Mismanaged. Avoid this property management company, they are terrible, and have a bad reputation. The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing in this poorly run agency - they lack integrity and decency. Management companies work for the owner of the building, not the tenants, who treat tenants like second class citizens. Its the second rental I have lived in that they managed and in both cases their performance is poor and with numerous bad experiences. As a responsible, conscientious tenant, I will not tolerate being bullied, disrespected, and intimidated. Or routinely ignored with a lack of communication. Double check that they receive rent payments, insist upon a receipt, and regularly request a tenant ledger record from them to made sure that your rent payment are being recorded. read more

Certified Properties is the most unprofessional, scummy company I have ever witnessed. I got bit by a rat in my bed while I was sleeping, and the Landlord did not reply to my emails or calls. I got bit by the rat because when we moved in the house was not even attempted to be cleaned. There was food from past tenants still in the kitchen. We lived with rats for 3 months til it was killed. We cleaned the house thoroughly before we left and the landlord took half our security deposit. When I fought with him for months, showing pictures and threatening legal action, he never contacted me when he said he would and it took me 6 months of fighting to get a refund. It is not worth living here. read more

So here's the deal: most people who do reviews of landlords have an axe to grind. They rarely highlight the good and dwell on the bad. I think Certified Properties did an okay job though, and hopefully this review serves to help others considering one of their properties. I lived in a Certified Properties of Tompkins County [CPTC] apartment with one other person from 2012-2013. Our apartment, which was two blocks from Cornell, was a steal for this market: $450 a month per person for a two bedroom, one bathroom upper story apt. in a quaint old farmhouse that had been partitioned. CPTC did an excellent job of maintaining our apartment when we notified them of problems. One day, our front door lock broke, leaving me locked in the apartment. I had a meeting to go to in a few hours time, but after calling Certified, they came right out, took the door off, repaired the lock, and the repairman was friendly and knew what he was doing. Whenever we had an issue, they responded with professionalism. However: in June, when we received the place, it was in a horrendous condition. The windows had been left open and hundreds of tiny gnats had died and fallen to rest on our living room floor. We cleaned that up, but...it wasn't fun. Next, when we left the apartment, even though we personally cleaned everything according to their instructions, we got charged a massive cleaning fee, taken out of our security deposit. Eventually, I got most of it back by making our case, and after management admitted that a clerical mistake had been made, but only after repeated calls and emails. Moving forward, tenants should always do two things: take lots of photos on an iphone or whatever when moving in, and take lots of photos of the state of the apartment when moving out. All in all, CPTC is a professional company, especially if you're a good tenant (no parties, responsible care for the property etc), but do your due diligence, learn your tenant rights, and take photos to document conditions so as to combat future claims that may or may not be correct. read more

I lived in an apt managed by these guys a few years. My roommate was actually the landlord's daughter and we still had a bad time. These guys ignored our request for getting back our deposits, or out right lied when I emailed and called. I was told that my check was in the mail or getting ready to be sent every time I called. This went on for months before our landlord bypassed Certified Properties and just paid us with his money. For student tenants: DO NOT stay in any apartment managed by these guys. They will ignore you when it comes to getting your deposit, especially if you graduate and are no longer local. For landlords: stay clear of this company. They will only net you losses. read more

I transferred to Cornell University not knowing anyone, and not having any place to live. One of my few contacts said that I should reach out to Certified Properties to see what housing they had available. From there on, Certified Properties (specifically Barry G. Valentine) has been the best management company that I have ever dealt with, and truly helped me make Ithaca my new home. After reaching out to them, they informed me that they had available a room available right next to a TCAT stop in Collegetown for only $500 a month, which is very cheap relative to other offering is the market. I assumed that It would be TOO good to be true. There must be SOMETHING wrong. There must be SOME catch. This was NOT the case. I walked into the house, and I was IMMEDIATLY sold. Given it was an older house, as many of the houses in Ithaca are, it was VERY well maintained by Certified Properties, and VERY clean. I was amazed. It was such a bargain. From that point on, whenever I put in a maintenance request, Barry at Certified Properties always had someone there the next day to fix the issue. They were always pleasant and professional. They always responded quickly whenever I reached out to them with questions or concerns. When It came time to move out and get my full security deposit back, Certified Properties was very efficient and professional. Barry Valentine, my main contact at Certified Properties, was very pleasant and an all-around great guy. If you are ever in-search of a place to live look no further than Barry. Call (607) 273-1669 and speak to Barry to get great service, a great house, in a great location, at an affordable price. DM me with any additional question you have about my dealings with Certified Properties, Id be happy to assist you! read more

I do not usually write bad reviews but this company definitely deserved a review. I rented a place from them and I was doing some gardening in the garden which is in front of my apartment. I planted some vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and basil all of these were almost ready for harvesting. This morning, they sent people to cut off grass near the apartment and they cut off my plants. When I asked the guys who cut off my plants, they said the landlord told them to do so. I called certified properties and the lady in the front desk told me the owner of the company will call me back and I have not received a single call yet! They are the rudest people in Ithaca which is very hard to find in this town. They will do days of long maintenance at the next apartment which is also owned by them without giving a prior notice. I always had heating problems in my room through the winter and they did not even try to fix it, I had a lot of nights in the winter waking up freezing. Please read all the reviews before renting from this property, all the bad reviews are revealing the truth. read more

My roommates and I rented an apartment in 204 Miller st. They promised to clean the place up as the tenant that was there was a mess. However, upon move in, we found a trash filled place. It looked like a crew had been in there to paint, but they had only half finished. There was garbage everywhere, including beer bottles, broken lightbulbs, paint cans, brushes and carpet. The furniture was stack in piles in the middle of each room, and some things were broken when we took them apart. The bathroom had been used by whoever was working on the place and had not been cleaned (pubic hair everywhere!) and was disgusting. I called and told them about this, and all I got as a response was that they would get back to us. Naturally, not wanting to live in a mess, we cleaned it all ourselves and took care of/paid for all the trash ourselves. I told them about this on multiple occasions, but rarely got the call back they promised. Finally I spoke to a guy that was coming by hoping to show the place to some people he was with. Not wanting to look bad, he promised someone would get back to me. Eventually he said that they would do an even exchange in that when we left, we could leave the place as is, and they would take care of the cleaning charges. It took them more than two months to send us our security deposits back. They said that they mailed them to 204 Miller st. Why would they mail them to our old address, knowing that we all had left there? When I looked, they had taken out over $200 for cleaning and trash charges. I called to complain, and Shane, apparently the main person there, who never returned my calls in the beginning, told me he had never heard about this and refused to give me any money back. If you rent from them, make sure you have EVERYTHING in writing. They will try to screw you over otherwise. read more

I've rented a house for several years through Certified Properties and have always received good service and excellent communication. Certified Properties is quick to respond to problems, helpful, and fair. I would lease again with them. read more

We lived at a property from this landlord for the 2012-2013 school year. While they were quite responsive with maintenance requests throughout the year, they are extremely unresponsive and as of now over a month late in returning our security deposits. EDIT: After 1.5 months late, I finally received my deposit. The landlord lied to me multiple times saying he had sent it out, but it was not until I threatened to sue that I actually received the check. read more

I wish I could say I was exaggerating, but Certified Properties may be the worst property company to exist in Ithaca. I really did think previous reviews exaggerated the conditions, but the maintenance is poor and the service is even worse. To keep it short, we have had black mold surrounding a 5ft hole in our basement ceiling that went unattended for nearly 3 months, clogged AND leaking pipes resulting in a flooded basement and toilets backing up into the bathtubs (filled with feces), days without running water, unannounced and illegal entrance into the property for "repairs," failure to forward landlord-addressed utility bills (resulting in having our power shut off), and most recently, we have been threatened with eviction due to an outstanding balance of a tenant who lived in the house BEFORE us. It takes MONTHS of badgering emails and calls to get anything done, and to date Certified Properties only responds when threatened with legal action. Completely unethical and unprofessional management; please do not give your money to these people. read more

I rented from certified for several years. They would come into my apartment without notice. This happened many times. When my lease was up I moved out about three weeks before the actual lease ended. I contacted them just to let them know what was going on. When I returned to my apartment to finish moving, I found that my DVD collection, my Xbox, and many other valuable items were stolen. When I contacted them, they said they thought I said I was totally moved out and they let the maintenance employees take what was left behind. It was obvious that these were not items someone would just leave behind. They did not attempt to make a right at all. I had multiple conversations with Shane Varrachio (the owner) and he did not attempt to do anything about. Shane pointed fingers and gave me the "hey what do you want me to do?" We are talking about close to $2000 worth of property and he did not give a shit about figuring out who took it or come up with a way to make it up to me. read more

We rented a small house through Certified Properties, and we have been extremely unhappy with their service. After paying a very large sum of money (security deposit, 1st and last month's rent), we walked into the house on the first day of our lease to find it trashed. Old garbage was laying around; the oven looked like someone's meatloaf exploded inside. The previous tenants owned dogs that obviously urinated on the carpeting- not cleaned. The front door was so full of cobwebs that it looked like a haunted house. We had to send multiple emails, make multiple phone calls, and even had a meeting in person before they would send people out to clean up the place. Certified Properties is a terribly unprofessional business that demonstrates a shameful lack of pride in the upkeep of their properties. Do not rent from this place- spend your money elsewhere. read more

Renting from Certified Properties was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. All was great until we neared the end of our lease. The tiles in our shower fell out, and despite repeated requests to come fix them, we received no answer. Finally, i decided to call and the lady who answered the phone was extremely rude and inconsiderate of the situation. (oh wait.. did i forget to mention that behind the tiles that fell out was a sheet of MOLD?!!) Nearly three weeks later, i received a phone call from my neighbor who informed me that someone was inside my apartment. I called Certified Properties who informed me that because i had put in a maintance request, they did not have to give me notice that someone was entering my apartment. I told them this was not true and in my lease they were required to give me 24 hours notice. Once i got home, i took a look to see their handiwork at fixing our tiles... their fix was duct taping a garbage bag over the missing tiles (no, i am not kidding - but i wish i was!). Additionally, the next day, they entered our apartment AGAIN with no warning or notice. Unfortunately, this experience has ruined my entire view on certified properties. Originally, we had enjoyed our experience with them, but this overshadows any good that has come from them. Between their complete ignorance, invasion of privacy and complete unprofessionalism, i would not recommend these people to ANYONE. Please protect yourself, your belongings as well as your sanity!! I am still waiting to see how long it will take for them to return my security deposit... read more