Mac Property, although seemingly for the Hyde Park community, has proven itself yet another covetous entity. At the beginning of the pandemic, they were quick on the task of ensuring that they would be of help if there were any issues in regard to paying rent. As the days went on, their messaging changed to encouraging us to pay rent because they needed to "pay their workers", which disregards the financial downturn which effects the individual residences directly. My roommate and I have been pushed around to different departments with the promise of working with us during this time, however, have continuously not been given a solution. Each person we have discussed our issue with, we have been given copy and pasted responses which include solutions that are entirely irrelevant to our problem. Our current issue, although enhanced because of COVID-19, is not caused because of COVID-19, rather it was a predatory move that resulted in our rent spiking and was put into effect amidst the pandemic. Our request has been simple, but because of the incompetence of this office, it has escalated into a true dispute. The leasing agents cannot communicate effectively without a prewritten response. Whether they are not trained properly, or given the autonomy to make decisions, or they are purely just not fit for the position, these office workers are not able to handle questions outside of where to pay one's rent and how to make a work order. We have been given the run around with no direct contact to a representative that can be of true help, though we've asked repeatedly not to be directed to a "department" rather a person, this has fallen on deaf ears over and over again. The last email that was sent (today) requested we sign a nondisclosure, which is why I'm on this platform writing this warning to residence who are thinking of signing a lease with MAC. This situation only highlights that MAC is nothing more than a slum lord masked as a human focused rental company. Their mask is thinly vailed and falls apart at the first sign of a question that requires any form of critical thought. read more

I would say this is the worst mgmt company I have ever had to deal with. , you can't get ahold of any managers that are in charge. They have validated my sons disability rights. Have promised over and over again that they were willing to work with us to get a bigger place so that the lease would not get broken. I am my sons POA who was shot in the Lincoln Park shooting this May. My mother already leaves in a Mac residence so we wanted to stay with the same mgmt company but get her a 2 bedroom. Because of my Sons disability and needing a wheelchair the current building is not wheelchair accessible. It has been a whole month and no one from Mac has tried to work with our family. I say stay away from them especially if you have a disability because they will violate it. read more

They tried to rent me an apartment with NO Kitchen in Hyde Park.. And had THE NERVE to want 850 for it. The apartment is still on the market and I feel like them trying to rent this unit should be against some code. read more

Terrible organization. They have hidden fees that they charge you, do not respond to your inquiries regarding them, and then send automated emails threatening to involve their attorneys. read more

I have lived here for close to 3 years, and whenever you have a problem, you are basically on your own. the office manager/maintenance manager is no help at all. I have a problem with a tenant that lives above me that is a chain smoker. We share plumbing and so all the smoke has been streaming into my apartment since December 2023 and to date nothing has been done about it. I don't smoke and I am forced to inhale the 2nd hand smoke from 2 people. Additionally, my apartment smells like a big dirty filthy ash tray, all of my leather furniture, carpeting, curtains, comforters are filled with smoke. I also live over a laundry room and people are in the laundry room from 5am to 3am daily, so I hear the machines and the door constantly slamming and the machine lids constantly slamming. The lock on the door stays broken so anyone can enter. They also smoke in the laundry room. The Maintenance/ office Manager/ Super and Asst. claim they don't smell anything. How convenient. Needless to say. If you need to accomplish anything you will have to call the state, the police, Fire dept etc. because you are on your own. To date nothing has been done and I have written to corporate, and they have that the matter is in process. I guess in process of killing me. That is the truth. Before this incident we had a man that went dumpster diving that would drag garbage out of the dumpster and line it all up in the hallways and against the back of our building. He also has spiritual awakenings and would walk around all night with work boots on with no carpeting on the second floor where carpeting is required. After 8 months of complaining about the noise the office finally got him and the current people to get carpeting. They can care less about what you are going through. Pay your Rent and pay it on time that is all they are concerned with. This place is being run like a low-class ghetto. read more

I wish I could give this company 0 stars. Horrible customer service, no one will ever be up front with you. They lied about redoing all the wiring in the Algonquin buildings just to be shut down by ComEd for illegally pursuing those wiring issues. (Google Algonquin in Hyde Park and you'll see it all over the news.) They left families in the dark and the cold on Christmas because THEIR wiring posed safety issues. The situation was so bad they allowed us to break our leases because they could not guarantee we would get back into our apartment. When we went to collect our things our door was often left completely unlocked so anyone else coming and going from the building could enter our apartment. We would get 30 minute time increments to go and collect our ruined items in the dark. Even the gift cards and other "help" they offered was useless since they deemed me "ineligible" because I was NOT opting to move to another Mac Property. Now after finally getting out from under Mac Properties, they are too incompetant to respond to any previous landlord verification requests. Despite it being a standard request for previous tenants, not a single person I talked to seemed to understand what I was asking for. I applied for multiple apartments and every third party system that was used came back as "Landlord Unreachable." It's truly a shame no one filed a lawsuit against this company for their abhorrent practices. read more

I only gave 1 star because 0 isn't an option. These are the most incompetent individuals on the planet. They will charge you for things you don't owe, they are the opposite of helpful when it comes to needing assistance, and they don't understand how to read their own leases. I've rented from Mac for the past 3 years and never once did I have a good experience with them. I only rented from them because they effectively have a monopoly on the Hyde Park apartment market. They should be sued for their criminal negligence and predatory practices. Good riddance to them and thank god I no longer am a Mac Properties renter. read more

I Dexter been living at my location for almost 3 years and I can truly say the 1st year was kinda great then the 2nd year had a little hard time to move due to moving costs so I was forced to sign another tearful lease but not again, this properties is take advantage money hunger half ass maintenances jobs preform, so bad now they got tenants you wonder how the hell they get in here with they ghetto non respect for others, trust me dnt get fool what you read or see on the website Mac properties is truly what I speak they are true define of awful properties, would rate it a no star but can't so I just let it with a star, can't wait when my lease is up I running outta here read more

The resident service assistant are so nice they are always willing to help the tenants ..... I'm going on my second year an absolutely love my apartment and the neighborhood Robin Conners and ppl like Anthony at the front security door are always helpful... Robin made sure the painters did a wonderful job on my lease touch perk paint job read more

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The overall culmination of my experience living in a Mac Properties building has boiled down to one thought: I can't believe that I paid for that. Mac Properties has fostered an environment that is not only a biological hazard but also a major health concern. Here are a few examples: -Regular smoking on the premises of both cigarettes and marijuana that regularly traveled into my unit. As a severe asthmatic this caused me to require an adjustment of my asthma regimen. It took weeks for Mac to take the situation seriously which only culminated in sending me a desk top air purifier. Which was not effective or powerful enough to reduce the smoke in my unit. -A tenant allows her dog to poop and urinate on the shared back porch area as well as the basement where the washing facilities are also located. This building was covered in poop from the inside out since the summer. -My puppy (who unfortunately got very ill and is no longer with me) was attacked by an off leash dog in the building two days after I brought him home. I had to pay for an animal trainer and behaviorist as a result of the attack. -regular food trash and random garbage in the hallways. -The electrical in my unit was not set up correctly only having two 15 amp double pole breakers, so essentially one 15 amp breaker running my ENTIRE UNIT. When I started consistently losing power management claimed it was my air conditioner (I bought a very expensive energy efficient model). They sent a maintenance person who stated the problem was my AC unit because it was 8,000 btu which was over the standard 5,000 btu they want residents to use despite never informing me of this. Then I started losing power when having small appliances (a microwave and instant pot) plugged in in separate rooms! This took 4 weeks to have resolved and an electrician sent in who stated my wiring was ALL WRONG and that my AC was not pulling much power. -They sent a maintenance worker with NO MASK to patch my wall after the electrical work. I was horrified at this. We are in the middle of a deadly global pandemic and they have a maintenance worker come to my unit without a face covering. Moral of the story staying at a Mac Properties building isn't worth actual money. There are other management companies that care about their tenants. Other than Mac who can't even seem to take this pandemic seriously. read more

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Extremely disappointed and frustrated by Mac's service. We are leasing from them currently, and were told to move utilities into our name once we moved in. Mac was unresponsive in giving us our rental number before we moved in, and then didnt inform us about the massive amounts of penalties that would incur from this. the first month everything was fine, then 3 months into our lease they slapped on about $400 of fees for not putting this in our name. no warning. absolutely floored at this company. and, in addition, there are now late fees being tacked onto this charge as we fight to get these charges cleared. read more

I was really excited to be living in Hyde Park close to the lake and this apartment was nice until it wasn't. During the Polar Vortex, the furnace went out for 4 days and they did not inform no one until we complained. They gave us a $50 gift card to a local restaurant. My toilet kept stopping up, my heat took forever to come on, I can hear my neighbors in EVERY room, the elevators keep breaking and I got stuck in one, the elevators leak, the basement where storage and laundry is in leaks and I found that the apartment did NOT clean my apartment thoroughly before letting me move in. I found a used condom and condom wrapper under the vents. Noises keep coming from my bathroom too. Someone is always in my parking spot, residents are nasty dropping trash in hallways and elevators. The dryers are constantly broke too. I brown water for 2 days. I found out my rent is going up and it's not worth paying over $1900 for these living conditions. Majority of the time, my emails went unanswered. I will say that Jennifer Eaton and Shaquille are great at responding to you but that's it. Everyone else is rude. I wish there was a way I can move out a month early cause I'm ready to go. read more

The worst ever..this the only place I feel like I'm being heard.. I pay $175 for parking per month. Every other day someone's in my parking spot.. a couple times over night.. ( I have pictures ) ( no compensation ) TODAY, They towed my car out of my own spot I pay $175 for... $300 out of my pocket right before rent is due... Intercom don't work can't buzz nobody in. Heat barley works. I'll never ever ever ever ever recommend anyone to live here.. 7 months to go. Honestly might not make it thru the next month.. they got me all the way messed up.. it's so fake I can't take it.. just be real about being grimy.. read more

This is an honest review for a tenant that lived in a property managed by Mac Properties for four years, and recently moved away. In my honest opinion, that was 3 1/2 years too long. Why? Glad you asked! When I approached them 4 years ago, they showed me a few properties until I found one that I liked (the one I ultimately ended up leasing). It was a great deal at $950/month for a one bedroom. I went ahead and signed a lease (even though they asked for a $750 move-in fee because I was considered "high risk" - whatever that means). When I moved in, I noticed a few things were out of whack, and sent maintenance requests to have things fixed. In the very beginning, they were on it, but after about two weeks everything came to a grinding halt. E-mails went unanswered, calls would not be returned, and my property went through about 5 different managers in the 4 years I was there, even flip flopping between managers at the very end. (Shady much?) When I finally did get a response, managers and even maintenance supervisors spoke to me as if they didn't want to be bothered, as if I was beneath them, and as if I were their child. Extremely disrespectful. Let's not talk about when Mickey Mouse paid me a visit and having to threaten LEGAL ACTION to get pest control to come out and solve the problem! It shouldn't be like this! Oh but it gets better. There is a parking lot next to my building which is supposed to be just for tenants and limited spaces for the hair salon and restaurant in the building. HOWEVER, the venue across the street which allegedly has nothing to do with Mac Properties, would take up all of the spaces whenever they decided to rent out the venue for parties or gatherings, even going as far as charging for the spaces. But guess what? WE the tenants were paying for UNLIMITED ACCESS to a spot which was being taken up by the venue across the street. Each time I complained about it, management claimed not to know what I was talking about. Even when I sent pictures (and video of the Chicago Police throwing everyone out of the lot), they seemed surprised and again, acted like they didn't know what I was talking about. Now let's talk about the heat. Yes, you'll get heat in the summer, but in the winter you'll be walking around in a hoodie and sweats to stay warm. Calls to maintenance resulted in the problem being fixed for 48 hours, and then going back to what it was before. They attempted to solve the problem by putting a "sensor" in my unit, but it was installed near the front door. How is that going to get an adequate reading of my entire apartment? By the way, what they won't tell you is that now they have a new policy in place where you pay a flat rate for water, building gas (not the gas in your apartment - you pay separately for that!), sewer and (you guessed it) HEAT! For a one bedroom that's an additional $60 ON TOP of your rent! The final straw was a week before I moved out. My smoke detector was indicating that it was near the end of its life and needed to be replaced. I told this to Resident Services, who classified it as an emergency. They told me someone would be out between 30 minutes and 2 hours. THREE HOURS LATER, a maintenance person came out. He told me that he needed to get his ladder and he'd be right back. Ask me why it took him 45 MINUTES to get a ladder? And the kicker? He tried to replace the battery, realized it wouldn't reset, then proceeds to take the battery out and tell me that someone will be over tomorrow to replace it. No one ever came. So that's my story of living with Mac Properties. Do with it as you will, but I highly recommend that you look elsewhere. read more

KUDOS to both Karl and Douglas, they came to resolve my HVAC issue with the utmost care, professionalism, know-how, and did a fabulous job. They were prompt thorough and excellently handled the issue. They are exemplary and whenever I have a question about anything Karl is the first to say, let me know and I will get it resolved and checked out ASAP! Thank you to both Karl and Douglas for always going over and beyond the call of duty. I always feel so well taken care of whenever there is any service need. read more

I live in a Mac Apartment's unit at 5330 S Greenwood. While Mac is generally quick at responding to within-unit complaints, the issues in the shared spaces are almost entirely ignored. Some large issues: 1. When it rains, the shared laundry room becomes flooded with sewage water. I mean raw sewage here (see attached image from today). When I complain, Mac sends technicians to mop up the mess, which is terrible for the technicians, but the serious plumbing problem is never addressed. This is a public health concern, which I have explicitly expressed multiple times. 2. Again, in the laundry room. There are typically 4 washers and 4 dryers that are shared by a large number of tenants. One washer has been broken since 6/18/2016. There is a dryer that has been broken for nearly as long. And just recently another of the dryers stopped working. When I complain about this issue on their on-line system, MAC marks the service request as "closed" without ever actually fixing the machines. 3. This year (I have lived here 2 years), the lease agreement does not have a cap on the gas charges per unit. The gas price has essentially tripled. I used to pay no more than $30 per month, and I now sometimes pay $80+ per month. MAC has not justified this astronomical cost increase in any way, even when I have called them. read more

Mac Properties - Chicago Apartments - Laundry room beginning to flood with raw sewage water. A perpetual problem. - Apartments Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The updated amenities inside the unit & the helpful front desk (Mia, Stacy, Brittany) & maintenance staff (James & Steve) were the saving graces of living in my mac-run building Shoreland. However, Mac properties management has soured our experience. Two incidents stand out: (1) The building's historic so its maintenance should match its age. We had a piece of the building fall onto our car & shatter our rear windshield in their outdoors parking lot. We were compensated for the damage, but this has made us nervous about the maintenance of the building exterior. (2) We reported a pattern of inconsiderate behavior that violated the terms of our lease by one of our neighbors, complete with dates, time stamps, & durations. We had spoken with the neighbor before to resolve the issue to no avail. We turned to management as a last resort, only to have our well-documented concerns dismissed by hand-wavy, flimsy excuses from our neighbor. I'd recommend you find another landlord who keeps up the maintenance of their property & treats all their tenants equally, not just their entitled wealthy, white ones. read more

I really appreciate the service that Mac Properties provides. In particular Cherita H is always available to help me out with anything I may need regarding the apartment. It's just nice to feel that anything I need resolved will be resolved and that they care about making me feel at home. Thanks Cherita! read more

IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN JOINING A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. please tell me why Mac Properties caused $3500 worth of damage (according to my renter's insurance claim assessor) and offered me a $100 rent credit in return. lmaoooooooooooooooooo. for starters, this has been an ongoing issue since April... So the situation started in late April and peaked a few days ago. My apt had some really bad leaks and basically flooded my bathroom, part of my bedroom, and part of the kitchen. My renters insurance determined that there was $3500 worth of damage, of which they are giving me half. My property manager lied to the assessor and told them that the problems had been fixed by emergency technicians so the unit is livable again so they insurance won't cover my living expenses. I went to the apartment about an hour ago and it's the exact same as when I left it 3 days ago... They've been dodging me and the assessor and really sent me off. Today I got in contact with a lower level employee to convey that their manager told them they could offer me a $100 rental credit. Oh the best part was last week when the water started leaking into the bathroom light fixture and messed up the electrical wiring. When the tech took out the lightbulb, it was literally full of Black water.. TO DATE, AS OF 2:25 ON JUNE 10th, 2021, REPAIRS HAVE NOT EVEN BEGUN IN THE UNIT. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1udPG4JwP2Q9JnqzoqgslIiRVuvX6k4y_ read more

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Mac Properties refused to respond to multiple service requests for a gas leak and broken burners on the stove which they said they would fix (until it was magically possible when we called the gas company and had them document the broken appliance). They also ignored multiple complaints about rodents, entering the unit without notice to set glue traps without notification after, and then didn't answer when a baby mouse was caught on the trap. Water was turned off for full days at least once every two weeks, and construction was done on the outside of the building from 8am-8pm 5 days a week for months. Their contracting company for insurance compliance sent an email to someone else with my full name, address, and insurance policy and have refused to address it despite repeated emails to them. Unfortunately they own about half of the properties in my neighborhood, so they essentially control the whole market. read more

So I called in advance to schedule an appointment and view a few spaces. The receptionist was nice and told me that Ray would get back with me . No phone call and decided to stop by. While waiting on Ray, he walked in and told the receptionist that he called me. She stated I was here and didn't get a call. Then he said he made a similar appointment with someone who had a name like mine. He simply changed a few letters at the beginning and end of my name. Really?! My full name is vey unique find it hard to believe. Your caught Ray....you lied! Real professional! way to handle business! I wonder what else you lie about. Fine you got busy or forgot... Just be honest. In the end they were able to to have someone else show me apartments with a hour. But Mac should look into hiring honest people who value customer service. Very sloppy! read more

insanely unreliable management. many times will not respond to important messages or stop responding after a few emails. have lived in one of their old, yet overpriced buildings where i had to deal with pests because there are holes in the walls. the maintenance crew is the only reliable staff read more

After posting my review July 31st, I received a letter TODAY dated August 1, 2014 from a collection company attempting to collect the rent that WOULD have been for the rest of May had that been the VERBAL agreement. I find it funny that these people do not document their own conversations and clerical errors then try to collect from former tenants. Clearly if I HAD owed back rent to them they would have attempted to CALL me after doing so, not send a letter 3 months later from a collection company, addressed to me at the old apartment. DO NOT RENT FROM THESE THIEVES! I look forward to hearing from the property manager about her mistake. Because there is NO way I am paying $733.16 to them for THEIR mistake! read more

Pete the Carpenter is the best , punctual , effective , gets the job done MINUS EXCUSES... Thank U Pete, so awesome read more

I would give 0 stars if I could. If you're an adult and want to be treated as such and not a university student, don't rent with Mac Properties. First of all, their lease is literally 30 pages long. Lots of additions. Lots of hidden clauses. They treat their tenants & properties like dorm buildings. All of their buildings smell like weed. If they suspect that you're a unit that "may" be contributing, they will kick you out with 10 days notice and no warning. They will try to squeeze every penny out of you. Meanwhile they can't call pest control when you report mice in your apartment. It's old apartments, cheaply renovated to look new. If you're looking to rent in Hyde park, Mac properties should be your last option. While they may own a majority of the nicer looking places, it's all facade and they will charge you for more than what it's worth. You're better off renting from a private owner who knows how to treat their tenants with respect. read more

I have changed my rating to 1 star because of how MAC handled the flooding in my bathroom. They informed me that it was because the unit two floors above mine flooded and the brown tinted water is normal and not due to fecal matter, which is extremely unsettling. Afterward, MAC didn't offer any other help and I was responsible for sanitizing the bathroom. I ended up throwing away my soaked bath mat, towels, and other toiletries. MAC never apologized and an agent, Brianna, only called me the at the end of the next business day to inquire if someone came to help me. There is a lack of communication in this company. I'll be moving out at end of this month and I wonder if that's why MAC is treating me horribly. I have always paid my rent on time and even gave 2 months notice to move out. Just on May 29, another agent, Qwanisha (spelling?), called the evening before and asked for a viewing at 10 am (I am only required to let them view the apartment with a 48 hour notice). I agreed and asked for them to call me when they were on their way. At 10:20 am I called Qwanisha to see where they were and ended up leaving a voicemail message. Well after 11 am I get a call from her that went like this: Qwanisha: We are on on our way and will be there in 5 minutes. See you soon! Me: Yes you can come, but the viewing was at 10... Qwanisha: We were running late.... Me: Silence. Qwanisha: Ummm..sorry? MAC, please work on hiring agents who are not only punctual, but have common courtesy. I believe respect goes a long way and I brushed off this interaction as an outlier, but it looks like communication is horrible in your company as a whole. Before the flood and the house viewing I gave MAC a mediocre rating, but at this point I would tell others to avoid MAC because nobody deserves to be treated poorly consistently. I have requested MAC to compensate me for the water damage and hope they will respond promptly. read more

Mac Properties - Chicago Apartments - Flooding due to apartment 2 floors above mine - Apartments Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

You Can't Spell 'Scam' Without 'Mac' This is a shameless grift masquerading as a property management company. I would sooner send my friends and family to an extermination camp than knowingly allow them to live in a property managed by these brazen con artists. We rented with Mac in Hyde Park for a year. During this time, our stove caught on fire. Mac's solution was to replace the knob on the stove that melted during the fire, denying that there was any problem with the gas. When it subsequently caught fire again, this time burning out the electronics, they finally replaced our stove (stealing hundreds of dollars worth of kitchenware stored in its drawer - when we contacted Mac to request its return the following day, they informed us that it had "been destroyed".) Upon moving in, we discovered that our 'new' washer/drier unit did not receive hot water. We quickly informed Mac of this problem; they sent a maintenance worker who told us that they would need to order a part, which would take about two weeks. A month later, we had heard nothing further on the matter. Reporting it again, we were made the same promise. Again, no 'part' materialized. We reported the problem twice more; the third time, they repeated the same lie; the fourth time, they didn't bother. We gave up and washed our clothes cold for the remainder of our tenancy. Mac negligently permitted serious hygiene and safety risks to persist in our apartment because they couldn't be bothered to fix them, or considered it too expensive to do so. They are negligent menaces. I cannot strongly enough encourage anyone seeing this review to consider any and all alternatives before renting from Mac. Ask a rich person if you can live in their dog kennel. Shelter under a tree for $1500/mo. Just please, please, please do not rent from Mac under any circumstances. They are scheming monopolists who would happily kill you to turn a quick buck if they could get away with it. read more

Not sure what to say but here's the truth My 86 yr old mom became very ill so I had to leave my job to tend to her Subsequently she passed. Funeral expenses fell on me. All in a 3 month timeframe. In the meantime I had fallen behind on my rent and was evicted On my approved appointment to claim my items from said building ( 2 day timeframe from sheriff eviction date) , I discovered my laptop , TV AND PlayStation all stolen. The only people who could have taken these items had to be those who worked for the company They are Algonquin/ Regent / Mac corporation Indian village / Hyde park What do I do at this point ?! I've had my fill of horridness. Now this. read more

Have heard bad things from many a resident; the company has a poor reputation among UChicago students as a bad management company on many counts. However, when my boyfriend and I were looking for an apartment, we decided to give it a shot anyway. I made and then confirmed an apartment tour over the phone, expressing our interest in a unit with a great location. When we arrived, we were shown into a room and made to wait. After 10 minutes, a man came in and asked for our details again, and whether we'd requested a tour or appointment. When he left, I figured maybe they'd scheduled an appointment and forgotten the tour part. Nope. After nearly 10 more minutes, he returned to tell us he had a record of our call but no record of any appointment, tour, or otherwise. When we asked what else could be done--is anyone available now? could we at least get a virtual tour if not a real one?--the man just shook his head and said that the person I'd originally spoken to on the phone would call us back later that week. Needless to say, we saw this as a pretty clear confirmation of the poor management we'd heard so much about, and decided to skip it. I didn't get a call from Mac until several days later. read more

They are after your money. I applied for an apartment and dealt with Victoria. She told me I was preapproved but needed to pay an extra $500. After I paid I was not approved any more and they only gave me back less than half of what I paid. read more

While Hyde Park is a beautiful place to live, I would consider all options before renting with MAC. Apartments are older and outdated and overpriced. In some instances you can rent in the Loop, with full amenities, equal to or even less than pricing to what Mac would like to charge. Extremely buggy & pest control doesn't seem to get the job done. They will nickel and dime you throughout the process & Resident Success is hit or miss. Make friends with your building and maintenance staff if possible. read more

Do yourself a favor and stay far away from this company. I signed a short-term lease for my 78-year-old mother and every step has been a nightmare. We terminated her lease early in mid-October. It took email after email and multiple in-person visits to get the lease terminated and every time we thought we had done it we would get a call or an email saying the lease was going to be terminated at a different date or that we needed to sign forms that had already been signed. Now the lease has been terminated, we paid their two-month termination fee and signed all the documents, and yet they have referred me to a collections company for the termination fee I already paid. Now I am getting emails reminding me to pay rent and saying that we also owe them the termination fee. One might wonder how it is that they can demand both a second payment of a termination fee and continued rent from someone who is no longer their tenant. These people are harassers and grossly incompetent. For the sake of your sanity, stay away!!! read more

This would be the first review that I'll write. I felt compelled by the fact that the business manager is making an effort to answer to the reviews. I had lived in different properties of Mac on the last 5 years; the service varies a lot within building, which is to be expected, given the differences in quality. I would say that their services are mediocre but, given that they have monopolized Hyde Park, one of the best options in the area. Nevertheless, their customer service is one of the worst I've experienced. The absolute worst was my interaction with Jeffrey Lindholm, the resident services manager. He basically sent us an email saying that we needed to vacate the apartment since we didn't decide to renew our lease (which we weren't asked to). My roomie and I freaked out. I sent an email to Jeffrey pointing to him that they hadn't sent us an option to renew. He apologized and sent a new lease (with their usual 10% rent increase) saying that he needed the lease to be signed ASAP. He unfortunately didn't send the right lease. We didn't realize at that point. After that, Jeffrey started calling me and my roommate pretty often; my roommate assured Jeffrey that she had signed the lease and that I would signed in the afternoon: I was working. Jeffrey agreed. However, that didn't stop him from calling a bunch of times. When I finally picked up his tone was blatantly aggressive. He asked me when I would be able to sing the lease. After hearing my response he answered "well make sure that you do it by then" and hanged up. After work, I tried to sign the lease online but couldn't and my roommate went to Mac to figure it out. There she found a lot of irregularities in the process: wrong apartment, wrong names, wrong signature. Prior to that, she had her fair share of attitude. My roommate demanded to talk to Jeffrey who couldn't even offer an apology after the mess he had created. We tried to make an effort to move out, but we were locked, since I've been working in NY. I am extremely annoyed I've had good and bad experiences with Mac. I would say that they are a mediocre company that restrains competition to get by. Nevertheless, their customer service is risible. It's great to see some effort towards improving the quality of their service ( I like the answers in Yelp), but I had never had an such a bad experience in dealing with house manager like the one with Jeffrey. You should avoid him like the plague if you rent with them. read more

Since November, my radiator has been emitting a sewage smell whenever it was on that was so bad that I have had to sleep on the couch or at my partner's home to get a good night's rest. Because of COVID-19, I have had to move my mattress to the sun room because my room smells so bad. I have submitted more than fifteen maintenance requests, with maintenance coming in and telling me that I am smelling the paint downstairs or that there is "no way it could be smelling this bad." The excuses were varied. Management has not once come to my home to smell it for themselves when the radiator is on, or taken any form of accountability or provided any meaningful assistance. No one in management has even contacted me after I've continuously asked to be connected. The highest person I could reach was a resident service associate. After consulting with lawyers and tenant union organizers, it is clear that this is a violation of my rights as a tenant, as they have allowed me to live in a unit that is uninhabitable. If I had the means, opportunity, or resources to move, I would have. They have mostly stopped returning my calls and have made it impossible for me to continue living in this unit. This unit is located in 5300 S Hyde Park. If you are a new tenant of the unit, please be advised that other tenants have shared my concerns about a smell coming from the building that was never addressed to anyone's satisfaction. I plan on providing the next tenant with a letter and a pro-bono attorney's information in case the issue is not resolved by next Winter. I would have legally pursued this if not for COVID-19 and my impending moving date. If you can resist moving into a Mac property, I would highly recommend moving elsewhere with different management. read more

The properties themselves are not bad; however, if you encounter any sort of issue, do not count on their management to help you. I figured this out early in the process, and fortunately it was not too big of an issue in the beginning as I just fixed everything myself (something you shouldn't do for a property you pay over $2500 a month for). However, I was eventually forced to ask the current Property Manager at City Hyde Park Apartments some questions for move-out, and I was surprised at how unhelpful and condescending he seemed. It honestly felt like he was treating me like scum just for some routine questions. But after I asked other residents about their experience with management, it seemed that most had similar experiences. It seems these people are only concerned with taking your money. And I'm not saying pursuing profit is a bad thing for a business, but there are clearly ethical guidelines to follow while doing so. MAC sets the bar for ethics pretty low. read more

Being in property management for 12 years (including MAC for 3 of those 12 years) , a normal procedure is to have maintenance check the apartment before a future move in arrives. I toured 5136 Harper a month before I moved in. A month later after moving in we found: 1)a leaky tub spout 2)1 dead roach behind fridge 3) back door lock not working 4) 2 windows could not open. One window almost fell inward causing injury 5) Peoples Gas shut off our stove due to a faulty burner 6) a peeling tub 7) numerous live and dead roaches throughout the apartment This past Friday we have a front door that has to pulled and yanked to barely lock. Emergency maintenance checked this and said a new door was needed. Then I get an email saying the work order is completed. Clearly there was no maintenance inspection done to this apartment before we moved in. I do not understand the lack of attention to basic procedures and the lack of timely repair. For 6 days our door has to be pulled as hard as possible to have a lock catch and we still wait for our front apartment door to be fully replaced clearly a security issue which this company does not put as a priority. The Monday after our move, I found a live roach in the bathroom and continue to find live and dead roaches throughout the apartment. After 3 weeks, a total of 5 roaches were seen. Unbelievable. Even after treatment, we continue to see roaches and I had to purchase materials to help seal multiple gaps throughout. I had expectations that the service would be better, but unfortunately that is not the case. While the service office has been responsive to emails and calls the lack of results is troubling. There is an obvious disconnect between maintenance and the services office. Our manager was surprised when we told her work orders have been closed but the work has not been done I took this apartment out of necessity, I will never make this mistake again. read more

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Can't believe I am giving $1270 in rent alone to a place like this. My one Star goes to the responsive management team that always abruptly calls me to see if maintenance did their job during my work hours, despite me checking the "please respond via email" button EVERY MAINTENANCE REQUEST. The lack of stars is for the maintenance team that NEVER covers their boots when entering homes, leaves loose parts on your home when in-between repairing things, and are not wearing masks during a Pandemic. They KEEP me doing extra cleaning everytime they visit. But I will take that over the rats my neighbor deals with. Even though I hear something scurrying above my head everyday now (which I also called about months ago to no avail). After seeing my no heat complaints were not getting properly looked into, although after first being testy Ruth offered me a space heater, *eyeroll* like there aren't enough apartment fires in this neighborhood as is. I just stopped calling maintanence unless it was a 911. My first year the heat was SO HOT in the winter but I didn't complain just opened my windows and that was fine... So what I burned my butt in the bathroom once on the radiator, at least I had a warm home. But THIS year I had numerous complaints about them not putting the heat on in 28 degree weather. To which maintenance would just lock my windows and take a picture of the thermometer after waiting for the thermometer to raise about code temperature. Then the heat MAY kick on once at night for a bout 15 minutes in a over 600 sq ft apartment..still COLD. I just learned to LIVE in my robe. I would've called the city about it but they are even more unreliable than MAC so I just learned to LIVE in my robe and look for a new place because who wants to spend over $1400 in living expenses for a place with no elevator and still using radiators anyway. It came to me recently why I was having such problems this year... THE WINDOWS ARE TERRIBLY SEALED which explains the cold draft but also the God awful window leaking and condensation. Anyone with Google can see the windows need actual REPAIR. But according to Ebony I spoke with on the phone today Maintenance said nothing is wrong with the windows (because clearly they know what they are doing) Their solution today?? Just paint over it! Is paint going to properly seal the windows or fiX the draft in here? NO But the next tenant won't see it so I guess it is a win for them. I only recommend renting at Woodlawn Terrace if you are DESPERATELY IN NEED of housing or have a thing for mold. I wouldn't be surprised if after this year they rename their company to escape these reviews they are getting. I saw the news story about how badly they are treating tenants struggling during this Co-Vid crisis..SHAMEFUL. read more

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Ruth Hamilton, has helped me resolve an issue that I have been enduring for over 6 years.  I tried to resolve it myself without any luck.  I finally placed a work requests and Ruth immediately contacted me and proceeded to address the issues, and provide a solution.  I am so grateful for her help, she did not give up until I was 100% satisfied.  Thank you Ruth, you restored peace to my home. read more

terrible and greedy company with abysmal customer service and poorly maintained properties - they will waste your money Edit: Bryan-Keith specifically has no business interacting with customers. He has hung up on me, walked away from me when I was in the middle of asking questions, and purposefully did not answer my emails or calls. I have never (by no exaggeration) experienced that level of disrespect from a company. I had to show up in person three times to even be heard, and for basic questions and concerns to even be addressed. The company has zero accountability. read more

This is an updated review to implore everyone to PLEASE not rent from MAC properties.They are, in my opinion, the most sketchy, money-grubbing, rental company in Chicago. Listen to your fellow Yelpers and do research on Mac and its parent company, Antheus Capital. For folk who think they have no choice there are other options. It would be cheaper/better to commute into Hyde Park every day from the north side than rent a Mac Property. Here is just a short list of the problems we experienced: 1) Mac pays an undisclosed percentage of utility bills each month and then spreads the rest across the tenants based on square footage of your apartment and it is billed to you as a "community energy fee." After a few months of watching our bill climb to over $100 a month, I asked the utilities management company what percentage Mac pays and they informed me that Mac does not want their tenants to know. Emails to Mac about this percentage also went unanswered. They capped these utilities at $50 when we first moved in in 2015, they removed this cap in 2016 (without alerting us to the change in our lease) and since instituted a cap of $120. MORE THAN TWICE the amount it was only 2 years ago. I believe one reply on here talks about Mac losing money by capping at $50. However, even with the cap I rarely paid more than $30 or $40. If they were losing so much money with the old model, why was I not being charged the cap amount every single month? This amount is over and above anything you will pay to People's Gas or Comed and will likely be the cap every single month, regardless of season. Add about $150-200 to the advertised rent and that is what you'll actually be paying. 2) They do not seem to care about tenant longevity or loyalty, or, if they do it is a DISTANT second to how much Mac cares about itself. If you, god forbid, ask for a concession based on company loyalty their favorite thing to say is to be that they can't because of fair housing laws. While I understand this is so that Mac doesn't get in trouble for discrimination, this distorts the intent of these laws to protect tenants and instead warps them for Mac's convenience (and profit). When my boyfriend and I asked to change apartments after a series of break-ins at our place (5 in one month), Mac would only let us do so if we agreed to pay two month's rent as a lease termination fee, paid an application fee for them to do a background check on us (even though we were already tenants!), as well as pay a move-in fee to the new property we were looking at. This all was to move within their own company, extend our lease, and live in an apartment at a higher rent than we were already paying! When I asked what the difference was between that and breaking our lease to leave Mac altogether it was the exact same: two months rent to terminate. Absolutely no consideration of the fact we had lived there nearly two years, always paid our rent on time, and, I repeat, were willing to give them MORE of our money for LONGER. They later agreed to "allow" us to move within the company for "only" 1 month's rent as a lease termination fee and to waive the application fee. This was little concession as they already often waive application fees for UChicago-connected tenants. If they're so concerned about "fairness" why does this not extend to UChicago-connected prospective residents? They need better (and more transparent) policies that are both in keeping with fair housing laws AND actually do something to serve their tenants rather than just protecting Mac. 3) In my experience, they often make promises that they cannot deliver on or revoke things that had once been provided in good faith without fully notifying tenants. See my last review about Internet. Beyond that, after the same series of break-ins that prompted us to move, Mac promised that security cameras would be installed within a week. In the three months that it took us to leave our apartment for another, the cameras were not installed and, to my knowledge, never were (though, to be fair, I avoid going near the place anymore so can't be sure). Other reviews here mention MONTHS to provide simple recycling bins or repair washing machines and dryers. This is typical Mac behavior in my experience. It's unfair (and unrealistic) to pin Mac's problems on any one employee, as I said before my initial leasing agent, Ken and most of my maintenance folks were quite pleasant. Even my interactions with employees during the time I was trying to leave were fine. They just seem to be obligated to upholding policies that are unfair, untransparent, and ultimately predatory to renters. The problems with Mac are embedded in the systems and processes that it has created, which are evidently designed for maximum profit for Mac--rather than tenant satisfaction. EDIT: Just so you are aware, the Modern Msg platform that Mac sometimes pushes forward on Yelp is an incentivized review tool and Mac controls which reviews are seen. read more