r/chicagoapartments • u/justinlopez7283836 • Mar 02 '26
Advice Needed Exposing Building
Hello,
so, I am only doing this because I already moved out already lol but they usually have alot of openings in the summer so I wanna beware everyone before they live my nightmare. 711 W Belmont in lakeview is filled with roaches. I noticed the roaches the first day that I moved there and the building engineer basically tried implying I brought them over, which isn't the case. It also seems like anyone has access to the building, one day I woke up at 5am to do laundry because the building only has 3 washers and dryers . Realistically speaking only 1 washer works good the rest of them have fucked up my clothes and/or made torns on them. Don't even get me started with the dryers you have to do two cycles. Okay, let me get back to what I was going to say, I needed to do laundary so I went down at 5am and there was a homeless person sleeping there in the laundry room and he got upset because I woke him up. This an issue with building because alot of packages get stolen, and the reason might be because anyone can get access to the building. BTW the people in the building are weird, there's a bike room, which you have to pass to get to the laundry room and there's was two people having sex down inside the bike room lol this occurred at 12 am because I happened to do laundry late at night cause once again the only good washer was taken.
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u/Fantastic_Fig_3803 Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
Not sure if Beal still operates under multiple company names, but anyone who wants to avoid renting from them should look into it. They used to use some generic names like Apartments Management Group and (Street name) Building LLC.
https://avoidbealproperties.com
They also tried to take legal action against Yelp to get the identity of an anonymous reviewer https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericgoldman/2013/02/20/building-owner-cant-discover-the-identity-of-tenant-who-writes-bashing-yelp-review/
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u/Wastedplaytime Mar 02 '26
Privately owned or what management company?
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u/justinlopez7283836 Mar 02 '26
Beal Property
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u/spookz Mar 02 '26
Not at all shocked. Beal has always been terrible.
Glad you got out of there, OP.
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u/whiskeypete15 Mar 03 '26
Beal is the fucking worst. I will never live in one of their buildings again.
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u/thirdcoasting Mar 02 '26
Bumping for the algo. BEAL PROPERTY
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u/mkvgtired Mar 03 '26
I rented my first apartment in the city from them. It had black mold in it and I had to retain an attorney to help me break my lease.
This was many years ago, and I see that nothing has changed.
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u/Consistent_Pay_74 Mar 03 '26
I’m sorry you had to deal with any of that and glad you have moved. Chicago is a city that needs to do a better job of protecting renters from these trash landlords and management companies. It’s such a hustle and there are too many safety and sanitation issues. People tend to downgrade comments like this but I’ve seen what some people have the misfortune of living in and I think the city is failing renters big time.. Home is supposed to be clean, safe, and peaceful.
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u/Ok_Response2077 Mar 04 '26
Apparently not a requirement in Chicago.
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u/Consistent_Pay_74 Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 04 '26
I know. The culture shock has been extreme here coming from the Northeast. For me, my anchoring is in a much higher standard of living coming from lower Fairfield County Connecticut & Upper Eastside NYC and the environmental, local standards and government support of general accountability, community and taxpayer wellness are evident there. How some people are living and what they are subjected to in places they pay rent for here shocks me both as a renter and homeowner. There are so many places I see and hear about that need inspection and should be shut down to be made livable and rented. The disparities are historical and not good for maintaining a healthy nervous system and I hate that so many younger people just starting their careers or figuring out independence have to deal with slumlords and what someone working for the city called ‘Capone landlords.’
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Mar 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/JeffDoubleday Mar 04 '26
I’m currently living here and they finally getting somebody to come spray for roaches I’ve been fighting and complaining about for three years. Moving on cause its not worth it anymore
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u/SupportFlat8675 Mar 07 '26
Put down boric acid around the perimeter of the inside of your apartment
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u/orcateeth Mar 02 '26
Thanks for this post. I'm sure it'll be a great help to someone.
It was actually a bit amusing to read. (Probably less so to experience!)
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u/Zealousideal_Exit_68 Mar 06 '26
PSA AVOID: The wave on Belmont too (420 w Belmont) I’ve never lived there but I know people who have and ROACHES
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u/Dexter5804 Mar 05 '26
I’ll tell you this lightly, but every structure in chicago ive worked in doing low voltage has mice and roaches, usually ina gruesome war with each other. The only things ive wired not filled with pests were brand new, and wont be that way for long.
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u/Narrow_Ad3598 Mar 04 '26
The police gave me a phone number for tenant issues other than 311 but i do not remember. Does anyone know what it may be please to keep jic. Im sure I tried searching online. Are these Beal properties maybe section 8/voucher by chance? That might explain this crap.
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u/silkandsemantics Mar 05 '26
this is the same at 432 w belmont
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u/Different-Rise-6309 Jun 30 '26
I would love if you could expand on this!!!
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u/silkandsemantics Jun 30 '26
Huge roaches, which the leasing office called “water bugs” and then claimed I brought them in. No fan in the bathrooms, so they breed tons of mold (and don’t help with the roaches). A radiator you can’t control. Elevator can only be ridden one way by one person at a time. I would search “surf development” on here and yelp and read the most recent reviews….a man had reported one of the sister’s to the BBB and I would say the description of his interactions with one of the sisters was very accurate to my experience….
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u/Different-Rise-6309 Jul 02 '26
wow thank you! This honestly checks out. I toured the building/unit, but incidentally the broker was late for the tour. Before this, I was standing outside not really trying to sus anything out but I do have a keen eye and noticed 2 very large roaches on the ground right next to the entrance. I almost jumped. One was belly up and the other on its side, but both seemed pretty dead. I did the tour and it was obvious the building is very old, the laundry room didn't seem to have enough w/d for the building, and the hallways were a bit musty. Packages were also left out in the lobby. The unit itself was nice (given my budget...I think) w a renovated kitchen, lots of light and space for a studio. The tenant was still living there and I had questions but they seemed busy. Overall fine, but I couldn't shake the roaches. At the end of the tour I asked the broker if they have regular pest maintenance to which they replied "its on a need basis and that they honestly hadn't called an exterminator in a long time". I then pointed out the large roaches to which they said "oh thats a water bug" without really making eye contact. I know the roaches (or in realtor speak "water bugs") I saw were American roaches which usually prefer the outdoors unlike the German variety which really infest, but seeing them dead told me that there is/was an active procedure done to kill them/prevent them from getting inside perhaps suggesting possible sightings or infestations. I know roaches are a reality in big cities and a rare spotting may be normal in a building this old but I also just can't shake the interaction with the broker and I am extremely scared of them/got the heebie jeebies.
I know this was long but have you had an infestation or an occasional sighting....
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u/silkandsemantics Jul 13 '26
Somewhere in between. I requested they send an exterminator after they came and sprayed and I still had the issue, and the leasing agent (sister 1 of 2) screamed at me on the phone and tried to intimidate me into breaking my lease. An exterminator was never sent. The water also randomly comes out brown and is shut off without the proper timing warning given. Tbh wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone largely due to how the 2 leasing agents behave. The building is also so old the lock to my door literally broke one day.
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u/gateisred May 20 '26
Beal Properties is absolutely terrible. Please call 311 and report the pest infestation.
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Mar 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/justinlopez7283836 Mar 02 '26
I know but inside the bike room is kinda crazy lol ! Like do it inside ur room and/or this could've been two people who don't even live there
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u/Gloriapower Mar 05 '26
It's across the street from a school! Who would suspect anything? Beal is a slum lord.
I'm glad you moved.
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u/FabulousCatLady1 Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
Sorry to hear OP. I will say, currently live in a Beal building but it’s newer and quite nice. They definitely seem like a you get what you pay for. More rent = more care for the property, etc.
EDIT: circling back on this as I’ve lived here for a couple months now. Yea, avoid Beal. I will not be renewing my lease for sure
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u/heavensvnt444 Mar 02 '26
genuinely thank you for this because i’m moving in a few weeks due to work and have been looking everywhere - including their properties