RENT TURNERS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHARGE AND INVOICE 1.5  (ONE and ONE HALF) HOURS OF LABOR FOR ESTIMATES. At Rent Turners we know that a lot of estimates are for contractual negotiations only. If this is the case, please let us know, and we will charge for the estimate to be provided. Potential customer's that routinely utilize our business for estimates only for negotiation purposes will be charged the 1.5 hour(s) of service time once this pattern is identified.  We are a small business and a small team. To consistently provide 'free estimates' for people to only use it for their gain / negotiation causes a net loss to our business. This is to detur the wasting of our time and services so we can focus more on our valued customers. 

General service calls are billed at $90 per hour currently as of (01/2024). A service call is not an estimate. Service call billing begins when we leave the previous customer, or our facility, and continues until your service is completed. Service calls are rounded to the nearest half hour increment. Example of a call for service is "Hey Rent Turners, my toilet is running can you come repair this?" versus an estimate request of "Hey Rent Turners, can you give me an estimate on remodeling my bathroom?" Diagnostic time is considered a service call and will be billed accordingly. By contacting us in any fashion and asking for our opinion or diagnosis you are agreeing to be billed the hourly rate for our time.

Missed appointments and last minute reschedules (under 24 hours notice) will be charged one hour of labor ($90 per hour as of 01/2024). By contacting us in any fashion and scheduling / requesting a service you are agreeing to be billed under this agreement. We have GPS tracking on our service vehicles and personnel. Once we begin driving to your location without notice of cancellation and then you call as we are en route to cancel a service call, you agree to be billed the hourly rate for that time.

As with any licensed business in Maryland, we must share all of the disclaimers and MHIC items to better protect our clients. Always verify licensing of all trades and professionals you work with. It helps to protect yourself and the trades.

Link to Department of Labor and Licensing Regulations for Maryland Home Improvement Contractors

https://www.dllr.state.md.us/license/mhic/ 

Link to Maryland Guaranty Fund FAQs

https://www.dllr.state.md.us/license/mhic/mhicfaqgf.shtml 

From the DLLR MHIC Website

"Notice to Contractors Regarding New Requirements for Home Improvement Contracts - Home Improvement Commission

Avoid the Fine!

Make Sure Your Contracts Comply With MHIC Requirements

Amendments to the Home Improvement Law and Regulations have changed the form and content requirements for home improvement contracts. Please take time to familiarize yourself with these updates to ensure that your home improvement contracts comply.

All contracts must include MHIC's telephone number, the MHIC webpage, and a notice describing protections available through MHIC, as well as a homeowner's right to request that the contractor purchase a performance bond to cover additional losses not available through the Guaranty Fund (the contractor is not obligated to pay for the bond). Also, regulations authorize MHIC to issue civil citations in the amounts of $500 to $5,000 for violations of the contract requirements.

Contract Must Be in Writing

Each home improvement contract must be in writing and must be legible. Contractors cannot accept a deposit or payment from a homeowner until the contract is signed by each party to the contract. Also, the contract must describe each document that it incorporates, such as an architect's drawings or a building permit. The homeowner must receive a signed copy of the contract prior to the work starting.

Information That is Required to be in Contracts: Contractor's Name, Address, Telephone Number & MHIC License Number

A home improvement contract must contain the contractor's name, address, telephone number, and MHIC license number.

Salesperson's Name and License Number

If a salesperson solicited or sold the home improvement contract, then each salesperson's name and license number must appear on the contract. Either the salesperson or the contractor shall sign the contract.

Dates

A home improvement contract must contain the approximate dates when the performance of the home improvement will begin and when it will be substantially completed.

Description of the Home Improvement

The contract shall contain a description of the home improvement to be performed and the materials to be used. This section of the contract is very important because many disputes can be avoided if the contract clearly states what work will be performed and the quality or brand of materials to be used.

Notice for Homeowners

Each home improvement contract must contain a notice that gives the telephone number and website of the Home Improvement Commission and states that "each contractor must be licensed by the Commission, and anyone may ask the Commission about a contractor.”

MHIC regulations require that the contract contain the following notice:

1. Formal mediation of disputes between homeowners and contractors is available through the Commission;

2. The Commission administers the Guaranty Fund, which may compensate homeowners for certain actual losses caused by acts or omissions of licensed contractors; and

3. A homeowner may request that a contractor purchase a performance bond for additional protection against losses not covered by the Guaranty Fund.

This notice shall be included within the contract.

Deposit and Payments

A contractor cannot accept more than 1/3 of the contract price as a deposit, and may not accept any payment until the contract is signed. The agreed-upon price of the home improvement contract should be clearly stated. Beyond the initial deposit, the Home Improvement Law does not control the payment schedule. Payment terms, including a deposit of less than 1/3 of the contract, can be negotiated between the homeowner and contractor.

Mortgage or Liens

If the homeowner has borrowed or is borrowing money to finance the home improvement project, this information is very important:

Whenever payment for a home improvement contract will be secured by an interest in residential real estate, the contract is required to contain additional information. On the first page of the contract, there must be a written notice in at least 10-point bold type that states:

"This contract creates a mortgage or lien against your property to secure payment, and may cause a loss of your property if you fail to pay the amount agreed upon. You have the right to consult an attorney. You have the right to rescind this contract within three business days after the date you sign it by notifying the contractor in writing that you are rescinding the contract."

This notice must be independently initialed by the homeowner.

Arbitration Clause

Contracts are not required to contain arbitration clauses. However, if there is an arbitration clause, it must comply with the Home Improvement Regulations. Whenever an arbitration clause is in a home improvement contract, it must include the name of the person or organization that will conduct the arbitration; whether any mandatory fees will be charged to the parties for the arbitration and list the fee schedule; whether the arbitrator's findings are binding; and a disclosure that a claim against the Guaranty Fund will be stayed until completion of the mandatory arbitration proceeding. Also, the parties must initial and date the contract next to the arbitration clause.

Door-to-Door Sales Act

Most home improvement contracts are also covered by the Maryland Door-to-Door Sales Act If the contract is covered by the Door-to-Door Sales Act, the contract must contain information regarding the homeowner's right to cancel the contract without any penalty. The notice shall state that "you may cancel the transaction at any time prior to midnight of the fifth business day or midnight of the seventh business day if the buyer is at least 65 years old, after the date of the transaction." A separate "Notice of Cancellation" form must be attached to the contract and filled in with the information about how to cancel the contract and the deadline for doing so. The Door-to-Door Sales Act requires that the contract be written in the same language as that principally used in the oral sales presentation.

Legal Advice

The information contained above is not legal advice. You may wish to consult an attorney prior to creating or signing any legal document."

From the Rent Turners Team

1. All invoice(s) are due to be paid within 15 days of invoicing. Invoice(s) not paid within 15 days, unless otherwise negotiated, will be assessed a 5% late fee. After 30 days of no payment the invoice will be forwarded to a collection agency and mechanic's lien proceedings will begin on the property.

2. You have 10 days from the contracted start date of services to cancel a contract with us. I.E. we are to start services on September 15th, you have until September 5th to cancel. Maryland law varies by age on cancellation timeframes but we made it longer. We know these are big investments at times and financial positions can change rapidly. Please note that any materials and supplies ordered prior to cancellation will need to be returned and any fees associated with returning ordered items, including labor, will be deducted from the deposit or invoiced to client. 

3. We do perform insurance work. We do not perform insurance work directly with your insurance company. This means you would need to take our invoice from the services performed and turn it into the insurance company for reimbursement (if it is a covered item). Insurance is not always guaranteed to cover all repairs under these circumstances. Contact your insurance provider and / or attorney for more clarification on this. We act in this way due to a large amount of home insurance scams and fraud that really clout the trades. Home insurance companies will send an appraiser to look at your home and tell you an amount they will give you for repairs and cut the check. This check is frequently for above the amount needed for repairs. Our stance is if we can fix it for $500 and insurance is paying $1,000 to do the job, they should really only pay the $500. The excess $500 they estimate to need is waste and someone else in greater need with the insurance company could use that money elsewhere. We hope that by acting with integrity and 'doing the right thing' we can influence others and maybe even lower insurance rates if everyone acts appropriately with other businesses.

4. Rent Turners LLC will take every measure professionally acceptable to remedy any situation that arises from working with us. Please note that once legal or professional services are involved that we will no longer be able to communicate with your outfit and our professional services providers will be the main point of contact moving forward. 

5. Rent Turners follows and abides by all laws set forth by COMAR, DLLR, and the MHIC. We also go above and beyond this to try and act as we would like other businesses to interact with us. Should you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to connect with us. 

6. We don't do free estimates for service calls on properties. Our billing begins once we start to head to the property. We will call and say "Hey it is looking like it is going to be x amount and this is what is needed." At that point you can say go ahead or stop. If you say 'stop' then we only invoice for the time we currently have involved with the service call. When we return to the office, we will document everything and send you an invoice, scope of work recommended and an estimate. Same thing as taking your car to the shop and they have to charge a diagnostic fee. We provide the scope of work and estimate after the invoice if you want to pursue a second opinion so you and the next provider have our notes. We've encountered it several times where client's go with someone else and come to find out they did not quote to repair everything the client wanted like we did. So now we provide all the documents so the next party can quote line for line what we do to hopefully take better care of the customer whether they pay us or someone else. We want their job done properly.

7. Extra travel fee for areas outside of our normal service area. As simply as we can, the fee is the hourly rate to travel back to our primary service area until we are within a half hour of our home office when customer's request us to leave our normal service area which is defined as (Baltimore county, Harford county and Baltimore City). 

8. We only offer free estimates for turnovers or renovations to rental properties. 

9. We accept cash, card, check and wire transfer. Credit cards receive a 3% service and processing fee.

10. General service calls are billed at $90 per hour currently as of (01/2024) and require a two (2) hour minimum. A service call is not an estimate. Service call billing begins when we leave the previous customer, or our facility, and continues until your service is completed. Service calls are rounded to the nearest half hour increment. Example of a call for service is "Hey Rent Turners, my toilet is running can you come repair this?" versus an estimate request of "Hey Rent Turners, can you give me an estimate on remodeling my bathroom?" Diagnostic time is considered a service call and will be billed accordingly. By contacting us in any fashion and asking for our opinion or diagnosis you are agreeing to be billed the hourly rate for our time.

11. Missed appointments and last minute reschedules (under 24 hours notice) will be charged one hour of labor ($90 per hour as of 01/2024). By contacting us in any fashion and scheduling / requesting a service you are agreeing to be billed under this agreement. We have GPS tracking on our service vehicles and personnel. Once we begin driving to your location without notice of cancellation and then you call as we are en route to cancel a service call, you agree to be billed the hourly rate for that time.

12. RENT TURNERS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHARGE AND INVOICE 1.5  (ONE and ONE HALF) HOURS OF LABOR FOR ESTIMATES. At Rent Turners we know that a lot of estimates are for contractual negotiations only. If this is the case, please let us know, and we will charge for the estimate to be provided. Potential customer's that routinely utilize our business for estimates only for negotiation purposes will be charged the 1.5 hour(s) of service time once this pattern is identified.  We are a small business and a small team. To consistently provide 'free estimates' for people to only use it for their gain / negotiation causes a net loss to our business. This is to detur the wasting of our time and services so we can focus more on our valued customers.