DORFMAN PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & SALES

This is the worst property management company and it needs to be shut down!! They conveniently lose your money order when you put it in the drop box. They then make up all these fees you owe them and from whet I see on all the online reviews this is a common practice for them. They are nothing more than crooks then. They do not like to repair things that go wrong the walls in my basement still leak like they're going to fall in when it rains. Then when they make a repair they raise your rent. Not to mention the so called self renewal lease which is illegal. So I haven't signed a lease since 2013 and its 2017, your telling me I'm under lease?? This place does a lot of illegal stuff. Stay as far away from this company as possible!!!

I have been using them for years. I've had a good relationship with them. The last time I used them to rent out my house I had some issues with them.

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I was so upset that they would or could do that after we had already paid the money, been approved, taken off work and made arrangements for movers over the weekend. The agent who cancelled (Megan) was not available so I asked to speak to the manager. I was told she was in a meeting and given her voice mail. I gave a brief description of what had transpired and told that I was upset at the totally unprofessional way this was handled. I asked how they could take someone?s money and then give it away and tells us our money was non-refundable. I mentioned that a letter to the State Attorney General's office was in order if they were in the habit of approving people then taking away the house and yet keeping our money!! I also commented that her voice mail message "I will call you back at my earliest convenience" was sending a message that her customers were not at all important and she might want to rethink that. First I got a call back from Megan and I told her that I had left a message and what the gist of the message was. When it came to the part about "my earliest convenience" she got extremely agitated and said that her voice mail said the same thing! She said to tell her that meant that I was being rude! I said that as a woman business owner to another woman in business, I was simply trying to explain how that would make her customers feel when hearing that message. Once we got past that part I explained that taking off work and making plans to move was not a small item and she surely would have to understand why we were going to be upset. We worked through it and agreed to look at a couple of other properties she had and to get back together in the AM after we had a chance to look at the other properties. She even called me back before she left the office to let me know she still had not been able to meet with her manager but I told her we would look at the properties we discussed and get back together on Friday. At 7:55 AM Rhonda with Dorfman called me and started reading me the riot act before I barely got hello out of my mouth. I repeatedly asked if I might get a word in and kept trying to explain to her that I had been upset after all our plans were made but that I had already discussed with the Megan and we were going to just go for another house since we had already paid our money and been approved. Rhonda said " It is up to me if we rent you anything or not and I don?t' think I want to do that, I will have to review your applications again! Then she went off about the comment about her voice mail message making me feel that her callers were not her first priority and I have to say............you would think I hit her child!!!. Her nasty vicious attitude only reaffirmed my suspicion that professionalism was neither her strong suit nor that of this company. I told her I was truly sorry if her feelings were hurt but that it may be hurting other people?s feelings too when you leave a message like that. I left the call assuming that all was fine, and that she understood why I was upset for being treated the way we were and that we had been all last night checking out other properties and would let Megan know what we had decided later today. About an hour later Megan called me back and said that Rhonda told her that they would not be renting any of their properties to us (even though we had already been approved) because of my attitude! This company is a joke and not doesn't appear to have a professional business person on the property. They take your money and then keep it even though you have been approved. They rent to others the property you applied for and been approved for but hadn't been able to complete even though they are the ones that cancelled the appointments and not one time was I told that they would even consider renting to someone else. We did our part, we paid our money and this is the result. I would steer clear of this outfit because they manage from an emotional stance and not a professional one. They need to be looked into for taking non refundable deposits and then changing their mind after you have been approved. If telling someone that you think their voice mail is unprofessional is a reason to refuse to rent to a customer who has already been approved then this company bears further scrutiny and new management. Someone needs to let the people who own the properties that they manage, what kind of people they are dealing with.

It's only fair if I start at the beginning. I moved into my apt. roughly 2 years ago on the dot - and I'm fully aware that you only get what you pay for - which I why I felt they deserved a C rather than completely trashing the company as a whole. I was aware that I wasn't moving into the Ritz when I signed my lease with Dorfman, however, nothing could have prepared me for the headaches that would come from the dealings with this company. When you move in, you are required to walk through the apartment and write a list of every detail in the apartment that isn't in tip-top shape to avoid losing your deposit when you choose to leave - makes sense. I would have thought that once I handed you a laundry list of problems with my apartment, at some point there would be someone who came to fix these issues - seeing that I was a brand new tenant - this however, was not the case. I still have broken light fixtures in my kitchen and the cealing in my bathroom leaks from time to time when the guy above me decides to take a shower (he's flooded his bathtub one too many times - he's a heavy drinker) luckily its falling into the tub as opposed to the floor. The washer and dryer facilities function at a 4 out of 10 on the best day ever - Honestly, if they were free, I would probably still go elsewhere. I'm sure I left a few things out, but thats to be expected with any lengthy list. The straw that broke the camels back was recent. I was sitting on my couch watching the football game when I began to hear water flowing onto the ground in my kitchen - not dripping - flowing. Seeing as I live alone and was fully aware that I wasn't running any water, you can imagine my surprise when I see that my kitchen sink is completely full to the point that it is steadily overflowing onto the kitchen floor. In my shock, I found the plug and tried to stop the water, but with the water pressure coming up rather than pressing down, the drain plug only worked if I had my arm submerged in a foot and a half of backed up sewer water. I had to sacrifice a few moments of water droppage while scrambling to find my phone to call the maintenance man. The maintenance man was able to contact a plumber and I only had to stand in my kitchen hunched over the sink with my arm in the sink and standing in 3 inches of water - for about 2 hours. Once the plumber had arrived, he was able to get everything under control which I was very happy about. However, during the process, he pointed out the plumbing issue that caused basically everything. He was able to see that there was a pressure valve (which are never meant to be horizontal) that had been used to replace the usual down pipe, that was coming out of my wall horizontally. Not only is the plumbing outdated, but its also not built to meet code... Needless to say, the same faulty equipment that has already failed, was installed yet again. As I mentioned before, I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. However, my understanding was that I was paying for a roof over my head (preferably not leaking) and running water (preferably running in the proper direction) - both of which have struggled in their own ability to function properly. I'd like to be reminded again of what a property management company does if not properly manage my property? All in all - I want this review to reflect Dorfman's inability to even remotely pretend to care about the well being or living conditions of their tenants.

I did not want to manage it myself. I think they had a tendency to be a little rude. They kept changing fees and rent without notice. I feel like they changed the rules as they go. They did not communicate very well and lacked professionalism. For example, they would contact maintenance companies without my acknowledgement.

They were my property managmenet company for one year. If I ever needed property management in the future, they would be the first company I look to.

I should start by saying that we were referred to this business by friends who had good experiences. We rent an approximately 100 year old house that Dorfman manages for the owner. First off, the office is firm and rude that they will not show you a property unless you have driven by it. (Red flag number one.) You must take your deposits/first month rent IN CASH to their downtown office that is the epitome of sketichiness--bullet proof glass. Who wants to take hundreds of dollars in cash to a place like this?! I do not like that they do not bill you. I'm sure they would have no trouble reaming you if your rent was late, but they do not send bills. I know, minor issue, but I think it's poor customer service. The day we went to pick-up keys, we learned we had no stove. We later learned the A/C unit had been gutted. They told us they weren't going to replace the A/C; thankfully, they eventually did. However, they replaced it with a 30 year old unit that was 1/3 the size this house needed. This is information supplied by our friend, a professional electrician, and an IPL energy inspector. We also learned from the energy inspector that our hot water heater was ancient and lost about 60% heat in the surrounding air. When we do request maintenance, we never really know if/when they are coming. We just feel lucky that they show up. Understanding this house is old and a rental, it needs much TLC. To be fair to Dorfman, I'm sure everyone involved is trying to save money and not make this place an actual nice place to live, but a means to provide income. Overall, Dorfman is generally unpleasant to work with and we dread having to contact them. I would not recommend them or use them again after this house.

The initial experience with Dorfman Property Management was very nice. I worked with Miriam Ader who was super responsive, knowledgeable and polite. Following this initial contact I set up a time to meet with someone in person. This is where Dorfman showed their true colors. Miriam and I had spoken about property management, she had provided me a list of items to prepare including a contract, and then set the time to meet Rhonda to finalize the situation. I was already up to speed regarding cost, contract, liability insurance requirements, and had spoken about their rental process. I met Rhonda at the house; I was late arriving 10-15 minutes later that I should due to traffic. She introduced herself by telling me that she was getting ready to leave since she did not know my phone number (which is on the end of every email signature her office received). Then upon entering the house she immediate walked around the house ending in the kitchen where she asks “so what are we doing today”. Apparently she had no idea why she was even at the house meeting us…I would suggest that in the future they look to the name of their company for some direction in this department (“property management”). After taking time to explain that I was interested in setting up property management including have keys, contract, insurance, and payment prepared she began to tell me how horrible the carpet was in the house. I indicated we had removed all the stains possible…agreeing some still exist but by no means major. She replied with another carpet cleaning company she recommended? This was presented with no “can we talk about some areas to improve in your house” rather a hostile approach as throwing out problems in a way that appears they did not even what business in the first place. She then tells me I will have to get door stops…as if this would have been something that would have taken more than 20 minutes and cost more than five dollars. Each time I questioned any comment I received the textbook reply “I do this for a living and manage 1100 properties…” The approach that Rhonda used came across as I don’t know what is going on, I don’t care what your perception of my company will be, and I know what I am doing because I do it every day. I am concerned that this company would treat any potential renter like they treated me. I will never consider them for business again. Considering she could find 3 stains to point out to me and wanted “door stops” I think that perhaps she had already made a decision about not wanting to rent the property so the rude approach was simply to facilitate a desired outcome.