The Forbes team has been outstanding! Thanks to Tracie and Jack for recent assistance with the move-in process for a law student coming from out-of-state. As a parent, I found the unit and hoped it would work out well for him. He has expressed overwhelming gratitude for the kindness, support and responsiveness of the management and maintenance teams at Forbes. The apartment is perfect for his situation. Our highest recommendation and heartfelt thanks! Please keep up the great work, Forbes. read more

Rats in our apartment. first they told us it wasn't an emergency, and the second time they said the exterminator didn't work for them so they cant send someone asap. we will see how this is resolved but the rats are still here! read more

I stayed at colebrook affiliates with forbes management. Do not stay there!!! landlord would not change the window blinds. they stated per thier lease that only the windows in front of the apartment would be changed only. my apartment wasn't facing the front of the street. the place had mice not 1 mouse but 2. I called management to exterminate the mice. Maintenance came and gave us little dollar mouse traps from home depot. my boyfriend had to buy mouse traps to kill the mice because management did not care. The rugs were disgusting when I moved in, it look like they didn't touch the floors at all due to the animal hair and brown marks as if the last tenant maybe had a dog or cat. Long story short they didn't touch those floors before I moved in. I would not move in here. They don't fix anything. They keep your deposit charging 500 dollars for a cleaning fee another 200 for carpet and 200 dollars for paint. That is utter ridiculousness!! what paint charge 200 dollars a can of paint is how much??? We had chipped walls in the bathroom, the toilet had the most horrible rust ring around the toilet. tenants got their mail stolen. Our garage door would just open up in the middle of the night due to an electrical error. each year the rent would raise 100 dollars. The heat was controlled by the weather it would not come on unless it was below 60 degrees outside. it was so cold And the heat would not come on.. it was miserable. Cheap blinds that broke just from touching them. i will never stay in another one of thier apartments ever again! I had a horrible experience Rent was literally 1400, when I fell short never worked with me. Management threatened to go to the magistrate every chance they got, I couldn't keep up because of the yearly increase. I beg of you please go somewhere else. it's not worth it. The best part about the apartment was the location but it was supper noisy due to the nursing home next door. read more

My roommate and I are 3 months into renting from Forbes management, and so far, it has been a really great experience! We live in an apartment in Polish Hill with reasonably priced rent, and when we moved in the apartment was very clean. Recently we did have a few maintenance issues pop up (including a hole in our living room ceiling due to a previous repair not working out), and Forbes responded to all of our maintenance requests in a very timely manner; a repair man was out there within 2 days of the request, and addressed all the 4 things I had requested maintenance for, even the little things like reattaching a small, unnoticeable panel that had come off in our kitchen. Additionally, they got to work on repairing our ceiling that day, and ended up hiring some very professional and gracious contractors to fix it, so that by a week later, we had a beautiful new ceiling in our living room. Their admin staff have also responded to all of our emails and questions within 24 hours at the latest. Overall, it's been a great experience! I would definitely recommend Forbes Management to anyone who is looking for housing in Pittsburgh. read more

Been with FM for almost a year. Such a good company and they response very promptly to emails/questions/problems. They're very organized with the move in and move out process too. I'm moving from on FM owned apartment to another FM own apartment in a few months and I'm extremely glad I'm staying with them. They are a great company to work with especially when you're a college kid who is being introduced to the rental world! read more

First, they sneak in an extra month on your lease to convenience, who? The company of course. They're lame at making repairs, still got a whole in the ceiling which is caused by a leaky roof. Oh, they suck at the little things, and nickle and dime you when it's time to move out and you don't scrub in between the tiles in the bathroom. All and all, I have had much better experiences, but they cater to graduate students who are in and out in a year. if your an adult buy a house, and leave the apartment renting to the clueless students. On the positive side the office staff are nice, and probably just do as they're told by the owners. So don't take it personal. The six month before the lease is up renewal is pretty ridiculous. One year is enough! Just ignore the pesky renewal note and let them figure it out themselves. Read the lease carefully-- read more

I've been a tenant here for a year now. Winter is coming but heater is not working. Mike from maintenance fixed it fast and did an excellent job. He is the greatest mechanic in town, a great guy, too. read more

Short synopsis: not the best, but not the worse. Decent-ish for Pittsburgh. I have heard horror stories about Lobos so they aren't that bad. I will say I lived in the same building as the girl who talks about the bat here on Yelp...and luckily we didn't have them in our unit but Forbes treated her like crap. I however can only speak to my experience. We moved into one of their newly renovated units at that time. I certainly understand that comes with it's challenges. However, the main issues I had with Forbes were: lack of ownership/responsibility and lack of communication. We would email or call about issues and they would say "ok we will get someone out", and then no one would come. And they would never call with an update. When we would follow-up (often had to multiple times on the same issue) and we were always met with the excuse of "well we have a lot of units, our staff will get to you, we must prioritize, blah blah" ok well HIRE MORE PEOPLE. (I see them using the same excuse in the responses to Yelp reviews on here). Once I was very frustrated with them because the lock on our building door was broken so anyone could enter the building. They gave me a really hard time about me calling them day after day about it. It was a SECURITY issue. It needed to get fixed ASAP. My boyfriend lived in a different Forbes building a few years before where his unit got broken into because the building door lock was broken. In that instance no one called to tell Forbes, and looked what happened -- a break in. They should have understood why I (or anyone really) would insist that a broken apartment building door needed to be fixed immediately. We also had numerous days where the hear wasn't working in freezing temps. All stuff other people have complained about. There's a theme here folks... I have lived in DC where the management companies are huge, and never had to wait as long for maintenance requests to get fulfilled. On the flip side, I now live in a condo in DC that's managed by a guy out in CA and he is super on top of it, and even follows up to check in that everything is ok. Forbes will try to make you seem unreasonable for checking on the status of when something was going to get fixed and will also do the bare minimum to fix issues. In my experience, they will eventually fix it though. You just must keep nagging them or they won't. They are clearly focused on profit. They care little about customer satisfaction...just keeping renters content enough to keep units filled. read more

We had extreme issues with Forbes resulting in thousands of dollars of personal expenses. 1.There were a couple weeks in winter when our apartment never got above 55°F. Our kitchen pipes froze completely. I was calling and emailing them every day and did not get it resolved for several weeks. 2.There was (probably still IS) a BAT infestation in the building I lived in. After we found the first bat in our living room, Forbes did nothing. It took a few emails to even get them to respond to us, at which point they basically said that we must have let it in and it was not necessary for them to do anything. This is a good time to point out that they have always been extremely patronizing to me. A couple weeks later, a second bat. And a couple weeks later, a third bat. At least one other unit in the building also had a bat inside during this period. My partner and I each ended up having to get 6 rabies shots over the course of two weeks. These cost thousands of dollars and are very painful.... Not to mention the cost of all the nights we spent in hotels when we had no where to sleep safely. Basically Forbes Management royally screwed us over and got away with it. They only thing I can do is tell you to not make the same mistake! You will not be safe living with Forbes and they will not care one bit. read more

Can't even begin to list the problems we've had with Forbes..... we've had significant damage in our house for about 8 months at this point, and they've been slow to respond and still haven't fixed it. Pursuing legal help now, as we apparently cannot convince them to do necessary repairs. Their maintenance men are wonderful, however, and continually apologize to us for not being able to help more. Seems that the higher-ups in Forbes care a lot more about saving a penny than maintaining nice properties and their tenants' safety. read more

316 S Mathilda Building. About $900 for 450ish square feet. From Tuesday until Friday morning West Penn Hospital idles an 18 wheeler outside your apartment. They bring a mobile cancer unit worth millions in. No complaints you make are going to change that. Your bedroom will sound like a truck stop during these days. The building is crooked. It's subtle and difficult to notice at first, but looking across the room it becomes very noticeable, anything round will roll quickly towards the center of the building. Heat is all or nothing. The thermostat is marked from previous tenants. It does not work under 73 in the bedroom. There is no ventilation. Multiple residents complain of cooking smells. If someone cooks, you will smell it. Also, in the two summers I've spent there, something has died on the roof or in the walls each year. The smell is horrible. Death permeates the top floor. Thin(ish) walls. Every time your neighbor shuts their cabinets or pounds something while cooking, you will hear it. One neighbor in the middle of the building is a guitar player. They're at least decent. Package thieves. 1/3 of your packages you will receive. 1/3 of your packages another tenant will move inside the secure door for you. 1/3 of your packages will be stolen. City police don't care, I have the case numbers. Forbes said they would put in a camera 4-5 months ago. No camera. They refuse to secure the door because it would require keying the mailman. I have an email from them confirming that. Half the road is commercial parking, the other half is residential. Since you live next door to an anchor hospital for Allegheny Health Network your parking pass is only valid for half the road. Mathilda is lined by apartments on the other side. Competition for spaces if fierce. PPA will ticket/boot/tow you if you don't go outside and pay $2.00 every hour for parking on the other side of the road. Garbage comes at 4AM. They can't back the garbage truck up because the parking lot is too small. So they roll the dumpster down the lot hill, over the sidewalk and curb and take care of it in the street. Right out front of your apartment. It takes about half an hour. Speaking of the parking lot, most of the spaces are rented to hospital employees or people who don't live in the apartment building. If the previous tenant didn't have a parking pass one won't be reserved for you. Oh, and the door knob on my front door has been broken since I moved in. Unless the deadbolt is locked my front door doesn't shut. Maintenance tried fixing it but for whatever reason can't. I would give them a two because the maintenance folks are good people. Oh, here's another good Forbes experience, when I filled out my application for the apartment my emergency contact was 911. Bonnie didn't like that and asked me if I had any family. I told her 'no' and she continued to press me on the issue. I was super offended by this. I survived my family and move around often to keep their negative influence out of my life. After explaining, again, I wouldn't be listing any family members she continued to challenged me. That was great, having that dragged up. Really classy. Yeah, screw these people. Update: After posting this review I was contacted by Bonny and she informed me I am wrong. She never pressed me on my family. Well, shit, I feel so much better now. Thanks Bonny read more

OK by Pittsburgh PMC standards, notwithstanding a few issues. I've lived in my Forbes apartment for a year now. Pros: * Friendly, reasonable staff * Very small increase in rent when I renewed my lease * Very prompt maintenance service for urgent issues * Does a great, proactive job maintaining yard and exterior of my building * Unit was exactly as depicted on website * Rent is fair for the neighborhood and the unit size Cons: * Apartment was filthy when I moved in; I had to spend a few days cleaning it. This was especially annoying because they deduct a $100 cleaning fee from your security deposit; clearly they are just pocketing the cleaning fee and not actually using it to clean the units for new tenants. * They tend to let minor/non-urgent work orders fall by the wayside and never get around to them. * Maintenance guys occasionally enter the unit without warning for dumb reasons. Of course, Forbes has a right to send maintenance crews without notice for emergencies, but I've had them come several times with zero notice "to check for leaks because your water bill was high this month." * They demand you renew your lease only six months after move-in read more

I rented through them for 2 years. I really don't have any complaints. The staff was always friendly, both in person and via e-mail, they generally were very prompt in their responses with the latter. I had a few little things come up repair-wise with my house over the 2 years that they were always pretty quick to fix. I loved my property and the price was very reasonable. Would definitely rent with them again. read more

We've had trouble with basement flooding and mold, but as the other commentators have said, the maintenance team is the heart of this company. They do above and beyond what's asked of them, and are always very kind. After a year and a half of paying rent on time (1st), my wife and I sent our rent check out on the 4th (travel, general busy lives). I called the day we sent the check to let the office know we'd be late and that we were not interested in renewing the lease. Seemed like it wouldn't be a big deal. Rather than first being offered the "one time late fee forgiveness," two days later the office sent us a $50 late fee (totally understandable) coupled with the threat to be taken to Magistrate Court (what?). After sending an explanation\complaint email back, everything seemed fine. The attendant even removed the late fee as a one-time forgiveness deal, stating that the first message has to be stern because of the nature of the business. Whatever, great offer. This morning, as my wife was taking a shower, the doorbell rang. She got dressed quickly and answered the door. Of course, it was someone at our place to show the apartment. No email or call or heads up of any sort to either of us. The house is kind of a wreck, people are looking at our dirty house, and our stuff sprawled out, agh! We had enough time to clean the place before the next showing, but of course, but this is either a wild coincidence, standard practice, or revenge. I am writing this comment, as you should, to let people know our experience by almost the end of our stay. So if you're interested, please be aware of the Residential Lease Agreement clause 17: Manager's Entry Onto the Property: "RESIDENT will permit manager's personnel to enter apartment at any time, without notice [...] If RESIDENT refuses to admit manager at any time for the purposes detailed in this section, RESIDENT will promptly pay manager a fee equal to one month's rent for each refusal." We didn't refuse, obviously, but again I'm just worried for future renters. My wife and I are known as very kind people. We made one mistake and now I'm worried our stay here is at a continual decline. Maybe we've been spoiled; we're used to renting from people who are trying to make this crazy life a little less difficult for everyone. Not large mismanaged companies. We're unfortunately used to respect and maybe even a little courtesy. read more

I rented from Forbes for 3 years. They did a good job. I felt the rent was reasonable. The service associated with the rent was good. The water heater went out one Sunday and they responded within hours. For minor issues, they responded within a reasonable amount of time. They regularly cleaned the common areas. Overall, I felt I received the quality of living I was paying for. When I moved out, I received all but $5 of my deposit. That was a little strange, but still acceptable. They indicated the $5 was a cleaning fee. read more

I'm not gonna say don't live with Forbes because I have seen worse in Pittsburgh. However, I will say don't live here if you have any better options. Forbes Management seems very nice and professional, up until the moment you move in. I have lived here only 3 months and in that time, I've seen... 1. They dug up our whole lawn to put in pipes and left a pile of mud. No warning about the construction or notes on how long it would last either. It's been 2 months, I don't think they are ever going to put grass back until spring and next tenant touring season. 2. They dug up the floor of the laundry room with no note or reason given, did not replace the tiles they removed and left uneven raw cement sloping in its place. Now you have to walk carefully because the floor is broken/nonexistent, they show no signs of fixing this. 3. The washer doesn't always drain the clothes. The dryer overheats constantly and burns things even on the lowest setting. The dishwasher can't use soap pellets only liquid because it does not dissolve them. None of these things will be repaired. 4. The buzzer system does not work, it's just a REALLY LOUD doorbell and when I asked them if it was possible to lower the volume or how it worked they just said "It's broken, we called an electrician." But they told that same thing to my neighbor last month and nothing has changed. It seems like the buzzer has never worked and that's just how it is. But there was no warning of this until after we moved in. 5. The key they gave me to my mailbox did not work when I moved in, it took ONE MONTH to get a new one and I had no access to my own mail in that time. I had to ask them 3 times before they called a locksmith to change the locks and give me a new key, because they didn't even have one that worked on file. 6. There is zero noise insulation, so I can hear my neighbors talking, watching TV and walking around upstairs. I know which couples argue, who likes long phone calls and who likes what TV shows, I can hear that much. 7. Maintenance does not always introduce themselves and comes in to do random "inspections" at least twice in the 3 months I've been here. I've had to yell at them to wait 5 minutes because I'm not dressed and they just start opening the door. They do not give you the option to reschedule these unannounced "visits." 8. Maintenance will never warn you when they are coming even when you request them, if they ever actually come at all it could be within 2 days of posting a request or 2 months. But most of the maintenance requests I put in have been ignored. 9. One of my windows was missing any sort of blind/covering when I moved in, even though they were all covered when I toured. They never replaced this, so I had to buy my own window covering to get any privacy. I live on the ground floor. On the good side, there is central AC that works. The utility bills seem reasonable for an apartment of this size. The walls are in decent condition and not peeling or rotting anywhere that I can see. There is no mold, although there seems to be a minor bug problem that is manageable if I keep the sink VERY clean and never leave food out anywhere. (I've lived in apartments before and never had bugs like this even when I was messier). read more

I had a wonderful experience renting with Forbes Management. They are a well-run and organized group. The apartment was in great shape for a reasonable price, and any work order I had (which was always very small for the few I needed to put in) was addressed immediately. You can pay rent online, which is extremely convenient. Although I had to vacate my lease early, the move out process was seamless, and they were able to find a new tenant for my apartment within four short days of posting the unit so I didn't have to pay the rest of the lease. Thank you to Forbes! read more

This is the best rental management company I have ever dealt with. I have a few other companies that I've lived with that I can't say enough BAD things about, but this company has been wonderful. When we were about to move in, the carpet was not very clean. They took a look at it the same day, agreed with us, and had it replaced the same week so that we could still move in on time. The two times so far I've needed maintenance, they were there the same day. They are always courteous as well, which is not something you get everywhere. I plan to stay with them for as long as I rent in Pittsburgh, if I can manage it. read more

I have lived in two Forbes units, spanning a period of seven years. I must say that my experience has been nothing but positive. Though I've only had a few maintenance requests over the years, they were always responsive and took care of the problem within 24-48 hours. If I wasn't home when they'd stop by, they would leave a note, telling me that they were there and that they took care of the request. Bonny and Mandy in the office have always been welcoming and kind. I also want to mention that I appreciate the whole vibe of Forbes Management. They are very down to earth, and that alone can take the stress off of potential tenants trying to secure a home. If you are looking for a place to call home, I would give Forbes Management your attention. Thank you again! read more

I've rented from Forbes Management for a year now and just resigned my lease for a second year for my apartment in Squirrel Hill (Pittsburgh, not sure why it's showing up as California for the review). I have had a very positive experience with Forbes Management, especially with their front office. As a college student, I have called about a variety of things I was uncertain about, but have always been satisfied with the answer I am given over the phone. From moving in to regular maintenance and resigning a lease I have never had an issue and have always been able to resolve any discrepancy. For example, when we were moving in, we made an agreement with the previous leaseholders to leave some of our furniture in a basement room. This led to some concern by Forbes Management that they generally don't clean the house unless it is completely empty due to prior instances of furniture being damaged. No issue, so we consolidated our stuff into a single room and they were able to clean the whole house except the one room we kept stored our furniture in. Problem resolved and both parties happy! Rent is fairly priced, house is clean and well maintained - I would highly recommend! read more

Very bad property management. Irresponsive for weeks, contact person keeps changing, payments go pending. I would not recommend them.

I lived with Forbes last year and loved it. The office staff are all really kind and helpful. They were quick to respond to my e-mails and took the time to walk me through their leasing process. They have a grace period to pay the rent until the 5th of every month. They are really trying to maintain and update their apartments. While we lived there they painted our porch, replaced our bathroom and kitchen floors and put new gravel on our driveway without us having to ask. They really seem to care about their properties, which is a lot more than you can say about most rental companies in Pittsburgh. The maintenance men come quickly after you call and do a great job. They are always really nice. We honestly hardly had to call them though. They leave a tag on your door if you aren't home to let you know what they did while they were there. Once they had to show the apartment to new renters they called the day before to let us know what time they were coming. I have heard a lot of rental companies don't do that and it was definitely nice to know when someone was going to be in your apartment. I really have no complaints about Forbes. I would have continued living with them, but we moved out of Pittsburgh. read more

I really can't say enough about this management company. I've lived in their buildings for 3 years now, and I have literally no complaints. Not only is my building beautiful, but if anything goes wrong, Forbes has been great about repairs. My dishwasher wasn't working well, and they replaced it, no questions asked. Same went for my stove. Their maintenance people are professional, on time, and reliable. The office staff has been excellent and kind with me. My building is impeccably maintained, cleaned weekly, and the outdoor area is also maintained well. I'd highly recommend them for anyone looking to rent. read more

AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS! If you are an out of state graduate or undergraduate student looking for housing in Pittsburgh, you'll come across the listings for Forbes Management on Craigslist and other sites. AVOID THIS COMPANY! When I inquired about one of those ads on Craigslist, the email response was to "be nicer". Apparently this company is used to treating prospective renters like dog crap because there is an endless stream of desperate students. I am not a typical student... I am moving from out of state and navigating the housing situation long distance, but I am a homeowner and have had many, many years of rental experience prior to this big move. If they are this arrogant off the bat, I can only imagine the misery that awaits once locked in to a lease with these fools. It speaks volumes about how they treat current tenants if they are going to alienate someone inquiring about their properties. That should be a reflection of their best behavior, and who knows, maybe it was. It is hard to imagine the communication going down from that low standard, but they seem devoted to the task of providing the rudest possible customer service out there. read more

I just re-signed for my third year living here & couldn't be happier. This is the first place I moved into when moving to Pittsburgh after a showing with Joe, great guy. Building is safe & secure, my number one concern in an apartment. Neighbors have become good friends. Bonny at the office always works with me & knows what is going on. Jordan at the office is so helpful & efficient. Maintenance is always polite & professional, exceptionally Mike. Outdoor landscape & indoor area are beautifully maintained. Parking is convenient. read more

This is not a company that cares about anything except how the property looks from the outside (which I will say they do a good job of maintaining) and their pocketbooks. E-mails for repairs went unanswered and with the sweltering summer and no ability to install AC because of the size and shape of the windows, ceiling fans would have been nice. I would not ever rent from them again. read more

Please keep in mind that the majority of online landlord reviews are going to be negative because those tenants with grudges are the ones that take the time to write them. I've been renting from Forbes Management for 2 years now. They are good landlords. Not awesome, not spectacular. But I've been quite satisfied with them. When something breaks, they are very prompt to fix it. They've been nothing but polite over the phone and in person. They are fair. Nothing out-of-the ordinary incredible about them, but be assured that they won't try to take advantage of you. And, from what I've found in this city, that's pretty good. read more

Be wary of any interactions with this company. In my opinion, this company is deceptive and misleading. My roommate and I were interested in a lease that would begin six months from now. We were told by the leasing agent that the security deposit check was refundable, the application fee of $40 per person, including additional co-signers, was non-refundable and that we had 24 hours to complete the applications and submit the check or else we would forfeit the apartment. All this was due BEFORE we had even seen or received the lease. They processed our security deposit check a week before we had even received the lease. When we received the lease we did not agree to the terms (we thought the lease had very strict rules and that it was heavily one-sided in favor of the company) and decided that this apartment rental was not for us. When we contacted the company to tell them so, they said that we forfeited the security deposit check, which is written in tiny print on the application page to be non-refundable, which is directly contrasted to what was told to us by a representative of the company. We have tried multiple times to contact the company to get the security deposit check back, and each time are met with, in my opinion, a disregard for their actions. The first time we contacted them, the office manager laughed when we asked for the security deposit back and thought it was incredulous that we felt mislead that we essentially paid 8.3% of a yearly rent before even seeing the lease. I believe this is highly unprofessional, immoral, and outright greedy. We essentially paid $1,195 to have the "privilege" of looking at a proposed lease. We are currently still attempting to get our security deposit back. read more

Really no complaints. Whenever something needed to be fixed, they would send someone over promptly. We had a great experience living in one of their apartments for the past two years and would rent from them again. read more

Avoid this company at all costs. They will only serve their greedy interests and will not serve their tenants. I can't help thinking that if they got any good reviews, either they paid somebody to say something nice or an employee is using a fake name in a fake review. No tenant should EVER have to face these issues: 1. Outdoor landing on front staircase tripping hazard. Needs repair. I contacted the Allegheny Health Department who made them fix the hazard 2 months after move-in. 2. No hot water upon move-in (repaired 2 days after my move-in date) 3. Living room closet door left unattached. is now attached (repaired 8 days after my move-in date) 4. Garbage can has no lid. (repaired 14 days after my move-in date) 5. All 1st floor vertical blinds in living room are not closing all the way and one is broken (badly bent.) (only two were ever fixed.) 6. All 3 closet doors were installed with pull-knob on the wrong side. (All installed incorrectly.) 7. One basement light malfunctioning. I told the repair guy three months ago. Never fixed. read more

Forbes Management handled matters in a very professional and courteous manner. My daughter graduated from Univ. Pitt. in December and moved to California, but her lease on Louisa Street ran though July. Forbes (and particularly Bonny Maguire) were very accommodating when we needed to terminate the lease early. They were willing to work with me when I located a prospective replacement tenant. That did not work out, but they were open to creative solutions. Shortly thereafter, however, Bonny let me know that Forbes found a replacement tenant, and we were only on the hook for rent for about ten days. Forbes rebated pro rated rent that I had paid and returned the security deposit in a timely manner. I have nothing but positive things to say about how they handled the lease termination. Especially good for a company that no doubt deals with a lot of college students and their parents. Geoffrey H. read more

In regard to the Hobart Street Property. Pros - the apartment was decently renovated and if something was wrong, the maintenance people came to fix it relatively quickly. The office staff were friendly and responsive, and I got most of my deposit back. Cons - here we go. first, lord help you if the fire alarm goes off (which happens frequently - but not their fault that tenants can't cook). When it goes off, it takes hours for someone to come shut it off since the fire department doesn't have the ability to. I've specifically experienced one incident where the alarm went off at 11pm and wasn't shut off until 2am. And this isn't some quiet, slightly annoying alarm. It blares LOUDLY. Next, the parking situation is atrocious. You can either pay to have a garage or pay to park in general outside parking. Garages are so small that most cars/suvs can't fit into them, and they're on a curve between two buildings so that you're bound to ding your car off a brick building at some point. Outside parking is worse. They do not plow in the winter and there are three spots out front and two(ish) spots in the back. Problem is, they sell usually 6-7 or so spots. The back lot is around a tight curve behind the building between the corner of the brick building and the garbage dumpsters. It goes up a hill so if there's ice, you will never make it back there. The dumpsters are constantly overflowing with garbage into the "street" so you better hope there's not glass or you will most certainly get a flat tire. Once back there, it is near impossible to park your car in a way you can get out since there is a brick wall and the building on either side blocking you in. And if you don't move your car when its snowing (since they don't plow like I mentioned) you will be stuck waiting for it to turn to spring before you can leave. Speaking of parking, while I was a tenant they decided to do major construction to the parking lots which included adding a large sidewalk in the back lot (why, I don't know, since there's not room to park there as is). They told their residents that they would have to find an alternative place to park for at least a week or two (could have been longer I'm not sure) with no reimbursement or alternative parking (even though we pay $45-70 to park?). This also happened when they were doing other construction, and I can remember multiple instances where I was blocked in by construction equipment with no remedy. Additionally, I moved from my apartment early and when I told them I would no longer need my parking spot, they stated that it was part of the contract and I would have to pay for it, just like my rent, until someone filled it. Which I understand, that's fine. However, as I was about to pay the full amount for the rest of the parking when the lease was ending, I asked if someone had taken the spot. They casually mentioned that someone had filled it months ago and I did not owe anything. Had I not brought it up, I would have paid months for a parking spot they had already filled. In summary, if you don't have a car and don't mind fire alarms going off in the middle of the night for hours on end, it's a decent place to live. Otherwise, I would strongly advice against it. read more

Lived in two different apartments over the last two years through Forbes Management; first apartment was not clean and my roommates and I spent multiple hours cleaning. We had our fair share of issues with this apartment, especially the water line in our living room bursting over winter break which took multiple calls to have appropriate action taken to clean/replace the carpet because we were told mold wasn't a concern however the odor seemed to say otherwise. When the workers replaced the carpet they left a mess that we had to clean. One year later we moved from the basement to a second floor apartment and took it "as is" so we could move in sooner. To put it mildly it was absolutely disgusting; we cleaned it ourselves (with the exception of one bedroom carpet that needed replaced due to the previous tenants smoking and emptying their pipe on the carpet. We made that apartment spotless when we moved in and saved Forbes cleaning fees however they still took cleaning fees out of our security deposit when we moved out this summer without explanation or justification. Extremely disappointed in the fees taken out of our security deposit when even maintenance/cleaning workers said we left the apartment in great condition. I wouldn't necessarily recommend Forbes Management when looking for apartments outside of Oakland. read more

Everything seem to work fine, staffs are pretty friendly, and old apartment are taken care of so they can still rent them out with relative cheap rate. However, the 6 month renewal notice is unreasonable. We like our apartment, but 1 month extension is all we get so it doesn't help graduating students with job searching or applying for future programs. I don't understand why "grad student needs to make plans early" = the need to renew early; it only matters if students will not renew. We only decided rent this place in May, and likely we can only decide in April / May again. So if this is so necessary for Forbes to renew lease so early, then prepare to move after graduation, whether you want to stay in Pittsburgh or not. read more

Forbes is a nightmare. At the beginning they come off very nice, reasonable and helpful. But that does not last. We rented a small (4 room) apartment in a duplex, all on one floor. We were told that it would cost around $60/month to heat in the winter. It cost close to $200 each month to keep it around 63 degrees, even though we weather-proofed the windows ourselves with plastic and blankets. They also gave this skewed number ($60) to the next renters. The other issue was that of our security deposit. When we signed the lease we were told explicitly that as long as our rent was postmarked on the 1st of the month, we would avoid a late fee of $50/month. That being the case, we made especially sure to always get our rent into the mail on the first. When we moved out (after 2 years) the downright nasty woman in the office told us that in fact they required the rent to be IN THE OFFICE by the 1st. Which meant that basically all of our payments had been late. When we explained what we had been told, her answer was, "No, we wouldn't have said that." No argument. We lost nearly our whole deposit because of this awful, unreasonable woman, whose name unfortunately escapes me. (As an aside, I've never had a rental company demand rent by the first, with no grace period. My mother, who is a landlord, told me it is state law that rent must be in closer to the 5th. She actually wanted us to talk to a lawyer about it, but we didn't have the money). I will say the maintenance men are very nice, cheerful and responsive. I have no complaints whatsoever about them. The office staff--at least a few of them--are evilly rigid. I would warn anyone away from Forbes. Avoid them. They will screw you out of your money one way or the other. read more

I rented from forbes for about two years, and although I will say the rent was a bit expensive, I felt like they were a very good company. Any time I ever had a problem and called the office everyone was always very nice. The maintenance guys were wonderful, especially Mike, they took care of every problem we had. They did raise the rent each year, which was a bummer since the apartment itself was in some need of updating, but it wasn't a crazy increase. I even got back almost all of my security deposit back other then what they took out to clean the carpet. I have heard that many people had problems with them keeping the deposit, but my guess is that they just didn't leave the place in the best condition. Then again I can't speak for everyone so who knows. I would definitely recommend Forbes to anyone looking to rent in their area's. I would have rented another apartment from them myself had I known sooner that I was staying in the area, but their places fill up fast. read more

Forbes Management is a small local rental company in the East End of Pittsburgh. I never write reviews but, after seeing some poor comments here, felt I should express what I have found. They are accommodating and kind. Forbes clearly cares not only for their reputation and the appearance and upkeep of their buildings, but for their tenants as well. I have seen them go out of their way to be sure all maintenance is done as quickly as possible. If you find the unit you're looking for with them, I would suggest looked no farther. read more