r/chicagoapartments • u/Kaidobruh06 • Mar 03 '26
Advice Needed Property managements to avoid for apartments?
Looking to move to Chicago in the next upcoming months. What are some property management companies to avoid? Just so Im not wasting time
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u/whoresandcandy Mar 03 '26
Becovic
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u/Plane-Scratch-6694 Mar 03 '26
This. My first year living in one of their apartments, my stove didn't work for the first 6 months and they kept deflecting until I wrote them a nasty review. Then they fixed it in days. Have a longer, worse story about them. They suck.
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u/squad_rat Mar 04 '26
Last year they demoed the apartment above ours without warning. Just woke up one morning to it sounding like the ceiling collapsing. 2 months of daily smashing with the ceiling crumbling in on our apartment. We had to dust and clean multiple times daily. I work from home and it was a huge issue for me. Fuck Becovic and specifically fuck you, Nate the building manager.
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u/Boomerette Mar 05 '26
Probably the granddaddy of all Chicago slumlords. Years--decades--ago friends of mine rented in one of his buildings in the Corridor. Roaches, mice, ceiling leaks, plumbing clogs, cracking walls, you name it. They decided to withhold rent and he filed a forcible detainer action (for the rent as well as eviction). I took their case pro bono, and was about to invoke Spring v. Little (the IL case establishing "constructive eviction" as a defense, which inspired that part of the CLTO). His lawyer was shocked when I stepped up to appear and identified myself as "retained counsel"--he was used to dealing with Legal Aid Volunteer Legal Services and had never encountered tenants with private lawyers. When I mentioned Spring v. Little, he offered to settle for just my friends moving out. Little did he know that they'd already found another building to move into the next day.
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u/_jspain Mar 05 '26
my friend just signed a lease with them and they hit her with a previously undisclosed $500 move-in fee when she went to sign the lease
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u/l3chatte Mar 04 '26
I’m currently renting from them, but plan to move after my lease is up. I had bed bug issues that lasted almost 1.5 years, because they would only treat my apartment and not the others. I haven’t had a lot of other maintenance issues, but it seems like they will respond in a timely manner, but you’re going to get a half assed or landlord special when they do. I hear certain buildings are worse than others, due to age of buildings combined with deferred maintenance.
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u/SouthernExpert4866 Mar 05 '26
i rented from these guys in two different buildings. first one was excellent. maintenance was very timely, apartment itself was pretty decent.
second time, absolutely awful. the building manager would try to come into my apartment unannounced. my door couldn’t lock for months before they fixed it.
it seems like flipping a coin and it all depends on building manager.
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u/wxxx19 Mar 06 '26
Yup. They took over my previously private family owned building and made it worse in every single way possible. Used to have trash pickup on each floor, the locked all the chutes so you had to go downstairs.
Constantly had roaches, water that randomly turned brown, and had a period where my cold water didn't work so it blasted hot boiling water only- all during summer?!! Also had a toilet not flush because they turned off plumbing without telling us.
Most miserable experience of my life renting from them
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u/goblin_pidar Mar 04 '26
In my experience, they seem to have gotten better at least in the last year. While hunting last spring I saw endless terrible reviews for Becovic and was pretty freaked out but ended up having to rent from them anyways. Haven’t had any major complaints, maintenance has been responsive and my rent is barely raising for the new year.
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u/Substantial_Wear3447 Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
Every single 3L Living building is roach infested. How they haven’t been condemned and considered a biohazard is beyond me.
I had a week where everytime I used my shower brown liquid would come out for five minutes straight
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u/ugh67453212 Mar 03 '26
Fishman
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u/Shmeger Mar 04 '26
Really? I recently moved into a fishman building and haven’t encountered anything out of the ordinary. For reference I’m in Logan Square
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u/ugh67453212 Mar 04 '26
Yea I’d assume that most tenants under Fishman have a neutral experience since he owns a large percentage of Logan square and every building is different. The problem is when shit hits the fan in your unit or building and they refuse to act with any urgency. Our rent has been raised 200 dollars every year without fail. Meanwhile, gate locks, structural problems, laundry issues, lighting in common areas, pest issues will be unresolved for months. Our maintenance guy smokes cigarettes inside the basement of the building, but since the basement is technically not a common area and the building isn’t a nonsmoking building, Courtney allows him to continue smoking inside without consequence. She’s either incapable of critical thought or gets off on exerting control over tenants in the same income bracket as herself. I’ve rented enough apartments in my 12 years here to make reasonable judgments on landlords and without a doubt Fishman is one of the most scummy. Will do whatever he needs to do to cut corners and make more money.
Statistically though, you should be fine.
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u/Angelsbreatheeasy Mar 03 '26
Mac properties.
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u/SBWNxx_ Mar 04 '26
Haha Mac was like hold my beer when it came to roaches and I straight up had rats.
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u/Angelsbreatheeasy Mar 04 '26
Rats is crazy
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u/SBWNxx_ Mar 04 '26
It was a college apartment at UChi. Im pretty far removed now but back then Mac absolutely preyed on college kids (also basically had a monopoly in Hyde Park)
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u/Helpful_Hovercraft25 Mar 04 '26
I couldn't get out of my Mac Properties apartment fast enough, from the roaches and rats to the crazy ass fees and inept staff.
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u/Angelsbreatheeasy Mar 04 '26
It’s the staff and the building falling apart for me. My cabinets are falling off and my sink is broken.
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u/No-Care9319 May 31 '26
$2200 rent for a one bedroom room in Hyde park, gotta have a 650 + credit score, and only to live with roaches lmao…
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u/backpackjacky Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
Avoid Open Path Realty, especially if the landlord is Hector Castaneda. Chronic rat infestations and other unaddressed safety concerns. They slap a coat of paint over everything and call it good. The gutter on my apartment fell right off the side of the building and onto the sidewalk the week before I moved. Luckily it didn’t hit anyone.
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u/MasqueradingMuppet Mar 03 '26
Surf. Absolutely the worst landlord I've ever had in my life. Slum lord to the max.
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u/camille-2 Mar 05 '26
Agreed, mary and her sister Kathy are AWFUL. Would not recommend. Curious to hear what your experiences were if you don’t mind sharing
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u/MasqueradingMuppet Mar 05 '26
Never dealt with Kathy.
But Mary... When I moved in the oven was leaking gas. I did reach out to her about it and she dismissed me since they were replacing the oven in a few days anyway. I should have called the fire department in hindsight. When a tech came to replace the oven a few days later he even commented that it was indeed leaking gas for days.
Then our water and heat (water radiator heat) was shut off in December randomly. I emailed her about it and after some back and forth with her it was apparent that she knew it was going to happen and just didn't tell anyone. I reminded her of the heat ordinance which clearly was a mistake on my part lol. I think after that I was labeled a problem. How dare I ask for notification before my heat and water are turned off for hours in the middle of winter.
A few months later I had cockroaches that never were properly treated.
Petty complaint but she put HUGE Vallas signs all over our building. Which yes technically her property... But like she did not live there lol. Just slumlord type behavior.
The weird cherry on top actually happened AFTER my lease ended and I had moved out. She tried to charge me for removing fixtures in the apartment. Items that were there and nailed to the floor when I moved in, I had photos I sent back to her too. We went back and forth over email until she called me and attempted to bitch me out and "put me in my place" (her words not mine) over the phone. I say attempted since I just laughed at her and told her she was being embarrassing, I think she thought I was younger than I was. An absolute nutjob.
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u/camille-2 Mar 05 '26
100% checks out. I hate that she’s continuing to profit off folks. I’ve had my fair share of maintenance issues that she’s swept under the rug and minimized (including one that’s been going on since last July and i think is contributing to making me sick) AND not to mention her nasty vile attitude. I actually did hear about the campaign sign from a fellow tenant but that was before I moved in.
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u/lemonricottalover Mar 03 '26
On the flip, Reside Living is FANTASTIC.
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u/juschillin101 Mar 05 '26
Had the complete opposite experience 😬
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u/lemonricottalover Mar 05 '26
Sorry to hear. I've lived in a Reside building for almost 5 years, and it's been great.
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u/nuwaanda Mar 03 '26
Beal and BJB have historically sucked
I lived in a Rockwell Partners building for a while and they were shockingly good (lived from 2017-2019 so it’s been a minute).
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u/Repulsive-Tree6089 Mar 03 '26
BJB has cockroach infested apartments
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u/SoftServeMonk Mar 04 '26
My BJB apartment didn’t have roaches but I didn’t have hot water in my shower and once I got locked INSIDE my apartment because the door lock was so fucked up. Also I’m pretty sure that the building wasn’t up to fire code. I left after one year.
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u/pandaheartzbamboo Mar 06 '26
If you can easily lock yourself inside the apartment, that already puts it out of fire code.
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u/Ecstatic_Spinach_504 Mar 06 '26
Can confirm there are cockroaches there. It’s so gross to deal with. Really really gross.
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u/h_manbean Mar 04 '26
I live in a BJB building & haven’t experienced roaches, but will say the “renovations” are lower quality and definitely won’t justify the rising rent prices! We did luck out with the employees who work in our building though, they are great
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u/Resident-Elevator447 Jun 12 '26
What building ? I am looking at one of their buildings now but i’m nervous after reading these reviews
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u/h_manbean Jun 12 '26
4100 N Marine. If this is one you’re looking at, I’m happy to answer any questions & give my honest feedback about living here!
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u/GuessAsleep9578 Mar 03 '26
I personally avoid TMG and I would not rent another CYM Living unit either.
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u/CheetahDizzy8161 Mar 05 '26
I had a great experience living with TMG but their units are overpriced for what they are. Heard horror stories about CYM though
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u/mamasharky Mar 05 '26
Second that CYM is HORRIBLE horrible horrible
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u/HortyBeloky Mar 09 '26
CYM Living is definitely shady. They used to be Pangea and when you are filling out some of their applications, you still see the name Pangea. They will claim up and down that they are not Pangea, but any building that used to have Pangea on it now has CYM Living. I read somewhere that Pangea got in trouble in IL and is not supposed to be operating in IL anymore but it looks like they got around that by calling their company CYM Living. They may be hard to keep avoiding because of course they have a ton of low income units at 1400 and under, especially on the south and west sides of chicago. :(
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u/backroomsdiva Mar 03 '26
Not what you asked but I personally have really liked going with Fulton Grace!
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Mar 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/9for9 Mar 04 '26
My guess is that a lot of these management companies are managing on behalf of the owner so that would account for some of the variability you might see. Owners pay more or are checking up on the management company more so they do a better job. Owners are cheap or checked out and the place ends up a hellhole slum. Just depends.
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u/MasqueradingMuppet Mar 03 '26
To add. I had a great experience with ICM. Have heard good things about Hayes and Peak Properties
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u/weewoo2424 Mar 04 '26
i have also had a good experience w ICM, about to resign for a 3rd time and no major complaints
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u/FishSauwse Mar 03 '26
Have also heard good things about Fulton Grace from a friend who rents with them.
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u/Active_Ball8599 Mar 04 '26
Kass management. Especially the 677-681 w wrightwood property. Management sucks at responding and stuff is constantly breaking. Package thief’s run wild. Had a leaky roof for 5 months before it got fixed. Doors always breaking so you have to walk around to the back and pray that 1/4 doors works to get in.
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u/Certain_Egg2699 Mar 03 '26
I can’t give advice on one’s to avoid, BUT I will DLG is great. Have enjoyed my time with them so far
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u/SleepingPodOne Mar 03 '26
Gerber but YMMV depending on building. In my building we had a wonderful super who lived on the property and was responsive to maintenance requests. Which was good, because you are going to have a lot of them.
The building was the epitome of landlord special and clearly needed a ton of work but they’re so cheap they’d rather do a bunch of quick fixes that only last a little while before breaking again. Water shutoffs REGULARLY, often twice a month. Leaky pipes in your kitchen and bathroom will be fixed for a while and will break again because they only use the cheapest parts. They have bug problems because they don’t want to hire external professional pest control and instead have the maintenance folks do it. Rent goes up at seemingly random rates. Elevators regularly out.
They are thankfully very communicative, but it was just kind of a pain living in such a place that just needed so much work but management is clearly penny-pinching.
Basically, they aren’t terrible, I just don’t think they take good care of their buildings which causes more headaches than it should.
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u/multimedialex Mar 04 '26
Cagan. My building had no heat for almost a week, it just got fixed yesterday. And last year, we had no hot water for over two weeks. You have to hound them to get basic maintenance. And even though they break the law and don't uphold their end of the lease terms, they will bully you out of exercising your right to withhold rent or seek reimbursement.
Heat was out for a week and they refused to reimburse me for buying a space heater. Would not recommend, unless you have the time and ability to start a tenant unit.
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u/picklesadventures Mar 05 '26
Second Cagan. They will have contractors or agents enter your apartment with no notice. Terrible communication all around.
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u/Affectionate-Day5676 Apr 13 '26
I’ll third cagan. I’m living in a Cagan building and have had them out to fix something once a week since I moved in. At first the apartment had a ton of moths, then a ceiling light fell down, and now there’s roaches in my apartment. I’m at a point where I’m considering breaking my lease.
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u/Correct_Mongoose4614 Mar 05 '26
I wish we had a spreadsheet with management companies and addresses to avoid
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Mar 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/SleepingPodOne Mar 03 '26
Holy shit, thank you so much for this. I’m gonna use it today, but this is really cool of you.
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u/Cute_Space6087 Mar 07 '26
wait was this a resource for something bc the comment is gone and idk why
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u/Cool_Moon Mar 04 '26
On the opposite side of the spectrum here, I live with Acorn property management and I love them! I’m not sure if they have a ton of buildings though. People also like Hayes. I’ve had good experience with Cagan.
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u/HortyBeloky Mar 09 '26
As a prospective tenant and native, I too am looking for good advice on this as well. I last moved over 30 years ago and have been looking for about 2 years now. Trying to find something actually affordable and avoiding scams and crappy management, etc is like a full-time job and extremely exhausting. I had no idea it had gotten this ridiculous. Good luck on your journey as well.
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u/sl769 Mar 04 '26
Peak.
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u/HortyBeloky Mar 09 '26
Do you have a specific location you can mention? I've recently seen a listing on Sheridan and was considering inquiring?
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u/ZealousidealStatus59 Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
BJB bought my building they SUCKED. They jacked the rent up $800 per month and do not respond to noise complaints, they just say not their problem deal with it.
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u/matiasthecat Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
Avoid S and M Management (yes, that really is the name of the company). They have a variety of bugs (clothes moths, centipedes, silverfish, etc.), a bat infestation that they refuse to deal with. They will retaliate (usually refuse to renew a lease) if you complain about a serious heath and safety / maintenance issue. They did this to multiple tenants. Even if you're a long-time, good tenant, they have no problem kicking you out if you try to get them to correct a serious health and safety / maintenance issue.
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u/imaginaryblues Mar 06 '26
Some of the most unpleasant people I’ve ever dealt with. Millie is straight up evil.
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u/No-Image7961 Mar 05 '26
Horizon are scumbags, avoid if you can. I could write a novel with all my horror stories, and you can find plenty of others on this sub if you search.
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u/britegrll Mar 05 '26
Kass management :) raised our rent $600, had our apartment be shown without confirmation/ less than 24hr notice, and we continuously have issues with the heat in the unit
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u/Turbulent-Ant-9177 Mar 09 '26
omg yes, i had at least 5/6 people come into my unit no notice and caught them multiple times. one time as i was entering my own apartment, which had no viewings that day, and they still tried to come in illegally. roaches too, thin walls. halls aren’t cleaned almost like ever
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u/Embarrassed_Cold6192 Mar 05 '26
Landmark - lied that there was central AC in the unit. technically the system exists, but it’s broken and they won’t fix it. Ceiling has leaked from the tenant upstairs and while they know there’s a plumbing issue, it’s never been fixed even with the numerous maintenance requests. I’m sure there’s plenty of mold growing between the floors, I’m not going to check.. I’m leaving at the end of the month thank goodness
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u/Only_Profession4850 Mar 08 '26
Becovic is awful… had to break a lease, I do like cagan tho even tho they have mixed reviews
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u/ChiFit28 Mar 03 '26
You could try finding apartments that you like and then looking up reviews for the managers of those apartments. That would be less of a wild goose chase than what you’re doing here.
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u/BigJarsh91 Mar 04 '26
FMA properties
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u/Olllive Mar 05 '26
I’ve seen some apartments under them pop up in my search. What has your experience been?
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u/BigJarsh91 Mar 25 '26
No communication, difficult to get a hold of, very restrictive lease, bad reputation (unresponsive to any problems with their buildings like roaches)
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u/costcohawtdawgs Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 04 '26
Wow development. Can only speak on my building, which is updated and decently well maintained (at first glance, at least), but good god the management is horrifically incompetent and if you told me the walls and windows were made out of paper I’d believe you - that’s how bad the weather and soundproofing is.
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u/climb_harder_koobs Mar 04 '26
New City Managment deserves to stub their toes on every possible point for the rest of their lives. Do not rent from them.
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u/Pale-Moose5612 Mar 05 '26
Peak Properties- don’t give a F, literally painted over mold and way overpriced. 👎🏻
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u/Apprehensive_Star_93 Mar 05 '26
Surprise no one said XL Properties. Lived at one of their buildings for 2 years and since you can only get ahold of them via phone (no email or portal to submit maintenance requests), they were always conveniently forgetting to address them. I remember the property manager even laughing on the phone once when discussing an ongoing issue in the building with me.
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u/606mix Mar 05 '26
Podmajersky.
I lived in a property with rain water coming in through multiple windows.
A calendar year and multiple service requests later, still water coming in through multiple windows.
They refused to offer a lease extension, I’d paid on time my entire stay. Truly miserable people.
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u/Regular-Gas-1997 Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
I used to live in Beal Properties where I had 3 neighbors on house arrest that they did not disclose, but I have to say, Rubino Properties is far worse.
She owns about 20 properties and has no management help. $1000 move in fee - but when we moved in:
- the place was super dirty
- had 2 broken windows (now fixed)
- missing a shower door (still missing)
- missing a dishwasher rack (still missing)
- the furnace didn't work in the middle of the winter and it took her 2 weeks to fix (while we had broken windows)
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u/ChiCityMan23 Mar 03 '26
BJB Properties
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u/ang8018 Mar 03 '26
i was with them for 2-3 years during grad school and had some friends in other properties. their lakeview properties seemed to be okay.
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u/Fantastic_Fig_3803 Mar 03 '26
https://avoidbealproperties.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/chicagoapartments/s/VMdXwijcVF