Horrible rental agency. Several of their rentals are not up to code. Several units have mold in them. They don't return deposit after tenant moves out. Not worth the price. Not professional. read more

Horrible management company! When I moved out, after hours of cleaning, and having to pay for carpet cleaners that THEY suggested, the owner of Cardinal went through the apartment with a magnifying glass. She took pictures of a little dirt that was left in places on the floor molding, or a wrapper that was left in a cabinet, etc., and we were then charged for a cleaning service to clean the apartment AGAIN. I wish I knew Cardinal was going to rip us off for the cleaners. I could have paid for them at the beginning and saved myself hours of backbreaking work for nothing. They also gave us violations for minor fractions, like not getting my doctor's note for my service dog in time - even though they gave me extra time and I got the note within that time. After moving to Hamilton, it took me time to find a doctor. But I was still given a violation. Cardinal, and Hamilton Properties, do not treat people very well. Be careful! They have their tenant snoops too, so be careful who you trust. A lot of the valley is controlled by the Mormon families. It may explain some of it, especially how they treat outsiders. I've left the Bitterroot and Missoula. I'm much happier and have found people in MT very helpful and kind. I would rather live in my car than live in a Cardinal or Hamilton Properties -- or the Bitterroot which is too overcrowded now. read more

Horrible experience. We heard many many many rumors about how bad Cardinal is (especially about getting your deposit back) - and everything is 100% true. Upon moving in - the back door had major scratches, the screens had scratches, there was a urine smell (and stains), there was dirt and garbage, the fridge wasn't clean... the list goes on and on. They listed NONE of these on the paperwork they showed us - so they gave us the opportunity to write down our own problems with the rental. So we did. And took pictures (80+ pictures). We just moved out - and guess what... they tell us that we cased the scratches on the door and screens, that the house was dirty, the fridge was dirty, and that the carpets are dirty (even though we had a professional clean them yesterday). We tell them about the pictures (which we gave them) and they claim they never received them. The bottom line --- DO NOT TRUST CARDINAL. They are liars and will cheat their way out of giving your deposit back. Barbara Liss is an evil woman and only cares about money. She is a liar. After we told them that we wrote down nearly everything they complained about when we first moved in - they said they'll compare our list with their new list. You mean you didn't do that before telling us that we had to pay for everything?! And the fact that they charge you if it's not clean is proof that they took the previous tenant's money and did nothing with it --- they didn't clean or maintain anything in the house! Liars... STAY AWAY. read more

Stay away from this company like the plague, they have no problem turning down well qualified renters that were first in line. They are not first come, first serve business no matter what they say. The office staff lose your paper work and then you get a call asking you where the paperwork is. I faxed info to them only to get called the next day saying they didn't receive it but I have a confirmation receipt from my fax that they did. They got $46.00 out of me but I will make sure they will lose way more that that in new business. read more

I wish I had read the reviews on this company before I decided to rent through them. Believe every bad thing you read and hear about this company. Everyone in the office are jerks and do not care about their tenants. Laurie, the office manager, is rude, unprofessional, and unable to answer any question with validation. This company is prejudice and will do whatever they can to get EVERY LAST PENNY out of people. Everyone I have talked to who have also rented through them, have nothing good to say and will not rent through this company again. Stay far, far away. Rent/list through any other company. Do NOT use Cardinal. read more

Barbara, with Cardinal Properties, has been our property manager since the First of this year. I am very happy with the level of service she provides. Her service includes accurate bookkeeping, prompt building repair service for tenants, screening of new tenants, before and after photos for documentation of condition, consultation with an attorney as needed, prompt reply to phone calls and emails, advance notice of times when she will not be available, property inspections to see that work is done to her satisfaction, notice to tenants when payments are late, and much, much more than just being a rent collector. She goes well beyond what a property manager is expected to do. I am fortunate to have her manage our property. Dave F. read more

If you are not from the area prepare to be discriminated against if using Cardinal Properties. While looking for a home to relocate to we found a place through Cardinal Properties we were interested in. When we inquired about we were told by Cynthia they already had an application for it and they work on a first come first serve basis. The next morning they posted a place as available so we called, applied, looked at the property and got the run around for a week jumping through hoops for them. We were told by Barbara that she was concerned we couldn't afford the $1,050 a month rent...my business grosses over $120,000 a year and I'm the only employee. I offered her the full years payment, she turned me down and said they were going with someone who already lived locally. Illegal?? I think so.... read more

WORST PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANY EVER!! Be aware and stay away! My boyfriend and I moved to the Bitterroot Valley from out of state. Had to find a quick place to live and found a cheap place through Cardinal. I don't even know where to start, the apartment was disgusting when we moved in and had to be cleaned strait through before we could even think about putting our stuff in. Found black mold in multiple places that was hidden enough so you didn't notice during the initial look. Knowingly renting a place with black mold is illegal I'm pretty sure...also, have been hospitalized 3 times because of it and they had refused to send anyone out until I said there was a lawyer involved! After doing nothing wrong other than complaining about the mold, they sent us a letter saying I had an unauthorized dog. I paid a $200 pet deposit and sent multiple breed approval pictures of the dog and he was approved, until recently apparently. Hannah who I'm assuming is the new property manager as I never dealt with Barbra as others have, has harassed us for weeks now. There is literally nowhere else to rent in the town we are in, we are in the process of buying a house and she wouldn't give us 2 extra weeks just till we close to get out. She has called us every name she could when stopping by, threatens us, but can't give us an actual reason as to why she wants us out. Stay as far away from these people as you can! Also, you WILL NOT get your security deposit back from them as multiple people I have talked to have told me. read more

I recently relocated to the Hamilton area for an excellent job. I contacted Cardinal Properties to find a new home. I found a mediocre listing in my price range and applied sight unseen. When my husband and I pulled up to their office, 17 foot moving truck and all, she had us sign the lease before we even saw the property. She (Barbara) also informed us that the property was for sale and that we would be put on a month to month lease until we had to leave. Being that we had such short notice and we were new to the area and that we already had pulled up to the office to sign paperwork, we continued on. They reassured us stating that they would give us a 30 day notice before we had to move. When I walked into the house, I nearly cried at the state of the property. It was dirty, unmaintained and dated. I had seen pictures, but they did no justice to the state of affairs in this dive. After 4 months, after hearing from a friend that she was buying the house and that the paperwork was already going through, we started looking for a new place. We immediately thought to look to Cardinal for a new place. After going through the formalities of turning in paperwork, dear Barbara informed us that we would not be qualified for the place we applied because we were late on our rent the last month despite us making double the income we did when we first applied. She did say that we could rent a place of equal or lesser value. When we looked at those places though, she changed her story, saying she could not in good conscience rent to us again. She also proceeded to tell me she would be giving me a bad reference to any who inquired, and she did. She also never gave us a 30 day notice, but informed us on the 12th that we needed to be out on the 30th. I don't know if it is because we were outsiders or what, but we feel as though she treated us horribly unfair. It's pretty apparent there is no friendly, small town goodness in this woman and her company. Thank goodness for other people with morals. I've never had any bad rental history until now. Thanks a lot Cardinal for the dive you let my family live in for 4 months. read more

If you can, ask around about Cardinal before you rent (or have them property manage your home). People in Hamilton and the surrounding areas are well-aware of Cardinal's terrible reputation - and nearly everyone has a horror story. We sold our house to an investor owner, who rented it out. We rented back from the buyer for 3 months as we were purchasing our next home. During that time, Cardinal gave my personal cell phone number out to multiple prospective tenants (expecting me to schedule and show the house for them) without asking permission. They also gave my number to a third party vendor (air conditioning installer) and again expected me to set up an appointment with this person (after I had already moved out of the house). Their expectations for vacating a residence are completely unreasonable. Fortunately, I was well aware of Cardinal's predatory practices and had been warned - I took dozens of photos and a walk through video on the day we left the property to show that it had been cleaned and the carpets professionally done. No sooner had I pulled away from the house for the last time - I received four phone calls from three different Cardinal employees stating that the house wasn't clean enough. With my photos and video Cardinal didn't have had much to go on - also they never bothered to do an initial intake and never collected a security deposit from us! I am in a position where I have discretionary income to say, "Fine, take me to small claims court if you think I'm in the wrong." (which is what I did - and I didn't hear a peep after that). Many people don't have this luxury, and I fear that Cardinal profits on the backs of Ravalli County's working poor. Stay away from this company - whether you are a renter or owner. And a PSA to owners: many locals refuse to go near Cardinal and won't look at a property if its managed by them. List your house with someone else. read more

I rented from Cardinal for about 2 years. I never had a problem with them at all. Because of the sometimes negative comments on them, I was a bit nervous when I gave them my notice. I cleaned the home thoroughly and followed the proper procedures in turning in keys etc. A few days later, I went in to pick up my security deposit. I got my full deposit back and a very nice thank you note with a $25 gift card for keeping the property in such good condition. I would rent from them again in a heartbeat. They were always professional and prompt with any maintenance issues. A huge thank you to all the staff at Cardinal. Thank you for making my move to Hamilton and also my move away a pleasant experience. read more

Wow. I can not even believe this company. They are terrible people. Only care about themselves. My experience with cardinal property was one of the worst. We went in and talked to the owner about going through them to find a rental. We came in with everything we needed overly prepared. We sat and talked to her about our chances about getting approved and everything taking in account we don't have rental history or much credit. We had a rock solid co signer and told her all of this up front. She made it sound hopeful as we could go on spending over $100 to even look at and go through our applications. So we agreed to pay that $100 because of the fact she told us this could work. Couple days later we get a call saying we don't qualify due to the fact we are first time renters and don't have credit. When we told her that in the beginning. If she knew that we wouldn't qualify why did she take our money? Oh yeah because they knew we wouldn't qualify in the beginning but are money hungry people taking advantage of young adults trying to start out. Do not go through cardinal property's they are selfish and take advantage of people. read more

I've lived in the valley for twenty years and have NEVER heard of a renter who recommended Cardinal Properties. They have a terrible reputation for justifiable reasons. The staff is extremely rude, not helpful at all, and renters have terrible experiences. Unfortunately they have the affordable rentals so people are forced to suffer with them. Good luck if you have to use them, Craig's list is a much better option. Driving around randomly looking for rent signs is a much better option. read more

My son leased properties two different times from Cardinal. He had a great experience both times. I live in Texas and needed to go to visit him several times and they were always more than accommodating on my visits . I would definitely recommend them . Great company! Carol was our primary contact and was wonderful. Everyone there was great! read more

I would not recommend doing business with this company. We were told to fill out applications on a property and pay the application fee. I made the mistake of only paying one fee. They called and asked me to pay the additional fee for a co-applicant and I did so that very day. I was asked to verify information because the agent misread a pay-stub and they had a hard time getting in touch with a reference so I supplied an additional one (she claimed their voicemail was full when, it was not) . Then come to find out after I paid the second fee and helped get all the information she needed, the property was already rented to someone else. Why have me pay the second fee, and get all the info. if you knew you had already rented the property? This is bad business on the part of the property management and the owner. Then I was asked if any other properties on their website interested me. No. I liked that one specifically. Then I was told with attitude "It's hard to find a place to rent here in the Bitterroot" Yes. It is, with people like you doing business. read more

The most awful customer service in the state of Montana. Whether you're a landlord or a tenant, this outfit is not recommended!