Acorn Property Management

I’ve been living in an Acorn managed property for a few months and so far so good! Had some issues with getting keys for my unit, but they were quick to make accommodations when necessary. They were super quick to address my first and only maintenance request of a slow drain (within a day or two, the culprit being someone’s shampoo cap blocking the drain!). Heat is kicking this winter which is nice not to worry about freezing!

I lived in an Acorn building for a year, and I always had a good experience with them. The building was great – dog friendly, well maintained, and really affordable for the location. Marti, the property manager, is seriously the best! She was quick about answering questions and sending people out for maintenance (usually to fix the washer/​dryer or de-​ice the back walkway). And she was really flexible when the contract fell through on my condo and I needed to extend my lease at the last minute while I looked for another place to live (sadly, not in the same building). I’d definitely recommend her!

I’m on my second year living in an Acorn building and I think by far it’s the best building I’ve lived in. They’re dog friendly. Great neighbors for the most part. And this year we got a new property manager who we absolutely love. If there are any concerns or issues she addresses them right. Maintenance is also very prompt and the guys are very friendly. I do plan on staying here a while until I’m able to purchase my own home. But until then this is a great home to have. Especially since we got a new property manager. Things were good before but now they are great since she’s been the manager.

OMG! This so called business is lucky I have to give them one star. They are the absolute worst mgt company I’ve ever seen. Unorganized (they misplace checks and apply them to other buildings)
Our property manger Hope Was the absolute worst! If she has to manage your building RUN!!!
They do nothing if you’re a small building you’re better off doing by yourself rather then pay this unpredictable slob!

ACORN IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST! I would NOT recommend living in one of their buildings. I have had endless UNRESOLVED problems. The structure is extremely cheaply built. Since we moved in, we have had several roof leaks from various parts of the roof without any permanent solution, that led to mattress damage from rusty rain water. My property manager, Donna, has fallen off the face of the earth. I literally had NO ONE to speak to regarding any problems for months because she wouldn’t return my calls or my emails.
The heater has been broken since we moved in without anyone even coming to fix it. To make matters worse, a stranger has walked into my apartment before because apparently, all of the locks and keys are the same!
They are completely unorganized, uncommunicative, unreachable. I WILL NOT BE RENEWING MY LEASE.

Our property which is mixed owners and tenants is managed by Acorn, more specifically Hope Chavez. Her and Acorn are the ultimate nightmare. All of the bad reviews are being generous to them. Ms. Chavez has been the most unpleasant person to deal with. She does not answer any emails or phone calls, and claims to be too busy managing other buildings. She involves herself with the politics of the Association Board to the deteriment of the building. In our buidling she has turned owners against each other, and will not work with you if you are on her sh#t list. Never use Acorn to manage your property unless you want the value to go down. We are going to try to sell our condo b/​c dealing with Ms. Chavez and Acorn is just becoming too stessful and our building is going to pot. Run from them!

TERRIBLE Company to rent from. I lived at one of their properties off of Belmont in Lakeview, loved the neighborhood but within the first 5 months of having signed the lease — I had to relocate for my job.
So I found a sublet — I informed A.P.M. in writing and everything seemed to be fine … until my sublet wasn’t able to finish the agreed upon portion of lease. I planned a weekend of ‘sublet’ viewings and staging, I drove the 4 hours up to Chicago … That’s when I discovered, with a full four months left in the lease the locks had been changed and I couldn’t access the apartment I was paying for any longer.
I had received no communication that the apartment had become occupied. When I called (while standing outside the door to the apartment) They informed me the apartment was still in my name and I needed to continue to pay rent on time, but when I said … «funny I’m standing outside the apartment and I can’t get in … «Suddenly their story changed «they HAD found a sublet and they WERE going to credit my account for SOME of the time they tenant had been in there» …
Spin. Those. Lies. And. Keep. On. Thieving.
Long story short. This company will lie, cheat and steal from you.
DO NOT RENT FROM THEM!

I lived in 930 W Oakdale for about a year and had a great experience with Acorn. My unit and building were in excellent condition. I needed maintnance one time and they came the next day after I put the request in. I thought my shower head was clogged but it turned out the water pressure needed to be fixed, which they did right away.
Marti Siler was the property manager for my building and she was wonderful. She is responsive and professional — I never worried about anything. I would rent with Acorn again for sure.

Hi Aaron,
We’re writing to let you know that we’ve removed your most recent review of Acorn Property Management. Our Support team has determined that it falls outside our Content Guidelines (
) because it contains personal attacks.
We understand you may have had an exceptionally bad experience; however, while we welcome our reviewers to share their experiences and to be as descriptive as possible in those accounts, we also ask that they avoid taking their grievances to a personal level.
Removed Content:
I actually hate Acorn Property and property manager D**** T****. so much that I’m reposting this review [FOR THE THIRD TIME], 4 months after I moved out of Acorn’s property and Chicago. Unilocal took down my original review for mentioning D**** by her full name, but she’s one of the biggest reasons to avoid Acorn Property. [D**** T**** is incredibly unprofessional and rude to her tenants. I don’t think I can say more, or Unilocal will pull my review. AGAIN.]
Acorn promised a host of renovations to our apartment before we moved in. They never materialized, despite being in violation of Chicago’ rental ordinances. We contacted them with additional repair needs that were never made. The back stairs were a constant hazard, whether from ice in the winter or built-​up pigeon guano always. The pigeon infestation was so bad one tenant took to shooting pigeons with an air rifle, but Acorn just left the dead pigeons in the courtyard. There was no water pressure because the pipes were leaking into the walls, but I was blamed when the ceiling beneath me collapsed. Our upstairs neighbor was a psychotic Christian who would stalk my boyfriend down the street to call him a faggot, but Acorn didn’t care, so we had to call the police on her more than once. When the back gate broke and tenants couldn’t use the back stairs to walk their dogs (as was required), someone just snapped the knob off so the gate didn’t lock. It took Acorn about a month to fix the knob, but they didn’t distribute new keys. I was yelled at by maintenance staff for taking my bike in the front door; they thought it was acceptable for me to leave my bike/​dog unsupervised in an alley while I went through the front, up 3 flights of stairs, through my apartment, down three flights of stairs, and through the courtyard to retrieve my only means of transportation/​best friend just so they wouldn’t have to sweep (not that they ever did).
Really, I could go on. Pick a month I lived there and I have a problem I could tell you about. Acorn did nothing to maintain this property in a livable condition. They will ignore you until you withhold rent, then they threaten you with legal action. I was lucky to have only lost a year’s worth of money and trouble to Acorn. Please, Acorn tenants, acquaint yourselves with the Landlord-​Tenant Rental Ordinance. If Acorn breaks any of those terms, report them. They’ve gotten away with it for too long. I’m afraid the only thing that’s going to put them out of business is one of their poorly maintained buildings collapsing on someone. I’m just glad I don’t have to worry about it any more, but I’m praying for all of y’all who do…
***READ THE REVIEWS THAT AREN’T RECOMMENDED***
Unilocal is pulling some shady shit with this business. All of the most negative (and in my opinion, relevant) reviews have been buried or removed. Who watches the watchers?
***This is the second [MAKE THAT THIRD] time I’ve had to repost my review. I am really not sure how I violated Unilocal’s terms the second time [AND I REALLY DON’T CARE THIS TIME. FUCK Unilocal, I’M DONE!], but I really want everyone to know how awful Acorn is, so I’m posting again [AND AGAIN. AND AGAIN…].***
Regards,
Lucy
Unilocal User Support
San Francisco, California

To start, I was very happy with Acorn Property Management. As time went on, though, things just went downhill. The maintenance technician was very rude, accusing me of messing with things in the apartment and telling me I don’t know what I am talking about. Then, come to find out that there were charges placed on my account that NO ONE INFORMED ME OF… until it was time for me to move. The 1616 – 1620 Farwell back are is completely full of pigeon dung and they do nothing to clean it. One of the downstairs doors was open, and COMPLETELY FLOODED WITH WATER! Who knows what type of mold could be festering under the building! The washer/​dryer combo were rarely maintained, and they dragged on gas and other maintenance walkthroughs from one day to one week. Donna Tomes, when having a discussion on the phone regarding charges placed on my account 6 months prior, began screaming and yelling and calling me names. How unprofessional.
All of the doorknobs fell off the interior doors of the apartment by month 6, the paint job when I moved in was horrendous, and the maintenance man literally yelled at me when I said that the knob on the oven was not for the oven in my unit. Small, but they guy was a total ass.
I have to compliment the floors, as they redid them for my move in, although the people below me didnt get so lucky. Their floors were disgusting and had an icebox fridge.
There are better management companies out there. Take a pass on this one.

If I could give negative or zero stars for Acorn, I would. Here’s why.
We loved the apartment when we first viewed it (at night, at the end of 2 months of desperate apartment hunting), and we were assured that certain issues would be dealt with before we moved in. But when we did, and saw things by the light of day, we saw that nothing had been handled. Half our windows have no screens, despite the rolls of screening that were left in our apartment ostensibly to replace the missing and damaged screens. The rear stairs, which we are largely required to use, have been swarming with pigeons that shit all over everything, as well as ice that is never dealt with in the winter: both present serious hazards. Water damage to the floors and ceilings is extensive and ongoing, and walls and windows are neither waterproof nor weathertight. Human and animal hairs, tape, wiring, etc. have all been painted over on the walls and windowsills. There is no water pressure, particularly with hot water. Heat is completely unregulated, with temperatures ranging from 50 – 90 during the winter. Management and maintenance staff have been rude and unprofessional and refuse to deal with maintenance issues. Our requests have either been ignored or argued against, and the only thing these slumlords respond to is withholding their money. I would suggest that any current tenants do precisely that.

I’m not gonna lie, when one reviews a property company, it’s usually due to being absurdly pissed off or absurdly happy. As can been seen by my 1*, I’m in the absurdly pissed off category.
Acorn was the property management company on my apartment for just about 6 months. While that was a short amount of time, they did a fantastic job of showing themselves to just not give a crap about their tennants unless money was needed.
I have had a leak in my roof for the past two months and I’ve let them know on 4 or 5 different occasions. Each time I was told that roofers would come to repair it, but alas, the same leak is still there and guess what, a new leak has sprung. The best part was the first time I told them about it, the property manager came out and told me he didn’t have his ladder on him and he couldn’t take a look. WTF! I had specifically said that my roof was leaking and he couldn’t even bring a ladder with him. I mean, taking a look at a roof normally requires a ladder unless your spiderman, right?
At least now I have a new management company taking over and they told me today that they’ll be on it right away. It could be smoke up my ass, but it’s a lot more than Acorn told me the past two months. When my new property manager asked me if Acorn did anything about it, I said no, and I could tell that I wasn’t the first person who had some sort of complaint that Acorn didn’t act upon.
When I started renting my place, Acorn wasn’t even in the picture. This apartment was bought by them and I had the joy of dealing with them. There is a reason that you see this amount of 1* reviews, and it’s not because they are proactive. Over the years I’ve had some bad landlords, but Acorn is right up there with the worst I’ve had. Thank god I don’t have to deal with them anymore.

I moved into an Acorn property about a month ago, and so far, they have been wonderful. From signing the lease with Donna to working through maintenance issues with Gazmen and Leno, they have been easy to work with, quick to respond, and very friendly and patient throughout the process.
They promised a very long list of repairs before I moved in, and I was pleasantly surprised upon move-​in that not only had the entire list been completed, but they also provided me with brand new appliances and an electrical system throughout the apartment that I had not been expecting.
Highly recommended.

BELLA E. you clearly work for acorn because every single thing you wrote is 100% bullshit. these people are slum lords and the properties are disgusting. the only person that has ever showed any respect or even showed me they cared even a little bit is Donna. the owners and management are a complete joke.
I am counting the days until I can move out of here.
I cant describe how awful it is.
the worst part of it is how i am forced to drag my dogs through standing black filth water in the back that also includes broken glass shards and used condoms (i’ll post the picture of that).
I have many more complaints. im waiting until my lease is up to post every single one of them for fear they are gonna do something drastic.

Why did it take me so long to write this review? Well… it’s here now
Long (er) story short (er) goes like this.
The property manager David rented me an apartment in 2009. Loved it. Never had an issue. He was always available. We even discussed me moving into a bigger apartment in the same complex. If I had issues with the apartment, I got a phone call within 24hrs from maintenance.
May 4 2012. My apartment was broken into. Earlier the same day, maintenance called to see if I’ll be at home so they can check on my sink but I was at work. When I got home, a couple of my items were missing. Not everything, just a TV and my XBOX. I thought that was strange because I also had a laptop and computer (flatscreen) there as well. My bedroom was trashed like they wanted me to believe someone came through my bedroom window. How pathetic. I’m thankful only little was taken but whoever did that KNEW what I had ahead of time and knew exactly what they came for. Plus, no forced entry.
I called David the same night. No answer and left a voicemail. He never got back to me. I even called Acorn and they tell me talk with maintenance. The manager over maintenance tells me, «Do you have proof? Did you see who did it? Ill check and see with my people and I’ll call you back.» Completely brushed me off.
Luckily I was holding that month’s rent because I kept complaining previously about the flock of ants in my apartment that no one wanted to check on. I took my money and left. Now they are claiming I owe rent for a month I wasn’t even there and charged me $ 200 for the keys. David tells me to put them in the apartment and close the door. I get to the apartment and ¹⁄₃ locks are changed. So you charge me $ 200 for one doorknob that you got for $ 13 at HomeDepot?!! Please. Not only did your people take my things, you still have my security deposit.
SMH.

To sum up: If you EVER hear of Acorn management in charge of maintenance for an apartment you’re looking at. DO NOT RENT.
I was dating someone who lived in one of their apartments. Overall, the management of the place sucked… big time. As far as service requests, you’d have to wait at least 2 or 3 days before anyone would respond. When they did, they often would not fix the problem in its entirety. Example: water leaking through the ceiling. They’d patch the hold in your ceiling, but would not replace the drywall. Black mold eventually crept through.
The biggest thing that sticks in my mind was the upkeep of the building. The place was overgrown with weeds and vines. I recall some workers outside cutting the grass with a weed wacker. They made one pass, down the middle of the grass area and didn’t even do the rest! It looked like they cut a lane straight through it. They left the weeds and decided to water the area. Why water the weeds? The place looked like shit.
Any common areas were perpetually neglected. The stairs were often a mess. I realize the stairs could be messy with people walking up and down them, but when drywall starts falling off of the walls and onto the stairs, it’s the management’s job to clean it up. They would NEVER clean up. Ever.
Constant electrical problems. Turn on an air conditioner and a microwave at the same time and you’ll be asking for trouble. Circuit breakers aren’t even located in the unit, but instead in a locked room in the basement. to them, electrical outages were NOT considered emergencies — but getting someone to come out and fix it took FOREVER. Additionally, the building’s lights in the common areas constantly went out. The management company never replaced them. This left dark, unsafe areas in the building.
I convinced her to move and I’m glad she did. There are TONS of better places in Chicago. I’ve had some stellar rental management in the past and this place needs to be reported to the city. You know what… I just may.

My wife, then girlfriend, rented our first place together through Acorn. While they never outright robbed or insulted us, I can’t think of anything they did right.
From putting down a security deposit and getting an angry phone call from someone we didn’t normally talk to saying we still owed them one (they later «found» our security deposit) to refusing to give our deposit back until we’d been gone for 6 months, they had a very discomforting attitude towards our money.
When we asked for things to get fixed, they would either not get fixed at all, or we’d get a passive aggressive speech about how «our building» was never on time with our rent, and if we were maybe «our building» would get more repairs and a nicer lawn. The two of us were never remotely near being late with rent.
At one point someone attempted to break into our unit. I «scared» them off as they attempted to pick the back door lock by yelling. The next morning we discovered someone had completely cut down the high chain link fence that once protected our back stair area. When I called Acorn about it, and included the break in story, the first thing they said was «Did you break the fence? Did you lean on it or something?» They never fixed the fence.
On several occasions we had a dead oven or blown fuse, and had to drive down to the office ourselves to get a response.
I am not sure how this place is still in business. I was shocked to see reviews written in 2010. I was not shocked at the quality of the reviews.

I go back and forth with Acorn.
I am the treasurerer for my building (yes, they trust me with those details, I’m still amazed) and I work with Acorn a lot on the everyday details for my building. Maintenance, Upkeep, Assesments, etc etc etc…
Sometimes they deserve 3 stars, but sometimes they deserve 5, so I decided to go with the average of 4.
I have to say that whenever the board has a question Acorn is very quick to respond and find a resolution. On several occasions our representative has gone out of his way to help us with stuff but sometimes I feel like he’s kind of a newbee who should know more than he does.
Overall we’ve been pretty happy with Acorn. They get the job done, the assesments out, the bills paid… and they’re usually easy to work with.