When a tenant’s rent starts creeping up month after month with no explanation, most people assume it’s a mistake that’ll get sorted out.
This tenant assumed the same thing until she had months of ignored emails, dodged phone calls, and mystery charges stacked up. Now she’s building a case against her landlord.
Rental Right Violated?
In a viral TikTok with more than 245,000 views, content creator Skylar Ashton (@skyyashton) has a warning for anyone apartment hunting in Denton, Texas. She says not to rent from the Martino Group.
“This has been going on since October of last year, and they still refuse to speak to me,” she says in the video.
Skylar explains that her base rent is $1,350 a month, which with water and other standard fees usually averages around $1,450. But starting in October, she says she noticed her total climbing month after month, with no explanation. By December she says she was paying $1,500 to $1,800 a month. By March, she says her bill had hit $1,900.
“Every time I see an unfamiliar charge, I screenshot, send it to them, screenshot, send it to them,” Ashton says. “They can’t tell me what the f— these charges are for.”
Unknown Charges
She claims she’s not the only one. Other tenants in the building, she says, are seeing random charges appear on their account ledgers and getting the same non-response—unanswered emails, ignored phone calls, and no one at the property to talk to in person.
Skylar says the building she lives in has no on-site leasing office, so any time she needs to speak with someone, she has to drive five to 10 minutes to another location.
There is one charge she can actually identify: nearly $450 related to an incident where she accidentally left a simmer pot on and the fire department had to pry open her door. She says there was minimal damage (a cracked door frame), but she was billed a $355 “maintenance trip fee” plus two receipts from Ace Hardware totaling around $93.
“What am I paying rent for? What am I paying insurance for?” she says. “I didn’t know it cost $355 for somebody to do their f—— job.”
She says a group of tenants (at least three) are now working with a legal team and preparing to serve papers.
“Every time you think you’re about to get served, you go and do some other s—,” she says. “And now we have to add that to the suit.”
In the caption, she puts it plainly: “DO NOT EVER RENT FROM THE MARTINO GROUP!!!!!”
She claims both the property manager and owner of the Martino Group refuse “to SPEAK to ANYONE about these ongoing issues.”
What Texas Renters Should Know About Unexplained Charges
Texas law is fairly specific about what landlords can and can’t charge. But it has some notable gaps when it comes to mid-lease fees that aren’t tied to late rent or security deposits.
On late fees, the rules are clear. According to the Texas Attorney General’s office, any late fee must be spelled out in the written lease before a landlord can collect it. Under Texas Property Code, fees are capped at 12% of monthly rent for buildings with four or fewer units and 10% for larger complexes. A landlord who charges more than that is liable to the tenant for $100 plus three times the excess amount collected, plus attorney’s fees.
On itemized charges more broadly, the Texas State Law Library notes that landlords are required to provide written, itemized lists of deductions when withholding from a security deposit, but that protection applies at move-out, not necessarily during an active lease.
Tenants dealing with mystery mid-lease charges are in murkier legal territory, which is part of why documenting everything in writing matters so much. Screenshots, emails, and dated records of every charge and every attempt to get an explanation from the paper trail that any attorney would need to build a case.
Texas law also prohibits retaliation. Landlords cannot raise rent, reduce services, or threaten eviction against a tenant for complaining in good faith about housing conditions or exercising their legal rights, and that protection lasts for six months from the date of the complaint.
Commenters React
“I worked there 4 years and I approve this message! Also nothing matters to them more than their google reviews under their ‘The Martino Group’ google page,” a top comment read.
“Denton is 90% slumlords,” a person said.
“I thought maintenance fees were part of the rent. I’ve never had a maintenance fee,” another wrote.
“1300+…to live in DENTON. Noooooo there’s new build apartments in Celina and prosper for under 1100,” a commenter added.
BroBible reached out to Skylar Ashton via TikTok direct message and comment and the Martino Group for comment via email.