DO NOT RENT WITH THIS COMPANY. MONEY SCAMMERS !! I paid my rent for that month & still they deducted more money "for rent" when I had to get my deposit back. read more

I rented from Bartlein for 7 months in 2011 - worst rental experience I have ever had (been renting in SB since '04). Early into my lease, a local property manager from a different company told me that Bartlein is known for being the city's "slumlords". I should have listened to that warning & moved out immediately. They requested 2 months rent as security deposit, the max amount you can charge for an unfurnished house. None went toward the 1st or last month's rent. Their reasoning? We were "high-risk tenants" because we all hadn't been employed at our current jobs for at least a year & because one was not originally from CA. The house was advertised as having a dishwasher & stove. Neither was functioning when we moved in. They were replaced w/in 2 weeks w/ refurbished ones, but these should have been working upon move-in. The house was also advertised as having working washer & dryer hook-ups. It did not come w/ the washer or dryer, but we hooked-up a high-quality 2-year old set. We only had 1 week of working laundry before the laundry room flooded due to old & rooted pipes. The laundry wasn't fixed completely until 5 months later, after many "quick fixes" by different plumbers. In those 5 months, we had to repeatedly email/call Bartlein to get status updates & urge them to fix the problem. We requested reimbursement to compensate us for having to do laundry elsewhere since we were paying the full rental price for a house that wasn't functioning as promised. Laundry hook-ups are a key selling-point when house-hunting - we wouldn't have considered the house if it didn't have laundry capabilities. Bartlein repeatedly refused to credit us for the 5 months of unusable laundry, stating that it was not a matter of habitability & that they never issue credits. We had to call, email & finally demand an in-person meeting w/ our property manager to make any progress. The owner finally agreed to a meager credit during our last month living in the house. Laundry is not a matter of survival & plumbing issues aren't always easy to fix, but the difficulty we had with even working with Bartlein to resolve the issue was absurd. Another major problem was regarding the pool. According to our lease, all pool maintenance was covered by the owners of the property. This included filling the pool to account for water loss. Each time the pool maintenance man came to the house (every other week), the hose would be left on for hours to replenish the water to the appropriate level. Water & all other utilities were our responsibility, so Bartlein was filling up the pool on our dime, something they told us was covered by the owner under "pool maintenance". We sent our water bills to Bartlein promptly so our property manager could determine the credit & we were told it would be included in our returned security deposit. When we got our security deposit, there was no water-use credit & our property manager stated "the owner decided not to issue a credit." This was frustrating because they had told us we wouldn't be responsible for pool maintenance & that we should expect a credit. When we received our security deposit, Bartlein had charged us to clean & fix things that were clearly stated upon our initial move-in inspection. After all, they had 2 months rent as a security deposit, so why not use some of our money to fix things that were done by tenants before us? (it seems they have a strategy...mark everything "OK" upon move-in, even if it's not. Then, when they move out, change those same items that were supposedly "OK" to "needs repair", even if the actual status has not changed) They also charged us to clean oil off the driveway. Hardly a week went by during the 6 months we rented that there wasn't some type of maintenance vehicle in our driveway. On 2 occasions, Bartlein told us we couldn't park in the driveway - each for about a week of time - so that maintenance vehicles could park there. Bartlein had no way of knowing who caused the oil in the driveway & it was more likely to be a larger plumbing, roofing, or pool draining truck than one of the tenant's compact cars. Bartlein's response? We should have told them when we noticed that another vehicle had left the oil. Frankly, we were all much too busy to be inspecting our driveway after each maintenance vehicle visit. We caught the deduction discrepancies quickly & emailed Bartlein our concerns within 1 week. The over-deducted security deposit was the last straw, & we filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Bartlein didn't like that & started to drag their feet w/ issuing us a revised check. Mr. Bartlein himself called me & said that if we contacted the BBB & had them delete the complaint, we would get our check much more efficiently. If we didn't do that, it would take much longer. Sounds a bit like blackmail, now doesn't it? Long story short? Tear up that rental application & run to any other property management company. read more

If you are a property owner, do not use this company. You will be missing out on good tenants, and possibly missing out on rent. Called Bartlein office about going to see an apartment. Discussed the apartment we WERE interested in seeing. Went to their SB office to get the key, paid the $20 and gave drivers license. The guy walked away, came back and gave me back my drivers license, so I'm guessing he photocopied it (without my approval). Apartment was OK. Went back to the office to return key, and was told we never gave them the $20 only gave them my drivers license. After arguing that we had in fact given them $20, he unhappily returned our $20. SERIOUS? Are you that hard up that you need to try and steal $20? If this is how they handle potential customers, I would hate to see how they handle tenants. read more

Unprofessional, disorganized and generally incompetent. I wouldn't trust them to manage my properties, much less have them serve as my landlord. read more

Please don't rent from these awful people. They have a scam going where they demand two months security for whatever reason and you're lucky if you get half back no matter what the circumstances. Most of the staff is extremely rude acting like you're bothering them by trying to do business. read more

I rented from this company for seven months. Everyone at the office is incredibly rude, especially Peter in accounting. One of my rent checks arrived late because the post office took a week to post mark it. I called the office to get information about when if it had arrived, how I pay the late fee, etc. and Peter started yelling at me for no reason at all. We exchanged roommates when I moved out, which should be a standard procedure. The office was again completely rude. To complete the roommate exchange I had to drive to the office at least five times because they kept telling me I needed a new and different form. I've rented from at least six rental companies over 14 years all over the country and this is definitely the worst experience I've ever had. If you want a no hassle rental, DO NOT rent from Bartlein. read more

Why are the employees so mean? I walked in to see a couple of properties and was met with a, " NEXT!" There was no line, just a sloppy circle of people standing, so I approached the "rental Nazi". She was so rude it was almost comical. She didn't know if she had a key for the place, and told me there wouldn't be enough time to view the other (I had 2 hours before closing). She found the key and I didn't have the $20 cash on me, but I had already made up my mind about this place...Ciao! read more

Oh my gosh, where do I even begin. Rented a fairly small, decent apartment from them in September of last year. Said apartment wasn't in the best of shape to begin with, bathtub didn't work, front door handle was loose, shower door wasn't attached properly, heater was I kid you not scotch taped to the wall, huge rust stains all over the bathtub. Didn't think much of this as these damages were (for the most part) listed when we did our walkthrough. I'll be the first to admit that there was 2 bent screens that were my fault. one being in the front of the living room, and the other being in the back bedroom. I thought about replacing the screens but determined that screens aren't that expensive, and I wouldn't want to do any more shotty handywork to this apartment as I'm not familiar with replacing screens and was totally fine with them taking this out of my deposit so it could be done right. Anyways I moved out in July of this month, did the typical deep clean of the small bathroom and kitchen, and hired professional cleaners to clean the rest of the rooms which were carpet. On move out day I brought them my keys and receipt from the cleaning company and thought I'd be on my dandy way. WRONG. Not only has this bloodsucking company added a $600 fee, but that's ON TOP of the $1,850 deposit I gave them to rent the apartment in the first place? I'm absolutely floored as to how they calculated the cost of a couple window screens to $2,450 in damages. STAY AWAY FROM BARTLEIN read more

The people in the office are so fucking rude!!! None of them will try to help you! It's like they want you to go on a wild goose chase just to get all the paperwork and shit they need! I would rather rent from anyone else!!! 0 stars if i could!! read more

Worst customer experience I've ever had in my apartment search in Santa Barbara. I drove all the way to their office on upper state on my lunch break after seeing their post on Craigslist. I get there and am told I have to pay $20 just to see the apartment and it's cash only. Of course this wasn't mentioned at all in their posting. Their posting that also says not to reply to them - just show up to their office to see any of their properties! I asked if I could pay with my credit card since I had already made the drive up here and the property was borderline Montecito. That wasn't an option. So after taking time out of my day to go see this apartment I was turned away because of a detail that they failed to mention in their own ad. If things are this difficult so early on in the process, I can't imagine what renting from them is like. read more

The staff are super nice and helpful but Mr. Bart is the meanest and most unreasonable person I have ever dealt with! We were interested in a town house and applied for it, we thought we would be approved with no problem! My husband and I are both working and our income was way more than 3X rent! Our rental and credit history is excellent! Guess what, they called us telling we have been approved (surprise) but we need to put two months rent down as deposit or find a santa barbara local co-signer! I was super pissed and told them I don't want the townhouse! The only reason was that I was working for two months!!!! Even tho my husband was working for over a year! Stay away from them, I would risk having cash in hands of such unreasonable person!!! read more

I am renting from Bartlein & Co now we have had so many problems here plumbing wasn't covered in contract and I am sure they knew how bad the plumbing was. We have been charged late fees of up to 800 adding up because rent is before the first after that late fees no grace period at all. They are very rude on the phone and so many things were not up to code. We have had a gas leak to which the gas was turned off for 3 months while they tried to find the problem. We were never compensated for that. I have a child in the house and it was very hard not having hot water or heat or being able to dry our clothes. I think they need to be shut down they are slum lords charged us so much money to move in a huge deposit and its a dump held together by duct tape and super glue painted to look pretty for the move in then it all comes unraveled. Do not ever deal with these people they are bad news. read more

They take your money, $20 to look at an apartment.. makes no sense!. Rip you off 230$ just to apply and their customer service is horrible..!!! read more

They're OK when it comes to fixing things in your apartment that needs to be fixed. However, the only concern is Bartlein raises up rent every 6 months. Think twice before renting with them, please. To cut the long story short... people are still going to rent from this place why? Because SB county is a place where people are desperate for rent.. no rent control! Broke college kids still continue to rent with this company because again.. people are desperate to find rent in Santa Barbara County. Please note that plan on living poor in santa barbara county with the rent so high you will be living pay check to pay check unless you make $200,000 per year... read more

OMG!!! This management company sucks! They are the worst in town and try to use harassing ways to get people's attention. They also lie often and try to make the tenant feel as if they do not have any rights. This company better be careful that they do not get themselves in court or in hot water without a way out...Stay far away from these guys....I cannot say one good thing... read more

all these reviews made me laugh -- too frickin' entertaining. we didn't read reviews on property management companies because we had no time at all. these are all spot on! good to know that renters look out for each other! the good thing about going in blind is that you get a good understanding of what the market offers, and it makes the other apartments that had previously not stood out in your mind suddenly seem amazing. so in the end, it's so much easier to make a decision because all you need to do is conclude that: you are not renting anything from bartlein, and anything else works! this company doesn't even need to try because there are all these unsuspecting college kids who just need a cheap place. we put $60 down to see 6 apartments total, 3 each time for each deposit. 1. crack den with fireplace. how can you not laugh out loud at this and every other yelp review written on bartlein? smelled so bad. we laughed our way through the 15 seconds we spent here. 2-3. incredible mold, low kitchen bar area, cramped, toilet with disgusting rust stains, looked like it would flood the apartment after like 3 days of light use. again, the mold, huge health hazard. the strange thing about everyone else stating that they include a paint policy at move out was that none of these walls looked newly painted. this is obviously a hilarious scam company. i hope they log on to yelp every day to read these scathing reviews. 4-5. actually not half bad if you were really desperate. on ellwood beach drive, nicer neighborhood. one kitchen had a burnt cigarette stain and huge knife marks on the kitchen counter. either a carrot or... something else got a good chopping. small toilet, like for a 4 year-old. bathroom mirrors mounted off center from the sink. so anyone who is washing hands and brushing teeth needs to adjust their body every single time. again, hilariously thoughtless! who does this! 6. the only one we could even consider living at for $1635 behind a dried-up creek. i bet if we only saw this unit, i would have described it as quaint, quiet, near nice creek. instead, after units 1-5 of ex-crack dens and mold-infested cabins, i could only picture this as: hella weird quiet unit next to haunted creek. it was on the second floor. while we put the key in, i looked down and saw an abandoned ice chest with a huge rusted saw. mmm, some woodwork or.. more? the kitchen counters were re-done, cabinets looked brand new, new fridge. either the ex-tenant completely destroyed this place and they had to re-do it, or bartlein was really stepping up their game! the lighting was amazing, but all windows looked out to other people's balconies and dish networks, plus the creek that looked like someone had died in it. and it looked too suspicious, knowing this was a terrible company, something must have been up with this average unit. we went and signed a lease elsewhere, that had monthly bug spraying, great management, and 2 parking spaces. bartlein is a smart company, because it knows it doesn't even have to try, and idiots will still rent from them. the biggest clue is that they don't have agents or appointments set up to view the units. can you imagine a lady inviting us into the crack den and trying to get us to pay $1400 for it? lololol! what a great business model: unethical, irresponsible, and profitable! here's one star for being able to pull off the biggest rental scam in the santa barbara area! read more

Literally the worst rental company in SB! I have a pretty high tolerance for awful rental companies, having lived in SB for 5 years and dealing with one scummy slum lord to the next but... This place should be ashamed to call themselves a rental management company.. If housing wasn't so hard to come by in SB, and people ACTUALLY had a choice instead of having their hand forced financially, I know this "Co." would be out of business. I just recently was able to get off the hook of living in one of their rentals. The rental itself was nice and spacious (no problem with the property). My issues lay entirely with the rental company. First off, they are practically unreachable at all times. I called multiples times during different weekdays, and was never able to speak to my property manager. I think he maybe returned 1 call to me out of the countless messages left. Secondly, when it came to having new roommates move in/out, they somehow lost our numerous roommate swap applications sent in! Then a few months later, acted surprised that the person who had applied many times (and told they had been approved) was residing in the apartment. I had a sketchy roommate move in, without Bartlein providing any kind of background. When this person did not pay rent for 2 months, I began to feel uncomfortable and provided an ultimatum for either moving out ASAP or providing owed rent and moving out at an agreed time. When I contacted Bartlein for help on this matter, they acted as if it was something they had never dealt with. I ended up paying to have the locks changed myself. I then paid to have 3 extra copies made so I could provide them to Bartlein to be up front about everything. One of their star employees told me that I would be responsible for a charge for them to make copies of the key. Seriously, these people are useless. This brings me to the staff... Where do you find these people?! I hope future employers of Bartlein employees look at this yelp page. These employees are literally all awful. Everytime I went in, no one had any idea what was going on, everyone looked just as confused (if not more confused) than I was. Never had any problems solved by going into their office. Needless to say, I am relieved and grateful for having moved out. Of course Bartlein kept 2/3 of my security deposit (charging me to repair broken stove, garbage disposal) that they themselves had no fixed, even after I put in multiple service requests. Honestly, losing all that money was painful, but I am okay knowing I flushed over $1600 down the toilet, but no longer have to deal with Bartlein ever again. If you're reading this and considering renting from them, listen to allllll of these reviews! It's not worth it! read more

THE WORST RENTAL PROPERTY IN SANTA BARBARA. DO NOT RENT FROM THEM, I REPEAT DO NOT RENT FROM BARTLEIN AND COMPANY. I rented from them for two years and they are hands down the most arrogant, dismissive and unhelpful rental company imaginable. The owner of the property changed approx. 5 times in the two years i was renting from them, which made it very easy for them to ignore ANY AND ALL complaints/ property issues. Our washer machine was out for 6 months without repair, our roofs leaked onto our cars and damaged the paint (which was not fixed or paid for by them), we had termites and rotting wood all over the apartment that was also an issue that never got resolved. The only effort i had seen them put forth was to scam us out of our security deposit. We had to pay double security deposit because we had an out of town co-signer, then when the time came to "clean" our apartment, they charged $500 for a carpet cleaning service and $700 for a painting service after we had left the apartment pretty much spotless. They ended up charging us over $3000 for "cleaning and repairs". Our fault for not taking pictures of the place before we left, but I'm not the type to assume the worst in people. These people are barely a step above slum lords. For your sake, refrain from renting from them by any means possible, but if you must, take any and all precautions to save yourself from a plethora of rude phone calls and money lost. read more

Ive been having ant issues for the last 2 months i've lived here. The first time, a guy came in to spray my apt. then the next 2 months, I tried to deal with them myself...but I coudlnt take it anymore when they were climbing all over my bed, kitchen counter, and even my bathroom!! So i gave the propery manager, James ngyuen a call and he was so rude. He told me it was my problem, and that I should have told them earlier. He told me that he had other issues to deal with (due to the rain). how rude!!! I am totally moving out asap. Reading from the other comments, i totally agree on the insane security deposit. They charged me 3 grand instead of 1500 BECAUSE i didnt have a secure job in the past year.. how does that make any sense?? and I had just been hired as a rph too... Management here is horrible. read more

Horrible property management company. Beware. The property owner was wonderful, however this management company will do everything they can to keep you deposit money. I lived in the same home for almost 8 years. Never late on my rent. Bartlein tried every year to get the owner to raise the rent way above standards so they can get their percentage as she signed a contract over two decades ago with them and they were getting very little to "manage" the property. The owner refused to raise the rents beyond a reasonable amount. Bartlein tried to force us out of the home, with out the property owners knowledge, so that they could raise the rent to a high market value. They told us that after all the years in that home we all had to have a credit rating of 700 or above and that each one of us that lived in the home had to have an income of 3 times the amount of the rent, which was $3000.00. Anyone who makes $9000.00 a month would not rent the home we had. We got co-signers and offered to pay more deposit, they claimed it wasn't acceptable until we finally let the property owner know what happened and then they did everything to back pedal to keep us so the property owner would not fire them. Bartlein's people would show up without the proper 24 hour notice, randomly. When a room mate moved out they posted an eviction notice on our front door publicly, giving the whole household notice to move, even though we all had our rents paid up. There was no reason or need to post it in front of all our neighbors. When we moved out they tried to keep all the money they could. Our deposit was over $5 grand. Because I had an attorney they drug their feet to pay me my deposit back. After going back and forth on this for a long time, and threatening them that I would have no choice but to go to social media, the BBB the Attorney General and the Bar association they finally started to pay my money back. They still kept funds they are not entitled to. Do not rent from them. Once you get in you will regret it. Check all the people in Isla Vista that have been burned by this company as well. Again, the owner of this property was wonderful. But not the management company. Anyone who posts that this company is wonderful, is suspect of being an employee of theirs, in my opinion. Anyone who wants in on a class action against this company, let me know. read more

An owner's perspective... I owned a place managed by Bartlein for years. Other than insisting on mailing checks instead of using direct deposit--perhaps some homage to the 1990's--nearly all of the time with Bartlein was good. Lucky to have easy, responsible tenants who paid on time every time, didn't have petty complaints, and didn't cause problems for the neighbors. When the going was easy, Bartlein was fine. But when the going got tough...my manager at Bartlein went flaccid. When a renter moved out and some damage from this renter and a neighbor needed repair, my manager (a VP) was like the Cowardly Lion from Wizard of Oz. He tried to talk me out of charging the responsible people for damage. He misinformed me about the HOA CC&Rs. He resisted scheduling vendors to get the work done. He didn't check on the vendors work but paid them anyway. Some work was not done properly; other work was not done at all. I learned all of this later from my real estate agent when I prepared to sell the unit. Many tasks not completed or done incorrectly, and not once did Bartlein tell me about it. They're still holding some of my money, claiming they need to make sure their own maintenance person has turned in all of his/her receipts. It's been more than two months and this person works for them! What an absurd excuse for bad service and greed. From reading all of these reviews from renters, it seems Bartlein works it from both angles. With renters, they can nickle and dime, drag their feet, provide generally poor service. With owners, they can fail to serve their clients best interest, verify vendor's work before paying, or reveal mistakes, and then drag their feet with close-outs. I've used several property management companies throughout the country, and all end up seeming shady or incompetent. Thank goodness most service sectors are better than this. BTW, my real-estate agent (Mark Moseley) was terrific. Great for out-of-area owners. read more

I have been in my current rental for over 12 years. The property owner decided last year to go with this company. The walk through was a joke. They claimed they wanted to look at the property, made the remark that when we move the owner was gonna have to gut the house because of the years of neglect. We have painted our bedrooms and told me that I would have to repaint in order to get my deposit back. Um...hello. If my walls were white, your company would have to come and paint anyhow after 12 years...give me a break. We have had no curtains or blinds replaced. The carpet has never been cleaned by the owner. And Bartlein even after stating this place needs to be gutted has only done one thing, replaced our stove top because the ignitor broke. They showed up unannounced and took almost 2 months to get the new top. The owner had recently removed our lawn and replaced it with a self watering irrigation as well as native plants and fruit trees. When this happened we were told that the gardeners were supposed to come back and maintain the bushes. Never happened, under the contract with Bartlein we were now told that WE were responsible for killing ants and the ant problems and also for the yard upkeep. I work full time with two kids and my spouse works out of town 6 months out of the year. I am not paying $2300 a month to go out and do the yard work for someone else. Not only that, I have no idea how to prune fruit trees. Which leads into my next grip. After 6 months of weeds growing up through the mulch and overgrown trees and bushes. We got a quote from someone people who were gonna charge $150 to do it. Finally the man had time around the house to do it and did....took 2 days of work and was outside watering the yard we are supposed to take care of...and the pipe broke. We had to turn off the water at the main line cause it was gushing like a fire hydrant. We called Bartlein and I felt ok with their customer service they called back right away but the plumbing company who called me back said they couldn't be here till almost 9 am. We have kids in the house and no running water, they showed up for 2 minutes and ran off to Home Depot which is about 3 miles away and we have not seen them since it has been an hour and a half. I am a professional working for UCSB and I feel this is a sad state when a native Santa Barbara resident has to go through such poorly run property management. This city and the property owners have more money than they know what to do with and don't give a rats ass about the community and making it a beautiful place to live. It's all about the money. read more

So far, so bad. Our apartment complex just got switched from Wolfe & Assc. to Bartlein. They are suppose to come out today and inspect. They have yet to show up and our entire apartment complex is wondering what's going on. A couple of us has called to get information and the lady at the front desk hung up on both of us. Our lease runs out in a couple of months. We are probably moving. read more

Can I give 0 stars??? I went in to their office and felt like I was at the DMV!! lines and a VERY RUDE SNARKY staff. A simple question about the size of the property was met with "read the sheet" (which didn't have the info I was looking for) I'm a very qualified renter and I really liked the place but based on my experience with the office I will pass and suggest that you do the same. read more

Renters beware!! I have rented from Bartlein since 2000. Yes, that's a long time to continuously occupy a rental unit. They do not, I repeat, do not place any value on an excellent long term Resident. I maintain my unit, I report maintenance issues at the property, I maintain a very low profile, I take pride in my living environment and my rent is automatically deducted from my checking account so it's NEVER late. My rent was recently increased above what they are receiving for a comparable open market unit at my building for absolutely no good reason other than pure greed. They are unprincipled. My extensive experience with other local management companies is they cherish their outstanding long term residents and reward them for being so with a slightly lower rental rate in appreciation, and as an incentive, to remain at the property. Bartlein's simply not that smart. I was ultimately dismissed and I believe, lied to, when I was told they'd "look into it" and approach the Owner concerning the issue. There are plenty of good well-run Property Management Companies and diligent private Landlords in this town. Seek them out and avoid Bartlein, at all costs. Good luck! read more

I recently applied to rent here due to a work relocation. The application fee is $115, for which they only accept cash or check. $100 goes toward the security deposit, but that's still $115 out of your pocket just to apply. I didn't have a checkbook so I paid $120 in cash, and they said they didn't have change. It takes them an entire week to process an application. As mentioned in a previous review, they wanted the legal maximum of double one month's rent for a security deposit because I am "high risk" due to the fact I haven't been at my job for a whole year. Sorry I just got a raise and extra bonus after being at my company for only 8 months; I must be a tremendous liability. Oh, and my income is quite sufficient to cover the rent too. They say their properties are month-to-month, however they require a six month committment. Umm, that would be a six month lease, not month-to-month, idiots. Luckily I found somewhere else to live, independently owned and managed with a security deposit $300 less than one month's rent and half off my prorated rent for the remainder of the month! read more

This company is unreasonable and unfair. We just finished renting a 4,000 sq foot house which Bartlein happens to manage (I have no idea how they got that gig). Upon move-in, we found piles of the former tenant's stuff in the garage and spent 4 hours moving it out and cleaning up the garage. We also found left over furniture (outside chairs, grill and a 1,000 lb coffee table) and had to have it removed by them three days later. We found plastic bowls in the kitchen, etc. One of the shower heads didn't work and one of the doors never closed properly. There were rat droppings in the upstairs bathroom. And the windows were filthy. Upon move-out, we had the windows professionally cleaned and also had two cleaners clean the entire house, spot clean carpets, etc. and we never nailed anything onto the walls as we knew this was a temporary home for us (we were there a total of 7 months). Upon asking for our security deposit back, we were told that their post-inspection required $750 worth of painting the walls for 'smudges' in the stairwell and on certain doors, $325 for "cleaning the kitchen, stove (which I personally cleaned myself), dusting the laundry and removing lint from the dryer)", another $300+ for removing scotch tape from a wall (I can assure you there might have been three pieces in total), a sticker from a mirror (which we did not place there), replacing 5 lightbulbs (I have no idea which ones - there were some lights in the house I never could figure out how to turn on!), and removing one nail (we never put a nail in any wall), putting back a curtain rod (which fell down regularly the entire time we were there and I didn't care so I never called). Are you serious? Even if we were responsible for all those items, it would NEVER cost $300+ for someone to do those things. I was shocked. Furthermore, we had paid 2 people $250 to clean the house and the windows prior to our moving out and the house looked beautiful - much better than when we moved in. They have stolen $1300 of our hard-earned money. I will do everything in my personal power and influence to ensure they do not take advantage of others the way they have us. They have one-sided policies, practices and are inhuman in terms of their interpretation of their contracts. Do NOT rent from Bartlein. Do NOT place your property in their control. You will be sorry. read more

If I could rate zero I would. I went to the company to check out a few apartments and found one that I was a good fit. I submitted an application and later that day was informed that I would need to put down a security deposit of $3000 (double the rent) and first months rent in addition to agreeing to a 6 month lease! Prior to submitting an application, I asked if they were month to month rentals since I'm in Santa Barbara for a contract position in which they they stated that they were. Doesn't demanding a 6 month lease contradict the "month to month" rentals? Luckily, I withdrew my application and got my deposit back in its entirety. After reading all the reviews, it seems like they say the same thing to everyone ie you're a high risk renter, demand the highest security deposit, and attempt to take it at the end of lease. Hoping that others will see this prior to working with Bartlein & Co. read more

All the rental companies in the area are pretty bad but Bartlein is exceptionally slow. They cheated us on our security deposit in multiple ways. We had the carpets professionally cleaned before moving out but they said it "smelled funny" so they did it again and charged us (no doubt keeping a kick back). They also told us the walls would not have to be repainted if there was no damage. There wasn't any damage, we didn't hang a single thing but they repainted the whole house anyway and charged us. They also put every single tenant and every single co-signers name on the security deposit check which makes it impossible to cash. We have spent 7 months now trying to get our deposit back which will be only a fraction of what we paid despite keeping the house in perfect shape. So if you are an IV student looking for housing do yourself a favor and please avoid this company at all costs! Hands down the worst I've worked with! read more

Worst rental agency I have every done business with. I am in the military and have moved over 20 times and have rented from multiple agencies. I found the policies Bartlein has in place in order to rent one of the properties they manage just north of being illegal an discriminatory. Customer service is not what they are known for. You have to take possession of the unit you apply for 5 days after your application is approved. This leaves most people in the position of having to pay over lapping rent on 2 places as it is almost impossible for them to inform you of when your application will be processed. The lease agreement contains a clause making the tenant financially responsible for repainting the unit after moving out. So be warned that you will not receive your full deposit back. I am sure it will be a battle with them when I move out but I figure I will cross that bridge when it comes time for me to move again. read more