Leased a house in Fairfax,VA that was managed by Circle Property Management for the last 2 years. Our application process was smooth and circle property kept us informed throughout the approval process. Move in was very professional as my wife met with them to conduct the initial walk through. They listened and took notes down of the minor preexisting items and were very pleasant to work with. We had 1 major issue during our lease which they took seriously and made sure was fixed expediently. They made sure that the work was clearly communicated to us and we were given time frames that would work best for us (especially considering I work from home). The move out process was as professionally done as everything else with Circle Property including clear instructions on what needs to be done prior to move out inspection and routine follow ups to make sure our move out process was easy. They also provided an ending itemized summary regarding the disposition of the security deposit so you know exactly what is being returned. If we ever find ourselves in the situation where we need a rental property again, we would definitely consider property managed by Circle Property Management! read more

Did Circle Property Management (CPM) improperly withhold your security deposit? See my outline of potential claims against CPM below: Like many of the other reviews, I had a very negative experience with CPM regarding the return of my security deposit. They attempted to attribute issues that were not legally attributable to me, overcharged for repairs, were unwilling to discuss beyond cursory emails, and would not return my calls or connect me to the landlord. As a lawyer, I was prepared to litigate in small claims court -- fortunately, I found my landlord's contact, she was reasonable, and we agreed to settle. Not everyone may be as lucky, so I wanted to provide the claims of what CPM did wrong in case CPM does this to others in the future. Note this is not legal advice -- you may live in a state different than me (I was in DC) and/or have different facts. If CPM tries to do you, consult a lawyer or your state's tenancy aid office (in DC, the Office of the Tenant's Advocate: 202.719.6560). 1) Failure to mitigate damages. It's a basic legal principle that a non-breaching party has a duty to mitigate damages. If you damaged the wall, CPM cannot charge unreasonably expensive repairs just because you breached. Non-breaching parties have a legal duty to keep costs down. CPM did not do this for me and charged $1400 for "minor repatching and repainting," $50 to replace a lightbulb, $75 to tighten a screw, etc. 2) Breach does not equal liability. CPM claimed I was responsible for things such as blind repairs just because I failed to notify them of the issue in breach of my lease. But my lease provided I would only be responsible if my failure to notify caused the damage. Be on the lookout for improper legal arguments like this one and read your lease carefully as to your responsibility for damages. From what I could tell, CPM doesn't have a lawyer on staff, so take their legal conclusions with a grain of salt. 3) CPM's 10% fee. Read your lease. On mine, CPM had a provision that they would charge 10% on any work that was required to be performed by the tenant. But in withholding my security deposit, they charged 10% on ANY work they performed after I left, including work that was not the tenant's responsibility to perform, such as piping and ceiling repairs. I brought this point up to them, and they ignored it. Leases usually outline who is responsible for performing what repairs. I firmly believe CPM knowingly applies this fee to everything in bad faith to anything because they get away with it. 4) Interest on security deposits. DC Code 14 DCMR § 311 requires that your security deposit be held in an interest bearing account, and that the security deposit PLUS interest be returned / accounted for within 45 days of the end of tenancy. CPM failed to account for this for me. 5) Professional Cleaning Fees are Unlawful: DC code § 42-3505.10 states a housing provider cannot charge a professional cleaning fee so long as the tenant returns the promises in a condition within the standard of ordinary wear and tear. CPM still put this and my lease and emailed me multiple times upon leaving to make sure I had paid this, even though DC bars it. If they made you pay this and you live in DC, consider raising. I don't believe parties can contract out of this. 6) CPM may owe you double / treble damages: If CPM withholds the security deposit in bad faith, they may be liable to you for double or triple damages under 14 DCMR 309. CPM should be held as a sophisticated party (they are not just a one-time landlord, they are a property management company). Yet the history of reviews like this one show they have a pattern of improperly overcharging tenants beyond what is reasonable or legally defensible. If you need to litigate, bring up their history from these reviews and the fact they are acting in bad faith (if they are) against what is in your lease or what is reasonable based on your facts. I hope no one else has to deal with CPM, but if you do, I hope this helps. read more

I make 5 times the amount of rent through my disability and was told they'd approve me if I paid off a utility bill I was currently working with the company on because a past complex kept it in my name after I left accidently. Then after taking my money to apply they tell me my rental history isn't lining up. I've rented for over 10 years and never even been late for a payment. So I asked for a copy of my report. The report clearly states there was no discrepancy. I ask for a call to get this cleared up because im moving for a medical issue. I wait 6 days for a call and nothing. So I reach back out and get a response saying theyre changing management and I dont meet the criteria to rent. Yet they cant and wont tell me why. This place is a scam and ridiculous. You had someone that was going to pay you months ahead of time and be a great tenant, and yet you want to play games with people's lives and waste my time. Don't rent from here. Also, reporting this company to the Better Business Bureau for investigation. Because after they ran my credit, they pinged it over five times. Definitely going to be writing a lot of letters and sending out a lot of emails. I feel like this.Whole situation was handled extremely wrong and unprofessional. read more

If I could give zero stars I would. These canned responses are worthless. They are still the worst management company I have ever rented from. As a landlord myself, I would never use them. They should be out of business. read more

If you're a greedy grubby landlord this is the company for you! If you're a tenant avoid this company at all costs. When we moved out they used our security deposit to make upgrades to an already old and dilapidated house that was in poor shape when we moved in. When we pushed back they claimed we left a lot of damages that had to be fixed which is not true. They even repainted the outside of the house using our deposit. They also charged us a 10% service fee for their services on our security deposit, which should've been charged to the landlord because they hired them. Utterly ridiculous and terrible money grabbing company that only looks out for landlords who are already filthy rich while taking advantage of those who can't afford a house in this awful market and are forced to rent. Avoid at all costs. Also during the rental they took 3 months to fix our dishwasher and also cut a hole in a wall to do some wiring, patched it, never repainted it, and then charged us to have it repainted after we moved out even though they said they wouldn't. read more

Circle Property only cares about their bottom line. I have sat on multiple maintenance request for months that they continue to use bandaid solutions as a cheaper fix for the problems just to reappear every month and become my problem. Since I have moved in I have had a leaking shower with broken handles, another tenant stealing and trashing my things, a bug infestation and more. I also have an ESA and suffer from PTSD after surviving a terrorist attack. As I was moving in, their employee Chris (an intern in charge of handing me my keys and having me sign a form), asked me 10+ questions about the terrorist attack to "vet" my qualifications to have a service animal. This company takes very little pride in their work and equally as little pride in how they treat their tenants. I'm actively under a lease with them and it's a living nightmare. read more

This company will probably do a good job of managing an investment property for renting out, but it certainly will not represent the neighboring properties' interest, with any semblance of integrity and ethics. I live in a condominium underneath a unit that is managed by Circle Property. As you know, anytime a unit leaks into another below, the unit above is at fault. Well, Eric G., the owner of the company and head property manager/broker, will argue tooth an nail to claim that his client (the investment property unit owner) is not responsible for doing what repairs are needed. Following three water leaks in August, where there was a puddle of water in my water heater closet, Eric contended that only tape and Kilz was required. The building maintenance, and two different water damage expert companies said that dehumidification is necessary. After a month of no action, Circle Property still contends dehumidification is not necessary as slapping lipstick in a pig is how they want to proceed with repairs. I'd give it negative 5 stars if it were an option, but they get one star since that's the lowest possible on Yelp! read more

Please think twice about utilizing this company to oversee your property. They are rude, confrontational, lack basic understanding, drag their feet with repairs and requests no matter how serious, provide no assistance (Melissa, Patrick and George should be replaced) and operate as slum lords on your behalf. It's shameful. If you care about your reputation as an owner and hope to continue to rent to reputable tenants, use a company that will work hard for you. this is not that company. read more

Like many others, they are withholding ridiculous fees from my security deposit. I paid to have the house professionally cleaned before moving out and provided a receipt. They charged me an additional $300 for cleaning anyway. They also charged $500 for wall repair. There were no holes in the walls bigger than a pencil eraser, and many holes were there when we moved in (and are evident in the pictures from the move in inspection). They also failed to provide me with a breakdown of the fees they were charging or a return of my security deposit within 45 days as required by my lease and by law. I will be pursuing small claims court to recover my deposit. Avoid renting through them at all costs, but if you made that mistake already, hopefully small claims court works for you too! read more

Even the property was handed on better condition than when it was rented. They will take the money with some weird excuses. There is no proof provided for their "So called cleaning" and "repair". This is worse than money laundering business! During move in Chris Chung will rush you towards filling checklist with no lights on! While move out , he will use flashlight to find faults. During move in, even if you find issues, it becomes tenants responsibility. After move out , also tenant gets charged for every thing which they didn't fix even before you moved in. I hope all the tenants who used this company and fight together to recover the money! read more

I am appalled by the way my roommates and I were treated during the application process. We paid $255 dollars to apply to an apartment that had ZERO applicants. We were given absolutely no information or timeline as to when we might be accepted. This went on for approximately three weeks, meanwhile the "realtor" said if we didn't hear back by now we could "assume" we were denied. Excuse me? What do you mean assume? Additionally, we received a rejection letter that said they found a "more qualified" applicant. Again, excuse me? Is this how you treat prospective tenants? Avoid at all cost, unless you would like your time and money wasted. read more

I've been leasing a property that is managed by the Circle Property Management since December 2019. My first impression with the company was a little skeptical. Now I feel very confident with their professionalism. Here are some things that gave me a positive impression of them from the beginning. When I viewed the house during the move-in inspection, it was cleaner than when I first checked the house for the rent. The basement's junks were cleared in a short period of time as the company promised. The property has been updated and well managed even it is an older home built in the 1970s. Here's the source of my skeptical feeling I had. In the beginning, it seemed like they focused more on their schedule than my schedule. It was obvious that the company is working for the landlord. Of course the company is paid by the landlord. It's understandable but worrisome because the property is nearly a half-century-old. I worried I might end up paying for many repairs. I've been living at the property for almost six months. I now have a different view of the company. It's clear that the company cares about the tenants. I have been working with Mr. Basic for the few items of the house maintenance. He has been super professional. He has followed up on each of the issues promptly by phone calls and emails. He has communicated timely between the landlord and the tenant and has taken care of the business professionally and fairly. I would recommend Circle Property Management to whomever has an investment property that requires management or wishes to lease a property. read more

I wrote an earlier, critical review based on bad information. Circle PM contacted me directly and clarified the situation. When I'm wrong, I'm wrong. The issues with my negative experience renting a property were not the fault of Circle PM, and they in fact did reach out to me promptly; the failure in seeing the email back to me was on me, not them. And since then, they have both called and emailed me to try to help. I've had such bad experiences with other property managers that I just assumed this was another one. I was wrong. They truly tried to make things right. read more

If you want to pay a $50 per applicant fee PLUS a $25 fee to register your pet on some random online company instead of this company checking with your vet (for free) AND you also want to pay a $25 fee to your landlord so they can fill out the required reference form instead of this company checking with your landlord (for free), this might be the company for you. Better yet that you pay all of these things and they're completely non-refundable if you don't get the property AND there is a complete lack of prompt or courteous response from the agent! read more

To all potential renters! This is NOT a review regarding their Realtor activity but their Property Management disservice to Tenants. Up until end of January of this year, we were tenants under PMI Quality Care Property Management of McLean, VA (PMI). It is our understanding that PMI has merged with Circle Property Management. In its announcement dated 3 February, Mr. Patrick Page (former PMI Principal property broker) spoke of a "win-win" situation when it came to consolidating with Circle Property Management. We cast serious doubt on this claim and would like to share with you our experience. During our tenure, PMI had acted and performed their duties in an unethical and unprofessional manner that would besmirch the reputation on any reputable company. We do not have any other expectation other than to inform you of what your new employees are capable of and how they conducted business. We are surprised that Circle Property did not conduct a thorough vetting of Ms. Fouzia Kahlild. At every turn, she has shown herself to be unqualified, unprofessional, dishonest, and dismissive of clients if it is an inconvenience to her. We had made inquiries into filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the National Association of Residential Property Managers. Not to our surprise, PMI and Ms. Kahlild are not members of either organization. We had no other choice to reach out to Alexandria City Code Violation inspection. For clarification, all maintenance requests had to be agreed upon by the owners. The owners of the property are equally responsible for blatantly violating the terms of the lease. However, it was unprofessional, unethical, and disappointing that Ms. Kahlild and by extension Mr. Page would not respond to our email inquiries, text messages, and phone calls. If we did manage to elicit a response with enough persistence, we were met with, "I will get back to you soon". We were even told by Ms. Kahlild when insisting on answers after weeks of open inquiries "If you don't hear from me that means no!" They took a monthly fee without making any effort to resolve or communicate between us and the owners. We have substantial documentation, texts, and photos to support our claims. Particularly the move out inspection procedure has been violated and misconducted. In over 20 plus years of moving around the world with the military, we have never been treated the way PMI, now Circle Property Management, treated us. I will ensure that all military members in the DC area are familiar with our experience. read more

Apparently this company merged with PMI and has been nothing but a real headache. Steer clear at all cost. its excuse after excuse.

Very poor service. The agent didn't send us an application form, but later complaint that we were late for applying. The company charged us the application fee, but then told us "first come first serve." When we called to understand what happened, the agent became upset and impatient. Let me wait on the phone with unsolved problems. Update: 1) nobody sent us a link to the online website application or told us how to apply despite my wife emailed several times to request on Friday. Sounds like the company assumes that its customers would automatically know where it is and how to proceed. 2) It is not the major agent but one of his employees who told us "first come first serve" in a phone call. This is also something quite strange to hear in the rental market. Perhaps they (or she) had already decided to go with another applicant, so found a "decent" reason to turn down our application despite we were actually the FIRST applicant. 3) I thought that there might be some miscommunications and misunderstanding, and then called the agent to discuss, but I don't know why he was so impatient and upset. He began to blame my wife and quickly hung up the phone without giving explanations. If this is "professional" service, I have to update my understanding of "professional" since I myself research professions. BTW, stigmatizing your customer as "unhappy" individual won't help your business. People would question your professional ethic if you continue responding in this way. read more

I am writing this review after recently listing my rental single family home in Great Falls, VA with Christine V. at Circle Property Management. As a very experienced landlord over 35 years, I have come to realize that communication is the key in a successful relationship with a property management firm. I would have to give Christine an 'A+' in professionalism, anticipating my needs as a landlord, and in communication. It has been less than week since my listing went 'live', I am anticipating a quick rental to a quality tenant. Looking forward to many years of being a client of Circle Property Management. read more

I feel I wasted my money using the services of Circle PM. They were lazy and unprofessional on several occasions.

This review is long overdue. I have been using CPM for almost 4 years now. We have a rental townhome in NoVA that I used to deal with myself but since my husband and I moved to CA, I could no longer easily manage and deal with renters, etc. I interviewed several property management companies, but after meeting Eric, I instantly knew CPM was the right choice. Eric and his team are extremely professional, responsive and pro-active on finding and vetting responsible renters for our property. They also go above and beyond in dealing with all the challenges associated with a rental property. Some examples of the crazy things they've handled for me over the years are: discovering and getting a company to humanely remove a family of SIX raccoons living in the attic (and the repairs to the hole to prevent them from reoccupying); MANY broken appliances; dealing with the anal HOA and non-compliance notices (for shutters and a door of an "unapproved" color). They have been also wonderful at obtaining vendors at competitive pricing. Eric and his team (whom I've only corresponded with via email, but are all so friendly and helpful) are a real pleasure to work with and have saved my sanity on several occasions by dealing with all the headaches associated with a rental property! I highly recommend Circle Property Management!! read more