Ruth Hamilton is very responsible for his job. He replied my email regarding my rental auto payment right before thanksgiving holiday and first day at work after returning from thanksgiving. I feel really warm living in Mac Property. read more

This is by far the worst laundry room situation that I've ever experienced. First of all, the fact that these are the oldest washers & dryers EVER. The leasing agents tell you "we're in the process of updating the laundry facility" at your showing. Then, you slowly realize that was all a lie to get you in! The washers don't get your clothes clean, dryers don't get your clothes dry.. which means you have to keep paying $1.50 each time you need more dryer time. On top of this, there aren't ANY change machines near! So you'll have to go blocks away to the nearest Currency Exchange for quarters. The entire laundry facility needs to be updated for the amount of rent they're charging! read more

Service Is always very timely and Carols is always very pleasant to work with! He is efficient, kind and thorough when providing maintenance on anything I have an issue with. Mac Properties professionals are on point! read more

This is a terrible company. Everyone who works there that I have interacted with is completely incompetent. I will add my list of issues to the others. 1. Getting my initial lease was ridiculously difficult. After 10 emails back and forth I was finally able to get a blank copy of the lease I'd have to sign. Many emails were straight up ignored and never answered. They wanted me to pay the deposit before being able to see the lease. When it was finally time to sign, they managed to put the wrong date on my lease and it took more emails getting that fixed. 2. They left a fire alarm chirping for a week before fixing it. The first request was marked completed without anyone doing anything so we had to put in another. I then talked to them on the phone and received confirmation it would be fixed that day. No one came. 3. When my girlfriend moved in with me, getting her onto the lease was impossible. It wasn't even editing an old lease, I just wanted to add her to the one for the new year. The person handling the request (the manager) was rude from the beginning and couldn't/wouldn't answer simple direct questions. Finally we managed to add her name, and sent multiple emails about getting her keys. No response. We went and, of course, no keys were ready. These are just the most annoying issues. I've never had problems anywhere else I've lived. Rent anywhere else. read more

So negligent it should be (and is) criminal. Made me live in apartment covered in human feces for weeks (backed up sewage). Barely cared. Had to threaten to sue them just to get it partially cleaned. They left handprints of human feces on the walls and broke the light fixtures. My bike was cut apart in the "secure" laundry room. So were most others. Mould everywhere. Maintenance is a joke and they are absolute slumlords. I got so sick from living in my apartment I ended up in the ER with a lung infection and hives. I know two people who had to live with collapsed in ceilings for weeks. Wouldn't let me out of my lease. I'd rather sleep in my car in the cold than ever rent from them again. Absolutely trash and dangerous. Everyone I know hates Mac and I'm certain they write their own positive reviews (they can't even agree subject pronouns with the names/ they're all formulaic insert-name here reviews so they're definitely paying per review). I wish I could shut them down myself. read more

When I was in college, you did not want to live in Mac Apts. They just had a really bad reputation. However, now that I have moved back to Hyde Park, I have been more than impressed by the level of customer service and personalized attention Mac gives you from viewing apartments to fixing repairs. In regards to viewing the apartment, since I was not in Chicago, Shanee took time do a video tour of an apartment I was interested in. She then handed me off to Malarie Williams who has been so kind and helpful. She follows up after I submit service requests, she has checked in to make sure everything is okay. It's been great. Additionally, the service requests I have put are responded to within a few hours. Quentin and Tanika went above and beyond with the maintenance crew to ensure everything is to my satisfaction. I think Mac had really changed their reputation and the way they conduct business. I would especially recommend Mac to individuals who only need to live in Hyde Park for a quarter or two (for school) as they are flexible with their leases! Definitely hard to find! read more

Still no recycling -- they haven't fixed this despite the comment (below) from management. Do not seem to care about city code. Still over billing me monthly on the utility fee. I write them each time and it is never fixed Maintenance remains reactive, rather than proactive. The front door has been damaged for months and slowly getting worse. 1 year update -- they still over bill, don't fix things, and don't care. read more

Very unhelpful management office and always putting profit ahead of residents' concerns. They try to make money off of residents in every way possible from rent to utility billing system. read more

This is quite possibly the worst management company in Chicago. They truly disgust me in every single possible way. The entire process of application, move-in, and continued residency (since Sept 2012) has been a never-ending circus of filth, mishaps, no communication, and lies. The amount of anger and hate that builds inside me on a daily basis due to this company is sickening. Money-grubbing, disingenuine, disconnected, freaks. read more

If I could give them 0 stars, I would. We rent from them as students, and they feel that because we are so young and naive, they can lie and take advantage of us. They forced us to live in a moldy (black mold too!) building where the ceiling was leaking for 3 months before bothering to fix it. My roommate ended up getting sick from it. They also (on multiple occasions) entered our apartment without notice, and as 4 girls living in a city, random men coming into the apartment unexpectedly is extremely uncomfortable. They illegally threatened to evict us when we asked for a mold test. In summary, Mac is incredibly poorly managed and does not care about its tenants whatsoever. If you can rent from anyone else, do it, especially if you're a student. read more

Mac Properties has a significant monopoly on property in the Hyde Park area of Chicago. I began my quest with Mac when I was in my second year of college at the University of Chicago. I wasn't looking for anything crazy, just a place nearby that would accommodate four people. At first, I had no complaints about Mac apartments. But then I noticed, something just wasn't right. For example, Mac had to fix our front door as it wasn't working quite well. So, what they decided to do, in a rather crime-ridden area of Chicago, was take off the door and leave the apartment wide open to the masses. For about a week, the front door to my building was missing and anyone could walk in. It's not like they attempted to create an interim security measure when the door was being fixed. No sir, they just left it open. I complained to the office about this, and they took a while to resolve the open door policy. Another incident that's worth noting (for this apartment, just get ready for my future journeys with Mac Properties) had to do with cockroaches. Yes, I said it. Cockroaches. Vile, dirty little critters. One day, my friend went down to the basement, where the laundry was located, to find the basement floor riddled with cockroaches. The cockroaches were also inhabiting the washing machine area, which prompted my friend to freak the f*** out. This is what Mac Properties is all about. Putting on the facade of legitimacy, when really what they are is an organization that seeks to exploit college kids for their money. The reason I say this with such passion is due to my final experience with Mac. This was one of the worst moments of my life. After living in the first apartment for two years, I decided to move into a closer, better (apparently) apartment with my friend. A Mac property agent guided us through the apartment, and emphasized that it was safe, friendly, and refurbished. My friend and I were ecstatic. "Praise be the lord, this might be the best apartment I've seen in this area. And it's cheap!" I exclaimed to my friend. Little did we know that upon our moving to this apartment, the apartment would be robbed not once, not twice, but FIVE times. You know something's off when you almost have to use another hand to count the number of times you've been robbed. Now, if Mac were a good company, they would have attempted to address this issue after robbery numero uno. But no, what they did was NOTHING. Somebody was accessing our apartment without having to break in. This was either someone with a key or someone who worked for Mac properties. And Mac Properties simply changed the locks and did NOTHING. My friend and I said enough was enough and we threatened to break our lease. After some posturing on both sides, Mac permitted us to find another apartment within Mac Properties and they said they would help us. They found us an apartment that was far away, stuffy, and depressing. Just what I needed for my last year of college. They informed us that if we didn't find a new place to live by September 1, we would have to pay September rent. As I said, EXPLOITATION. Eventually we moved into the new place and lived in a decent apartment for 9 months. They were nice enough (sarcasm) to waive our application fee for the new apartment. I have to say, sometimes I wonder whether this is exploitation or just pure, unadulterated incompetence. It might be both. I would recommend the following to anyone seeking an apartment in Hyde Park: 1) If you are UChicago, stay in housing (if finances allow it). It's much better, and it will give you a better social experience. 2) If you absolutely need to move into an apartment, for the love of God find another landlord. Anybody is better than Mac. Mac is an abomination of a company; may God have mercy on the souls of those who seek it's false gifts. read more

I wish I could give 0 stars. I signed a lease on an apartment two months ago, and have had problems literally everyday since I moved in. 1. When I moved in, I noticed the kitchen sink was leaking. I submitted a maintenance request, and a few days later, got an e-mail from Mac saying that their plumbers had come to my apartment and examined the sink, and "could not find a leak". They told me to call again if the leak came back. As soon as I turned on the sink, and it started leaking again. How can you "not find a leak" when the cabinet under the sink is full of water? I'm not even a plumber, and it took me 3 seconds to feel the moisture on the pipes and determine where the leak was. 2. I have also had to submit maintenance requests for a broken light and a mouse infestation. Mac came and left 2 paper mouse traps in my apartment, and that was that. They didn't clean up the hazardous mouse droppings, didn't try to find out where the mice were coming from, they only left 2 paper glue mouse traps that have been totally ineffective in getting rid of the problem. Furthermore, every time workers come to handle a maintenance request, they leave a ton of garbage in my apartment without cleaning it up. I've seen broken pens scattered on my floor, and random pieces of plastic and metal lying everywhere after Mac comes. 3. Before we signed the lease, we were told by our leasing agent that wireless internet would be free, but we would have to pay for utilities and electricity. When I moved in in July, the internet was working. Two days ago (a month after I moved in and was living there with a working internet service), the internet was discontinued and I got an e-mail saying that our new lease did not include free internet anymore, despite the fact that the internet had been in service for the first month of our lease, and the fact that our leasing agent TOLD US IT WOULD BE INCLUDED. Nobody ever notified us that starting with our new lease, we would have to pay for internet. Since getting that e-mail, I and my roommate have tried getting in contact with my leasing agent 7 times through phone calls and e-mail, and have gotten no response. I severely regret signing the lease on this apartment, and will discourage everyone I know from signing with Mac properties. read more

I hated living in the building run by MAC on 52nd and Hyde Park Blvd. They did a terrible job of sharing information, there was construction going on next door for 5 of the 9 months I was there (without warning), and I ended up having to hire my brother and his friend to carry my oversized couch down the 7 flights of stairs because the building manager, Mike, didn't feel like going into the office to open up the freight elevator. DO NOT rent in a MAC apartment. It's for your own good. read more

Do everything you can to avoid having to use Mac. They completely take advantage of college students and have no ethical/moral guidelines. They pressure students into signing leases and then grossly under deliver (ex - show you a newly renovated and clean apartment and actually assign you to an apartment in much much worse condition). They'll do anything to get your money except provide decent service. read more

I would give them zero stars if that were an option. I have lived in a Mac owned building since last September and it has been terrible. I was awoken Saturday morning by someone sent by Mac to take post- move out photos of our "vacant" apartment. Our lease doesn't expire until August 15th, and the apartment is still clearly lived in. The man took photos of my roommate's rooms, our common areas, and then opened my door and tried to take a photo of me and my boyfriend- barely clothed in bed. I called the office to report this but obviously no one is there on the weekend, so left a message with the emergency operator and emailed them. Beyond being a terrifying experience, this is a violation of tenant rights and is illegal. Even if this was a mixup, the man didn't have to keep taking photos when he realized the apartment was occupied. An egregious invasion of privacy. I do not feel safe in my apartment. A few hours later I received a call from someone at Mac, apologizing, blaming both the employee and my roommates for not telling me, even though the employee was following a work order and my roommates had no knowledge of the "scheduled maintenance." Furthermore, legally, each tenant on the lease must be informed, not just one tenant. As per the City of Chicago's Department of Housing and Economic Development: (Landlord's Right of Access, Municipal Code Chapter 5-12-050): "A tenant shall permit reasonable access to a landlord upon receiving two days notice by mail, telephone, written notice, or other means designed in good faith to provide notice. A general notice to all affected tenants may be given in the event repair work on common areas or other units may require such access." No such notice was given to me. Legal recourse for such trespassing- which is what this is- is a month's rent. Mac says they will give us no such compensation. read more

We really wanted to love our new apartment-- and we did, for about a month, until big horking black roaches started showing up in our kitchen. MAC sent an exterminator to spray the kitchen and bathroom, which was nice, but we wake up to baby roaches in the bathroom every morning and a stairwell and lobby peppered with dead roach carcasses. (We saw a live one on the stairs last month when coming home at night, which was the first sign something was wrong.) I sent a few follow-up messages to the effect that we're seeing roach babies everywhere, which means there are eggs, which means there is an infestation, but we've been told that the treatment needs time to work. Fair, but spraying a little in two rooms isn't going to knock out a full-bore infestation stretching from the basement all the way to the second floor. Even worse, we constantly get ensign wasps in our apartment. We have no idea how they're getting in but they're everywhere, and I just discovered that they reproduce by laying eggs in roach egg sacs, ergo ensign wasps = cockroach infestation. I'm horrified and angry that an apartment that was rehabbed within the last few years is harboring a full-fledged, symbiotic cockroach ecosystem all the way up to the second floor, and no one seems to care. read more

Think twice before moving into a Mac Property, for the price there are most definitely other options. During the application process, no matter how much I emailed and called the leasing agent who was working my file I would never get a call or reply back. When I would call to ask for assistance from other agents, they would assure me that they could not help me and they would pass along the message. I lived out of state and it was the most stressful process ever. I flew to Chicago twice for a few hours just to go into Mac's office to inquire about the status of my application. After a month my application was finally approved. Prior to me moving in I tried my absolute best to make sure that every thing was set in stone before traveling to Illinois. I get to Chicago, I'm sitting, waiting in the lobby for over and hour before finally speaking with the receptionist, I was given keys and then they were revoked 5 minutes later due to a misunderstanding with payment on their end. Surprise surprise! I had to cancel and reschedule my movers who had been sitting, waiting, that moving company did not refund me my money though the guys weren't able to do any work. I also had to book the moving truck for an extra 3 days, which costed me a ton of money. I reached out to management about the i professionalism, lack of communication, I explained to them how i was coming from out of state and I now had to pay all of this extra money to move in all because of a mistake on their end and all I received was an, "oh sorry but you need x amount of dollars to receive tour keys, thank you." I show up a few days later, took me forever to find new movers on such a short notice and the freight elevator wasn't booked for the time that I asked, again, I had to reschedule movers AGAIN and also, I sat in the lobby for hours until the figured out where my keys were. Having a career in Property Management and specializing in Luxury Leasing, there's nothing luxurious about this company. They don't care about their residents. The quality of the service is the worse I've ever seen. Run the other way! read more

My roommates and I were struggling to set up a sublease agreement. We moved into a friend's apartment before our paperwork was approved, and let's just say it created headaches for everyone involved. (We weren't allowed to receive keys, submit work orders, or pay rent until we were approved.) I'm still not sure who deserves blame for the slow approval process, but when we told a Mac employee (Ruth) about the issue, she was very quick to resolve it. She even worked on her day off to finish the paperwork and order extra sets of keys! Now my roommates and I are approved, and we're excited to live in our Mac apartment for at least the next year. read more

I know this is Hyde Park and we live in an older building, but how many visits does it take to kill one mouse...at least I hope it's one. First of all, it took 3 days to get here when I first reported the mouse sighting. Took me having to call them to ask if they'd received my maintenance request for them to send someone out. I've never lived with vermin and I refused to do so now. I'm going to check with the city to see what I can do about getting out of my lease if there is a mouse infestation. We have a 10-month old and the thought of mice running around makes me ill. read more

Prompt service for various service requests placed. I was pleased with our power outage and toilet issues being addressed quickly. However, price compared to other apartments is high. read more

I usually don't write reviews but there is something about Malarie at Mac Properties that stands out. No matter what question I ask her, even if it is outside of her job description she will always follow through and make sure I get an answer. Shes so honest and she truly goes above and beyond, and is determined to make sure us residents are happy! Every encounter I have with her exceeds my expectations. It's a pleasure to live here because of people like Malarie. read more

Terrible service. When there was black mold growing on the doorway of our building due to leaking, they took nearly two weeks to check it out by which time the carpet started rooting. Only after threatening to take them to court for health code violations did they attempt to address the issue only to poorly repair it and have the same thing happen two weeks later. In addition, you can only refill your laundry card at their office which is so inconvenient(why isn't there an online option) and when paying rent they charge you 4% if you try to pay online rather than with money order or check which again requires you to go visit their office. Generally really poor service despite some of the apartments being quite nice, needless to say, I moved very close by and am paying several hundred less a month for a comparable apartment at which the landlord actually cares for his property if there are any issues. Mac also has a ton of random fees it will add without telling you. read more

Note. I don't live in MAC property and decided not to rent with them in the future; this is just a review of the agent showing me places. If you want to actually see their properties, you have to call because no one will answer emails for days. I called and made an appointment after several email attempts and met my agent at their location on 53rd street. I had asked to see one and two bedrooms at 3 different locations. They will hold apartments for 30 days, and since I was looking 6 weeks in advance, the first property was not one that would be available, but I was assured it would be the same layout. On arriving, I was pretty grossed out by how many layers of paint were on the walls and the terrible caulking job in the bathroom. I also noticed that the apartment the agent pointed me to would absolutely be a different layout based on the windows and shaped of the apartment from the outside of the building. Then the agent showed me the laundry room. It was huge, but for a building of at least 40 2-6 bedroom units, I don't think 2 washers and driers would be quite enough. I also pointed out that the bike rack had been cut through. He assured me that it was just maintenance removing an old bike. I guess I don't know how maintenance works, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't vandalize their own property. The next property was great, and I was assure while I was looking at it that there was parking available. When we got back to the office I found out that was absolutely not the case. The agent was actually very nice, but super clueless and definitely talked out of his a$$, too bad I have a very accurate bullsh*t meter. Between him not showing me any one-bedroom properties, very confidently telling me inaccurate facts, never responding to my emails, and way over-priced rents, I decided not to rent with Mac. Don't waste you time. I got the vibe seeing places that they don't take very good care of the properties and don't care about the tenants. They might have a big foot print in Hyde Park, and accept pets at a lot of locations, but it's worth finding a landlord who actually cares. read more

Mac Properties is the worst. The hostesses at the front desk and the maintenance staff in our building are great. I don't have many complaints about the property itself. The Mac Properties front office is terrible. The customer service is piss poor. We received a late fee, and instead of calling us in August when we received the fee, they waited until now (mid-January!!) to inform us. In addition, we have the option of turning in the rent by the 5th, which we've done. We have received a late fee every month even though we've been turning in the rent ON the 5th! I feel as though we're being scammed and I'm considering reporting them. This is a total rip-off. I would never rent any of their properties again, and I cannot WAIT to get out of this lease. As newlyweds, we thought our new home would be perfect. It has been total hell dealing with Mac Properties. read more

So my girlfriend posted a review on this company a few days ago detailing a rather disagreeable living situation and having no way to move out without paying exorbitant fees. We have been living in an apartment that had a multitude of issues that sometimes took weeks to remedy (broken radiators, frequent power outages, etc.). That, coupled with the fact that there is a dog next door which barks incessantly at all hours of the night, led us to ask MAC to help us exit our lease due to unsatisfactory living conditions. MAC then refused to let us move to another MAC property because "we need to protect the interests of investors who have put money into your current apartment". Apparently our living conditions were not of primary concern here. Once we made clear just how intolerable the conditions were, they offered to let us move, BUT we would have to upfront two months rent, pay cancellation fees, and new application fees! Being a young couple with a tight budget, this obviously could not work. So, unfortunately, we were forced to tolerate the conditions. Fast forward a few weeks. After posting a review expressing our disgust with our current situation, my girlfriend and I were contacted by MAC, who stated that they would let us move anywhere in the MAC portfolio with NO fees. This was acceptable, but upon submitting our application for the new apartment, we were told that we would have to upfront two months' rent for our current apartment, which, as far as I understand it, is NOT what we would call "ZERO FEES". Apparently this has something to do with covering the time that the apartment would go unrented. Of course, this is really none of my concern, since I was not informed of the issues that the apartment had when I was being toured through it and would not have decided to live there if I had been readily informed thereof. It was also insisted upon that we had not accepted a prior offer which was exactly the same because we were too stubborn too accept. In any case, I have tried my very best to be patient with the folks at MAC, but when the interests of some faceless investor take precedent over my personal livelihood, I'm disinclined to give my stamp of approval. I would, however, highly recommend some of their agents, specifically a young man named Ken who helped tour us around throughout the whole ordeal, helping us find a place that would be right for us. If you want a wholesome, caring, and humane experience from your management company, STAY CLEAR OF MAC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT. I should also note that my girlfriend's review has somehow magically been relegated to the "not recommended" section of yelp reviews, which do not get incorporated into the business's final score. HOW CONVENIENT. P.S. Investors, if you are looking for a company which will guard your money at all costs (quality of life for your tenants included), set up your building with MAC RIGHT NOW. I assure you that nothing will keep MAC from securing your precious margins from the plebeian masses, with their "needing sleep" and "wanting electricity". What filth they are, indeed. read more

First ,let me say this review has nothing to do with the management team. They are great. They respond quickly and professionally whenever there is a problem. Now, lets talk about MAC, the corporate entity/vampire. After my first year lease was up, my rent went up over $100.00!!!!! After much thought and consideration I decided to sign a two year lease. I absolutely hate moving and thought this would give me the time I needed to decide where I wanted to move and save up enough money to do so. I was told that when I moved in, they were offering specials because the occupancy numbers were down. Now, due to the development in Hyde Park, demand is high and occupancy has increased and driven up cost. But it blows my mind how this organization can be ok increasing rents to this level. I don't think tenant retention is a priority. They have arrogantly decided if they monopolize Hyde Park, then folks are forced to rent through them. Also, I think they focus more so on the University student. They forget that Hyde Park is also comprised of families as well. This situation is nightmarishly commical. To see up close how big business can be like a cancer. Sure they come in a pump millions of dollars into a a community and as a result they begin to abuse they're power. Oh yeah a side note---in looking at the lease, the late charges went from $35 to 53.00! It's frickin hysterical and all very legal. Just because you have a "right" to do something , doesn't mean you should excercise it. IJS... read more

Ruth Hamilton has been an amazing help with incredible service in the Mac office. I have had some issues with a floor arise in the last few weeks that she has helped solve with a positive and very reassuring spirit -- showing her boss, involving the right people to solve the problem as quickly as possible. This is the type of spirit that is a model of incredible customer service/human service. It's nice to go to the MAC Office and be greeted with a smile and have requests tended to by email and phone. I am very happy and look forward to renewing my lease very soon!! :) read more

I have live in Regents Park since Feb 2016 and regret moving in. I wish I had of listened to the reviews before signing a lease. After being told that out gas was "capped" at $100 for a two bedroom, we get a bill for $150. I was then informed that they stopped the capping in January 2016. Then a month after moving in, here comes the construction. I was so mad one morning, I thought it was an upstairs neighbor drilling so I was going to go and give them a piece of my mind. Only to find out that it is construction in the building! Then, the Internet that is supposed to be included in the rent keeps going in and out! The cable, we were told before signing the lease, we could upgrade our channels, keeps going in and out! And for the record, we can't upgrade! So we are stuck with 72 channels that work when they want to! We are supposed to have a view of the garden which was supposed to open in May. Well there was a fire and now it's taking longer than expected to clean up. While it looks like the garden may be finished, I don't think they can open it because of the NEW CONSTRUCTION that has started right outside of my window! I swear it sounds like a stampede of elephants are in my living room each morning starting at 8am! I called and complained and got NOWHERE! I asked to speak to the manager to see about an inconvenience credit or something and to see how I could get out of my lease due to a work tranfer and I was given a Daniel somebody's email. I emailed him twice with no reply! Then I get the run around by resident services stating "oh he's in a meeting in another building". Then "other he's out of town on a family emergency ". A crock of BS I say! Then they want to charge you 2 months rent on top of being responsible for 30 days notice if you want to break the lease.. then they sent out a email about people breaking into residents homes. I can't wait to leave this place!! read more

I have lived in the MAC building on 55th and Cornell for almost a year. I can not wait until my lease is over. I have been sexually harassed, lied to, and disrespected. At the beginning of the August. I came home from work one night to find my curtain rod collapsed into to the wall. I pull back my curtain, in my very small studio, to find the wall was covered in mold. The wall adjacent to it was so wet my finger put a hole in it. Obviously the management office was closed since it was after midnight. I called early the next morning. Clearly mold is a very serious issue I assumed when the man on the phone told me that maintenance would be out in few hours I believed him. I was very wrong. Giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, I assumed maintenance was very busy and would come by the next day. Wrong again. So, I called again on the 3rd to the office realizing that not only has no one contacted me or even come to my apartment (after I gave permission to enter), but on my "account" online the maintenance request was placed as a painting issue. I was again promised that someone would be out that day. Of course after returning home from work around 6pm no one ever came. Sure enough I called on Sat and was told the "painters" don't work on the weekend but I could leave a message to my property manager. I was sent to his voice mail after I was told he works on Sundays and "he will for sure call you back". Shockingly by Sunday late afternoon I did not hear from him. I then realized I had to take control over this situation since I was/have been feeling sick since I moved in. I wrote a 14 day notice in hopes to get at least some communication about something. The day after I mailed it I received an email from my property manager (no not a return phone call) stating the "painters" have been notified. I of course responded and of course did not hear back. Then 2 1/2 weeks later I get a knock at my door at about 8:30am. A maintenance man was at my door wanting to look at the wall. He comes in takes a look and tells me he will be back the next day. He does as he says, come back with his "supervisor" and from this point it is down hill from there. The supervisor literally does nothing except runs his mouth. He walks around my apartment looking at all my pictures (which in itself is unprofessional) then He begins to make comments like "we don't want to make you upset" "we don't want you to complain on us" "we need you to give us good reviews". And if that was not uncomfortable enough the "supervisor then begins to sexually harass me in my own apartment. Commenting on my body. I was upset and all I wanted was for them to finish and leave. The worker finished cutting the walls out and left for the day he said he would be back the following day to finish. Since it rained he couldn't work on it til the day after that. which was fine as long as its getting done. Shockingly, the day comes for him to finish and I don't hear from him. I call the office and they said "someone will call you back" of course I don't hear from anyone. But on that same day... I go outside to the car to go do laundry since both washers have been broken for quite a long time, I see two men standing outside the building smoking (a security man from the bank and a man with a MAC maintenance shirt) of whom I have never seen before. I say hello and the MAC maintenance man says to me "hey, you live in apt ###?" "yea you do" Very creepy and how would he know that? I have never even seen this man before in my life. A week and a half later a knock on my door, the "supervisor" is back to "see how the wall looked" he said he didn't realize it never got finished and that the man who started it was fired. He called another man into my apartment to finish the job. In which he does a great job at. However, when the man had to come back the next day to "finish" he decided to not knock and thought it was quite alright to just unlock my door and walk in. I was in my underclothes and had I had my tv or music on I would not have heard him unlock my door and I would not have been able to stop him from entering. On that day I felt so violated after everything that had happened I went to the management office to talk to my property manager. I just wanted to tell him everything and how I didn't even want to go home. After explaining it all he decided the appropriate response is "I will make sure all communication will be in writing from now on when dealing with you". When he asked me if he could do anything I said I should be compensated since my apartment has been unlivable for the past month he offered a cleaning crew to clean the place. Now after all the events that have taken place why would I want more people in my apartment. I just want to be done. This company is terrible. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE save yourself the trouble read more

First of all, I think a clarification is in order: MAC technically has no security deposit, BUT they do charge you a non-refundable "move-in" fee that, depending on the size of your apartment, is usually several hundred dollars. So not much of a "special," right? The reason I'm giving MAC one star is because sadly they're able to exploit the U of C area to make maximum profit while providing the minimum amount of resident services. Their apartments are dingy, old and very infrequently remodeled or updated. They charge outrageous prices for these terrible units because they control most of the real estate in the area directly surrounding the U of C campus. When students complain about issues that come up (vermin infestation, security measures, etc) they have no motivation to quickly and efficiently fix the problem, because they know that even if they end up with unhappy customers, they'll be gone in a couple years max, with a whole new wave of college students needing housing to take their place. It doesn't help that they own a large portion of buildings in the student ghetto, 55th to 52nd from Ingleside to Dorchester. In short: high prices, terrible apartments, bad customer service, DO NOT RENT FROM THESE PEOPLE, YOU'LL REGRET IT! read more

I wish I could give zero stars to this "company" if that's what you call it. I lived in Regents Park for 3 years (which is overpriced btw) and overall Mac properties is very unaccommodating. But the reason I am here is because after those 3 years of paying $2k in rent a month and never late, shortly after I moved out I started receiving collection calls and I had no idea why. After a couple of months I learned that Mac sent a bill to a collection agency for $100 (still don't know exactly what it's for). Now I have this on my credit after paying rent on time for 3 years because they couldn't pick up the phone or find some other way to contact me and let me know I had some sort of minor outstanding charge. Y'all are truly evil people at this company. read more

DO NOT RENT WITH THIS COMPANY!!!! I rented with this awful company for a year. You will pay way more with this awful company. MAC charged me 1100 for a tiny one bedroom with carpet in a building where the section 8 tenants urinated in the elevators. Unfortunately i was new to the area and did not realize i was being ripped off. Nor did i know that this awful company rents to any and everyone. So if you want to pay $1100 for an apartment that should be $750 at most and you want to live around people that do not care about their enviornment rent with MAC. I wish this horrible company would stop buying up all the buildings in hyde park. Its like they have a monopoly here, i just thank God i found an apartment with a better company. MAC IS AWFUL...get on craigslist and find something else. And dont believe the reviews written by their staff, i guess they have a lot of down time in that office, figures. HORRIBLE! read more

I've lived in MAC's 5049 S. Drexel Blvd apartment for the last two years. It is a beautiful apartment, but I can't imagine living there for another year. The heat is so unbearably hot that even having the windows open throughout the winter it wakes me up sweating. Furthermore, they have refused to turn down the heat even into late Spring despite multiple calls politely asking them to. The worst part is that we then get heat bills that well exceed $100/month (even into May), and near $200 in the winter. The outrageous heat bills and stifling heat simply don't make it worth living here. read more

I have rented from Mac for the past year and even though I started off hopeful I was eventually completely let down. It all began at the first day when we picked up our keys. We met with our Building Manager after leaving us waiting for more the 30 minutes in the conference room she finally came in treated us in a very rude manner and briskly sent us out the door with our keys. Once we got to the apartment it was very clear that they had not had it cleaned. It was dusty and dirty and the carpet had many stains. Things got worse in october when our entire buildings radiators weren't turn on until much after the the legal start date thus leading to cold apartments. Even after they were turned on our unit would take at least an hour after the radiators starting cycling before ours would get hot. We also had an issue where on of the bedrooms had a radiator in it and it would frequently spew GALLONS of water out of the steam vent. After five or six reports about this the building crew finally replaced the entire radiator system. Little did we know that this would only make things worse as they replaced out old steam radiator system with a hot water boiler, causing every radiator in our building to flood we had water drinking through the walls the ceiling and puddles in our apartment. Eventually this lead to the What in our building going out completely for 5 days (december 20-24th). In Chicago it is the law that if the heat is going to be out for more then 48 hours in the winter months the building must provide alternative housing. Mac did not do this. During this time period the coldest my apartment got to was 45F. That is inside my apartment. Eventually the heating was fixed. After months of arguing with the management I was finally able to get a small return of rent due to the way our building was treated. this only equated to 5 days rent though. During this process it was explained to me that most of our issues were due to the building manager we had not doing her job properly I was informed that she had been let go. The rest of my time with mac was relatively pleasant that was until it came time to find a new apartment. I went back to Mac mainly because they have a monopoly on safe apartments in the hyde park area, which is where I wanted to stay. After working with Ray ( see Tiffany's review for more on him) while very polite he was terrible about returning emails and phone calls. When you would leave him a voice mail to call you back he'd email you a very short email instead. My frustration with mac came to a head when I was rejected for an apartment after being asked to put down my move in fee first (as in before the application has been reviewed.) I was informed via Email that I was rejected and that ray would contact accounting to refund my move in fee. I sent ray a response email within 5 minutes asking when the move in fee would be returned as I would need it to continue my apartment search. After 3 emails a week of no responses and a few phone calls. i finally got in touch with someone at the Mac Office who passed on my message to ray to call me back. Once again I did not get a call but a one sentence email saying that my Move in fee would be refunded in 30 days at the latest. I immediately called and got very little real answers to my questions about why it would take so long and a lot of insincere apologies from Ray saying that it was cooperates decision as to when this would be refunded. I really am so disappointed with Mac they don't seem to be able to communicate well at all and then on top of that they also cant seemed to process payments and refunds in a timely Manner. It seems unreasonable to make the average Mac customer (20 somethings) wait 30 days if they are rejected for an apartment before they can recoup their pre paid move in fee (which starts at 250 and goes up from their based on apartment size) for an apartment they wont be getting. They just seem to be a company thats more concerned with getting people into leases then worrying about their current or former customers. read more

My experience finding the perfect home when I was ready to downsize after my kids went off on their own was very quick and easy thanks to Ken Hall at MAC Properties. Every time I emailed him with yet another question or request I felt like he was always just sitting there waiting for me to contact him with something else. That's how fast his responses to me always were. Ken was very receptive to my wants and needs and made sure I got exactly what I was looking for. So far, I am very pleased with the experience with shopping around and the lease execution process. Thanks Ken, for making this a pleasant experience! read more

Ruth Hamilton is amazing! She cares about your concerns and is ready to help out with any of your problems that may arise. Very respectful and kind hearted lady! read more

This company is the WORST. They have most incompetent employees imaginable. They are a JOKE. Their properties are not safe nor do they care about the safety of their residents. While repairing an important lock to the unit, they just left the door WITHOUT a doorknob (or lock) for an entire weekend, completely accessible to anyone. Their employees have illegal access to residents' storage and they use the washer and dryer for their own personal clothes. Too many examples to list here, but they're not just morons, they're ill-willed. They can't even communicate the most simple messages, like tell you about MAJOR construction projects. They flat out do not care about residents. AVOID at all costs. They will look for ways to screw you over and you won't receive service for the simplest things. Just a horrible company. read more

worst experience I have ever had with Mac Properties. They completely don't care about anyone. I try to get a place and at the last sec (after i pay the deposit) they change the price up to 60 box. I was keep asking them lets work this out since I paid the non-refundable 50$ application fee but all I heard was "no, not our mistake,... its free market price.... and we will refund you back within 1.5 months". I try to contact their manager and apparently didn't even want to answer me back in person. Word of advice .. DONT TRUST THEM!! and do business with another company. Very shady all the way!!! NO grantee on prices!! Be very careful. read more

GREGORY IS AWESOME! He took time to explain my heating situation in the unit, was warm and friendly, and super efficient!

To future university students, who plan to move off-campus: DO YOUR RESEARCH. MAC does not have your needs in mind - they will not seek to give you the fairest deal. From personal experience, MAC's agents rarely know the specific details of the apartments they are trying to rent out and will say whatever needs to be said to make an apartment desirable (read: covering up existence of mice/other rodents/insects, cracking or rotting walls...). For instance, my group was told that it would be promised a low, fixed gas rate and instead we are being charged out the roof for gas (that we have no way of adjusting in terms of heat) ON TOP of monthly People's Gas payments. (These charges are also only available online on the MAC portal) Not to mention these nebulous "Processing Fees." Either the agent did not do her research on the apartment she was advertising, or she was blatantly lying to us. Clearly, customer loyalty is not a major factor in their grossly obvious profit-churning machine. Overall, make sure to TALK TO PREVIOUS RESIDENTS to get the truth, to comb through your lease and all other documents you sign carefully, and to follow-up with MAC to keep them accountable. DONT TAKE THEIR WORD FOR GRANTED. (Read: false advertising folks!) Ask for ALL OF THE DETAILS so that you don't get hidden fees. (I'm surprised with all of the [warranted] negativity, there haven't been more protest/lawsuits involved.) And please, please, please - consider other avenues (private landlords, other property management firms) because there are actually other (often much better and much more fair) options out there. End PSA. In response to the comment given below: I am NOT talking about People's Gas rates, which I am perfectly aware of. I am speaking of being misled by a MAC agent, and being charged for the building's gas (separate from People's Gas, as I have mentioned above - please read carefully) above the supposed fixed rate that has been stressed in person on multiple occasions. The issue is that MAC as a whole does not maintain any sort of accountability, not that I do not understand how to read my People's Gas statement, which had nothing to do with the above. read more