Desert Wind Property Management & Real Estate

I would never do business with this company again they suck you in like everything is ok and accept your deposit willingly then when you go to move out they do everything in their power not to give your deposit back. I had my house professionally cleaned, carpets professionally cleaned, lawn maintenance done monthly which was all at no expense to them. I have contacted them several times and they find every reason in the world not to give me my money back. They will say that the check is in the mail and then when I call to inquire they have some kind of excuse and also they have never wanted me to be present at the final inspection day. Desertwind never listen to me after I moved out. They have denied me my money and my advice to you when moving is to not rent from this company. Please, when you go to move out do not do business with this company. They’re scrupulous and are completely worthy of taking your money.

PLEASE DON’T EVER USE THIS COMPANY!!! Renters and homeowners alike, please do not ever use this company. I have had the WORST experience over the last year. I am an excellent tenant. I keep the house in pristine condition, and I expect the same from a rental agency. When I started having issues with sprinkler valves blowing from too high of a pressure and exceedingly ridiculous water bills, I was told to contact the homeowner. What is the point of having a rental agency and paying them fees every month if I need to contact the homeowner anyway?! I had to call a landscape repairman. I had to pay him. Then, when I tried to get reimbursed through the rental agency, they informed me that I had to contact the landlord for a refund. Such a headache! What is the point of using this company? All year long I have dealt with a broken pool light, a busted shed door, a failing back gate, a broken refrigerator handle, many months of busted sprinkler valves with ridiculous water bills, pool issues, etc. Now, the homeowner himself owes me back-​payment for water bills. This should not be a situation I am in. This is the point of a rental agency!
And to top it all off, I went month to month last month because I needed two more months at this address before moving. They missed my month to month charge and then just tacked it onto the next month’s bill with no communication whatsoever. This is poor accounting practice, and when I called to question it, I was treated extremely poorly. I am not opposed to paying the additional amount — it is part of my agreement — but the treatment on their part is horrendous!
A neighbor and close friend also rents through this company, and they have had similar woes with issues not being repaired, poor communication, upcharges, etc. Carl and James are just poor excuses for managers in my opinion. This company is full of incompetent employees who do not understand that they are in the customer service business.

DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY!!!
This company will do anything and everything to keep your security deposit. My wife and I cleaned that house very well and left it better than it was when we arrived. We spent $ 150.00 on a landscaper, $ 100.00 on a carpet cleaner and did everything to make sure the place was immaculate. On the day of the final walkthrough (also the same day as the carpets cleaned) James comes to do the walkthrough. When he arrives he walks right in and throughout the house with his dirty shoes from outside where it was raining, tracking dirt all over the just cleaned carpets. Right then and there I knew that he didn’t really care about if the place was clean or not, cuz they were gonna keep the money anyway. He went on to tell me that I needed to move the appliances and clean around and behind them. I told him I wasn’t going to move appliances. I wasn’t shown behind them when we moved in to see if they were clean, plus if me or my wife got hurt while moving these heavy appliances then what? He was very arrogant and unprofessional so I just gave him the keys and left.
I rented a house in Chandler from this company and wasn’t left with anything positive to say about them. Throughout the year that we lived there, we had a few things that needed to be fixed and/​or replaced. When these things such as a dishwasher, ceiling fan etc. were brought to the Owner Carl Benson’s attention it took him forever to act on it. The man is lazy and incompetent. Four months after putting in a request for a screen door on the patio, he finally shows up and puts it on wrong. When it ends up falling off the track and on to my 3yr old child I call him up furious and all he does is laugh… Carl is extremely unprofessional and incompetent. James, the property manager is just the same, they shouldn’t be allowed to manage anything. If you value your money and your place to live DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY!!!

I used to have properties managed by Desert Wind and all of these 1 star reviews could not be more accurate. Thankfully, I pulled my properties in 2014 when I found out personnel changes were made, and have found a new management company who is ethical and honest always, but I just found out through research that Desert Wind and Carl Benson was audited and the Arizona Dept. of Real Estate found that his Trust Account was deficient by $ 33,854.92. THIS IS OWNER’S MONEY!!! The 9 page report (easily accessible on the Arizona Department of Real Estate’s website — Search Licensee — Carl Benson) states that he was using owner’s trust funds to operate his business, as well as countless other violations of the state law! I have sent a very concerned and upset letter to the Department in regards to how this man is still in business, ripping off his current clients, and from the reviews on here, his tenants as well. The only reason I even looked in to the company’s standing, is because I have YET to receive my 2014 year-​end statement and 1099, that is legally due to be mailed out by January 31^st. When I called the office to inquire on this, the person who answered the phone told me it would be mailed out sometime NEXT WEEK. Even after being in detrimental trouble with the state, they still are not following the law! This company needs to be shut down, and any owners who have their investments under management need to change companies immediately. Proceed doing business with these crooks at your own risk!

DO NOT RENT FROM DESERT WIND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT!
After renting a townhouse from this company in Mesa, AZ for a year and half, with perfect payment history, it was finally time for my lease to end and I decided to move to another state. Myself along with family and friends spent 3 days cleaning the unit, to where it was in better condition and much cleaner than when I moved in. After cleaning I had taken several photos and did a complete walk through with James Wilson, who pointed out that I should clean behind the appliances as well as a few other minor things (Window seal above door, medicine cabinet, little things that were just overlooked), or else I would be charged for them to have a cleaning crew come and do it. So Mr. Wilson let me keep the keys so I could finish those issues and simply drop the keys off in their Dropbox before midnight. This was completed as he requested. Now, take in mind he claimed everything else was perfect and the unit looked great. Carpets had been professionally shampooed, title and grout was professionally done, walls were scrubbed down, all the typical cleaning to ensure we received the deposit back.
Well the next day I had sent the rest of the photos showing I went back and completed the ONLY issues Mr. Wilson had mentioned. A few hours later Carl Benson, the owner, replies to the email with an attitude asking how I got back in without the keys. I explained to him that Mr. Wilson had let me keep them and simply drop them off in the Dropbox. Well from that moment I could tell Mr. Benson was not happy that Mr. Wilson had informed me about cleaning behind the appliances, because he wanted to keep some of the deposit. Surprisingly, a few days later I receive a brief and short email claiming that the unit had a strong oder of smoke, and the carpets would need to be replaced along with the walls repainted. Now, take into account, Mr. Wilson never mentioned anything about there being a smell during the walk through. Plus, no one that lived there even smokes! We are very healthy and workout regularly.
Today I received the disposition from them and they charged $ 800 to replace the carpet and $ 900 to paint the walls; which any landlord will tell you, the walls are always repainted anyways. So they kept the $ 775 deposit and now want an additional $ 932 within a month or it goes to collections. In my opinion, I believe Mr. Benson was upset that I was informed about the additional cleaning, so he came up with something else to try and screw me. DEFINITELY WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE US ING THIS COMPANY. SAME THING WILL HAPPEN TO YOU!
PLUS, MR. BENSON IS EXTREMELY LAZY AND WILL NOT GO OUT OF HIS WAY FOR YOU AT ALL!

I wish there was something below a «one star» rating for this company. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even get a one star from me. Do not rent property or do business with this company. If you are seeking a property management company look elsewhere — the employees are dishonest and lazy.
We signed a lease one month before moving to Chandler from Los Angeles. In good faith I paid the rent along with the deposits a month before we moved. We arrived the day of our move in and called asking how we should get the keys. They told us to come to them that morning so we did. They had a pile of keys and remotes and didn’t know which went to what. Gave us four remotes (two for the gated community and two for the garage). Only one worked (to the garage)… when we called, their solution was for us to go buy batteries, which we did. They still didn’t work. We asked they replace them… they said they would contact the HOA. Nearly two weeks later, we called and asked the status and were told by Kate Benson (presumed the owner’s wife) that the HOA just responded to her and we needed to go to the HOA and pay for new remotes and keys to the common areas as the keys they gave us to the pool and workout room didn’t work either. We were told she would reimburse us for one remote (even though we were entitled to two). We did and the HOA told us they had never heard from Ms. Benson until the day before we called — additionally, we have interacted with the HOA office multiple times and never had a problem getting through to them. Someone is always in the office answering the phone and always there to greet guests.
The day we moved in the heater wasn’t working. I contend if Desert Wind had inspected the property in the month they had our rent monies they could have corrected the problems before we even arrived. Ms. Benson informed me they only address issues when a tenant complains. I told her that’s not fair for new tenants — the house should be in working order before they take possession.
Mr. Carl Benson, the owner, called me last week knowing I am frustrated after I emailed my frustrations about how dishonest Ms. Benson is and how lazy she is to my property rep. Mr. Benson requested to meet with me this weekend at my home to review any outstanding issues. I told him Sunday (today) at Noon. He confirmed he would be here. He never showed, never called, never emailed.
I am embarrassed for Mr. Benson and his staff at how incompetent they are and how sad their commitment is to professionalism and customer service. It’s unfortunate the State of Arizona can’t revoke his business license — because they should. He is stealing money from the owner of my property every time he deducts his fees from their monthly payment and fails to complete the duties for which that payment represents. Shame on you Mr. Benson and the staff of Desert Wind Property Management.

I have rented from this management agency for almost 2 years and never had a problem until I was away at my grandfather’s funeral and found out my rent check did not go through. The moment I found is out, I emailed them letting them know I would be in immediately upon return to the state to pay my rent. The day we told them we were returning the owner Carl Benson went to my home and called animal control having my pets removed from my home because he stated the home was abandoned (never mind the fact all of my possessions were in the home). When we returned home no notice was left. They also gave no notice they would be entering the property, as required by AZ landlord/​tenant law. Because we had a caretaker for the animals, our bedroom door was locked, they removed the door handle and enter our room. We decided we no longer wished to remain in the house because we did not feel secure. We went to court for an eviction and were given into the 12^th of the month to vacate. While we were taking some things to storage Carl, again, unlawfully entered the home. When I called him to ask what the problem was he begin cursing at me and threatening that if we did not hurry and leave he would call CPS and have my children taken from me. My children are not even present in the home, they are out of state with my family while we move. I emailed Carl letting him know his behavior was harassment. He emailed me back calling me a pathological liar and acting highly unprofessional and hostile. I do not suggest dealing with this business. They believe they are above the law. I am on my way to court now to get an order of protection.