Summer of 2010 I moved into an apartment in Ithaca newly managed by James Orcutt Real Estate. I…read morewas living in New Mexico and needed trees and water, research on the internet showed me a building that just "popped" for me, so I emailed James. We set up an interview a few days later and I arranged to be in Ithaca for a look at the apartment he was kind enough to hold for me. I am still in this apartment! I consider myself an expert as I have lived in apartments all my adult life and my father owned some rentals when I was a child, Orcutt Real Estate provides the best treatment this renter has ever experienced. Plus, he always knows my name and takes time to speak and smile if he passes me in the parking lot. Rare indeed. J. D.

I needed to rent an apartment in Ithaca while living in California, relying entirely on the…read moremanager's information because I wouldn't be able to visit before moving. James was extremely helpful, and provided great photos of the place. I am super happy with my apartment for the price I'm paying, and with James' management. My only gripe is that he can be tough to get in contact with unless it's an urgent matter. But he's a busy man and he'll get back to you quickly when you need it.

Absolute worst renting experience ever! The initial property manager was arrested for stealing…read moremoney from tenants, and the new manager then told me I wouldn't have a parking spot after being guaranteed one in writing. It took two months just to get my parking pass. I was lied to about the apartment being vacant and less than 24 hours before move-in I was emailed (not even called) to advise that the previous tenant hadn't moved out! I had movers hired and everything. It was almost a week before repairs were complete. The "cleaning" staff left the apartment with black grime and mouse poop all over and I had to hire a separate cleaning team to make it habitable. There was one problem after another, including a maintenance tech breaking my stone bathmat and leaving it there in pieces, heaters not working, bathroom leaks, etc. The last straw was when they rented to a very mentally ill drug addict, and I had to arm myself to go downstairs or do laundry. I was unable to sleep as this person screamed at all hours of the night and smoked marijuana inside, also against the lease rules, and harassed myself and other tenants. They won't return my security deposit (I moved out early with 90 days notice due to uninhabitable conditions) and I have had to resort to legal action. None of my written concerns were EVER addressed or replied to. Do not rent from this company!

You'd better hope nothing bad happens to you while you're renting with them. During my two-year…read morestay at Ravenwood, I had problems with the thin walls and the leaking roof (from the toilet upstairs) multiple times. In addition, they took away over $700 of my $1000 security deposit by the end and nothing was wrong with the apartment. I would recommend you renting with someone else ethical :)

Broken dishwasher for over a month, unable to replace or fix- This is the management company. When…read morewe called after a month, told us to not call them back and hung up the phone rudely. Wifi is for the namesake only doesn't work. When we came in, it was super dusty and dirty. Basically, they are everything that you don't want in a management company. So stay away from them. Note to landlord: please find a better service management company for your housing needs. Thank you,

Please stay away from this company. Some of their business practices are not legal. They do not…read morecare about their tenants, they only care about being paid. They have displayed a total lack of concern for the health, safety, and well being of myself and a number of their other tenants on multiple occasions. The staff treat you not as a respected customer, but as an unwanted burden. They get away with their behavior because so many students in Ithaca do not know their rights as tenants. If you are already a tenant and you are reading this, please find a copy of the NY tenants rights guide NOW!

So here's the deal: most people who do reviews of landlords have an axe to grind. They rarely…read morehighlight 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.

Mismanaged. Avoid this property management company, they are terrible, and have a bad reputation…read more 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.

This is a long review, but I feel it's important for other future tenants who rent from PPM. It…read moreconcerns not only a rat infestation that persisted in the home throughout a large portion of our lease, but also PPM's response. I'll start by saying that PPMs maintenance staff was always very quick to respond when we entered an issue on the online portal. We had a great relationship with PPM homes leading up to this issue, however their lack of response and way they treated us throughout the process led us to make the decision to report this. We started having rodent issues in December. We were aware that this can happen during the cold months, and made efforts to keep our kitchen clean and floors swept. The problem persisted as we routinely found droppings throughout the kitchen and containers of food bitten and clawed at. We had an issue with our sink leaking and reported it to PPM who sent out a maintenance worker. The worker fixed the sink and let us know that one of the lines was chewed through, most likely from a rodent. Not long after, we out in another maintenance request for our dishwasher which was not receiving water. The PPM worker who came by once again fixed the issue and let us know it was most likely due to rodent activity. Finally, this spring we were woken up in the night to our dogs barking at a rat that was caught in one of our glue traps we set in our kitchen. I called PPM the next day to report this and the woman I spoke with told me it must have been the same rat they had been trying to catch for weeks. After some time had passed, we reached back out to PPM to see what was being done about this. The same woman who told me that the rat we captured was probably the same one they had been chasing, then told us that they did not have any record of a rodent issue, and that if we didn't put in a maintenance request for it, that it wouldn't be documented. We had figured since the maintenance requests we had put in were then found to be caused by rodents, that the maintenance staff would document this. The owner of PPM (Rob) responded the same way, saying that they had no record of this. They then sent out a crew to set up traps around the apartment. Our upstairs neighbor spoke with us about her rodent issues, also mentioning that PPM had failed to properly address the issue. We felt gaslit by PPM, first when they told us that the issue was likely because we weren't keeping the apartment clean enough, and even more so when they claimed to have no knowledge of the persisting issue even after their own staff pointed out to us that it was the cause of our dishwasher and sink problems. We are hoping that by reporting this issue, that we will save other tenants from the stress it caused us. We also hope that PPM will address these issues in a more professional manor.

My son and his seven friends rented a house last year and paid almost $7,500 in security deposit…read more PPM Homes told them they would only receive 21% of their money back. Now, three and a half months later, they still have not received any of the money back. They also did not receive an itemized list of deductions, which New York law requires within 14 days of vacating the property. PPM Homes claims they had to pay to remove furniture, but the current tenants who moved in immediately after said that no furniture was removed. The former tenants were also told that the security deposit checks had been mailed to the old rental address, but the current tenants confirmed that no mail for the former tenants had arrived. When asked whether the checks were sent by certified mail as proof, PPM Homes said no. PPM Homes also claims to have emailed the former tenants but has been unable to provide copies of those dated emails when asked and the tenants have not received any emails. How convenient that they allegedly send security deposit checks to an address that they don't even live at and emails to an email address that they don't have access to anymore with no proof of either. Despite numerous attempts by the tenants and me to resolve this matter, our experience in dealing with the office has been extremely frustrating. They don't return calls or emails. The "manager" Jack who I spoke to was extremely rude, dismissive and repeatedly spoke over me. In recently speaking with other parents whose children have rented from PPM Homes, they had similar issues. I would not recommend using them as a property manager or renting from them.

Buyer beware! I signed a contract to purchase property last week (full price cash offer) the seller…read moreaccepted my offer and my earnest money was already deposited. Yesterday I got a phone call and was told if I didn't come up with an extra $6000 the seller's attorney was just going to simply "disapprove" my contract at the last minute so the seller could get out of the deal. This sequence of events raises serious concerns about the integrity of the transaction process and the conduct of the real estate agent (Amanda) and this brokerage. Specifically, the acceptance of my offer, followed by the solicitation or encouragement over the weekend of someone else to hurry up and make a higher offer at the 11th hour, and then the intimidation / "shake down" of an ultimatum. My attorney was flabbergasted and said she had never seen someone do this before. While Amanda's actions may have technically fallen within "legal bounds", they were completely underhanded and contrary to the standards of good faith and fair dealings expected in real estate transactions. This agent was highly unethical and I cannot believe this is how they are conducting business. I would never use this company again or recommend them to anyone. These tactics are very cut throat and the reason why real estate agents have a bad reputation of being shady. I have contacted the broker / owner of this company with my concerns and have yet to receive a response. I guess this is just normal practices business for this company.

Put in a serious offer on a property listed through this company. The showing was a joke. The…read moreowners hadn't even been told to clean up their personal belongings; hygiene products were all over the bathroom; the refrigerator was full of food that was starting to rot. There was a leak in the basement that wasn't disclosed upfront, and I found it in the inspection report later. I was initially told my offer would probably be accepted; less than 12 hours later, the owners changed their mind and demanded more money, and their agent never once spoke to me about trying to reach a negotiation. In fact, the agent, Hickory Lee, never spoke to me at all, despite me trying to contact her at least twice, and having made an offer. Extremely unprofessional and unethical. Would not suggest anyone wanting to buy or sell real estate approach this place. Go to Howard Hanna instead; I've never heard of one of their agents pulling this kind of behavior.

Staff is friendly, but the owners have terrible policies. No guest parking, high rent, expensive…read moreparking passes, amenities that arent commensurate to the prices they demand. There are far better options for comparable or lower prices.

Beautiful property, but that's all you're going to get. Oh, and the gym looks nice. That's all…read more Just because you're paying the highest rent in town doesn't mean you should expect customer service to match. You certainly won't get that here. When we informed the office that the A/C was broken, the staff told us that it was cold outside, so why do we need it? We cab open the windows anyway... no joke. When the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night, no one came to shut it off. After we brought this to the staff's attention, they asked us if we had seen or smelled any fire, and if not, we were okay. And then... the staff asked us 30-year old grad students if we've ever lived outside our parents homes and in apartment complexes... they then explained to us how fire alarms worked. Are you kidding me? It took an entire month to get a hole in the kitchen floor patched up. Oh, and if you live here, you will enjoy the pleasure of having the Casella garbage trucks arrive at 4:00 IN THE MORNING every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to pick up the garbage. The engine motor, reverse beeping, exhaust fumes, glass breaking, and dumpster noise are what I look forward to every other weekday. In fact, I'm writing this at 4:42 am right now because the garbage trucks have been here since 4:03 am waking the entire complex up. The double pane windows don't muffle the noise whatsoever. This is great because if you have a presentation or exam at 8:00 on campus, you're guaranteed not to miss it. Morning wake up call anyone? The best part is that we've been asking Novarr Mackesey to help us move the garbage pick-up times to normal business hours since we've moved on this summer, and their response is... "but the garbage has to be picked up... you chose to live here right?" They literally said that to us. You chose to live here right? So because we chose to live here, we have to endure ask the burdens that come along with it. This is absolutely the most infuriating staff I've ever come across. Unhelpful, ungrateful, unfriendly. Scowling, rude, and unrelenting in attitude. Live somewhere else if you can. Save yourself from the trouble of dealing with these people.

Cool place. Cool people. boom. only complaint is it lacks…read morecats

Can't be happier in deciding to have Rick to inspect a house that I was considering to buy. I was…read morepresent at the time of the inspection, asking him a lot of questions. He was friendly and willing to answer all of my questions patiently. He spent about 4 hours inspecting every single detail of the house. He even climbed the roof, which is not common among inspectors as far as I know. In the end, he provided me with a detailed report that was over 30 pages long and contained about 100 pictures. And he provided all of this at a discounted price. Overall, I am very satisfied with the quality and value of his service.

it has been over two years, since having my 14 rentals under Rick Pauls REP property management…read morecompany. I have waited patiently for Rick to refund me the $213.00 he still owes me, that i paid for and never received the services for. Rick informed me that he would not pay me , unless I signed and notarized a form stating that I would not speak badly of him or his company. I told him that I would not be signing any paperwork to get the money he owes me. He then told me that I could take him to court and it must be under my LLC name. ( meaning I have to have a lawyer representing me) why is there a stipulation on money owed? He over saw my rentals for 2+ years, my rentals conditions went downhill, rents not collected, overly slow (10 months +) on redoing apartments. I have decided that I am going to state something about him and his company until he pays me in full. I'm tired of waiting to get paid. Rick will come back on this review and say that I was a dumb girl that didn't know how to run my rentals.or he wasnt hired to do as I expected . even though I ran them myself for 13 years out of the 18 years owning them. (He was hired to fully oversee the running of my rental company, and I signed his form stating this upon hiring him ) in the end he tried to make it like i was the one that didn't understand. Plus the way the rentals were being run, I decided to sell each place off. I lost lots of money in the end. due to conditions, lots of tenants owed rent and once the property was sold, it was lost rent forever to me. all i wanted to do after the properties were sold , was walk away. i had never planned on doing or saying anything bad about Rick Paul. But he brought this on himself. Please pay me and I'll delete my very bad reviews and you'll never hear from me again.

Rented a home from Nick and his team in Collegetown. Nick is as good as they come! Nick is…read moreextremely responsive on email, his team was quick on repairs, and he never hassled us when something needed a fix or a unique style of lightbulb (e.g., vanity light) needed replacement. We had no charges on move-out whatsoever, all deposits were returned in full. Nick also sent thorough emails/instructions on how to pick up keys, move-out protocol, etc. Overall an honest, hardworking landlord and would recommend renting from him

Staff is very responsive and helpful -- always responds within the day! Very quick with maintenance…read moreand other requests. Great pricing for rentals in the area!