As a resident (3+ years) of Mills Rentals, I can say that they are one of the best companies I have ever rented from and have set the standard for good landlords moving forward.
I leased an older house in Chapel Hill from them and it was well taken care of despite its age. For instance, on move in day we noticed that the dryer had stopped working. Within a day, Nathan had come over to try to fix it and ended up purchasing a new one that arrived the next day. All of my maintenance requests or questions were taken care of right away. They even renovated the property a bit while I was there including painting and a brand new HVAC unit!
Prior to signing the lease, they are transparent with any costs, security deposits, and pet fees. One thing I loved is that they are pet friendly! Usually companies charge an arm and a leg up front for any pet, alongside recurrent high monthly fees. This was not the case with Mills Rentals.
The most striking difference between Mills and former companies I've worked with is the rent change when resigning my lease. Mills never ONCE raised my rent in the 3+ years I was with them. The price I signed on to pay the first year was the price I paid in my last year. I have never experienced this decent treatment from another company in Chapel Hill or out of state (Louise Beck, another big Chapel Hill rental company, schemes anywhere from a 3-5% increase per year despite no renovations or work done on the property). This makes a huge difference when you are a graduate student on a fixed income.
Their tenant portal is user friendly and easy to use. You can see the status of your maintenance requests, follow up with questions, and get recurrent payment reminders. It is also easy to purchase affordable rental insurance through their site.
Lastly, I've had a roommate who needed to sublease her room; the process through Mills to add a roommate addendum to our lease was painless and free (other companies in Chapel Hill will charge up to $150 to do this).
tl;dr -
1. Nice, caring, decent people who know your name and genuinely care about the tenants living with them and the properties they manage
2. No rent increase, no hidden fees, reasonable pet fees, don't charge you for unfair and unnecessary things, no hidden schemes with security deposits
3. Maintenance requests fixed in a timely manner, properties continually updated and well taken care of
4. I cannot reiterate this enough: Mills treated us with respect, decency, and kindness and were honest, straightforward, and upfront throughout my time with them. read more