09/25/09

Give your money to people who are respectful-Don't rent here

by Wakeboarder02

I left a deposit with Apartment Source for 1/4 of the rent prior to my move in. I drove all the way from St. Louis with a moving van and a cashiers check made out to Apartment Source and prepared to sign the lease on the agreed move-in date. I wisely insisted on walking through the apartment earmarked for me before signing the lease (thank god for that, otherwise I would be living there right now). They promised it would be painted and the enormous black stains in the carpet would be cleaned or replaced. I get there and the place was filthy, I mean dishes in the sink, and a half-opened trash bag filled with garbage in the unit, with flies in the unit to boot. Me and my patient 3rd party agent called and asked what the deal was. I asked if the place would be cleaned and painted. Todd (the owner) said that he would have someone clean it and paint it "next week." That was a fair response, but I asked that he add a line in the lease that said that he would make the necessary repairs (always get it in writing, right?). I was met with rudeness and an overall challenging response. "I will not alter a Chicago lease." --I said "Todd, put it in writing and I can unload the van that I drove 6 hours here from St. Louis and give you the cashiers check." He proceeded to tell me that if I don't like the condition of the unit to just find another one. Here I am with no place to go and a fully loaded moving van that I was expected to return in 2 days, and this guy is completely uncompromising. I asked Todd to be reasonable and just put it in writing and he goes berserk and starts cursing at me, so I told him that he does not have any respect for people and is verbally abusive. DO NOT RENT FROM TMG MANAGEMENT OR USE THE APARTMENT SOURCE (located in Chicago).

• Pros: none that I saw
• Cons: Rude, unreasonable and hard to deal with

06/15/09

Not Even For $1 Million

by mrjjman

We moved in to the unit on August 1 of last year. The sales person with TMG promised that it would be cleaned and painted and the half-dozen problems we noted (missing outlet covers, broken light fixtures, broken plumbing fixtures, broken shelves in refrigerator, etc.) would be fixed before we moved in. It took three calls to finally get them to admit that they promised in writing to fix these things and I had to take photos of the damage before we moved in our stuff to prove it wasn't our movers who caused the damage. We were promised parking in the back, only to be told it was not for rent anymore because the previous tenants fought over who got to park there. The only time they responded quickly was when a pipe burst, but that was because it left 6 inches of water in the basement and was damaging their property. They promised the carpets would be cleaned to prevent mold...in January, it's now June. I've called every week and been promised someone would come out ASAP and no one ever does.

Now, the foundation is cracked or leaking and there is a large (like 3-foot in diameter) mold patch on one of the walls and a foot round patch on the carpet. We'll see if they can rent this place when I point out the mold to every single person who comes through the unit.

Tip to The Apartment Source: don't treat your tenants like dirt when they work from home and will be there every day you bring in a prospective renter.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Rude, Unresponsive, Expensive, Crappy Apartment

04/22/09

Mixed Signals - I have lived in a TMG unit for 3 Years!

by ChristySoCal

I must speak up when it comes to TMG Management. I have lived with my 3 other roommates in a TMG unit on Greenview & Fullerton for the last three years and have had an opposite experience. Sure I have had things go wrong here (our dishwasher also broke) but it got fixed in a week. I have never really had any issues with Todd, and when I couldn't pay my rent on time for a few months I spoke with him and he helped me work out a payment plan, which most management companies would never do. After my second year of living in our apartment our garage door broke and they fixed it the very next day. We were trying to decide if we were going to renew last year or not. During this time leasing agents started showing our place, but when we decided to renew and turned in our papers we had no further issues with the apartment or with Todd, hence the reason I have lived in a TMG unit for 3 years.

I read the stories below and just felt like I should say my part because I feel like people are giving mixed signals. One person below hates TMG so much but they have lived in a TMG unit for 21 months and the other person hates TMG so much that they decided to renew their lease with TMG. From my point of view, the issues that people have with Todd or TMG cant be that bad because they continue to live in TMG units, just like I have.

• Pros: Nice Updated units at relatively cheap prices
• Cons: my dog is sick