Help! Crime Scene Cleaning Co. Aftermath Inc. is asking for $48k
Hi BiggerPockets!,
I'm hoping someone can give me some solid advice here. The police called me this morning to let me know that a tenant (not on a lease) but living with someone who is on the lease, took his own life this morning with a gun.
The police told me I should find someone to clean the property as soon as they were done. I did a quick Google search and Aftermath was the first company I called.
They came by right away and took photos and got back to me with an estimate! $48,000!
Their explanation here is that the insurance is going to negotiate this number down so I don't have to worry about it. They even sent me a letter along with the estimate saying they'd give me an additional $2,500 off. The sales person was just so pushy to get me to sign that I knew something wasn't right.
I then called another company Bio Recovery who's parent company is Prestige WorldWide Industries (http://www.prestigeworldwide.company) which if you've never seen the movie Step Brothers is the name of their "Fake Company" which makes me now question doing business with these guys. They spent a lot of time trashing talking Aftermath and said the bill should never be $48k and that AfterMath has been known to hold business owners personally liable when the Insurance Company refuses to pay. They then put a Mechanical Lien on your property if you don't pay up and try to push you into foreclosure to try to get the property from you.
I then found a news report on Aftermath which makes them look pretty shady
http://www.abc2news.com/news/local-news/investigat...
Ironically though I was looking through the fine print of the Prestige Worldwide's contract and they specifically highlight mechanical liens in their contract so I feel like they're just as shady. They also ask for family members and friends or descendants with their known addresses and their assets. (Cash, Securities, Artworks, Furs, Sports Equipment, Vehicles, etc.) Like what? You want me to list out the assets you're going to try to come after me for.
This whole industry just seems so shady. They pray on people are going through something insanely hard. I can't imagine if I was doing this for a family member how much more frustrated I would be.
Does anyone know of ethical companies that clean up after crime scenes? The property is in Southern Maine 30 minutes from Portland.
I also called ServPro and they immediately sent someone out but he said he couldn't get me an estimate until Monday.
I have StateFarm Insurance on the property and a really high deductible. ($5k). Which I'm not so worried about compared to getting sued and having a company come after me for $48k because I hastily signed some contract.
Has anyone been in this situation? Have any advice? These companies all seem so shady to me.
Thanks in advance!
Tom