Dodson Property Management

If I could give Dotson property management negative stars I would! I had a property with them in Fredericksburg and I was happy with their management. They took over for a previous property manager that found the tenant I have, so they did little to nothing but collect a check. I have a home that I bought in Henrico VA that I could no longer live in. I turned to Dodson to manage this one as well. I was assigned Ryan Fitz to manage my property and it took him over a week to get back to me about the listing. This was very disheartening to know this person that was representing me couldn’t be bothered to talk to me in any way or from i.e. e-​mail, text, or call. I was finally able to talk to Ryan after he got around to me. It took Ryan 5 days to get the house listed and when it was the pictures were upside down and sideways. This is not a professional way to list the house, and once again I was very disappointed. I also tried to look up the property listing on Zillow and Rent finder and the property was not listed for two weeks. This was very frustrating to me and once again I had to get the run around trying to get in contact with Ryan. I would call his phone and leave a voicemail asking him to call back, he would always email me. I should have cut ties with them then and just walked away but I didn’t and that’s where it gets even worse. They had the property for 3 months and couldn’t get someone in there to rent it. I was told by Ryan that there was interest in it but the market was just slow and maybe I should offer incentives like knocking some money off the first months rent (witch would come out of my money but they were still going to charge me as if I received the full amount for that rent, to me sounded like I take all the loss because they can’t get someone in the house). I had checked on the house one day when I was in the area and found that there was trash inside that was not left by myself and the doors where not all locked and the kitchen faucet was now broken! I had enough of the disrespect from Ryan and Dodson property management and let them know that I would be moving my business somewhere else, that is when the bullying started.
I was told that I had to pay Dotson $ 971.25 because all the work they had done trying to get the property rented. First of all, they never got anyone into the house and second some of the stuff they did to list the house was wrong and was spotted by me. I was paying for a house that I was not living in and loosing money to Dodson for not doing their job! I am a 5 time combat veteran that is disabled, with limited funds and was told Dodson doesn’t care about me or my issues, they wanted their money for the half wrong work they did. Ryan Fitz was no longer going to deal with me and turned me over to Elizabeth Cane to deal with the termination fee. I tried negotiating with Elizabeth about the termination fee bringing up the fact that if I was charged the fee, I would take away the property Dodson was managing for me in Fredericksburg. I was told I was going to be charged no matter what and the amount would be taken out of the rent coming from my house in Fredericksburg. This was devastating for me and it left me to be late on the mortgage and no real way to put food on my family’s table. Now let me do some math for you and Dodson:
$ 140 (was what I payed them to manage my one house) x 24 (the amount of months I had a contract for)= $ 3360 That is what they lost out on just to charge me a fee for services that didn’t amount to my house getting a tenant. I took the loss on not only not having my property rented but paying the fee just to get out from Dodson’s oppressive yoke.
I took my property to Candice Bolt of RVA Rental Properties and she got a tenant into the property in 4 days of having it! This showed me that Dodson was the problem the whole time and even though I lost money to the inept way of managing I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.
I have put my life on the line for this country that I love, and to be treated this way was disheartening.

I’m pretty frustrated. Despite reading some pretty worrisome reviews on here, I saw a beautiful property that they’re renting and decided to reach out to them anyway. Just to «request» an appointment, I had to give a lot more information than I was comfortable with. Then I had to provide two times from which the landlord is supposedly going to choose, and then confirm my appointment. Well, that was one Monday, and the only thing i’ve heard back via email was that my request has been received, but not accepted.
I tried to follow up but because I called from the same number i used to make the appointment, it basically refused to connect me and sent me to an automatic recording saying my request was being reviewed. Then i tried calling today from a different phone number, hoping that my first-​choice 4:30 request would be acknowledged, but was sent to voicemail.
I guess I should have paid more attention to all of the awful reviews. If it’s this hard to schedule an appointment just to SEE a rental space, I can only imagine if maintenance issues were to come up how difficult that might be.
I will not be renting from you, Dodson Property Management! Hopefully you can take to heart my feedback and the feedback of others. It’ll only help everyone in the long run :)

Do not rent from this company unless you want to be badgered every time you have a maintenance request. Worst experience I’ve ever had with a property management company. Awful

I have never experienced a rental experience like this one ever in life and I will take responsibility because I disregarded the reviews that I read and signed a lease anyway. I rented a property from Dodson for two years. Upon moving in the downstairs smelled musty which should have been a sign there was an issue with moisture build up. The house was not cleaned, the walls were not painted, the stove was filthy it was not at all what I considered proper move in conditions. Well after being there a little over a month the house was broken into, which was the only thing they came to repair quickly. We dealt with the situation because we were stuck. The first year did not present many issues, however the following year the roof started leaking. They sent someone out to fix it and then the next heavy rain it started leaking again. It leaked for almost a year and we had to call the city and have them send a notice to Dodson before someone was sent out and the whole roof was replaced. They never repaired the damage on the inside that was done from the water. During this time the upstairs shower started leaking downstairs, the caulking needed to be replaced, once the plumbers came out they never repaired the damage done by the shower leaking downstairs. I informed them months in advance that I was moving out and the first day someone comes to show the house my front window gets broken, the windows that they raised the rent to replace only the front and side ones, and they tell me that I was the one who had broken the window. I don’t think so. I moved out a month early and my managers assistant told me someone was trying to move in on the 1^st. I said that was fine do the walk through early. I drove by the home multiple times to see if someone had moved in, I even drove by at midnight and there were cars in the driveway and lights on in the home. However I am charged for August and was told no one moved in until ⁸⁄₂₁ after my lease ended on ⁸⁄₁₅. I guess there was cleaning and maintenance going on at that time of night. I contacted my property manager multiple times between august sept and oct, my lease stated that if they were going to retain the security deposit I was to be informed and have a ITEMIZED statement of what the charges were for. Apparently I was charged for August Rent even though I ask the property manager many times if someone did move in on the 1^st and I did not receive a response until the end of October, and apparently $ 600+ for other items, which when I asked what it was for I was told it was for cleaning and painting. So I am paying for the cleaning and painting that was not done when I moved in? Or so they say and then they say I have a balance left as well, of almost $ 250. I am disgusted with the company and tired of fighting. People thinking I am crazy for paying the balance just for the opportunity to get rid of them and end any type of dealings with them. Even when I am attempting to pay the balance I can not get a timely response for that. This is ridiculous!

We were new to the area and needed to rent a house while having a home built. Dodson showed us several properties, with the caveat «What you see is what you get.» Since we were in a time bind, we went ahead and rented a house sitting on almost two acres of land, much of which had been sorely neglected. The house didn’t appear to be well-​maintained or to have been thoroly cleaned. Several smoke alarms were not functioning; we had to ask to have them replaced. Furnace filters were filthy when we moved in, yet we received monthly reminders from Dodson to change them. We had to arrange and pay for the gas to be turned on; we were subsequently reimbursed for that charge. Major repairs such as the furnace breakdown, electrical issue and plumbing problems were addressed in reasonable time frame but smaller repairs were ignored. The move-​in survey was totally in favor of Dodson; we did not receive a copy until we asked for it and then found it was contrary to our own assessment. When we moved out we were not given anything in writing but received a verbal approval that things were in order. When I asked about the return of our security deposit six weeks later I was informed that the outdoor property had not been maintained to their satisfaction. They hired someone to clean it up and proceeded to charge us for half the cost without first giving us an opportunity to do some of the work ourselves. We always paid the rent on time and left the house cleaner than it was when we moved in. We maintained the landscaping near the house but disagreed with Dodson about how much maintenance we should be expected to do for the perimeter of the property. We finally received a partial reimbursement of our deposit two months after the expiration of the lease. Most of our communication with the company was via email and generally they were slow to respond, with the exception of the major repairs as noted above. We do not recommend using this company.

Don’t rent from these guys. During our two year stay, we had a rotating hodgepodge of property managers. None of them were ever timely in their responses whenever there was an issue. In fact you would be lucky to even get a call back. There was maintenance issue that was not resolved and they would not resolve so I had to do myself. When my new rental property needed my rental history with Dodson, they would not contact them back. Fax, Email, and Phone was used to try and contact but no response. Left me in limbo trying to find a place to live.

As a property owner, I do not recommend using Dodson as your property manager. We have worked with them now for almost 2 years. Both our tenants as well as us, the owners, have received terrible service. Simple issues that need to be fixed take over 2 months to even have a work order submitted, they use their internal «contractor» to repair things and the work is terrible-​their cleaning crew supposedly cleaned my property between tenants 2 times and I still spent an entire day cleaning the house because nothing has been touched! Toilets had not been cleaned, counter tops still had food on them, and the list goes on! Our latest tenants were given the key to move in without even paying the first months rent! We have yet to receive their rent. We have had 2 property managers on our account during this time and both of them requires constant management just to get basic services completed. You do not get quality service through this organization.

Please read my full review from March for my full horrible story. Nothing has changed from that story. However, I did want to follow up from Mr Dodson’s reply. Please note this will be my last comment on this matter.
It is true in early 2015, we did get refunded one month’s fees of about $ 100, well less than the money we lost.
However, Mr. Dodson says «River Bend is not an in house maintenance company».
Please note:
1) He is directly quoted in this 2012 article stating the exact opposite…
«[Dodson] has an in-​house maintenance company – Riverbend Property Services – that handles unskilled labor such as painting, drywall repair, cleaning, and landscaping.»
2) The BBB indicates the owner of River Bend as Duke Dodson…
3) and, not only is he the owner, but he founded River Bend in 2010…
4) …and in 2013, Dodson & River Bend moved into the same floor in a new office buliding.
It may be different today as River Bend now has a Midlothian address. Still, I think these links and stories speak for themselves.
Bottom line, I wish we had done better research ourselves and I want the Unilocal!community to know these facts to make a well informed decision.

Horrible. I will continue to update and write reviews on this company. I am waiting on a reply from Unilocal on why my reviews for Dodson are getting removed. I think they have enough employees flagging my reviews to get them automatically pulled. Once I get to the bottom of it my original review will be back. No one reads/​writes reviews until they have a a great experience or a horrible one. In my case horrible. Dodson will nickle and dime the heck out of you. If you are an owner or tenant. After charging hundreds of dollars in needless fees. You may be forced to break the contract by your property manager and not even know it but when you make a little mistake oops you are in violation and we need another fee. Stay as far away from this company as you can. Any of the positive reviews on here are from there own property managers and staff. Fees, Fees and more fees. But when they violate the contract they don’t offer you a fee in return? how come? I have had very serious complaints only to be told that their staff are the best and that I must be mistaken. I’m a customer why take my time out of my day to make stuff up?

DO NOT RENT FROM THESE PEOPLE.
Unprofessional and disrespectful staff, especially Trevor Wood
They will use your lease against you when it is convenient and violate when they feel like it and when convenient for them.
The Richmond office is run by young kids who do not know what they are doing

Absolutely horrible service. Very difficult to get a call back, doesn’t follow up if the tennent is late with their rent (I have to call them), Dodson keeps the late fee — I still have to make the house payment on time. I’ve been asking for two weeks when the tennent are moving out. I just found out that they moved out two weeks ago when I called the power company (vs trying to get the answer from Dodson),

Awful company! Read all the bad review on line and you will know why. I feel sorry for people who are looking for tenants. I am relocating to the west end and I called Sarah Petty and she was so unprofessional. I had to hear all her personal problems as to why she could not take me to see a home at 8410 Zell Lane richmond. She had no babysitter her husband was going away no day worked for her. She told me to call her back and she would have another agent show me the home on Saturday. She never called me back. I then called her again on Monday, I also emailed her through craigslist, no call back nor email response. I emailed someone in the company again no response. Finally someone in Dodson must of told her and it got to her manager Windi Perrow and Sarah then emailed and called me. By then I had done a review and found that they are the worst Property Management in Richmond.
The only nice thing was that the Manager Windi Perrow finally emailed asking if she could help. By then it was to late. After reading all of the bad reviews it just confirmed what I was feeling. I feel sorry for those who think that these people are trying to find them tenants and they don’t even call you back. I feel worse for those who call because they need a repair. I read of people who have lived with leaks in the ceiling and no heat. I recommend you research who you want to give your home to before you intrust someone to manage your home and to those looking for a home RUN! RUN! RUN! This happen on February 14^th 2014… They are located in Richmond VA

Really good and active property management company. Professional staff that works hard to keep my property leased. Greg Manuel is the ultimate manager, always engaged and stays in contact. I feel I am in good hands with his ability.

I don’t understand all the bad reviews Dodson Properties is getting. I have been a tenet in a property managed by Dodson for a year, and have never had any issues with them. When I have called to request repairs or ask questions my call was always returned quickly and problems were resolved within a day. The house I rent was clean and everything was in perfect order when I moved in. There have got to be more tenets out there who have had positive results when dealing with this company. Let’s hear from you guys.

My experience with Dodson was great. If my family or friends are ever in need of a property management company, I’ll definitely be sending them Greg’s way. He was easy to get a hold of, pleasant, and always responsive.

I currently rent from Dodson Property Management. This has been the worst renting experience ever… First of all I was never told of the person that died in the duplex that I rent. I would have never rented the place if I would have know it. Next trying to get someone to fix anything is like pulling teeth. My ac went out this summer after many request it took me telling them that I would withhold my rent for them to get someone out to fix it. Now I have a problem with a leaking toilet. I emailed the request on September 9^th and the problem still has not been fix. I was told that «someone would be out within 1 – 3 business days.» On the 14^th I sent another email. I was told someone would be out on the 15^th. Well no show. I let Dodson Properties know that they could pay my 128.00 water bill. As of today nothing has been done!!! I wished the solution would be as easy as turning the water to the toilet off but the knob is stuck and will not turn. I’ve tried everything to get the water off. So I will be forwarding the next water bill to them. I will be giving my notice to move at the end of my lease.

I just started renting my first apartment this summer in July. This has been the worst experience of my life. The apartment was not ready on time, we were forced to delay move in for one full week. We came to the apartment on the day we were supposed to move in and the floors they had promised us were still being put in two hours after we should have been able to move in. After they finished the floors they just began patching holes in the walls. The move in was not even close to the worst part. Our air conditioner never and still doesn’t work and so we had to provide our own unit, the landlord delayed as long as possible and I contacted the owners of the house, quality home enterprises. They finally took care of it but t has slowly gone back to only partially working. Our doors hardly open and close and they never changed the locks as was promised. Th parking in the rear alley of the house was included in the lease but they have promised too mAny people parking and I can never find a spot, not to mention there is no lighting and the gates from the parking to my back door hardly open. Our refrigerator doesn’t close all the way and so it creates condensation and it also has been ignored. I am beyond done with this company and I WILL NEVER be involved with them again. I cannot wait to be out of this lease.

Do not use this company. They add no value only cost.
We had a tenant just move out and the house was not cleaned when they left. Property managers responce was «it is hard for them to move and clean the house. If you want it to be clean you will need to have it clean. We are different because we don’t charge the tenant for cleaning.»
We had a dryer duct that needed to be cleaned. They asked if we wanted to have there maintenance guy clean it out. The bill was $ 600.00.
Could go on but you have an idea of what they are all about.