RICHMOND, Va. — Trevor Pietsch, standing before a judge, was prepared to argue his case. He planned to tell the court how a local real estate company owed him hundreds of dollars in fees he wanted returned.
But before he could do that, a lawyer representing the real estate company unexpectedly announced he had a check in hand for Pietsch. It came as a surprise to Pietsch as he began requesting the money back more than a year ago.
“It’s insane. It’s absolutely insane," Pietsch said about the experience.
He joins some other renters who said they also were left with no choice but to take Marwaha Real Estate to court to get their money back. They each went through an unfamiliar legal process to resolve an issue they all believed was avoidable.
“I’ve spent however many hours on my computer looking up this and that, trying to figure out what to do, plus three separate visits here to the court building just to get this security deposit back," Pietsch said.
His case dated back to March 2025. He paid about $1,100 in application fees and a security deposit to Marwaha for an apartment, but he said he ultimately found a better opportunity. He said he did not sign a lease and never moved in.
He showed emails to CBS 6 in which he requested the money back from Marwaha, but he said he couldn't get clear answers.
“They started not responding to my emails. I called them. It started being worthless to call. Showed up at the office. They wouldn't even let me in the office," Pietsch said.
So he decided to file what's known as a warrant in debt in small claims court. CBS 6 attended his hearings and approached Marwaha's chief operating officer Charles Webster at the first one.
"Is there anything you wanted to say about Mr. Pietsch’s case?” CBS 6 reporter Tyler Layne asked.
“No," Webster responded.
When asked if the company disputed what Pietsch was arguing, Webster said he would leave it up to an attorney.
At the second hearing, a lawyer showed up on Marwaha's behalf with a check prepared for Pietsch. Though he said this could have happened a year ago, Pietsch accepted the check, and the case was resolved.
CBS 6 contacted Webster again at the conclusion of the case, but we did not hear back.
“It should have been an easy ACH transfer. 'Here's your money back. Sorry for the time wasted. Sorry it didn't work out' - less than a week. But here we are, more than a year later, all this work, it's insane, yeah, super unfair," Pietsch said.
Jaquan Charles and Sharon Holmes, both former Marwaha tenants, said they experienced similar concerns.
Watch: Henrico tenant's year-long battle to get security deposit back from landlord: 'It's insane'
“I just feel like they were going to treat me however, and I had no power to do nothing about it," Charles said.
Both renters said the company did not refund their security deposits after they moved out, so they filed claims too. In both cases, court records showed Marwaha did not appear at the hearings.
The tenants said judgments were issued in their favor.
“As a tenant, I feel like I've been disrespected. Like I told the judge, it's not even about the money anymore. It's about the disrespect," Holmes said.
“I wish he can just understand, like, man, I don't think you should do this to people. Like somebody couldn't weather this storm probably. Just imagine that you're dropping that money, then you've got to move. You've been paying rent month to month, you've been paying your car or whatever, you got kids or whatever. Who just has an extra 2500 for the next deposit?” Charles said.
In all cases, the individuals eventually got their money back. But they said they worry about others who may not take the time and effort to go through the court system.
In a previous statement, Webster said, “We have over 600 residential units under management and most turnover without issue or complaint. Unfortunately, disputes are inevitable from time to time. If these disputes end in litigation, we comply with decisions of the court.”
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