To remain ethical, I will only disclose interactions with the agents (Melanie and Laura) and the owners of 2068 Astilbe Way Odenton Md that I can recall with 100% accuracy. I moved to the Odenton resident in May 2014. At the time, Laura was my realtor, and I was searching for something temporary with proximity to Ft. Meade. Laura initially showed me the home and later Melanie performed with walkthrough when I decided to rent the townhouse. Melanie did explain to me that the owners recently bought the home but moved out of Maryland to Washington. At the time, it didn’t seem like it would be much of an issue. Most of the paperwork was completed online with Laura as my Agent and Melanie acting as the agent for the owners (which is also was in my lease agreement). Due to the owners abrupt departure Melanie packed the remainder of the owner’s household goods and stored them in a storage room adjacent to the garage. The owners directed the room( which stores the HVAC) be locked at all times. The direction didn’t quite add up being that I was paying for the total sqft of the townhome. I asked Melanie about it, and the response was I was not renting the storage space, and the rent was adjusted. This was not true, according to my lease, I was renting the entire sqft of the townhouse. Regardless, it didn’t seem like a big deal. In order to make sure the rent was paid on time and automated I requested the owners banking info. This was the first warning sign. Melanie informed me that the owners will not release any of their personal info, i.e., phone number, address, email address and banking info. I had to ask her how do they expect me to pay them and contact them if there is an issue. They went to their bank and created a pseudo account number that is internal to the bank. They can reference the account number and link it to the owners true account. It was a big headache but it is their prerogative and responsibility to protect their identity, but the it is literally illegal in any state to rent out a home with no way for a tenant to contact the owner. Since Melanie listed the home and showed it, and since she was the acting agent for the owner’s on the lease, I continued to work with her. Everything thing was fine until I months later I requested to have a roommate move in with me from overseas. I asked Melanie to pass my request to the owners. Three weeks went by and no answer. After multiple emails to Melanie (because I do not have contact with the owners) they finally returned with a question of their own. This was when I began to feel uneasy with the owners of the Odenton townhome. Their answer did not matter; they are the owners of the property, but if you are going to take my money give me the courtesy and be responsive. The winter finally set in, and it was time to turn on the heaters. I immediately noticed downstairs fireplace does not work. For my entire stay there I could never get the fireplace to turn on. To make matters worse, all the heat rose to the 2nd level of the home that left the heater on constantly to keep the living room warm. FYI, my credit score is around 730-750 so with the price of rent in MD I might as well pay a Mortgage and by home. With the price of rent and the unresponsive owners, I decided I would buy my home after the winter. I contacted Laura and requested to look at some homes. At the same time, I inquired about lease terminate and the possibility of advertising with enough time to get a tenant in the townhouse. Of course, there was no reply. Laura informed me that she knew Melanie and would speak to her on my behalf and see if we could get some answers from the owners. Laura reported back and said we would cross that bridge when we get there, she also explained maybe we could find a seller who would pay the remainder of the rent through the lease term. We did just that. I found a home, and the seller agreed to pay $5500.00 to the owners for the remainder of the rent. Buying the home was smooth, and I was due to close on Feb 27, 2015. In accordance with MD state tenant / landlord law ( Please read these laws for your protection), I provided the owners with a termination notification with my move out date and my new address. This allows the tenant to be present for the final inspection. Also, the owners are required to perform the final inspection within five days before or after the move out date, or they defer the right to withhold any part of your rent for damages. As you may know, when buying a home you provide a settlement date. Mine was 30 days (Feb 27). When buying a home, the title companies track all the money. There are a receipt and invoice for everything. I requested an invoice for the remainder of the rent ($5500.00) so the seller could pay them through the title company. The owners waited until the Feb 25 to reply with a counter. They said for them to provide an invoice; I would have to sign a letter stating they would use my security deposit to pay any unpaid utilities. I communicated to Laura and Melanie that this is against MD state law. Deposits can only be used for damages or unpaid rent. Backroom conversations took place between the owners, Melanie, and Laura that I was not privy to but in the end Laura encouraged me just to sign it. I strongly disagreed with this; the owners were clearly operating outside state law and the agents were condoning the behavior. I contacted the regional Kelly Williams office in Annapolis Md. They didn’t have the slightest interest. I was told the agents are acting on the owner’s behalf. I had to ask, even if they are requesting the agents to act outside state law? The response was; they don’t get involved with individual agents. I ultimately signed the document and returned it to Laura, who returned it to Melanie. At this point, Melanie would no longer respond to my emails or calls. Of course, I don’t have the owners info, so I had to go through her or Laura. Luckily Laura was there. I totally did not want to sign that letter, and I expressed this to Laura and I asked why are we not confronting this with state law on our side? I was told this was the easiest way, let's just get it done and get you in the home. With my closing date approaching, I felt pressured if a buyer does not close on the agreed date you are subject to a lawsuit. I signed it; it was done. On Feb 26, 2015 through Melanie, the owners at approx. 5:00pm local MD time the owners requested the document be notarized. I rushed around; NFCU said they couldn’t do it, and I didn’t have time to drive out of the area. Luckily, the State Farm Insurance office in the Seven Oaks shopping center in Odenton was able to notarize it for me. Next was the walkthrough. Being that I provided the termination in accordance with MD state law , the owners were required to perform the final walkthrough 5 days before or after my final walkthrough or they defer the right to retain any of the deposit for anything. The walkthrough was performed ten days later because both agents had personal scheduling conflicts. Melanie said she would perform the walkthrough, I requested Laura’s presence since Melanie was no longer responding to me. Keep in mind, I moved out on March 6. Remember state law. At this point, I printed some excerpts from Maryland state law. I wanted to present this to Melanie and discuss why we were operating outside state law. We were scheduled to meet at the townhouse on March 12 @ noon. I showed up at 11: 30 AM. Laura showed up around 12:00 and then Melanie sent Laura a message stating she was running late and would be there at 1:30pm.Laura said she had a separate appointment at approx. 1:00pm so she may not be there when Melanie showed up (this made me uncomfortable, for good reason). Melanie showed up and explained she was having some personal issues. I was irritated and anxious, but I never raised my voice, called any names or was disrespectful at all. I laid out down my papers, and we began the inspection. All was going well until she spotted a deficiency. She verbally informed me of it and said it was not wear and tear, I responded with “ Well nothing is wear and tear right”. At that point, she begins listing deficiencies that were existing,i.e., stains in the rugs. I informed her they were pre-existing, and she stated “They were not there, I don’t recall them being there,” I asked her instead of relying on recollection lets pull out the move inspection checklist. She said she didn’t bring it, I told her she should have since this was a formal walkthrough. She continued to find approx. Ten deficiencies, most were pre-existing. I didn’t argue since the owners deferred any rights to my deposit since they walkthrough was ten days after I moved out. We went downstairs and in a condescending tone she said” Look at this is this dirt” I responded yes, she said “ If this is dirt then you agree this dirty.” I responded with yes, but I did not appreciate the condescending tone. I don’t treat people with disrespect, and I don’t like to be talked to like I am 10 years old. The aggression was escalating, I pulled out my paperwork and start I told her “ I would like to discuss with you some concerns because we are operating outside of state law.” She immediately put up her hand raised her voice and said I was talking to her with an attitude, she said she was not the owners property manager and the emails I was sending her was harassment. Mmm? I explained the reason I contacted her was because the owners refuse to provide any contact info. We got into a shouting match, literally!! In hindsight, none of it made sense. How could she not be the property manager when she is listed as the property manager and agent on the lease, and she is also there performing the final walkthrough. Laura walked in just in time. We both calmed down, and I told her to relay to the owners to use my deposit however they chose. I was so tired and angry of this whole situation that I didn’t even care anymore I just wanted to be done with the agents, the owners, and the townhouse. A day later I received a letter with the list of damages. There were four discrepancies that I agree to; I was responsible for all of them. Laura put me in touch with a repairman, and they were completed within a week. I inspected the home after the repairs and paid the repairman. The repairman and I informed Laura and asked her to relay this to Melanie, to relay to the owners, whew. In accordance with MD state law landlords can hold your deposit for 45 days (April 20, 2015 for me) Of course , the owners were going to hold my deposit to pay the utilities, which is once again against state law. On April 14, 2015 I received a notice to pick up a first class letter from the post office. I get there and, of course, the owners didn’t pay enough for 1st Class, so, I had to pay $1 to receive the letter. I open it up, and there is a list of deductions. They paid the water bill, good; I am ok with that. Then I notice they paid the repairman (the one I already paid). I asked Laura, to relay to Melanie, to relay to the owners, they are responsible for returning the remainder of my deposit ($201.00) by the time specified in the lease / MD state law, 45 days or (April 20). I realize they may be unable to get a check to me by Monday so I compromised and said if they can send it out before Monday and provide proof that they sent it then we are good. If they do not, and I do not receive the remainder by the 20th or something showing they sent it then, I will return all checks, and we will proceed from there. This my experience with Melanie, Laura and the owners of 2068 Astible Way, Odenton MD. I will not discuss how I feel because I do not want to be bias, but I do want to warn you. Read the law !! Proceed with caution!! In my case, the owners operated outside the law and the agents knowing this still acted on their behalf, and at times denied association with the owners. At this point, I just want my money back. After this, I hope never to have to deal with these owners/agents and even Keller Williams again. - James

Very unprofessional, rude and hard to deal with. Definitely not a trustworthy person. Buyer beware!