EMERALD PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Emerald property management manages a lot of properties in the area, and a high percentage of the available properties in a certain price range. When you start looking for a place to rent in the area, it is hard to avoid Emerald. Many of the places I found advertised on Craigslist, for example, ultimately led me to Emerald. You can tell on Craigslist because the contact information will be a text number for somebody called "Kayla." I say text number because if you ever try to call the number, nobody will answer. If you want to try to leave a voice mail and request a call back, you will be out of luck. For at least the last three weeks, I have just gotten an automated message that Kayla's box is full and can't accept new messages. Anyhow, once I found several properties that I was interested in, I sent text messages to Kayla as instructed in the ads. Days and days went by with no response and all the while I kept finding new properties tied to Kayla and I got no response on any of them. I went into the Emerald Property Management office on Harlow to inquire about the properties. The receptionist wouldn't give me any useful information on the properties, could not tell me if any of them had applicants already, or how many applicants, and could not tell me how or when the decisions would be made on them. All she could share with me was that I needed to talk to "Kayla" at the text number I already had. When I told her that Kayla wasn't returning messages, the receptionist just shrugged at me and didn't give any response. When I asked, she told me there was nobody else I could speak with. I need to take a moment to describe this receptionist while I am at it. She is a fairly young woman who has perfected the art of the eye roll and the exasperated dramatic sigh and the rude dismissive attitude that you usually only expect from teenagers. During my first two trips to the office she really made me feel like I was an absolute waste of her time. After the second time I interacted with her, I remember telling my friends that I hated being a renter again (I just sold my house last month and I am new to the rental market again). The reason I hated being a renter again was because I was being treated so poorly. The emerald receptionist treated me like I was dirty or stinky or unworthy or just beneath contempt. It turns out I was wrong about being a renter though because all the other property companies treated me with dignity and professional respect. It was just Emerald that made me feel like that. So, after the receptionist rolled her eyes and sighed and made it clear Kayla was the gatekeeper and I had no choice but to deal with Kayla, I sent a long text message to Kayla. I explained I only had another month or so to find a place to live and that I was really getting desperate and scared about the situation. I told her I would be an ideal client if she would get back to me, that I would be fast and efficient and not take too much time. I told her I was motivated and not picky. I LITERALLY BEGGED her to respond to me. I heard nothing for three days. Then I finally got a text from Kayla...one short sentence in which told me to just apply for properties without seeing them. No apology. No indication of when she might be available. No advice other than rent an apartment without seeing it because apparently she didn't have the time for me. So that's what I did. I went into the office again and endured the receptionist's scorn one more time so I could apply for apartments that I had never seen, just based on a written description. By now, I had encountered several other property management companies. I dealt with Acorn PM, Pioneer PM, Umbrella PM, and Bell Realty. All of them gave me excellent service, excellent advice, and a lot of encouragement. They made me feel like a valued customer. They returned my calls. They answered my calls. I would go back to any of those companies again. In particular Acorn and Pioneer bent over backwards to help me find a home, which I did. When I found a home, I made the rounds of all the other companies to withdraw my applications and get a refund, if allowed, on application fees. When I went into Emerald to withdraw my application, the receptionist informed me that I had been approved the day before for my first choice at Emerald. I told her that was sad because I had just accepted another apartment today and that I wished they had called me yesterday when I was approved. That earned me another sigh and eye roll. I confess I was tempted to go ahead and back out on the apartment I had accepted. The Emerald property was lower cost, larger, and better located. In spite of all those advantages, I decided it was best to walk away from Emerald. If they were so uninterested in my business before I signed up, how unimportant would I be to them after I signed up? How long would it take somebody to answer the phone or return a call if my water heater broke? How much scorn would I have to endure if a rent check got lost? I would rather pay more for less than risk having to depend on the Emerald PM crew for anything. They also made me feel so small and unimportant, I just didn't feel comfortable associating myself with them going forward, even for a great deal on rent. By the way, they were the only company that didn't refund my application fee in the end just to add insult to injury. I've been in my new home for just over a week now and I got a call this morning from Emerald. That's why I decided to go ahead a write review. The call was from Emerald's leasing manager. She was letting me know that I had been approved for that Emerald apartment. That's right, the same apartment that the receptionist mentioned I had been approved for 8 days ago. More than a week after I had been approved and a week after I had withdrawn my application, somebody finally called to let me know the apartment was mine if I wanted it. At least the caller was polite. I still have no idea what Kayla's voice even sounds like and I was never actually given an opportunity to see the apartment. These guys are amateurs. They are jokers. They are both rude and incompetent. And the are SLOOOOOOOW. I can only imagine it would be a nightmare to deal with them after they got me under contract. I'm not going to suggest that you avoid Emerald. Like I said, they apparently manage a lot of properties around the area so you will probably be forced to deal with them. However, my advice to you is please please do not rely on them. Go to all those other property management companies too (just search on google and also call the ones I have mentioned here). If you are lucky enough to find a property with somebody else, then take it. Run, don't walk away from Emerald and don't look back. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. They complained a lot at Emerald about it being the "busy season," often by way of explanation as to why nobody would return my calls and why I couldn't see any of the apartments they had. If they feed you that line, tell them what I wish I had. It is the busy season for every property management company in town, not just Emerald, yet all those other companies found a way to be professional nonetheless. Why not try a little harder Emerald???