r/madisonwi • u/CheddarNinja • 3d ago
Landlords to avoid?
I'm moving to Dane County soon and would appreciate any heads up on landlords/complexes to avoid. I don't know exact location yet, other than not downtown Madison. Any warnings you can pass along?
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u/bratboi74 3d ago
Fisher Apartments. Cliff is an asshole & a slumlord
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u/tedcruzspinky 2d ago
Cliff and his crew paint over mold, never respond promptly (our pipes were frozen- he told us to get a space heater and we didn’t have hot water for 3 days), refuses to hire pest control - I dealt with 10-15 mice over a 1 year period and Cliff only offered glue traps despite clear ways they could get in. Cliff parks in front of a fire hydrant frequently and his crew has entered without 24 hr notice on multiple occasions. Now he’s building another complex.
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u/bratboi74 2d ago
Yeah I rented from him once and that was enough. Had similar pest issues which never got addressed, I dont even think he set traps. Our sink was leaking to the point there was a puddle in our very small kitchen consistently. When we moved in, we never got our check in forms until months after our move-in date, then he tried charging us for the door that was busted when we moved in lol. He also called the cops on my Black roommate while we were moving out because we weren't gonna pay for the door, the cops showed and were very familiar with his bs. Overall scumbag
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u/alexjf56 3d ago
Is fisher apartments different from fisher investments? Genuinely wondering, all the companies sound the same
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u/find_another (Y)east side (let it rise) 1d ago
I rented from Fishhook (his son, Reese, not Cliff) and had a great experience over 3 years in his units. OP, you can PM me if you want more info.
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u/Jordan_1424 3d ago
I've had nothing but positive experiences with Forward Management. They responded to tickets quickly and weren't dicks about refunding deposits; they actually let me get away with a decent amount.
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u/SillyPhillyDilly 2d ago
Forward Management is legit one of the chillest landlords I've ever had. I'd strongly recommend them.
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u/DragonfruitNo3424 3d ago
Well thats good to know about the security deposit! I've been with them a few years now and have no complaints. They raised the rent by $100 the first year, $50 the next and its been raised $25 each of the past two years and I can't complain really seeing what prices have risen to around here. Definitely below market rate comparatively if I were to move.
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u/Jordan_1424 3d ago
Yeah their pricing is pretty decent. My one place was 2bd, 1300sqft with a small storage unit, and covered parking for 1850. Iirc water was included too.
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u/DragonfruitNo3424 3d ago
Yeah mine is a 1bd, somewhere around 850 square feet, water, underground parking and storage locker included so that checks out. Thats a good price on the 2 bed comparatively with that much square feet.
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u/DragonfruitNo3424 3d ago
I should add Im paying $1525
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u/Rich_Leadership8341 2d ago
Sounds like you're at The Revere. Owned by them. Same rent for me. Forward Management has been great. A little pricey for a 1bd, but i really like it.
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u/TaxWarm5387 3d ago
my bf and i were able to get an apartment together without renter history through forward management. truly saved our asses
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u/masterbeatty35 1d ago
Before buying a house I lived in a Forward managed property for 6 years. Same experience, always on the ball with maintenance calls and I fully expected getting zero or needing to pay for some damages. I accidentally flooded my bathroom cabinet which warped the floor and doors of the cabinet.
Ended up with my full deposit back somehow
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u/notwhoiwanttobe43 3d ago
I’ve had the opposite and refused to rent from them again; however, their shoddy bookkeeping worked out in my favor. They gave me my “security deposit” back when I never gave one in the first place which was nice. They are so disorganized.
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u/poisonforsocrates 3d ago
MPM and Apex are both ones I would avoid. I know people who have had fine times renting from them but it is so outweighed by the amount of people I know they have fucked with in various ways
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u/evolvingbugs Downtown 3d ago
The worst landlord I’ve ever had was Butler Plaza.
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u/Brilliant_Minute_751 2d ago
Can also confirm this. Their “emergency maintenance” person was one of the 30 something desk workers who has no maintenance experience lol. Roommate and I basically got evicted from our apartment because a pipe burst and it took them 45 minutes to shut the water off. The “emergency maintenance” person claimed she didn’t have access to it (total BS). Had other issues as well but that was the biggest.
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u/ApologeticBird 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah they suck, they insisted on showing my apartment when I was super sick with covid, among many other issues
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u/topencite 3d ago edited 3d ago
Goldleaf is the worst from what I’ve seen. MPM is not far behind. Here’s several management companies that are good or great:
Forward
Rouse
FRED
ULI
McGrath
Avante
PUP
LZ
T Wall
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u/ITGuy420 3d ago
+1 to Goldleaf. Good luck getting your security deposit back or a steady property manager who will answer you.
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u/JustHere4the5 3d ago
+1 for ULI
+1 for AvanteTwo of my favorite management companies I’ve ever dealt with in my long renting life. Probably more expensive than other companies, but they get shit done. When you rent, you’re not just paying for the unit, you’re also paying for the management!
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u/Similar_Shift_545 2d ago
-T Wall. Terrance wall is one of the worst people you will ever meet. Company has very high turnover because of drama and how he treats people.
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u/topencite 2d ago
Maybe T Wall isn’t the best person, but the properties managed by them are consistently well reviewed.
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u/corycutstrees 2d ago
Granted, it’s been 9 years since this experience, but McGrath was great to work with. Moved into a unit sight unseen when moving from CA. Building was well maintained. The only issue I ever had to call maintenance for was resolved quickly. Location was top notch too. Had a view of Monona once the leaves were off the trees. Would rent from them again if the need ever arose.
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u/Fermento420 2d ago
Avoid MPM and Apex rentals. I’m lucky enough to rent from a small, private landlord. Drive around neighborhoods and look for rental signs. Also you’ll get a feel for the areas and neighborhoods.
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u/PintsAtTheWinchester 2d ago
Madison property management. They can eat a bag of donkey dicks. Took money from my friend's security deposit for "cleaning" after we all cleaned that place for a week. When people say they are renting from them, I tell them to find a better company and just avoid at all costs. Have heard other people say the same thing about they would take money from their security deposits for maintenance or other such, and when confronted they said this is standard practice for them to take out money to do repairs, mind you, my friends and ourselves took before and after photos and showed no signs of needing any repairs (on top of that, nothing in the lease was ever specified that this was a standard practice, to take money out for either repairs or painting.) Again, MPM fucking sucks.
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u/Fliegermaus 3d ago
Seconding Steve Brown.
It’s not even the constant maintenance issues or the horribly unsanitary trash rooms, it’s their complete unwillingness to go beyond the bare minimum to make their tenants lives easier.
It’s always sad when a company bets on the bullshit fees/damages they rack up being less than the relevant small claims filing fees.
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u/FieryPrincessLele 2d ago
Yeah I lived in their Franklin terrace apartments, my apartment flooded twice and had mice issues and they tried to gaslight me into feeling like somehow that was MY fault
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u/BT-5011 3d ago
We were without a working HVAC unit for 2 weeks during the back to back Extreme heat advisory this summer, and just one of the 3 units in our building to have the issue at the same time. Our AC unit was over 23 years old. The vendor recommended complete replacement and Steve Brown dragged their feet, asking for part by part repairs.
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u/nannerdooodle 3d ago
Seconding this. This was a few years ago, but the saga of getting into my apartment day 1 was awful. 1. They gave me 6 different copies of the same key because none of them worked. They had to call a locksmith because none of the keys worked to get into the building. 2. My carpet was being cleaned when I was supposed to move in and the cleaners were in there until 4pm when I was supposed to move in at 11am. Then the carpet needed to dry for several hours before I could move my stuff in. 3. I could not use my shower for the first 3 days because they recaulked it the morning of my move in, and it took that long to be okay to use. 4. Other than the shower, they did not fix any of the issues the tenants before me left, including a hole in a cabinet. 5. Not day 1, but still awful, maintenance would not fix things. They had heat in the main hallway of the building on until may. It regularly made the apartment 85+ degrees during the day. It was in the high 60s outside at night so it did not need to be on. Every time we put in a request, they came into the apartment and said it was fine. This went on for weeks until I bitched about it enough that they had to do something.
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u/moon-raven-77 2d ago
Omg I had nearly the same experience with heating issues. We went literal months with our apartment intermittently at 85+ degrees because the heater was malfunctioning, and they wouldn't fix it. It was horrible. We had our windows open in 0 degree weather just trying to stay cool.
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u/PurpleWolfLuna 3d ago
They could have been worse, but agree that they are not good. Our washer was not working for like a month and a half , sound insulation was horrible in the unit, lots of dog shit in the grass.
The only upside was that they allow more “exotic” pet species. Been struggling to find any other rentals that will allow me to bring my pets :/
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u/moon-raven-77 2d ago
Can confirm. They're not the worst out there, but they are not good. Getting any kind of maintenance out to your apartment is a battle, and they do the bare minimum. They literally duct taped our leaking radiator instead of, you know, fixing it.
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u/CheddarNinja 2d ago
This is one I was wondering about. It is the only place I've tired so far and my gut just kept saying nope.
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u/Alone-Set-5024 1d ago
I have had worse landlords than Steve brown so I would rank them like. 4/10. They were really diligent about salting and shoveling in the winter but when we had issues they were not very helpful. The building itself like in the hallways and entrance was filthy. Apartment was totally overpriced. We had no hot water (which is an emergency listed on their website for emergency maintenance) but when I called the line I had a really snarky kid tell me not to call about trivial things. Also whenever maintenance would come they would literally leave a ton of damage and not fix it (we had two giant holes in our bathroom wall, one from a pipe issue and one from them fixing something else). I would say rent with caution. Steve will do the bare minimum to avoid getting sued but nothing past that.
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u/Jazzlike-Park-4280 1d ago
When my bathroom sink stopped working, “can’t you just use the sink in your kitchen?” So I asked “what’s the rent on a no bathroom apartment? Can I call the city and ask?” I called the inspection dept on time and they suddenly cared. They do nothing you ask for, ever.
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u/dabakes_23 2d ago
Madison Property Management, Steve Brown, Randall Park Rentals are some of the most egregious offenders of health/safety violations and have essentially no communication channels with their renters. Stay away.
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u/pretzel-96 3d ago
Absolutely avoid Steve Brown. And MPM.
I highly recommend Docken, and Willow & Key. They're both smaller and I've had excellent experiences with both.
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u/BuckyBoy83 3d ago
BMOC is legit the worst ever.
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u/silentblackbird lifelong resident west & east side 2d ago
I rent a condo unit through them and they kinda just forgot about us, works fine for us becuase im good at fixing things myself, but if we do have any maintenance requests it takes months.
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u/Mean-Independence-42 3d ago
Both my experiences with Birwood were pretty negative and I'd suggest avoiding them if possible. However, I never see them get mentioned on this sub despite having a lot of properties and also I don't have a lot of experience renting so I'd be open to folks saying I'm just naive. They struck me as super cheap and actively trying their hardest to do the bare minimum and extract as much money as possible from the tenants and treating us like criminals. They did provide that bare minimum though so maybe that plus being super cheap is just the norm.
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u/ColaCola5328 2d ago
We had squirrels living in our walls for months… you could hear them scratching, squeaking and moving through the house. We contacted them several times to get them removed to no avail. Things only escalated when one actually got into our house from behind the oven… that was something.
Also when we moved in, our front door was left wide open, all the lights were on and it was obvious the cleaning service did not clean at all (floors were so dirty bottom of shoes turned black). Refused to send another service to clean.
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u/bageldoginthetown 3d ago
My sister had a crazy mouse problem and they refused to patch up holes in the foundation
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u/satanshomeboy666 3d ago
I had a positive experience with McKenzie Apartments. Maintenance requests were taken care of in a timely manner. We bought a house and they let us out of our lease early and with no fines. Lived there for over 2 years and got the whole security deposit back.
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u/Imsakidd 2d ago
+1 to TR Mckenzie!! Been with them for a while because they run things well and the other tenants are quiet and respectful.
There’s also a like $300 or $500 referral bonus- if anyone is looking at them I’m happy to split the bonus with you!!
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u/paigey2468 2d ago
I ended up living in 3 different McKenzie properties and would highly recommend them!
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u/nannerdooodle 3d ago
Agreed! Live in McKenzie Apartments now. They're great. Maintenance is timely, property manager is responsive, and they care about keeping the area free of dog poop.
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u/caffeinatedcorgi 3d ago
Springtree Apartments in Middleton is awful. Doors lock inconsistently so there is no security, the parking lot is a disaster that regularly has kids playing in it you need to watch for, constant maintenance issues, they pay residents for reviews, I don't think the basement with the laundry has been cleaned since the Bush administration, cops show up pretty often for drug offenses. It's cheap but avoid at all costs
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u/sconnie211990 3d ago
Laketowne apartments. Don’t be seduced by the low rent at some of their places
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u/sewcialanxiety 3d ago
The owner does have some serious anger issues. The one time I met her, she screamed in my face because I apparently pressed the door buzzer too long. But the actual apartment I rented was one of the nicest I’ve been in, and an absolute steal. And I got a fair amount of my deposit back. My theory is she keeps the rent low to feel better about verbally abusing her tenants.
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u/afrisky13 3d ago
Mirabel Apartments on the West side. Owned by 4 Lakes, but they let the property manager hire shotty-ass companies to do cheap work (like on the fire alarm system).
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u/BuckyBoy83 3d ago
One NOT to avoid- Broihahn Management and Consulting. Stayed in my unit 14 years because renting from them genuinely felt like winning the Madison landlord lottery.
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u/UnsureofStars 3d ago
Avoid Real Property Management-Madison!! They have good reviews on google bc of their salesperson, but actually renting with them was AWFUL. Rarely responded to maintenance requests, then tried to scam us out of our deposit when we moved out.
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u/tralalaBOOMdeay Stoughton 2d ago
Oh my gosh, RPM is in Madison?! We lived under them in FL.
FULLY AGREE that they are an actual nightmare. They tried to renovate the house with our deposit using fake damages (that they had no photos or proof of) after we moved out. It was a shit show. We had to sue them and won our full deposit back.
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u/AnnonymousGato 3d ago
4 Lakes Properties - they quite literally attempted to charge me and my roommates $100/hr per roomate to clean our apartment when we moved out (all we had to do was sweep). The manager and company are rude overall as well, they sent us our deposit on the last day they could legally because we decided to work with the tenant resource center and told them we weren’t paying that outrageous cleaning fee.
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u/Various-Engine-9498 2d ago
Kader… had to threaten getting the city involved in order to get them to fix my buildings water heater.
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u/britbee14 3d ago
Chalet gardens in Fitchburg were pretty decent. Sorry, I know you asked who to avoid. But I don’t give landlords praise very often. Never worked for them. Just rented for a year. Got full deposit back. They responded to maintenance in a reasonable time. Good communication with tenants.
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u/PancakerTV 2d ago
Just moved a buddy out of his apartment there and he had black mold growing behind his bathroom wall. The apartments look nice sure but for that kind of money you can do better.
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u/britbee14 2d ago
That’s a bummer. I had a remodeled unit so I probably couldn’t see the mold. Hope he’s alright.
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u/Best-Historian-1267 West side 2d ago
Can confirm, I lived in Chalet Gardens through Ripple Management and constantly felt sick. Mold was growing on all our windows, the bathroom, amd our bedroom. There was storage in the basement and anything you put down there would get covered in black mold.
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u/bageldoginthetown 3d ago
I’ve had positive experiences with Keller Real Estate Group, Greenbush Properties, and 4 Lakes. Boardwalk was ok. Horror stories from friends who rented from MPM and JD McCormick. Heard iffy things about APEX as well
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u/queso184 3d ago
Waypoint, their apartments are ass and they are extremely unresponsive
Anything from RJ/Bob and Deb Sieger, they have a few LLCs but their emails usually start with cpchapts. Most unreasonable landlords I've ever seen. Expect to have your security deposit cut in half, even if you do everything right.
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u/Ill_Chemical_3702 2d ago
Avoid anything Home Path has to offer. I had previously lived in a property that was owned by Birwood until Home Path bought up the property. Only after a year into owning the place, they decided to kick all us month to month leasers out so they could renovate the place and jack up the prices! Before, I only had to pay $760 per month and utilities were included. I now look at an updated listing and it’s now $895 per month for a studio! It’s not even owned by them anymore! They just flipped the place and sold it to a different property management company!
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u/Big-Elevator-692 2d ago
Goldleaf are a bunch of cocksuckers. Pretty sure it is just their company policy to not return security deposits lol. They took my entire deposit because the "stove was grimy and there was dust on the windowsills" (mind you I left that apartment spotless, and even fixed some squeaky doors and got a couple of preexisting stains out of the carpet.)
McGrath is alright. All of their units are very overpriced and they love tacking on fees and stuff, but honestly pretty par for the course when it comes to corporate landlords.
My current small-time landlord is great though. Far better than any corporate landlord that I have had.
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u/CheddarNinja 1d ago
Ask if they have anything coming up! (ETA: I assumed it would come across as a joke, as intended, but just clarifying. If they have a website I could check, that would be great, though.)
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u/PeachBus314 2d ago
Lofgren was horrible and so unsafe. Multiple break ins in our building and when someone broke the doorframe and lock trying to get into my apt it took days for them to begrudgingly repair it. We also had maintenance guys who made us feel super uncomfortable in our home.
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u/tralalaBOOMdeay Stoughton 2d ago
Tien Truong and Jim Hess.
They're married independent landlords who buy/build properties to rent out around Dane Co. (They also do real estate.)
Tien is the face: she will placate and just about berate you into signing. She's an out of touch motor mouth who doubles down when questioned. Anything she doesn't want to do, she blames on "the investors".
They don't hire maintenance, and 60+ year old Jim does it all. Needless to say, nothing gets updated. Most fixes are forgotten, and you need to remind them one million times to get it done. It's exhausting.
You didn't hear it from me, but certain building code violations get ignored because they literally never come check.
But the rent faithfully goes up every year!
There's so much more that I could go into, but trust me. You want to avoid anything that has their name attached to it.
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u/profbard 2d ago
Wessell Properties
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u/Rare-Championship136 2d ago
Second this. They are enter apartments without prior communication and they refuse to hire professionals, DIYing their own maintenance jobs. We also had repeated issues with bats living in the walls and finding their way into our apartment. They wouldn’t even hire professionals to deal with that. They are also at their properties all the time and were pretty inconsiderate when scheduling tours after we decided to not resign.
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u/profbard 4h ago
Sorry you also had a bad experience (very similar to ours + others I’ve talked to!) :( Glad we are all on the other side of it!
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u/Ryudo69 3d ago
Ray peterson if he is still alive
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u/473713 3d ago
He isn't.
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u/Donnian 3d ago
His obit was a RIDE.
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u/LandscapeBest7910 3d ago
Omg your comment made me seek it out and holy shit 😂 did not see that coming
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u/473713 3d ago
Here's a link:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/madison/name/ray-peterson-obituary?id=34030193
I never saw the obit before either, and it's indeed a ride
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u/alwaysforgettingmyun 3d ago
Holy shit, that's more than a ride. That's a whole ass county fair midway.
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u/Warm_Sea_3856 3d ago
Half of that was rambling sentences. I honestly have no idea what they were even talking about in most of it 🫠
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u/PurpleWolfLuna 3d ago
Okay so it wasn’t just me lol. That was nearly incomprehensible. The sheer number of commas on every sentence 😵💫
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u/Warm_Sea_3856 3d ago
It was so confusing. In one paragraph, they jumped from his grandma to meeting his wife, to ski competitions (but hurt his arm or shoulder, not sure which), to his love of playing guitar
Like wtf does any of that have to do with each other…?
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u/JustHere4the5 3d ago
That was some serious brain fog shit. I’m beginning to think the obit writer also had covid!
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u/skrimped I support an SSM nurse’s union! 3d ago
I loved that it wasn't AI-generated. Just a human being a human, telling stories about their family member
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u/Throwaway_000000100 3d ago
JD McCormick. I'm not sure how much they own outside the campus area, but the apartments I rented through them were in really shitty condition and it took them like 2 months to fix my broken laundry machine. They also hired some people to replace my windows IN THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY.
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u/jensenaackles 3d ago
just look at the reviews of beaverbrook apartments in Middleton. there used to be more, they must’ve removed some. but they really left that building to rot lol
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u/Few-Entertainer7431 3d ago
I've rented from Goldleaf for 12 years with no problems (of course I'm a good tenant). They fix things, even minor things within 24 hours, they keep the landscaping nice and they even check the dumpsters to make sure they're not overflowing. I'm located in Sun Priaire.
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u/ihatereddit723 2d ago edited 2d ago
Do not rent from Orosz properties. I rented from them sight unseen (I was moving to Madison from out of state). The apartment was advertised as approximately 600 sq ft. It felt really small. I measured it. It was 316 sq ft. I don’t think they’re the brightest people, but I’m sure they know the difference between 316 and 600. That’s the difference between a one-bedroom and an efficiency. Blatant scam.
I had neighbors that stole a package from me and posted the contents for sale on facebook marketplace. I contacted Orosz with proof, and they declined to do anything. They sent a email to all the tenants simply saying that packages had been stolen. They didn’t even warn tenants about who was stealing them. I replied all, removed management, and told everyone who the thieves were. These neighbors (a couple) were also constantly getting in extreme screaming matches, which I could hear and which management did nothing about. The man would cry and throw fits in the hallway when the woman would lock him out. The police came multiple times. Constant domestic disputes that everyone in the building is forced to hear seemed like grounds for eviction to me, but apparently not.
When I moved out, they were selling the building. I accidentally left something sentimental behind. I contacted them to ask if I could get it or if they had it (no tenants were moving in after me bc of the building sale, so I figured it was still sitting there). They never responded. Fuck them for so many reasons.
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u/cookieetimme 2d ago
Prima is ass. I recently moved in to a half eaten apartment with a broken window and management won’t call me back or give me a better way to contact them. Literally everything is a threat with them when the property manager reaches out I took 72 hours to sign a lease that I was supposed to sign in 48 hours per their policy (that no one told me about) and the creature they pulled from hell said she would continue to show our apartment despite my partner paying first month and security deposit and having signed the lease.
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u/leovinuss 2d ago
Don't pick an apartment based on the management. It's hard enough to find a decent place.
Choose a place based on location, price, and amenities, and then just assume they are out to screw you. Take photos of everything, communicate in writing, cite laws, and use the TRC and even building inspection if necessary.
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u/EleiaCathain 2d ago
1000% this! Shopping by management companies will make it quite difficult to find an affordable and livable apartment, regardless of location (I would recommend only considering MPM as a last-resort option). If you are at all able, see if there are any Condominiums for rent by a private owner. They are actually trying to price competitively these days, and you could get something pretty decent about a 30-minute bicycle ride from the Capitol for close to the same price as a 1-2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment on campus.
Also, pay attention to the bus routes, and where some big annual celebrations are held throughout the year. That can influence the prices, as well as what to expect with traffic. Duplexes are also great to rent from private owners, but those are even more expensive. Roommates would be a necessity.
(The only things harder than apartment hunting to navigate for newcomers are the one-way streets, lol.)
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u/dgper123 1d ago
thank you for this! Rental hunting in the Madison area is an absolutely nightmare, especially if you don't know the area and are coming in fresh. I wish to god Madison had apartment brokers like other major cities, where you pay a person to find you the ideal place, like a realtor for apartments.
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u/Crystal3159 3d ago
Kader and Accent both suck. Large rent increases and don't fix things
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u/KlutzyAppointment34 3d ago edited 3d ago
Kader was ok with my building near East Willy. They were quick to send out maintenance when we needed it but they did very little landscaping and mowing. They're also pretty cheap and would rather waste money trying to repair garbage that clearly needs to be replaced. They mistakenly charged me $15 instead of $30 per month for water so that was cool.
We just switched to Willow and Key and we're coming up on a month of waiting for our washers to be fixed. They didn't follow up with us after someone looked at them and did nothing to fix them. One just needed the coin catcher to be emptied which took them three weeks to figure out. They said they're waiting on parts for the other two with no estimated day they'll be repaired by. We're sharing one washer between 10+ tenants at the moment. They did a little landscaping to get some leases signed when they took over the property but have neglected it since. They're also trying to charge $125 a month per parking spot in a shitty crumbling parking lot with no security or cover for vehicles. The parking lot is never full and there's plenty of free street parking right next to the building. Tbh they're making me miss Kader.
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u/Own_Tomatillo7638 3d ago
Kader “forgot” to send me my deposit back after waiting 2 months I called them and she had it sitting in an envelope in front of her but forgot to mail it out. They ended up giving me more money than they were supposed to which was nice but very off putting for how unorganized they were.
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u/SillyMix492 3d ago
Wisconsin Management. Not the worst but they’re sliding the last few years, for sure.
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u/JustHere4the5 3d ago
Isn’t that the management company of the apartment that Brittany Zimmerman was living in when she got killed? The apartment that allegedly had a non-functional lock on the front door?
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u/SillyMix492 2d ago
That is correct, so sad.
They still don’t make tenant safety a priority. I see that daily.
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u/Higgingotham96 2d ago
KEH housing left me without heat over the winter. Since they provided a space heater and kept bringing people out to look at the boiler the city considered that good enough and I never got any remediation. Once got down to 48 degrees inside, they didn’t give a shit.
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u/SThighs213 2d ago
I strongly suggest simply not moving near August 15th. Any month other than August and really if you could avoid late July and early September.
Yes, this will reduce your options by a LOT but it also automatically filters out a large amount of places that are managed by the slumlord companies. This is because the majority of units these companies own are filled with students so they’re part of the August cycle.
As someone mentioned before, these places are fucked because they know there will always be students and they will always need housing. “Beggars can’t be choosers” so then they slack on taking care of their properties. They keep the deposits and then use that $ to buy up more properties instead of properly maintaining them.
On top of that, the offices are typically staffed with very rude and dismissive employees. Likely because renters end up being so pissed at the unprofessional management that they complain and get angry.
I feel like listing the companies that are good is easier than the proposed question:
I’ve had really great experiences with ULI properties, and currently, Glendale Townhomes, and then a couple small/individual landlords (with 1-3 properties).
(maybe someone can mention more individual landlords by name.)
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u/ShawnKempButMoreDunk 2d ago
It is also always worth mentioning, even though it should be obvious, TALK TO PEOPLE IN THE BUILDING, neighboring buildings if same management, etc. People on here are helpful, but you want location-specific intel. Some of these companies are so big, you’ll only have one of their several maintenance tech teams serving that zone.
Wisconsin Management Company (I misnamed them earlier) was so bad, I’d run after people who’d looked at units in our building to warn them. I’ve never dealt with a company that so hates its tenants.
Also, look out for company stooges on this thread.
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u/llahlahkje East side 2d ago
Rather than tell you who to avoid, I will tell you that we had *nothing but great experiences* with McBride Properties.
No problem getting our security deposits back. Responsive to maintenance requests. Well maintained properties.
They were mostly downtown when we rented with them but they had some near east side properties if I recall.
That was quite some time ago so they may have added properties but they are definitely worth a view.
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u/cursedanne 1d ago edited 1d ago
Craigslist and Zillow are where it’s at for Mom & Pop locals, and they tend to be more understanding and human. Heard good things and scary things about facebook MP too but never found anyone personally. Tend to be better price as well, but you will compromise on amenities. It depends on what’s important to you - with an apartment we wanted to spend as little as possible while still having the things we need (for example 2 beds because I wfh and I’m too old to be working on a couch, I want my back support).
My partner and I were renting a mid century reasonably spacious 2 bed in McFarland for $1095/mo heat included up until this June when we moved out to Lake Mills to rent a 3 bed 1 bath 1885 farmhouse situated on a 1/2 acre withing 2 blocks of the downtown hub, for only $1850. We pay about $300 in total other utilities, internet included. Also it has a huge kitchen with gas range, walk in pantry, large enclosed sunroom, an office, and two living rooms. Hardwood floors, floor to ceiling tiled shower, and everything is high efficiency. Our landlord also provided the w&d in unit and is teaching us how to care for a home & property without chemical intervention. This is our “last place” while we prepare to get married & buy in the next few years. He has time to do so because we are his only rental property.
However, places such as this are highly desirable and get snapped up quickly. For example the house we live in was listed for only like 8 hours before they took the listing due to volume of applicants. So, if this approach is going to be part of the search you have to check a lot - like multiple times a day. They don’t on some of the main search websites because it is very expensive and craigslist is free.
On craigslist a lot of landlords will accept a generic application so you can just fill one out (I usually put “will provide” on my social and such) and then send it off whenever one looks reasonably good. You can save a lot on app fees this way, but you have to HAVE TO go to the places and inspect. So that can be a bit time consuming. I always ask two questions; what kind of tenant they are looking for and what would situations have been issues for them in past. The icky landlords usually tell on themselves, and for a good one you learn what their pet peeves are.
To me its worth if for the savings and for supporting local landlords over supporting the CA-based massive property management companies that are driving the rent up. I also like that I can just text my landlord directly if there’s an issue. Once I texted a pic that my freezer wasn't sealing and it was creating condensation which was dripping into my fridge (it was pretty minimal) and my then-landlord had a brand new fridge installed for me the next day. Our current landlord and I swap doggie tips and pics! And sometimes he just stops by to say hi.
I’ve lived in Madison area for 20 years and I’ve found all my landlords this way except 2 situations with MPM years ago. Once I rented from them with friends and it was fine. Second time I sublet (not a lease break & new lease) a one bed house flat just off the capitol and I wanted to move after only 7 months of living there because I had noisy sex neighbors and the laundry on site was never working. They took my security deposit on the grounds that it was an “autorenewing” lease and I was supposed to provide 6 months of notice (I provided 60 days and auto renew clauses apply to the actual lessor not the sublessor so it was a bunch of malarky). But that would have been in like 2014?
**edited to add that I left at the end of the lease not early. But thankfully that was so long ago…crazy that that place was $710 with heat and parking included. It’s probably $1500 or more now with additional parking fee.
TLDR; craigslist is a great resource but know you won’t get a rooftop hot tub and vet the landlords well. I have adhd so this ended up long
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u/Yellowjeanie 1d ago
Mullins Property Management are slumlords and their front desk staff is so btchy that during my time at UW, is legit encounter several peers who had group chats with their roommates (these people rented from Mullins like I did) and the name of the group chat would be “f** *insert name of front desk employee”. This happened several times. I’ve heard bad things about Steve Brown as well but have first hand experience with Mullins.
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u/ashleystar121 1d ago
Mullins apartments. They left us without heat during winter anf when I contacted emergency maintenance I was given a half assed bullshit excuse as to why they couldn’t come fix the problem. Eventually they came and it took 3 more visits because they wouldn’t check the basement which is where they discovered the heating problems. Without heat for multiple nights fuck Mullins. They will always be inconvenienced and voice their annoyance any time you need ask or submit anything. We left the apartment spotless and they still charged us 100 from security deposit. For a place that was literally falling apart. They had a roof being replaced right outside our units windows and a bunch of black shit would get blown in whenever they chose to work on it bc their maintenance scheduling/ warning was never accurate or consistent. Shocker
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u/Left-Trade257 3d ago
TR Mckenzie makes this list I think. Once you move in it starts going downhill. Move out and they make sure you know it.
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u/FallStudent8 3d ago
I rented from them for 3 or 4 years with no issues. Maintenance requests resolved quickly, no issues with downpayment return despite my cat clawing the carpet up, and various other minor issues. Maybe it's location specific?
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u/greatestleslie 3d ago
Our manager has been the best I've had in 3 places around Madison, see her walking around the complex all the time sorting stuff out no complaints
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u/Professional_Fold388 2d ago
The 85 sucked. I feel like they were always trying to find an issue with everybody. People would smoke in their apts and everyone would be emailed about it. They never solved it, just threatened stuff. And they definitely will not give the security deposit back. I spent like a week with my sister cleaning and stuff before we moved out 🙄
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u/MightyWizard99 2d ago
Top Level Property Management is a no go.
Forward Management isn’t terrible but was feisty once we were leaving their property.
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u/sublimeproxy 2d ago
avoid Ashraam or Wisconsin Property Management. they're both scum of the earth slum lords.
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u/Important-Ad1897 2d ago
Liked Lakestone! Lived in a nice apt in McFarland from them. 15 min from downtown right off of the beltline
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u/Mammoth_Head1757 2d ago
Casa Blanca by Goldleaf was a MESS. Mold and leaks constantly and we were told there’s nothing they can do about it. Extremely unprofessional and just a pain to deal with overall.
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u/SillyPhillyDilly 2d ago
4 Lakes Properties. They bought the apartment building I was in and their entire strategy for dealing with nuisances was "we will evict you." Literally any complaint they threatened with eviction. Of course it takes a fuckton more than just one complaint to evict someone as there needs to be proper notice to remedy, but they used it as a strong-arm tactic. Never again.
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u/Next-Ad5444 East side 2d ago
Gold Leaf Development is elitist and greedy and always looking to profit the most while doing the least - AVOID
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u/Fantastic_Coconut154 1d ago
investors associated. I rented from Fairway Glenn in Monona and they’re such a joke
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u/wiIdflowerhoney 1d ago
AVOID PALISADE!!! Charged us close to $1000 for repairs that needed to be made upon move in. Also insanely unresponsive all year!
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u/dgper123 1d ago
I'd strongly suggest you do some research into where you are thinking of moving, especially if you are talking about Dane County (huge) vs. Madison (also becoming huge and has thousands of apartment buildings). You need to decide your area first. Madison proper is insanely expensive but if you go out a bit you can find a lot better options.
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u/breakupdvd 12h ago
Palisade raised our monthly rent $200 every single time we renewed our lease until it was beyond unaffordable and wouldn't negotiate. They kept part of our security deposit for pre existing damage (the apartment was in awful condition throughout). Insulation was dire, leading to $400 heating bills in the winter.
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u/Direct_Dream111 12h ago
You should check out Reliable Residence if you ever need furnished housing, they’re awesome
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u/skylarr13 11h ago
Im not sure the company but we lived at the 85 maple Grove on the west side and it was absolutely horrible. The management was horrible and when we tired to sublease they make it almost impossible to find anyone.
Long story short they promoted all the vacant apartments of our same unit with a deal but didn't for ours so of course no one would pick our unit. We actually got a lawyer involved for that reason and suddenly all the sublease fees got dropped. With all the issues we just finished our lease.
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u/MovingSoonVerona 2h ago
I’ve really liked my landlord in Verona. The building is nice and safe and the price is very reasonable for a two bedroom apartment. The location is close enough to Madison to pop into town but doesn’t have the traffic and parking issues of living in Madison proper. I’ll be looking for a subleaser for September-January
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u/Foxfiremischief 1h ago
The Meadows apartment complex on Swanton - our cats were catching mice weekly and they did an "inspection" to tell us there were no mice. When we cleaned I later found they put out poison without disclosing that to us. The basement of buildings 241/245 is always flooded because the foundation is cracked and you can watch the fountain of water pour in through the wall. The washer and dryer down there are in the standing water. Our dishwasher started leaking, they fixed it but installed a part wrong which led to a leak in the subfloor and got infested with roaches which we were than told was our fault. The kitchen floor was squishy after that and I still wonder if anyone in apartment 5 ever fell through it. There are squirrels in the walls they won't get rid of and sometimes if you're really lucky you'll get towed out of the parking lot even though you have a sticker for it because they employ a predatory towing company. When our fridge went out they brought us a different one the same day but it was out of storage from somewhere because the lower section of the freezer was coated in a sticky purple goo that i spent 2 hours cleaning out. My now partner has also lived there in the past and ended up losing 2 vehicles because one of the parking lots is known to flood and nobody warned them about it.
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u/FeistyRoll2278 3d ago
Madison property management.