about to be due. In addition, the electric bill has been taken out of my name by IH so I am also unable to pay my electric account. Desperately I text Abraham, the person who showed me the home, asking for help. He replied that he has no access to rental payments but he can directly contact my property team for me. (11/30) I receive an email from Jazmine at IH that the dispute has been evaluated and the $226 removed from my account. I’m excited to finally pay my rent! But at this point I now have both November AND December rent due on my account. I email Jazmine at IH back the same day asking for help splitting the payment since my financial account only allows transactions of up to $2,500.

December: (12/3) I have not gotten any response from the email so I call. The help center puts in a ticket for the local office to call me back so we can split the payment. (12/4) No response from Jazmine, so I send a follow up email to check in. (12/6) I receive an email that there is now a late fee of $150 on my account. There is still no response from IH, so I call the help desk and put in an escalation on my ticket adding the detail of the late fee. (12/9) I send another follow up email to Jazmine for help. (12/12, 12/13, 12/19) Multiple more calls and escalation requests are made, and one more text to Abraham, all with no response.

Now: It’s 12/21. I added a new financial account so that I can pay both months monthly rent in full, and I have the money to do so (I have always had the money and desire to pay the rent). However, there is a $150 late fee on my account that is due to the inactions of Invitation Homes, so I will not be paying it. I also still do not have the electric account in my name and still cannot pay my bill for that since IH has taken it.

I’m incredibly frustrated with Invitation Homes’ lack of customer service, lack of rent payment options (can only pay in full via portal or in cash at select stores), and lack of responsibility. I’m frustrated that they took over my electric account without notifying me. DON’T...