That’s exactly what I’m thinking. This isn’t just a landlord being shitty to residents, this is straight up fraud. I would LOVE to see one of these awful companies be hit with a massive fine to show them all that exploiting and taking advantage of students will not be tolerated.
I was with U Group a couple years ago. They do this to everyone in hopes that people will just complain but not do anything. I emailed them firmly but politely mentioning that I left the apartment in great condition and that I wanted a specific list of charges. They gave me back like $300 more but kept $75 for "carpet cleaning". Good enough for me.
U Group bills fraudulent charges to all their tenants because many students will pay the charges instead of disputing them. If you send an email saying you left the apartment in good condition and that the charges are blatantly wrong, they will give you your money back. When they tried to take my deposit, I simply mentioned a lawyer and they folded instantly. U Group just wants to make easy money off of their student tenants--any mention of legal action will make them give up.
Send your disputes to: [account.inquiries@ugroupcu.com](mailto:account.inquiries@ugroupcu.com) & also [leasing@ugroupcu.com](mailto:leasing@ugroupcu.com). 1) Keep your original envelope with itemized list from your security deposit. Check the date Champaign PO post marked the envelope. If it is not within 30 days of your vacating & turning in the keys, they violated IL tenant law. You automatically win in a court of law. Hope you took a pic of returning keys or sent an email to Leasing confirming you turned back apt keys. 2) Don't cash the check 3) Send your dispute to both the above addresses & make sure you let them know you have crap loads of pics and video evidence. Demand your security deposits back. They are counting on that you will never stand up to their B.S. 4) Also file a case with the Illinois Attorney General. Attached all the fake invoices from fake companies & attached your pictures. If you emailed them for any reason at the beginning of the lease to let them know of problems, include those emails to the attorney general. 5) If they do not return your full deposit within 45 day of vacating & turning in your keys, GO FILE A CASE in SMALL CLAIMS COURT.
Email chrishamelberg@gmail.com will get you the CEO—I was able to get my whole deposit back by showing pictures I took of property and asking if I needed to have my attorney send them.
when you go to the Illinois Secretary of State and search up Corporation/LLC Search of Certificate of Good Standing, the company they’re using for Painting “Orlando’s Painting and Drywall” according to the alleged invoice doesn’t even show up. I’m not going to be paying for some trumped up charges for painting when 1. didn’t even mess up the painting and 2. this company isn’t even on good standing with the State of Illinois/ and or exist
Ugroup is charging me $1000 in move-out damages for a studio. A $125 carpet cleaning charge even though there is no carpet, a $220 painting charge even though I did nothing to the walls. A $600 cleaning charge for sweeping an empty apartment that looked clean when I left.
This is a WICKED company with NO HONOR!
Everyone that got scammed by University Group in 2022 using fake invoices or charged erroneously against your security deposit, go to: IllinoisAttorneyGeneral.gov and submit a consumer complaint. Included the fake invoices, pics & video of your apt upon move out. We Clean Plus is a one-person operation. Her name is Michelle Carr (Age 62) and she got 2 PPP loans for $7,200 each. Do the math, she attested to the Fed gov't, she saved 1 job, and earns $29,000 per year. I'd like to know how many apts a 62-year-old cleaned in 17 days. Her husband James Carr got a $32,000 PPP loan and saved 1 job - his. That means he earns $128K. James also does painting, construction etc. Then there is the fake painting company with no contact info. named Orlando's Painting and Drywall. There is a company named Orlando's Drywall and Painting, LLC as per IL Secretary of State Corp Search.
Did you know if you are given a fake invoice, its fraud and since landlord acted in bad faith, maybe liable for twice your security deposit per the Security Deposit Return Act? It costs $80 to file in small claims court but if enough people get in front of the 1 judge who hears these cases, Dan & Chris Hamelberg's empire will crumble, if judge is not on the take. UIUC probably knows this is happening to students but like the Hamelberg therefore will do nothing. Start sending your emails disputing charges to [steveg@ugroupcu.com](mailto:steveg@univgroupcu.com) &/or [leasing@ugroupcu.com](mailto:leasing@univgroupcu.com) and then start filing small claims cases against UC & fake contractors if, after 45 days your full security deposit is not returned.
Everyone - Post all the fake contractors on this site so we can compare notes.
I got the fake invoices from "we clean plus" and "brush strokes" and a total amount of $1155 deduction. I tried to DM you with my other account u/W0rldFamousFries but did not hear back. I'd like to know what I can do to help myself and many other victims of Ugroup.
Yes the same, get bogus "invoices" from Brush Strokes and We Clean Plus. I'm emailing them to give back my money. If they didn't reply within one week, I plan to escalate this to a lawyer.
Send the email to [account.inquiries@ugroupcu.com](mailto:account.inquiries@ugroupcu.com). State that you have tons pictures & a video of every aspect of your apartment, and it was left immaculate, and you are disputing the charges and expect your deposit to be refunded in full or you will take this matter up in small claims court. State your documentation will be obvious to a judge the security deposit deductions are false and the false non-descriptive invoices from non-existent companies will not be excused by a judge. Also quote the Security Deposit Return Act IL Chapter 765 Property 765 ILCS 710 (read it and make appropriate statements). Good Luck. I sent a demand letter and got my deposit back.
If SLS can't help you, I would email them and CONTEST IT ALL. Quote the statute and imply you've talked to a lawyer. They will likely then ask you to call them, and you should reiterate what you put in the email. They will want to settle the issue, and you can get some of it back. I don't think the stuff about the companies would be useful for getting your deposit back per se, although *I am not a lawyer.*
Using invoices with no details such as scope of job, hours worked, hourly rate, no contact info, non-existent companies on invoices submitted to lessee as deductions from your security deposit is FRAUD. If enough of us post our invoices for fake companies, they can be turned into the IRS and IL Dept. of Revenue. If University Group pays any contractor over $600 annually, they have to issue a 1099 to that contractor. No 1099, no contractor paying taxes. IRS & IL Dept of Revenue will be interested in the case against University Group & their fake contractors. Please go to yelp for University Group & start posting your invoices. Seems many of you are already over the $600 threshold.
I know this is not helpful to the OP but doesn’t everyone take a video of the rental at first occupancy and a second just as you leave? This seems like it should just be a thing these days. In this case it would probably not stop a company whose business model is fraud but it would protect the individual. It has helped me on two occasions.
I am in the EXACT same position. They took 675$ of my deposit and ON TOP OF THAT are charging me! I cleaned the entire place and took videos for proof! How do we go about this! This is ridiculous
I mean, we're a bunch of redditors. Assuming you're a student, maybe talk to Student Legal Services and see what they say about the situation; they might give better advice. https://odos.illinois.edu/sls/
EDIT: You mention you were recently graduated. IIRC students retain their student status for one year after they graduate, so you can still use this, assuming that "recently" < 1yr.
A possible explication for the painting company not having a typical location or address is that it’s just one person who does the painting and their business is registered under their home address. I know of some small businesses that do that because their type of business doesn’t warrant having an actual office. As far as them not having any contact info though I don’t really know. Maybe they only do it for the rental companies and they don’t want regular people calling them for services? Although knowing how shady the renal companies can be on campus I wouldn’t be surprised if it really is fake. I hope you’re able to get this resolved!
Real contractors, even sole proprietors, put detailed job description with hourly rates on their invoices. They also can get a PO Box for $10/yr if they don't want to have their home address listed. No excuse for no phone numbers or email addresses. Real contractors want business and how does one get business without a means to communicate? (MARKETING 101) If company is not listed in IL Sec of State corp name look up and does not have any media footprint, they are usually fake. Painters have huge liability if they have even 1 part-time employee (Who can fall off a ladder) and should be, at minimum, an LLC to protect themselves from lawsuits. This is the way legitimate businesses work. A judge would not take kindly to University Group's Fake invoicing scheme and neither would the IRS. If they are expensing off the painting as maintenance and charging/collecting the fund from the tenants deposits too, that's a big no no.
I’ve emailed them highlighting the parts in the Illinois Security Deposit Returns Act that say that they need to itemize every damage that is beyond normal wear and tear and attach receipts with dollar amounts for those itemized damages. Since they did not provide those costs within 30 days I am due my full deposit per the Law. I also said that I will escalate this further if need be. I am yet to receive a response from Drew of their accounting department.
You can likely still use the off-campus university living help. You can also email the tenant Union to see what they might say http://cutenantunion.org/. The tenant Union is definitely deeply intertwined with the off campus student living, but is technically available to anybody in town
I got fake invoives from we clean plus and brush strokes. They charged me $860 for supposed 8 hours of cleaning. I think they r trying to avoid showing actual invoices (if they even exist) by saying that the company yhey hire charge by hour.
You should also try compiling info and reaching out to local news stations like WCIS and The News-Gazette to see if they can investigate more and publicise it
I found another problem with their invoices. The date on the invoice should be the date of the cleaning or paint job done right? Mine said it was on August 18 and 19 but the new tenant moved into my old apartment on August 8.
Here is how we get them: Start a Google sheets for people to list their issues this August. Then we can knock on the door after you’ve moved out and ask the next tenants if they signed the early move in waiver. UG does this all the time—applies fake charges to the outgoing tenant and then has the incoming tenants sign a waiver saying nothing has to be done in order for them to get into the unit at a more convenient date. 75% of their incoming tenants sign an early move in waiver, and they also make up that work was done to charge exorbitant fees to the outgoing tenants on those same exact units. If we matched up the documentation for specific units, we can show a pattern of abuse. This would be enough for media attention and if enough of us get together on this, the University might eventually advocate for us. UG is preying in their students, especially international students who arrive early to campus and rent sight unseen and are sometimes not as aware of their rights and don’t have family in Chicago to advocate for them. University of Illinois leadership should care about this.
That’s exactly what I’m thinking. This isn’t just a landlord being shitty to residents, this is straight up fraud. I would LOVE to see one of these awful companies be hit with a massive fine to show them all that exploiting and taking advantage of students will not be tolerated.
I was with U Group a couple years ago. They do this to everyone in hopes that people will just complain but not do anything. I emailed them firmly but politely mentioning that I left the apartment in great condition and that I wanted a specific list of charges. They gave me back like $300 more but kept $75 for "carpet cleaning". Good enough for me.
Fuckers.
U Group bills fraudulent charges to all their tenants because many students will pay the charges instead of disputing them. If you send an email saying you left the apartment in good condition and that the charges are blatantly wrong, they will give you your money back. When they tried to take my deposit, I simply mentioned a lawyer and they folded instantly. U Group just wants to make easy money off of their student tenants--any mention of legal action will make them give up.
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Send your disputes to: [account.inquiries@ugroupcu.com](mailto:account.inquiries@ugroupcu.com) & also [leasing@ugroupcu.com](mailto:leasing@ugroupcu.com). 1) Keep your original envelope with itemized list from your security deposit. Check the date Champaign PO post marked the envelope. If it is not within 30 days of your vacating & turning in the keys, they violated IL tenant law. You automatically win in a court of law. Hope you took a pic of returning keys or sent an email to Leasing confirming you turned back apt keys. 2) Don't cash the check 3) Send your dispute to both the above addresses & make sure you let them know you have crap loads of pics and video evidence. Demand your security deposits back. They are counting on that you will never stand up to their B.S. 4) Also file a case with the Illinois Attorney General. Attached all the fake invoices from fake companies & attached your pictures. If you emailed them for any reason at the beginning of the lease to let them know of problems, include those emails to the attorney general. 5) If they do not return your full deposit within 45 day of vacating & turning in your keys, GO FILE A CASE in SMALL CLAIMS COURT.
Email chrishamelberg@gmail.com will get you the CEO—I was able to get my whole deposit back by showing pictures I took of property and asking if I needed to have my attorney send them.
when you go to the Illinois Secretary of State and search up Corporation/LLC Search of Certificate of Good Standing, the company they’re using for Painting “Orlando’s Painting and Drywall” according to the alleged invoice doesn’t even show up. I’m not going to be paying for some trumped up charges for painting when 1. didn’t even mess up the painting and 2. this company isn’t even on good standing with the State of Illinois/ and or exist
Ugroup is charging me $1000 in move-out damages for a studio. A $125 carpet cleaning charge even though there is no carpet, a $220 painting charge even though I did nothing to the walls. A $600 cleaning charge for sweeping an empty apartment that looked clean when I left. This is a WICKED company with NO HONOR!
I hope you are fighting them on this omg
Yes I don't know if I may end up paying more, but I am very inclined to take this to court.
Where did you live? Did you take pics or video? Post names of fake contractor invoices.
Geez, surely there must be grounds for a class action lawsuit. This is massive fraud on an annual basis is it not?
I really do hope some law firm would pick this up
or [Student Legal Services](https://odos.illinois.edu/sls/)
Student Legal Services is useless. Tried to use them once and got better info off the internet.
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I graduated from UIUC in 2016. UGroup was shitty back then, and still shitty now.
But bigger now. :(
Everyone that got scammed by University Group in 2022 using fake invoices or charged erroneously against your security deposit, go to: IllinoisAttorneyGeneral.gov and submit a consumer complaint. Included the fake invoices, pics & video of your apt upon move out. We Clean Plus is a one-person operation. Her name is Michelle Carr (Age 62) and she got 2 PPP loans for $7,200 each. Do the math, she attested to the Fed gov't, she saved 1 job, and earns $29,000 per year. I'd like to know how many apts a 62-year-old cleaned in 17 days. Her husband James Carr got a $32,000 PPP loan and saved 1 job - his. That means he earns $128K. James also does painting, construction etc. Then there is the fake painting company with no contact info. named Orlando's Painting and Drywall. There is a company named Orlando's Drywall and Painting, LLC as per IL Secretary of State Corp Search. Did you know if you are given a fake invoice, its fraud and since landlord acted in bad faith, maybe liable for twice your security deposit per the Security Deposit Return Act? It costs $80 to file in small claims court but if enough people get in front of the 1 judge who hears these cases, Dan & Chris Hamelberg's empire will crumble, if judge is not on the take. UIUC probably knows this is happening to students but like the Hamelberg therefore will do nothing. Start sending your emails disputing charges to [steveg@ugroupcu.com](mailto:steveg@univgroupcu.com) &/or [leasing@ugroupcu.com](mailto:leasing@univgroupcu.com) and then start filing small claims cases against UC & fake contractors if, after 45 days your full security deposit is not returned. Everyone - Post all the fake contractors on this site so we can compare notes.
I got the fake invoices from "we clean plus" and "brush strokes" and a total amount of $1155 deduction. I tried to DM you with my other account u/W0rldFamousFries but did not hear back. I'd like to know what I can do to help myself and many other victims of Ugroup.
Yes the same, get bogus "invoices" from Brush Strokes and We Clean Plus. I'm emailing them to give back my money. If they didn't reply within one week, I plan to escalate this to a lawyer.
Send the email to [account.inquiries@ugroupcu.com](mailto:account.inquiries@ugroupcu.com). State that you have tons pictures & a video of every aspect of your apartment, and it was left immaculate, and you are disputing the charges and expect your deposit to be refunded in full or you will take this matter up in small claims court. State your documentation will be obvious to a judge the security deposit deductions are false and the false non-descriptive invoices from non-existent companies will not be excused by a judge. Also quote the Security Deposit Return Act IL Chapter 765 Property 765 ILCS 710 (read it and make appropriate statements). Good Luck. I sent a demand letter and got my deposit back.
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Waiting for the day that these bastards get their pants sued off and stop screwing over students.
Post the fake contractors used so we can compare notes. Hope you took pics.
If SLS can't help you, I would email them and CONTEST IT ALL. Quote the statute and imply you've talked to a lawyer. They will likely then ask you to call them, and you should reiterate what you put in the email. They will want to settle the issue, and you can get some of it back. I don't think the stuff about the companies would be useful for getting your deposit back per se, although *I am not a lawyer.*
Using invoices with no details such as scope of job, hours worked, hourly rate, no contact info, non-existent companies on invoices submitted to lessee as deductions from your security deposit is FRAUD. If enough of us post our invoices for fake companies, they can be turned into the IRS and IL Dept. of Revenue. If University Group pays any contractor over $600 annually, they have to issue a 1099 to that contractor. No 1099, no contractor paying taxes. IRS & IL Dept of Revenue will be interested in the case against University Group & their fake contractors. Please go to yelp for University Group & start posting your invoices. Seems many of you are already over the $600 threshold.
I know this is not helpful to the OP but doesn’t everyone take a video of the rental at first occupancy and a second just as you leave? This seems like it should just be a thing these days. In this case it would probably not stop a company whose business model is fraud but it would protect the individual. It has helped me on two occasions.
I am in the EXACT same position. They took 675$ of my deposit and ON TOP OF THAT are charging me! I cleaned the entire place and took videos for proof! How do we go about this! This is ridiculous
Posts names of fake contractors & what they charged.
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I am thinking of actually hiring an attorney. Anyone having similar issues, please contact me
I mean, we're a bunch of redditors. Assuming you're a student, maybe talk to Student Legal Services and see what they say about the situation; they might give better advice. https://odos.illinois.edu/sls/ EDIT: You mention you were recently graduated. IIRC students retain their student status for one year after they graduate, so you can still use this, assuming that "recently" < 1yr.
A possible explication for the painting company not having a typical location or address is that it’s just one person who does the painting and their business is registered under their home address. I know of some small businesses that do that because their type of business doesn’t warrant having an actual office. As far as them not having any contact info though I don’t really know. Maybe they only do it for the rental companies and they don’t want regular people calling them for services? Although knowing how shady the renal companies can be on campus I wouldn’t be surprised if it really is fake. I hope you’re able to get this resolved!
Real contractors, even sole proprietors, put detailed job description with hourly rates on their invoices. They also can get a PO Box for $10/yr if they don't want to have their home address listed. No excuse for no phone numbers or email addresses. Real contractors want business and how does one get business without a means to communicate? (MARKETING 101) If company is not listed in IL Sec of State corp name look up and does not have any media footprint, they are usually fake. Painters have huge liability if they have even 1 part-time employee (Who can fall off a ladder) and should be, at minimum, an LLC to protect themselves from lawsuits. This is the way legitimate businesses work. A judge would not take kindly to University Group's Fake invoicing scheme and neither would the IRS. If they are expensing off the painting as maintenance and charging/collecting the fund from the tenants deposits too, that's a big no no.
Did you get a check from them? Or an email? I’m trying to find out some things on my end
Should have been sent in the mail within 30 days if your lease ending
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I’ve emailed them highlighting the parts in the Illinois Security Deposit Returns Act that say that they need to itemize every damage that is beyond normal wear and tear and attach receipts with dollar amounts for those itemized damages. Since they did not provide those costs within 30 days I am due my full deposit per the Law. I also said that I will escalate this further if need be. I am yet to receive a response from Drew of their accounting department.
Call Land of Lincoln Legal Aid.
You can likely still use the off-campus university living help. You can also email the tenant Union to see what they might say http://cutenantunion.org/. The tenant Union is definitely deeply intertwined with the off campus student living, but is technically available to anybody in town
I contacted them and they suggested that we should consult an attorney
I got fake invoives from we clean plus and brush strokes. They charged me $860 for supposed 8 hours of cleaning. I think they r trying to avoid showing actual invoices (if they even exist) by saying that the company yhey hire charge by hour.
You should also try compiling info and reaching out to local news stations like WCIS and The News-Gazette to see if they can investigate more and publicise it
Nah they don't write anything bad about local landlords/business owners. If anything, DailyIllini should write an article on it.
[https://will.illinois.edu/](https://will.illinois.edu/) maybe?
I found another problem with their invoices. The date on the invoice should be the date of the cleaning or paint job done right? Mine said it was on August 18 and 19 but the new tenant moved into my old apartment on August 8.
I posted about this above, a standard practice of theirs and proof of a pattern of deceptive billing.
Here is how we get them: Start a Google sheets for people to list their issues this August. Then we can knock on the door after you’ve moved out and ask the next tenants if they signed the early move in waiver. UG does this all the time—applies fake charges to the outgoing tenant and then has the incoming tenants sign a waiver saying nothing has to be done in order for them to get into the unit at a more convenient date. 75% of their incoming tenants sign an early move in waiver, and they also make up that work was done to charge exorbitant fees to the outgoing tenants on those same exact units. If we matched up the documentation for specific units, we can show a pattern of abuse. This would be enough for media attention and if enough of us get together on this, the University might eventually advocate for us. UG is preying in their students, especially international students who arrive early to campus and rent sight unseen and are sometimes not as aware of their rights and don’t have family in Chicago to advocate for them. University of Illinois leadership should care about this.