Quote from @Brittany Todd:
I also have a terrible experience with the Columbus branch with Kurt Lehmkuhl, Kat Rosas and Gary Garrison.
The level of incompetence from this company is ASTOUNDING. If you are a landlord I would strongly recommend that you seek professional property management solutions elsewhere or fully be prepared to chase down your property managers for their services. Do not expect them to be proactive in their communication when it comes to renewing leases or anything else.
There have been 3 instances where accounting has messed up on my account resulting in more than or less than the normal amount being deposited into my bank account. I never received any explanation that would help me understand the why other than the property manager blaming new hires.
Another time Northpoint charged another homes repairs to my account/address which resulted in a $388 shortage to my account. When I sent a firm message demanding an answer the property manager completely freaked out and called me half crying about how she’s working to leave the company and some huge sob story that was totally unprofessional to ever tell a customer. However, this result basically ended up with me (the client) being transferred to a new property manager with the company. I do not appreciate basically being “fired” by my property manager because she was unable to handle firm and constructive feedback regarding the lack of HER communication and multiple mistakes by this company. I also believe part of my “firing” was due to the fact that on the phone with her she mentioned how the lease renewal fee paid to her was less than what it should have been due to entry error by the person who entered the contract.
I also received an invoice for $2700 for painting that was done TO ANOTHER HOUSE THATS NOT MINE! As well as received harassing emails asking why the invoice wasn’t paid. They were charging another homes repairs to my home and wasn’t caught until I threatened legal action.
I reached out to the new person who was managing my property to inquire about a lease renewal for my tenants and make it clear I needed to increase the rent to cover expense increases on the house. It was around 45 days out from the end of the lease term (June 30th) for my tenants per the lease they signed and I physically had to ask the status of my tenants receiving a lease renewal and not one, but two property managers have no idea if my tenants had been sent a lease renewal nor did the property managers make any attempt to reach out to me to check in and see what I wanted to do as the landlord with a lease renewal. I am highly irritated that I paid this company $99 a month to not communicate with me and lead me as they are the professionals.
It was 7 days PAST the lease expiration date per the signed lease for the tenants and I had no clue if my tenants had renewed or planned to move. I attempted to reach out to my property manager on 6/30 as per the lease expiration date in writing and he had a terrible attitude and told me I needed to wait until a certain date to have him reach out to the tenants. I spoke to the manager or whatever he is of Northpoint and he confirmed I was correct and the new manager was incorrect on the dates.
When they decided to move out I didn’t know they moved out until I noticed that my smart thermostat in the home was offline and AEP told me there was a disconnect scheduled. No telling what issues this could have caused if I didn’t know they moved out and there was no power to the home for a month. No one ever told me they did a walk through or anyone moved out.
Finally, I am ashamed and quite embarrassed that my tenants only received about 30 days notice that the rent was being increased and an option to renew at the new rate. I had nothing to do with this timing and this was out of my control.
Update: I am still waiting on $250 to be sent back to me from my maintenance account and I have received NO response to my question asking when I would see this money. At this point Northpoint is stealing from me and I do NOT appreciate it.
The accounting is TERRIBLE. Kurt was actually recommended to me by someone on another forum. My year with them was terrible. I was assigned to Raquel Drouillard who has left. Accounting is just terrible with Northpointe. With another one of my section 8 tenants, the accountant ACCEPTED the rent which delayed the eviction. Right before she left, she put in a tenant who I would have never allowed, had I saw all his court records, and housing records. Kurt was very overwhelmed after Raquel left and I was not told that this new tenant didn't pay rent. For some reason, the keys were handed over before his checks cleared. Now, it took awhile to evict him, and including all the fees and rent I lost, it totaled to more than 8,000 dollars. I was also not told of the unpaid sewer and water fees, my poor new tenant doesn't have water right now.
Gary Garrison took over, but he has since left.
I've actually had a great experience with Gary Garrison, not perfect but much better than other property managers. He's very experienced and has an assistant, and he is now working independently. He's great if you are a hands on owner, and gives you great advice. He knows who to talk to at CMHA and screens tenants with experience. A lot of property managers are just busy and can't answer you 24/7, so property owners, you still gotta do your homework.
