MTD Property Management & Sales

The staff here is the rudest most disrespectful people I have ever met in my life. I Have been yelled at over the phone multiple times, ignored, I’ve had their people just show up in my unit without notifying me. The place started falling apart the second I moved in, the building is even falling over. I have since moved out because it is inhabitable, but they of course disagree and I’m still on the lease. Doesn’t matter because I already have a place that is run by a management company that actually cares about it’s tenants. I’m not sure if they are going to chase me to pay even though I’m gone, but I am fully committed in not paying and would gladly file suit as they broke many laws while I was a tenant and it would be so easy to prove.

I could talk extensively about my experiences with this company, and with Teri, Donna, Denise (the people whose names are usually attached to the emails I get… eventually…promising to send maintenance to my apartment, whether or not it actually comes), but instead, I will just share with you the exact text of the message I just sent in on their online ‘maintenance portal.’
«I have killed four roaches in my kitchen this morning, just in the course of making a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal.
Three more got away through the drawer where we keep our measuring utensils, because that drawer is next to the wall, which is full of the cracks that they use to get into our cabinets.
We have always had some pest problems in this building, but the past few weeks have been out of control. PLEASE DO SOMETHING. If we were a restaurant having to prepare food with this many bugs running freely through our food preparation area, we would have been shut down long ago. In the past, we have had once-​weekly pest control visits, which at least contained the problem. But the renovation upstairs seems to be funneling all of them into our apartment via holes in the floor, cracks in the walls, and God only knows where else.»

I honestly don’t know how anyone has given positive reviews to this property management company. Perhaps the apartments/​locations have been decent, but the management? Absolutely horrible.
I have never experienced such poor customer service in an industry that relies on people. You have one job as a landlord; manage your property. Teri Nordstedt, however, has repeatedly failed in managing the property in which I live. I have never once met her (it has been a year), she is consistently late or abrasive in her responses to any of our issues, and is generally the least helpful property manager I’ve ever encountered.
My roommate and I have experienced an unprecedented amount of issues with our apartment, including TWO separate gas leaks that we took care of ourselves, no heat for the first 2 months, no AC currently, kitchen sink leaks, a cracked window (cracked when we moved in), a general lack of proper insulation, broken outlets, a buzzer system that has never worked, no keys provided for our back door, the front door not locking properly, broken blinds, broken bathroom sink faucet, and still more. Each of these things occurred through no fault of our own, and when we requested that they be fixed, there was little to no response. I understand that there is general wear and tear on an apartment, but at least be responsive and helpful in fixing the property you own, especially when there are safety issues like gas leaks. Not only has our experience been highly unpleasant, but it has also been UNSAFE, something that is not okay in a residence.
I will also mention that as part of our higher rent price, we were promised a working buzzer system and central AC, neither of which we have had during our time here. My dad has visited and completed some of the basic fixes that the maintenance people have failed to do. In actuality, MTD owes my dad some money for fixing up the apartment.
Currently the light in the stairwell is out, which means residents have to walk up the stairs in near pitch darkness, and who knows when that will be fixed. I also tried to do my laundry recently, and the coins were jammed because Teri hadn’t emptied the coin tray in weeks. This posed a problem since I travel during the week and can only do my laundry on certain days (weekends) and Teri never even responded to my voicemail. TERRIBLE job. Just simply awful.
I will never, ever rent a property owned by MTD again.

It’s now been nearly two years with MTD, and I still have zero complaints. Donna and Denise continue to be helpful whenever anything has come up, and now that there is a new maintenance request system, any issues that come up are handled super quick. (I’ve only had one request so far and it was handled the same day.) Before this system existed, there was a holiday weekend when a smoke detector in the hall was chirping because of a low battery. I emailed them, totally expecting that it would be Monday before anyone could attend to it, but someone came by within a few hours.
I still can’t make sense of the bad reviews. I know several people who rent from other companies and can tell horror stories about pest problems, issues accessing their building, slow or no response to maintenance requests, or huge hikes in rent. I really have had nothing but great experiences in all these regards. Sure, my building is old, but I’ll take a little character in my building over terrible management. The building itself is also super quiet. I can hear commotion in the neighborhood with the windows open, but the walls are super thick and neighbors are generally pretty quiet. If my place wasn’t a studio and wasn’t meant to be transitional, I might never leave… but whenever I upgrade to a larger place, I’ll absolutely try to stay with MTD.

Our property is fine but the management (Donna) is worthless. Submit a request and you have to ask five time to get it done. Rarely do I get a response from emails and I don’t believe I have ever had a maintenance request completed on the first request.
It seems like the status quo for property managers is to provide shitty customer service.
Again, properties are fine, management is worthless.

I totally disagree with Greg S and his need to educate all the people who have had a bad experience with MTD on how the relationship between the management company and owner work… and that they should just accept these issue as part of ‘living in the big city’ and essentially stop whining? What? So he liked analogies so I have two. Say you bought a BMW and the dealer delivers u a ford escort. Would u be fine with that… yah know it’s just part of buying a car in the city? Or say your boss kicked u in the nuts every time u came into work… would u be ok with that? You know he’s your boss and can do anything he wants, right? I cringe at the thought of a society where we would be required to just accept things. It also isn’t entitlement when you pay rent to want to have things in working order. Geesh.
That said I have had no major issues with MTD and their website makes paying rent very easy.

From an email I received 10÷20÷14, «Well, I am very sorry that you are so disappointed with and bitter towards MTD Property Management. It does seem that at every turn our best intentions were received with a great deal of negativity.»
Best Intentions?
— You raised my rent $ 300 from 2012 to 2014 with no reason as to why and with zero improvements made to the unit…
— You came to my house with no notice and assumed because my boyfriend just happened to be there and answer the door that it was okay to come inside and take pictures of my apartment. Then when I emailed you about it, you assured me that you wouldn’t have come in if no one had been there. But my boyfriend is not on the lease, so why did his approval even matter? You shouldn’t have even knocked on my door if it wasn’t an emergency (or without giving me 24 hours notice… that’s illegal)…
— Your agents tried bargaining for more showings without 24 hour notice AND on an already rigorous Mon-​Sun *required* showing schedule (Mon. — Fri. 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 P. M, Saturday & Sunday 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 P.M.)…
— You did not have the security deposit returned to me within 30 – 45 days, which is IL state law, and acted like it was no big deal…
And then you *assumed* we wanted the security deposit split in two *despite* only providing one name and one forwarding address on the official forwarding address form? And when I *only* received half of the expected deposit and emailed you about it, you replied with a very condescending email (which is quoted above), and *then* had the nerve to say in that email that I only received half because 99.9% of your tenants want the security deposit split, so you «graciously» split it? If the official forwarding address form did not list two names and two addresses, why didn’t you bother asking if that’s what *we* wanted? Why even have us fill out the move-​out form then? And why *choose* to send the second half of our deposit to the «last known address» where the other tenant doesn’t even live?
I now rent through Avenue1 and believe me, they would not say I’m negative or bitter because guess what, they aren’t an unorganized, unprofessional, and selfish property management company like MTD.
Do yourself a favor and find Trudy from Avenue1 before you ever even have to talk to Teri from MTD.

I’m not sure why there are so many ranty reviews. We’ve had nearly flawless experience with MTD. We found ourselves unemployed and had to make a very quick move and transition to a small studio. Sadly, our previous landlord gave us a bad reference that wasn’t very accurate, and Donna listened to my explanation of our situation and landlord relationship, looked at the facts, my good credit score, and made a good (and kind) judgement to rent to us. We struggled through unemployment, but never missed rent, and Donna & Denise have been very generous, communicative, and kind about managing our lease. They’re very by the books re: tenant laws, and if people ever have a problem, they just need to communicate it and it’ll get sorted.
The apartment itself is cute, generally well maintained, and the price is incredibly low for this location and quality. The kitchen is an incredible size for a small studio w/​plenty of storage, and there’s a walk in closet, too.
I will say that the apartment was extremely dirty from the previous tenant, which was due to MTD having difficulty with their own key before the move-​in and not being able to inspect it. In the event this happens, someone could justly ask for it to be cleaned, or deduct the cost of cleaning from next months rent, per Chicago regulations. I didn’t want to deal with it at the time, so I didn’t follow up. I do also wish the hallways and staircase would get a deep clean.
The maintenance guy is very nice and fairly prompt (depending on the urgency of the issue) and does a good job fixing things, although if something’s leaking under the sink or something similar, take your things from under the sink because he doesn’t do the best job cleaning during/​after the fix. Most recently our toilet broke on a Friday afternoon. I emailed Denise, and it was fixed before the end of the day.
Besides the low cost and incredible location, one of the practical things I love is that there’s no security deposit hassle. Although I like to leave a place like I found it (or better, in this case), I’m glad I don’t have to worry that a Type A landlord is going to retaliate inordinately on the security deposit because I didn’t patch up every hole, wipe & sanitize every surface perfectly, or because I left my shoes in the hall (this happened). I feel very comfortable to make this apartment my own within reason, which is nice when you’re not quite ready to own a home and feeling at home in your place is important.

Is it possible to give negative stars? MTD Properties are a bunch of lying scumbags. Their craigslist post was of an apartment with beautiful dark hardwood floors and exposed brick and windows allowing tons of light in. They also boasted new appliances and stainless steel etc. What I walked into may have been a dungeon that the Saw movies were filmed in. I almost wanted to fight the dirtbag that showed me the place. He stopped me and the handful of other terribly mislead people for a disclaimer ‘The photos were from a similar model apartment’ before letting us inside. Similar is not the word I would have used, Ricky. I immediately walked out and thanked Ricky for wasting my time and asked him to have his terrible company take this listing offline. I wish I had more hands so I could give MTD Properties more thumbs down.
I’m updating this to let you all know that MTD called me back after my angry phone call from yesterday. They removed the post finally but they decided to bash the owner of the property instead of accepting any of the blame for description and photos not being even remotely similar to the apartment they were trying to rent. They should get none of your hard earned money. Skip all postings from MTD.

I just recently moved out of a place that my roommate and I rented through MTD. The place itself was okay, but wasn’t kept up as well as it could be. The on-​call repair guy was very nice and got things done okay, but it was sloooooow to get him there. And he wasn’t necessarily provided with materials to do solid permanent repairs. Our kitchen window was leaking, so the solution was to put a gigantic clear tarp in it, and although I frequently reminded them, they never did a permanent repair. Our heat went out during the coldest winter Chicago has seen in ages, and they didn’t get anyone to fix it for over a week. In 50 below weather. They *eventually* provided us with a space heater that didn’t do too much to heat the place up, and whenever we would call to ask when the heat would be fixed, we would get some vague non-​answer. Both my roommate and I had to find other places to sleep during that time.
The final reason I decided to write this review was the pain in the butt it has been to get the security deposit back. Legally they have 45 days. When that was a couple weeks away and I still did not get it, I reached out to Teri, who had managed our account. It took her over a week to get back to me, and she said she would «look into it». Never heard back, still didn’t have the check. This was something that happened during the lease as well. Teri would selectively respond to my communication. When the 45 days was almost up, I reached out again, she said she’d contact the landlord. Then 45 days came and went, I called, left a couple voicemails, no response. My former roommate finally got her on the phone, and it was a bunch of excuses. I finally got the security deposit, and it seemed like the landlord had no intention of sending it out without being continually petitioned. Teri offered no explanation to me as to why she ignored my voicemails and half my e-​mails. I would have appreciated her taking responsibility on behalf of the business she represents.
These experiences do not encourage me to try MTD again.

The other reviews that state they’re a bit slow on repairs are true. But we always had things fixed. But often they broke again quickly and had to email again. (Mainly the front door lock was constantly broken. Constantly) However things were taken care of and the sidewalks were always shoveled in winter.
I never had much of a problem with them. They were accommodating with our lease renewal needs and generally polite, but you do have to kind of hound them occasionally.
Our security deposit was returned quickly, but moving in our apartment was absolutely disgusting … and it was empty. However they must have received a lot of complaints about this because when we moved out they hired a cleaning service that we ran into on our way out.

I have to say, MTD Property Management was one of the best property management companies I’ve ever experienced. They were quick to respond to any immediate issues I had and are always on top of building maintenance. Donna and her staff are all very kind and flexible. For instance, I needed to extend my lease for additional months during Spring /​Summer to house shop and they went out of their way to accommodate. I just can’t thank them enough!

Renting through MTD has been one of the worst experiences of my life. Where do I start?
The move in. We were promised that the place would be cleaned upon moving in. It was rented to us in filty conditions, we had to pay a crew to come out and do a professional cleaning, MTD basically said sorry about that but we don’t care. They offered us no compensation for the cleaning done.
Everything in our apartment was slapped together. It was advertised as a freshly rehabbed unit — yeah not so much. Things started falling apart immediately and they wouldn’t do anything about it.
They told us the neighbors below us were nice, they were drug dealers who would have their gang friends over at all hours. They were also breeding pitbulls which was against the policy, MTD did nothing. When the neighbors finally moved out, they left a heaping pile of trash in the back yard which the garbage company refused to pick up. We notified MTD, and again they did nothing.
Now we’re at the point where we’re moving out. MTD is showing our place to other people, they listed our unit as being vacant even though we still live there, so we have realtors invading our home not knowing that it is still occupied. We notified MTD to change the listing and they of course haven’t done anything.
Now a rep from MTD told us that someone has rented it and there would be no more showings but yet they haven’t taken it off the market and thus people still coming by every single day to see it.
Trusting internet reviews is hard to do but seriously do yourself a favor and do not sign a lease with this company. You will regret your decision immediately.

I have had some terrible experiences with management/​realty companies, but MTD is not one of them. My building is clean, quiet, safe… which may be testament to the North Center location, but this is not some slum lord company in my experience. Donna and Denise have always been quick to respond to emails and the one or two times I’ve needed maintenance help (trivial issues) I got attention right away. Communication is great. I’ve gotten emails on preventing freezing pipes and other stuff, and they always clearly post notices if the water will be off or if something weird happens (i.e. someone tried to break into the laundry room, but that was before I lived here). Paying rent online is really easy too.
I could complain about the time that my quarters got stuck in the washer, but the slots worked normally the next time I was down there. I could whine that a snowblower woke me up on a Saturday morning, but… hey, look, it’s been super snowy and they constantly make sure the snow is cleared from ALL the walkways: courtyard, backside, and front sidewalk. Maybe I lucked out with choosing the right MTD building because they seem to be pro-​active and on it.

I wish I could rate MTD with 0 stars. Worst management company I’ve ever dealt with. Not only are they slow on their responses but they won’t fix anything. I asked 7 times to label the apartments. It’s impossible to get deliveries when none of the apartments are labeled. Seriously… how is the UPS or take out guy gonna know which apartment is which when there are no labels? What do the labels cost? $ 10. It’s not like I was asking for a jacuzzi tub to get installed. They just won’t fix it. They also don’t maintain the supposed «locked and controlled» courtyard. The locks are broken on most all of the doors. The interior is as cheap as can be too. Try your luck elsewhere.

MTD is the WORST MANAGEMENT COMPANY EVER! DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT WITH THEM!
I am not one to write reviews, especially negative ones, but this company is a complete JOKE. They lie, do not respond to emails, and do not care about their tenants. Our washer & dryer has been out for 3 months! My husband and I moved into this unit because of the washer and dryer on the premises. Their solution is to give us keys to another building! They say they send someone out, I never see anyone here. They keep telling us that the repairman «will not leave until it is fixed», another LIE. It has been THREE MONTHS of this. Teri then sent us an email saying that it would be repaired this weekend, and that if it couldn’t be, they would remove it entirely and not replace it!
Take my advice, DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!

Around late June I was looking for a new place and went their open house for a new property. Loved it and so my roommates and I submitted an application and were approved around early July.
Weeks go by. We attempted to contact them repeatedly to try to schedule a time to sign the lease. We called and left voice mails — no response. We emailed — no response. When I did finally reach them on the phone I got a hurried reply that this was their busy season and they couldn’t meet outside office hours to sign a lease. I eventually got her to say she would email us a copy of the lease, but surprise, that never happened either.
We were left to frantically search for a new place last minute for an August 1 move-​in date. Luckily, we were able to find a place that suited our needs. I will say that after a terse email, they did apologize to us and return our deposit.

I think we can agree (based on reading these reviews that are either one star or five stars and rarely in between) that your experience with MTD really differs based on the building you live in, so I give 5 stars for my experience in Rogers Park (if you need a more specific address message me).
I moved in a little over a year ago. Move in was seamless, no trouble, unit was totally clean and much of it obviously newly remodeled. I’ve had no major maintenance concerns except for some water leaking through the ceiling in the bathroom and it was immediately tended to. For the few minor things — door knob, putting an air conditioner in, etc. the maintenance was still speedy. Haven’t experienced any laundry machines being down for weeks, rude customer service, or anything of that sort.
If I HAD to pick a draw back, it would be that too many people are involved in the financial side of things. For awhile I over paid in rent by accident and I had one person quote me a different number on my total overage than the other, and in the same few hour span one person tell me I was behind in rent and the other tell me I was at a $ 0 balance. It wasn’t that big of a deal but I didnt love that they were inconsistent. I solved it pretty easily though.
My building is well maintained, really quiet, gorgeous greenery, conveniently located, and all the stuff I look for. I just signed for my second year and the rent increase wasn’t unreasonable. I’d recommend it.

This is absolutely the WORST company I have ever dealt with as a renter. I would not even give them one star if i could.
My apartment building was bought over by them several months ago, and after that happened everything went down hill.
It took them nearly two months for them to fix the washing machine, so we only had one machine for entire building. They started doing construction without the correct permits and everyone morning I would have to wake up to a drill of some sort. I had to call 311 several times and they did get in trouble. They turned off water entire day without notification, they were throwing debris off the roof without warning the tenants and no joke I nearly got brick thrown at my head! The jerk owner was so kind to give me $ 150 off my rent to basically keep my mouth shut.
They have no concern for people’s belongings, for a water pipe broke and damaged my entire storage unit and they did nothing to compensate! After most of my belongings being ruined they had the audacity to throw EVERYTHING away and not take responsibility. Honestly this company gave me nothing but a head ache and I cannot wait to move out!!! After I move out I’m taking these losers to court and suing them for my property they threw away. DO NOT move into their POS buildings. You def will regret it I PROMISE.

Denise at MTD is pleasant, responsive and tries to help as much as possible. However, the laundry has not worked since I moved in over 3 months ago and her hands are tied. Not sure if this review is for MTD anymore since they are following orders of the owner, who doesn’t seem to care. Teri, the manager of the building, told me it’s a convenience to me to have a laundry room and that’s how I should look at it. I signed this lease with the knowledge that there would be a working laundry. There isn’t. There are e-​mails back and forth about the laundry and how they say they are going to fix it. I’m upset that I was led to believe that there would be laundry here and there isn’t. Teri basically told me tonight that it’s my problem. Very upsetting.
I cannot find the owner of the building — not surprised. I’m guessing he wants nothing to do with the place other than making money off it.