Deceptive, Unethical, Unprofessional, Slow
In October, I wrapped up a near year-long experience with APT212. Overall, they have been an entirely frustrating firm to work with, mainly because they only contact you when convenient for them. When you have questions after you've paid, their customer service is basically non-existent. Emails go unanswered, phone calls unreturned, especially in regards to service requests.
First, the apartment we stayed in used to be rent stabilized, and the legal rent was around $900/month. We learned from conversations with several neighbors who have lived in the building for 25+ years, that allegedly APT212 illegally forged construction documents "proving" enough construction work was done to warrant increasing the rent by many times the legal threshold. I can't prove this, but I trust the lifelong neighbors and it is true that two cheap drywall walls were constructed in the apartment. To be fair, the apartment, however, while small, was nicely outfitted and pretty comfortable. We definitely were paying way too much given the size and amenities, but given our need, the apartment worked for the short time we were there. The location was also great.
The most problematic issue is that APT212 seems to operate a fictitious management company called Soho Lofts. They claim this is the manager/landlord/owner that is responsible for maintaining the apartments, billing, etc. However, NO ONE actually works for this company. There is no phone number to call them to discuss billing. When you call APT212, account manager Gwen will tell you only their agents can call Soho Lofts and that Soho Lofts only communicates via email (yeah, okay...). As I've learned, the reason for this opaqueness is that Soho Lofts doesn't actually exist. The physical address for Soho Lofts, when googled, is actually a mailbox within a UPS store on Lafayette Street in Soho, just two blocks from APT212's office (i.e. Soho Lofts doesn't have an office because it's a fake company).
It's actually a surprisingly clever strategy. When a tenant has a maintenance request, APT212 will tell him/her that they can't do anything and to contact Soho Lofts (knowing full well that this will just prolong the service request). When a tenant tries to get a security deposit back, APT212 will say "we can't do anything, Soho Lofts (always referred to as an ambiguous "they") returns the security deposit." Yet all checks written at the outset are to APT212 and cashed by them. And the staff at APT212 often get caught in their own web of fabrications when pressed, which can sometimes add humor to an otherwise aggravating process. Also, both APT212 billing and Soho Lofts unprofessionally sign off their emails as "Best, Office," which provides a veil of anonymity for the sender and again covers up that Soho Lofts doesn't exist with its own employees. Even their logos are similar. If they are trying to make Soho Lofts appear an entirely separate entity, they should have done a little more work on their end to make the companies seem different. If it weren't so blatantly unprofessional and inappropriate to sign off that way, it might even be a bit funny.
Finally, trying to get a security deposit refunded is like pulling teeth, and APT212 employs every strategy possible not to return the funds, at least in our experience. Based on older Yelp reviews, it seems like other users have echoed this sentiment. First, they say security deposits are returned 30 days after moving out. Well, 30 days go by, haven't heard anything, and so we start to badger them. Finally, they claim a check is put in the mail. After 10 business days, it doesn't come. Then, when we call back, they have the gall to tell us they (APT212, even though remember, Soho Lofts manages all the billing) miscalculated something, and we actually OWE them over $1000. When we provide evidence that we have paid everything, they say we can go ahead and deposit the check, the one that was never sent in the first place!
Ultimately, this company could be good if it provided complete transparency and was prompt & professional, because it seems like they have a decent amount of apartments throughout the city. Unfortunately, the company is the opposite of all those attributes. If you decide to use them, ensure that you know what you're getting yourself into, and ask hard questions about who the landlord is, who the management company is, and listen closely to their answers, and don't let them fool you or talk their way out of it, because they're all crafty. So do your homework. In short, go elsewhere... read more