I've passed up two different opportunities to rent through Equinox. Here's why. Two years ago when I was looking for an apartment in Bethlehem, I had an appointment with an Equinox agent to see an apartment on Broad St. that I really loved. The agent never showed up, and despite my numerous phone calls and text messages, I never heard from her again. Recently I started a new apartment hunt. I had an appointment with another Equinox agent to see a property on North St. Mind you, it took 8 emails and several phone calls to reach this point. It was nearly impossible to get in touch anyone at this company. Well, guess what? The agent didn't show up at 6PM as we'd planned. I called several times, left two voicemails and emailed. I had to leave work early to see this property. I waited around for nearly 30min and then left. The agent called me 40min later saying that he was at a lease signing but he could show me the property now. When I got there, the agent didn't apologize for any of this. I checked out the house - it was beautiful and the price point was great. I would have applied for this rental in a heartbeat but due the the unprofessional nature of Equinox, I am passing it up. Why would I choose to work with a company that made it so difficult for me to simply schedule a viewing? read more

So I'm canceling my lease and they almost took me to court over my questions. It's the one old lady working there. She has a crazy "I'm going to Get you" attitude. I spoke with Sarah and other employees and they were nice about helping out. It was a simple question as to why my lease renews? Is it ever possible to get my security back? So if I don't get my security back I can just not pay next months rent and count that as my security and just move out now? All this questions weren't answered and it was a you better pay up or we will take you to court and it will cost you more than your rent/security. It's almost as if they set up the system for you to not get your security back. I got laid off recently and there is noway I can pay to get off a new lease. I hope that these guys realize there mistake my not being customer oriented. I'm sure these reviews aren't helping there bottom line. But you guys need to know. ***october 21st 2014*** I just had Cara come to me to tell me that if I don't show my apartment to their new customer while I am living in it that they will sue for the next months that there will be no tenants in it. Doubtfully she explained that her boss (aka Sean burkes and Sarah) she is an (independent contractor) said that her boss told her to say that and she is watching out for me by letting me know what the consequences are and she had a customer downstairs waiting to come in. I had to quickly clean up and then they came in. Imagine if I wasn't home? I told them over the phone that they aren't allowed to come over. But I actually decided to come that day home 3pm normal working hours they use your place while you are away. You won't be any wiser. read more

The front door and gate have been broken for months and we cannot enter the building unless someone inside lets us in or we leave the front door propped open. I have made phone call after phone call and email after email and it still isn't fixed. To have no way to enter my own apartment for months is unacceptable. read more

Absolutely will not return our calls or emails. Terrible customer service. Have been trying to contact them for months only to be told they will get back with us, which they never ever have and it has now been months. Our home which we rent via Equinox is under foreclosure now. They still refuse to contact us. No idea what we will do, what they will do, and what is going to happen with security deposit... rent... etc. I DO NOT recommend this company at all. read more

i lived in an apartment for 9 YEARS, in which I had NO PROBLEM EVER, until Equinox took over. My living room ceiling RAINED on the friday before Christmas, despite my informing them since june....... 6 months prior. I moved out, FINALLY, left the apartment empty and clean, to find they REFUSED to give me back my security deposit. They also, are trying to extort additional money from me for other BS reasons. DO NOT RENT/ BUY ANYTHING from Equinox Advantage Real Estate. I KNOW my ceiling was badly leaking. They are probably just paining over the brown stains, and waiting for the next sucker to rent for MORE money a month. Not to mention, when I called the guy to tell the douche bag owner, Sean Burke, he told me, " how do you expect me to know about your leak, we manage over 500 properties.." They do not care about you or your property , ONLY THE MONEY YOU GIVE TO THEM!!!!!!!! read more

Looks like we dodged a bullet considering other reviews. We were moving and were interested in a few houses managed by equinox. I spoke with an agent and set up a time to view the properties. He was supposed to call to verify where to meet. I never received a call from him again. This was fairly inconvenient as we had limited days available to view places. If they were unable to show me the houses, they should have called to let me know, as I had blocked the whole afternoon for the appointment with them. Doesn't appear that they care about their customer service at all. Per other reviews and my experience, I would never consider renting from them again. read more

So I rented my first apartment from Equinox. This was a horrible experience. First, I went and signed the lease and within 5 minutes after I left they called me to ask if I can move in on the 4th instead of the 1st. RED FLAG! I said no. Then, on the 3rd, I come home from work and there is a CONDEMNED NOTICE on my door and a lady outside of my house. She said the entire house was not up to code and I should not have signed a lease. There were many damages, I had a boarded window (no glass) in my livingroom. There was a hole in the floor, there were rats in the rafters, I couldn't turn my oven on without the smoke detector blaring, my front door was a basic, wooden, interior type door that anyone could kick in and my fire escape was not even connected to the house. Magistrate said if they don't fix things by a certain date, I keep my money and take them to court. I lived there for 3 months and nothing was fixed. I was told my window could not be fixed until the spring. I spent the entire winter trying to keep the house at a livable temperature. The electric bill was over $550 at one point. I do not recommend that anyone rent from this company. While the owners are away living their comfortable lives, they have this horrible real estate company running their properties like shit and treating tenants the same. read more

Hands down the worst business in the Lehigh Valley. Save your time and go elsewhere. I have lived in my apartment over 7 years. This company took over about 3 months ago. Not once ever in contact except for about 2 weeks ago when I had no heat. Yes I have been late on payments but always paid the late fee in which previous owner passed along due to living paycheck to paycheck. And Merry Xmas to me this week finding my lease will not be renewed, with the end of january to be out. And on top of it, come home from work tonight to once again...NO HEAT, NO HOT WATER. Never had these issues with previous ownership. This place is a joke and you are better off. Just like I will. read more

They are a bunch of thieves, I was renting for over 7yrs at one of their rentals and they never repair anything over charge me on water bills and to top it off when I moved I clean the place so well but since I was moving out of state they ask for a forward address gave it to them expecting my deposit back and instead got a bill as if i bought the house. Charging me for worn n tear n said someone broke in and trash place . Lie cause no trash was there I empty house. I even had my friend ask to see the house and she record it no charges was mad house was how I left it and less then 3wks someone moved in. Bunch of crooks and the fat slob Burke is definitely a coward he wouldn't talk to be bout it. Becareful everyone read more

WOW! I just got off the phone w/ Naomi from Equinox Realty. I have never in my life dealt with a more unprofessional, rude & condescending individual. I gave them one star, because I cannot give a negative star rating. Inquiring about a rental property, I asked about square footage for the bedrooms of this particular listing (she did not have the information) & she seemed to shuffle around a bit, then came back at me with "How soon are you looking to move?". I responded that I was still waiting for some square footage info from her & that I might not be interested in the listing at all, dependent upon the answer. Welllll, apparently ole Naomi didn't like my response, as at this point she became completely dismissive. She started telling me in a brusque tone that the reason she was asking was that there were already 2 applications in on the apt. I thought, "ok..." & began to ask her some general questions about the listing, what was the neighborhood like, blah, blah, blah.... At THIS point, she flat out said to me (and I quote), "You wouldn't like it.". I thought "WTF? Did she seriously just say this to me?". She did. Now, she starts telling me that 2 men have an application in & she's not comfortable there & I won't like it & do I have kids. All sort of in a rushed & disjointed speech pattern. Bizarre! Now I'm beginning to get annoyed with her, and I ask her to repeat her name & I ask why she feels comfortable making assumptions about my personality & what I am & am not comfortable with. This question REALLY sends Naomi over the edge & she responds with, "You wouldn't like the place & we aren't interested in renting to you." SHE ACTUALLY SAID THOSE WORDS TO ME!!!! LOL! Holy crap. When I called back to speak with an office manager, I was given the run around. Told she was on another line, I couldn't have a name or phone number for this mystery woman, and would I like to leave a message? When I came to this site to leave my review, I realized I'm not the only person who feels Equinox (dubious) Advantage Realty is sub-par. I'm going to say it flat out, it appears I dodged a bullet in not seeing any of their listings. Run, don't walk away from this "company"! read more

Where do I start? Wow, just wow! I was dealing with a lady by the Name of Jeanie. I am relocating from NYC to PA and informed her of the same. I actually have TONS of proof of her being extremely unprofessional. From e-mails to text messages. You would think that if you informed her that you wanted to see the apartments listed she would at the very least inform the landlords of a potential tenant, right? Especially if you're coming from NYC. She did the total opposite. She advised that instead of doing it that way, she would like for my husband and I to drive to each location on Saturday and then send her an e-mail stating which apartment we would like to view. Now, she also knew we were only available on the weekend so we only have so much time to get a hold of the owners, etc. We did just that and sent her an email at 1:53pm. I never received a response, but it was Saturday and I didn't want to bother her so I waited until Sunday morning at 10am to call her - no answer; therefore, I sent her a text. That is when the "drama" began. She never informed any of the landlords of a possible tenant and claimed that she did not receive an email until after 4pm, which was a complete lie and again I have proof of that. She may have checked it after 4pm, but I certainly did not send it after 4pm - huge difference. She then went on saying that many folks always say they will come and never do or don't like the area, but we're not many folks and we expressed not only on Saturday, but prior to Saturday that we would like to see the apartments - except one out of like 6. She knew we did not want the one for $750 as we expressed that and she actually said it via email - lol!!!! I'm dying - literally because you can't get mad nowadays - I'm telling you. We're extremely professional and considerate of peoples time. Not only that, we're coming from NYC and we advised her that we were interested and serious inquiries. She called my phone yelling and speaking over me - which was so annoying. She kept on texting me nonsense after I asked her via phone to just advise on the apartments as I am not her manager or the business owner so I don't care to hear her defense on her professionalism. The entire conversation became a debate - her debate because it certainly wasn't mine. I had nothing to prove or defend, but she did as she knew she was being unprofessional. I informed her that I did not send the email that late, but rather she checked it that late - huge difference. I also informed her of her unprofessionalism. I will quote a text message regarding the time " You may have sent it at 1, but I got it at 5." lol She killed me, I can't even get upset because she is a joke. You checked it at 5pm, not my problem. You know, sometimes you just have to expect the worse, but hope for the best, right? lol!! She was better off apologizing and stating she would do her best to get us to view an apartment considering that we came to meet with her and her only and she knew that, but no she just loves to argue and defend herself. I actually feel bad for her partner because sheesh there is no getting through to this woman. Its like speaking to a brick wall. Oh wait let me share another text message. Now, as you know she sent 6 different apartments to view, correct? She sent a text stating "your price point is very low, even for this area." My price point was $700. Now if my price point was very low, why did she send us 5 different locations and advised on to come on down from NYC? LOL!! Lord please help her because she needs it! I then stated "What does the price point have to do with you informing the landlords?" If my price point was low, why did she send us the locations to view on Sunday? If my price point was low why didn't she simply not waste my time and say you know call us at a later date or whatever. She has nothing to say that's why. She had no defense - she was literally debating with herself . It gets better!!!! lol Again, I advised that I would just like to view the apartments and not debate she went on saying "Well, I'm feeling threatened and misunderstood, so we just better go our separate ways" lol!!!! A woman like this will put an innocent person in jail, but I thank the good lord that I have texts and emails so police would brush her off, plus I'm heading to the military and graduating with my second degree while she bickers with herself and the clients. Now I see why ALL clients have rated them one star. I replied "Who has threatened you? I have been extremely professional. I'm far from a threat. LOL. You're a joke. You should feel unprofessional." She then said "I'm canceling my appointments, try calling the listing offices directly and good luck to you." PLEASE DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME GUYS. I'M SURE THEY HAVE OTHER REAL ESTATES OR BETTER PEOPLE AT THIS LOCATION. Pray for people like her - that's all. :) Happy searching. read more

I had the exact experience as described by Ender. They never answer to the calls or emails, they truly blame everything on the tenant and be sure you get billed for whatever they can. Never had such an experience before: I am shocked by their poor ethical business level. I am planning to take them to court and file a complain with the real estate association, I hope other people will join me read more

This company is deplorable. Upon move in, your place is not even close to clean and there will be holes in the walls. Your stove and refrigerator will be crusted up with who knows what. Your bedroom door is probably off the hinges and the dry wall behind it is a gaping hole. Your closet...the door of that is leaned up against the opposite wall. There's some random scribbles on your window sill and the wall about hating someone's sister and some not so artful skull drawings. The other bedroom's ceiling is yellow and cracking from water damage that wasn't there when you first saw the place. Now there's cracked and peeling paint all over the floor. Good luck trying to open a window to get some air. If you can muster the strength to get that shit up you'll be lucky to get it not to come slamming down on your hand. No biggie, just run out and buy a bunch of 2x4's, cut them to length and jam your windows so they don't slam on your appendages. Ohhhhh, but the screens....yeah get used to bugs smacking you in the face. The one thing i can give credit for was there weren't THAT many live roaches. Granted there were a TON just laying on their backs all over the carpet and all over the apartment. But back to the windows; all I can say is good luck. These buildings are so old and so poorly maintained that there is absolutely no chance that you can keep them by any means warm. Let me give you an idea: December through march, a 4 month winter season, it cost almost $1200 to heat a small 2 bedroom at a constant 60 degrees. We thought we were doing good and saving some money by hardly running the heat, inconveniencing our friends that'd visit and living with several layers of clothing inside the apartment and a heap of blankets only to find out once we received an actual meter reading that the place leaked heat so bad that we were literally hemorrhaging money and comfort. The people that run this company DO NOT care for their tenants. My neighbors above me gave warning as they departed about a month into my lease that this property management company is a scam. They warned about being double billed for sewage and trash via photocopies of past bills. YOU WILL NOT GET AN ACTUAL WATER OR SEWER BILL. You can try to contact the city to get an actual bill but everything is under an equinox account. When my last quarterly bill came for water and sewer ( water and sewer is not included in rent and will cost you about $100 each month) they told me that it hadn't even been active. They had no actual reading since about 7 months before i moved into the place. Where were the photocopied bills they were sending me coming from? Spooky! Not to mention all the times the pipes froze and I was without water for extended periods, but that never seemed to affect water consumption...weird. And to think after all that I left the place cleaner than I found it to lose my security deposit. When I questioned where it all went the half answer between the silence was to 4 hours of cleaning. Huh, 4 hrs to clean an already cleaner apartment. That's funny. When I wanted to know who the cleaning company was and where they could be reached I was not so surprised to hear it was equinox itself who billed me for four hours of cleaning and a several other miscellaneous charges that amounted to just about the total of one months rent....minus the water, sewer, maintenance, trash, electric, heat. You can think of it; they'll charge you for it. And that's not even including what you're utilities are in these outdated buildings. You would be crazy to rent from these thieves. read more

I have been a tenant for a year and a half with Equinox. I seem to b the only who has something nice to say. Whenever i have called the office with a complaint, I have been attended to by polite, respectful, and professional workers. My complaint has been taken and a response issued in a timely manner. The problem was fixed and life went on as normal. They have hundreds of tenants, so it seems that a few bad reviews are coming from angry ex-tenants . A large mgt company like Equinox with hundreds of tenants will always come across a few unhappy tenants, its just a shame that they have computers that give them a platform to badmouth the company that rents them their home. I understand people want a decent place to live, and have the basic human right to do so, i myself included in that statement, but there is no need to badmouth or try to ruin the reputation of a company that does a good job in maintenance and customer service. I personally want to say Thank You Equinox, Good job, And keep up the good work. read more