I wrote an initial review several months ago for one employee in particular who went above and beyond and exceeded my expectations of Northwest Apartments. Sean C. is def one of the best! I've had the pleasure of working with Elatish S., a new building manager at my apartment building, The Tuscany, and she's done such a wonderful job over the last few months that I just had to show her some respect! To be honest, I've had some less than stellar interactions with some other Northwest Apartments employees (my individual experiences may not be the same experience others may have had with these employees and may not reflective of job they may have done overall). I try to give people the benefit of the doubt and don't leave negative reviews unless something egregious has happened but I certainly was in no hurry to sing their praises on Yelp. My overall opinion of the company suffered as result of these interactions and I was pretty convinced it might be time to seek greener pastures with another property management company at the end of my lease. Elatish S. has been a much needed breath of fresh air and she has single handedly renewed my belief that Northwest Apartments is a great company to rent from. I'd heard that Northwest Apartments is trying to improve it's image and is working harder to exceed the expectations of their renters. Bringing Elatish S. onboard a few months ago has gone a long way towards achieving that goal and I can honestly say that she consistently exceeds my expectations! It's been a rough year and a half for me, as it has been for so many of us. The pandemic has left me unemployed and that comes with a whole host of other problems and setbacks as you can imagine being long-term term unemployed can cause in someone's life. Add to that just the common day to day issues that might arise when renting an apartment and it's fair to say that I've needed to be in touch with the building manager at least a handful of times recently. Elatish S. always responds to my emails and phone calls within 48 hours, if not that very same day. She is incredibly business oriented and exceedingly professional, and yet she has the kind of personality that makes professionalism also seem warm and inviting. She seems to be naturally upbeat and genuinely cares about her tenants. Did I mention that she manages TWO properties with several dozen tenants in all and yet she is prompt, thorough, and really takes the time to make sure her tenants feel listened to and understood. She even gave me a warm "congratulations" on the new job I just got (most money I've ever made!) and it's not unusual to see a "Yay!" or other positive exclamation in her emails. Its so refreshing and really feels good to work with someone who is truly amazing at her job and who also truly cares about the well being of the world around her. And I guess Northwest Apartments deserves some credit for adding this "diamond in the rough" to their team. One of the best hiring decisions ever, imo! I've rented from more than a few property management companies over the years and most are just kind of "okay" or maybe even less than okay. Sean C. and Elatish S. are the best of the best, genuine stand-outs in their fields and I cannot gush enough about how lucky Northwest Apartments is to have such amazing talent as part of the team. If you're looking for a new apartment in Seattle, forget what you may have heard about Northwest Apartments in the past. Everyone deserves a second chance, deserves a chance to do better. Lots of companies talk a good game of doing right by their customers. How many of those companies actually turn that game they talk up into real, tangible improvements? Well I can say emphatically that wanting to do better by their customers isn't just lip service here, at Northwest Apartments there's a genuine effort to be better, to do better, to truly become the property management company of choice in Seattle. Thanks to Elatish S. and Sean C., Northwest Apartments is the BEST company to rent from in Seattle. So give them a call or check out their website the next time you find you find yourself in the market for a new apartment to rent in Seattle. I'm confident that you will be as eager to 'gush' about your experience with them as I am! read more

Some of the dirtiest, shadiest, and fraudulent people I've ever rented from. I lived in the University Flats building on 15th Ave N in University District. This building blatantly broke the law--they are guilty of fraud, and I have the proof to back it up. After I moved out, they tried to steal my $600 security deposit, fabricating bogus charges for "unit cleaning" and "paint/wall repair" (see their letter and bill below). This isn't just shady--it's straight-up illegal. Specifically, this directly violates RCW Title 59, Chapter 59.18, Section 69.18.257, Paragraph 4 (photo of the law attached). Fortunately for me (and unfortunately for them), I have photo evidence proving the condition of the apartment when I left (see attached). I am now suing them for double what they stole from me. Wish me luck by leaving a like! DO NOT do business with these people. They will scam you, and now you've been warned. P.S. Parking is an absolute nightmare 90% of the time. read more

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TERRIBLY Property Management Company. The manager of the Twin Cedars Apartments was horrible to deal with. She was completely unresponsive, hard to communicate with, and seemed completely disinterested in her clients or the property. I dealt with her for over a week trying to look at a vacant unit in the University District. She was unresponsive to text messages and calls, and showed little to no interest in renting the unit. When she finally committed to a showing time, she texted me 10 minutes later to tell me that two other people had just scheduled and that time slot was no longer available. I had been trying to schedule for over a week, how did two other people JUST schedule appointments ahead of me. This property manager and management company are a waste of time. read more

Avoid Northwest Apartments at all costs! As you'll see in the reviews below, they are a shady, scummy landlord. Unfortunately, they manage countless apartments around central Seattle that are relatively affordable, which attracts many renters. I lived in the Palamar for several years, and while I loved the charming old building, management over the years was an absolute joke and downright predatory towards their residents. NW Apartments has a reputation for scamming residents out of their security deposit and egregiously charging for repairs after move out. Just look up the class action lawsuit against them (that they lost), or look through the countless negative reviews below. After they attempted to do just that against me, I took them to small claims court and WON. Funnily enough, they made it quite easy to win - they didn't even bother to show up. If you find yourself with no other option to rent from NW Apartments, or are currently a resident, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING, AND FIGHT BACK. It's not too hard to file a small claim against them. It costs $50 to file the claim, and hire a process server to serve the paperwork for $85. ChatGPT is your friend. Show up to the court dates, be professional and calm, and present yourself well - it will take you far in the eyes of the judge. You can get double your security deposit back and have the filing and service fee reimbursed if you win your case. NW Apts is a bully, and will refuse to negotiate with you. Do not back down, and proceed to the higher courts to decide the fairness when they stonewall you. WA laws favor the tenants. NW Apts cannot charge for ordinary wear and tear, which is written in our state law. If you're as lucky as me, they won't even bother to show up. I hope more residents continue to fight back and stand up to them. Maybe they'll eventually be inspired to be a more fair landlord, although I have little hope for them. read more

Everything is terrible. No management, insane price increases after they've done absolutely nothing for the building and constantly being broken into read more

My partner and I provided notice to vacate our apartment not even an hour after the 20 day notice deadline, and they are still holding us responsible for the next month. If you call, they will not answer your calls and will text you instead; and even then, you can only speak to the property manager who answers to upper management. After speaking with our property manager, she told us that we cannot possibly in any way contact upper management to present our situation to them. I am currently looking for a job, and we can't afford to pay an extra month of rent at this apartment; they are also raising the rent for this place on top of that! Northwest clearly does not care for you as a human being; they only want your money and will squeeze every cent out of you regardless of if you made a small slip-up like we did. They don't even give an address for their offices, probably because it's a lot easier to rob people when you don't have to see their faces or talk to them. read more

I lived at 401 E Mercer St for one year, and I used to enjoy the apartment when I moved in. However, the good feelings didn't last long because I found out there were many hidden fees. I would say Northwest Apartments were the worst apartments I had ever lived in. Not only was the management horrible, but the way they charged you was disgusting! I am going to express my viewpoints based on three points, which are authentic experiences I had with this apartment. Please read my comments carefully if you'd like to lease a contract with them. 1. Hidden fees. The lease contract did not describe several hidden fees. As you can see from the evidence I uploaded, they charge you for Sewer, Solid Waste, Water, and a Billing fee. I have to pay an extra fee (roughly $100 per month) for the hidden costs. 2. Security The security was a concern. The first thing was their fire alarm system seemed unreliable. In December last year, there was a fire on the lower floor, and we were only aware of the fire once the firefighters shouted downstairs to ask residents to vacate. Due to the failure of the fire alarm system, we didn't get the alarm to vacate in advance. We would have been killed if the fire had not ceased in time. The second security concern was parking. My car and two others were vandalized in the lower garage. We asked the management to offer security measures, such as installing security cameras, to prevent this from happening again, but they refused to communicate with us and ignored our concerns. 3. Move-out charge They will charge you as much as they can. Ex-tenants hit two tiny nails on the wall, which I was not aware of when I moved in, and they charged me $600 for the two nails. They will inspect every little corner to find an excuse to charge you. I feel furious about the way they make money, and I would never rent an apartment with Northwest Apartments again in my life!!! read more

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Nearly everything could improve, especially fairness with move out charges, to say the least, yet not too surprising

I lived in the Bancroft apartment building managed by Northwest Apartments for 6 years and initially chose this place because I wanted to live in a charming old capitol hill building. While I'm grateful for the memories I've made with my loved ones while I lived here, the apartment is not the cause for any of them, and I hope my experiences can be helpful for you. Things to consider: - I consistently had plumbing issues in my bathroom and kitchen. My kitchen flooded multiple times, I had to have my radiators repaired multiple times (one completely removed because it couldn't be fixed), they'd have to occasionally shut off the water supply for hours for repairs so I'd have to pop over to a cafe to use the bathroom, and access to hot water was inconsistent. The shower pressure was frequently low, and the water was a light rusty color. Sometimes I've had to shower in an empty unit because mine needed repairs. My tub leaked into my downstairs neighbor's unit so frequently that they had a hole in their bathroom ceiling/could see the bottom of my tub for a while. My friends who live in other old buildings in capitol hill haven't had as many plumbing issues. - the walls are thin enough that you hear neighbors talking and doing a variety of normal human activities (in the bathroom, bedroom, you get the picture). - utilities proportionally cost more because the appliances and plumbing are old. When I lived here I usually paid about $150 - $180 in utilities each month, plus around $35 for laundry. My highest water bill was about $300, when there was a water leak in the building. I now live in a larger apartment with more efficient appliances, and my utility bills (including laundry) are around $60. - I'd recommend reading other yelp reviews regarding security deposits, especially over the last 5 years. They charged me over $2000 for cleaning and repainting my 520 sqft unit. I took very good care of my apartment while I lived there, and left it in better condition than most of the units I was touring when looking for my new home Living here is a bit like flying spirit airlines, except if it cost the same as flying business class on alaska. It was becoming increasingly hard to justify, so I moved. I'm still in the heart of capitol hill and my monthly housing costs are the same (what I pay more in rent I save in utilities) but I now have a dishwasher, in-unit washer and dryer, AC, and my walls are thick so I no longer hear my lovely neighbors pooping or talking on the phone. I made do with the challenges of living here, but after getting to know the neighborhood and the various housing options over the last 6 years, I can confidently say there are many better choices regardless of whether you're looking for a charming old building or something modern with amenities. I hope my experiences can help you make a decision that's right for you. read more

The communication was horrible. I applied for an apartment, made sure that I met all the rental criteria before paying the application fee. (Just fyi, it is Washington state law that landlords give potential tenants all the information they will be collecting on you during the screening and they have to disclose what will cause them to deny an application.) And application/screening fees these days are not cheap. I was completely caught off guard when my application was processed and I was flat out denied. I was pretty upset. I reached out to the general apartment contact in hopes they would provide me with clarification or context, but the woman that responded to my e-mail might as well have ignored me because she said the exact same thing that the screening report results said. But completely missed my question about what part of the section in the Seattle rental criteria that provides the various reasons an application will be denied. None of the what they listed applies to my situation at all. I went to the tenants union and they advised me to file a suit in small claims court as that would be a fairly quick option to recover the money I spent on the application fee plus some extra. I'm thinking that's what I'll do. I even offered these slumlords first, last, increased deposit.....these screening reports are all BS it's just a money grab read more

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We moved into the Highland about a month ago. So far, our experience with Northwest Apartments has been a mixed bad, but tending to negative and extremely frustrating. The good: our leasing agent Rebecca was incredibly kind, thoughtful, and helpful during our lease signing and finalization process. She answered all our questions and made the whole process seamless. The apartment itself is lovely and spacious and the new renovations are wonderful. To be honest, the rent does feel a bit expensive /above market rate, but is made about market rate with the rent promo they were offering. However, we have heard multiple maintenance people tell us our units are "pretty expensive" and etc. Maintenance so far has been responsive and helpful. We have one outstanding request that has taken longer than expected and was promised to us at move-in but hasn't been resolved. Not a deal breaker. The bad: the apartment and building listing at move-in stated a functional EV charger and associated parking space. This was a huge + for us, as finding apartments with chargers can be challenging. Both the leasing agent and property manager confirmed that this charger was working when we toured the place. However, upon moving in, we have discovered the charger is not working. Additionally, after speaking with our neighbor - who also has an EV - they told us they informed management of the broken charger weeks before we moved in. Clearly this was a known issue and has led to false advertising of an amenity for the building that is not operational. Related, we were told base parking was a certain price and then access to the EV charger had an additional $25/month fee. Which is understandable. So when we received our parking lease, it reflected the cost as if the EV charger were operational. When we signed we wrongly assumed it was working. However, it clearly is not. They have yet to respond to my inquiries about this issue - both overcharging us for parking as well as the false advertising of the amenity with no transparent timeline for when they will have it fixed. Our property manager Justin is very kind but i can tell he must be overworked. When i call corporate, i get redirected and. o one picks up. Management has been giving us the classic bureaucratic run around and i can't speak with anyone about this issue. Nor have they responded via the special email address for elevated issues that they say they monitor and respond within 2-3 business days. All in all, this has created a frustrating experience just within our first month. We love the apartment and the building and we want to live here as long as we can possible/as long as it's affordable for us, but these experiences with management have felt shady and not starting off on the right foot. We simply want to pay what is fair and know when the amenity that was advertised will be fixed, but Northwest Apartments are trying to charge us $25/month for an amenity that doesn't work. For them, that money should be nickels and dimes on their bottom line, but for us that amount means trust and honesty in our landlords. read more

The WORST landlords I've ever experienced. Complete ghetto landlords. In the time that we lived at one of their apartment buildings (1.5 years), we experienced rats in the basement leaving droppings by the laundry room, like A LOT; the hot water heater exploding and we went a week without hot water; rotting compost garbage piling up in the alley because there's no onsite building manager to take the bin to the sidewalk (I even offered to do this for them!); building staff entering our apartment without permission because they mistook it for a vacant apartment; people stealing packages from the mail room; and just overall grime buildup throughout the building because, again, there's no onsite building manager. They are so corrupt. Stay away from any building they manage! read more

Seen this from a year ago? https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/ya2hmj/moveout_fee_settlement_buck_v_nw_apartments/?rdt=60512 I leased 1 year from a NW Apartments managed building -Casa del Rey on Capitol Hill Seattle. the water tap temperature was 160 degrees and when I submitted maintenance requests to fix it they deleted the request. they kept hundreds of dollars of my damage deposit and never provided a list of damages. they kept it for cleaning even though I cleaned it myself. without a receipt they assumed it's not clean. the assumption is that only a company can clean apartments. they lied. the damage deposit is not refundable. read more

Terrible experience. They were great and super responsive at first and then once we officially applied to the listing it was crickets. They even had the audacity to cancel our tour via bot email the same day we submitted applications and paid the fees. We've tried to follow up twice and heard nothing back. Extremely extremely unprofessional and would not recommend renting with them to anyone. read more

PLEASE READ THIS REVIEW BEFORE CONSIDERING ANY BUILDING MANAGED BY NORTHWEST APARTMENTS. Beautiful luxury apartments (Westgate Village), but worst management company ever (Northwest Apartments).They never take any responsibility for their neglect. Difficult to contact, delayed responses, and condescending leadership with superficial friendliness. Had been complaining about these flies for weeks if not several months ( image labeled 2 & 3). Third floor has smelled like trash for months (I get nauseated and have to hold my nose to get to elevator). We bought our own fly catcher to set up in the hallway (see first image, after one day). Work orders were canceled without communication of status (image 1A). Had to eventually reach out externally to previous affiliates to contact head of company (Text message in blue). Management responded the very next day (Image 5C my response in red). They blamed the residents, took no responsibility and covered for the maintenance manager. I'll stop talking as the images speak for themselves. read more

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At the end of the day, you have to live somewhere, but do you really want to have a landlord that treats you like their personal ATM? I've rented from these scumbags for over a year. In that time, they: - Charged my ex $500 to move out early. - Charged me $153 for paying a $98 utility bill four days late. - Failed to keep the heat and hot water functional to the point that I had to take a cold shower on Christmas Day. - Failed to keep homeless people from inhabiting the utility room. - Failed to keep sidewalks free of ice during snowstorms. - Brushed me off when I notified them of a fire that occurred on the property. - Collectively shrugged when my bike was stolen from the garage. - Changed laundry providers with no notice despite our having to load funds on laundry cards. read more

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I scheduled a tour this morning (Feb 23, 2023) of the 5241 Apartments and waited for 1.25 hours for either of the two realtors to arrive. I called their office after my last 2-3 texts were not responded to. Staff called back (their caller ID read "Alaska Airlines" so I almost didn't pick up) and viewing was rescheduled for 2 PM. Staff arrived on time, with pockets of loose keys that they kept dropping at the front door. They did not have a key to the unit I had scheduled to see. They showed me a similar unit that had already been rented, and offered to drive back to their office for the key, but by then, I had seen enough. The front door to the building shows damage from what appears to be multiple break-ins (including a key box that has been pryed), and the ground floor unit I wanted to see was at was at the back of the building, at the base of an unlit stairwell. The back door that is being advertised as a perk to this unit is actually the back door to the building (not the unit), which leads out onto a parking lot. It struck me as more security risk than perk, given the damage I viewed at the front door. The staff were responsive in scheduling but could be more competent and professional in person. I will not be considering any of their other rental properties as a result of my experiences today. read more

Lords of the Slums. Northwest Apartments are the worst management company I have used in my 20+ years renting. They have a focus on bringing in tenants, promising amazing things, however once you sign the lease they leave you to rot. DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT CONSIDER RENTING FROM THEM. Here is my story. 1. On the day of the move in, I was surprised to find the apartment was completely dirty (not even swept clean). Cobwebs, dirty floors, mud in the kitchen, unclean appliances, and the shower curtain was broken and had damaged the walls. I contacted the manager at the time about everything including repairing the paint, however he never texted me back. 2. It took nearly 12 days for me to get the keys and clicker for the parking garage at the sister building I was parking at. this meant I had to pay an additional month of parking at my old apartment. The manager at the time thought a $25 credit was good enough for that. 3. The building itself is broken in all the time. While the area is certainly the reason for the security risks, the building's front door lock was completely broken for nearly a year. Myself and my fellow tenants all worked in tandem to request maintenance to fix the lock and eventually after 10 months it was replaced (only to be broken again) 4. When I first moved in the building manager was my next-door neighbor and she would constantly bang and pound on the walls through-out the day bc I "was playing music too loud". She even filed several noise complaints which forced the property manager to visit and agree that I was not playing my tv too loud (I wasn't even home at the time). It turns out, the people living in my unit before me were also dealing with her craziness and is seeking legal action against NWA for their building manager's harassment. 5. NWA attempted to bait-and-switch utilities costs by attempting to change everyone's current leases so that tenants would cover the electricity for the common areas. This apartment building I was living in has a dentist building below and that dentist building utilizes a lot of energy and water which is divided up amongst tenants to pay. 6. NWA also does airbnb short-term rentals with their empty units and tenants have to cover those airbnb short-term renters utilities since all utilities except electric are pooled and divided up. 7. During my time at NWA there have been at least 5 management changes. Clearly a sign that something is not right here. 8. In 11/2022 I put in a maintenance request for water leaking from my window frame, causing what I believe is mold, and brown water to drip onto my possessions. It is now 2/2024 and they have still not yet sent someone to check on the major crack and leak. 9. If you decide to tour the Marlene Renee be sure to take a look around the building. You will note the plethora of exposed wires outside in the parking lot, you will also notice the constant slew of homeless people who are camping in the parking lot at night, sometimes lighting fires directly under the building. 10. They don't tell you this, but you find out when you are ready to move out that the management requires professional cleaning, professional carpet cleanings, all of which are taken out of security deposit with no option otherwise. They also don't tell you this until move out, but you aren't allowed to put even the smallest tack hole in the walls and will say the entire unit needs to be repainted if you have even one hole in the wall (this is especially ridiculous and something every single tenant of this building whose moved out has had to deal with). To my knowledge, not a single former tenant of this building has gotten their full deposit back. 11. The phone management, especially the head maintenance woman, are a nightmare to work with and they don't care if you suffer. They clearly think they are the smartest person in the room and that any calls to them are wasting their time. I seriously implore you, if you're considering renting from Northwest Apartments, look somewhere else. There is absolutely no reason you should rent from them. Seriously. Run. read more

My apartment manager, Elatish Schmidt, has sent above and beyond for me and my husband as tenants this past year! She absolutely worked with us through everything from noise complaints from neighbors- all the way to aiding and obtaining Covid-19 rental assistant from our county's United Way! We can't be more grateful to have had this wonderful experience with such a great apartment manager during these times in a new city & state! Thank you Elatish and Northwest Apartments!! read more

Wish I had done research on Northwest Apartments before leasing with them. To start with the positives: The tour/application process was convenient and quick, the unit itself has decent appliances and has seen very basic renovations, they have an online rent portal that is convenient to use, I got a free month of rent, they offered a flexible lease term. Now the bad. The day before move-in I told the leasing agent (Dylan) that I couldn't sign the lease until the move-in inspection was complete. He responded by suggesting that I sign the lease ASAP in order to get the keys as quickly as possible, and promised to note all the damage I wanted noted. Naively, I signed. During the inspection the next day I found that the two main windows in the unit literally fell out of their frames when you tried to open them. Admittedly I should have tested them during the tour, but I never imagined that normal-looking vinyl windows would be in that kind of a condition. I requested maintenance and they were fixed about 12 days later, but it's a blatant violation of Seattle Code to rent a unit with windows in that state. Also, for the repair the maintenance staff twice entered my unit with less than the required 2 days notice. More frustratingly (disturbingly, really), I visited the bathroom one day and saw light streaming through the bathroom vent. I can literally peer through my bathroom vent into a neighboring basement room. Even worse, it was soon obvious that the basement room is used as an office for a construction site next door. Thanks to the vent I can hear their conversations in my unit. This is despite the fact that I've taped it off for privacy thus not having a vent at all in the bathroom. The construction workers have tracked mud throughout the building and left doors ajar overnight. Lastly, as a PSA to anyone considering living at 810 E Denny Way please know that there is lead paint present in my unit beneath the newer layers of paint. I used a lead swab test on a small area of exposed older paint in the kitchen and it was positive. Obviously in an old building this is not a shock, but my lease says that the owner has no knowledge of lead paint in the building. The bottom line is that renting from Northwest Apartments is just not worth it. I wish I could have just avoided this company in the first place. You're here reading this Yelp page, so you don't need to make the same mistake I did. read more

Northwest Apartments - Property Management Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Save yourself the headache of renting with NW Apartments. During my year staying there, I was extremely disappointed with the attitude of management. It's a corporation, and it feels like it. Most recently, I was shocked to see nearly half of our security deposit taken away for unwarranted charges. Despite the fact that my household paid over $300 for professional cleaning, the receipt wasn't detailed enough so we were charged. There was another charge for "wall repainting", despite the fact that my household never hung anything on the walls and our cleaner told us it was one of the cleanest apartments she had ever seen. (Repainting was also not in our lease unless there was significant damage beyond wear and tear). I felt like these charges were unfair, so I decided to complain. Turns out NW apartments has an email address just for complaints about billing. That should be a red flag in itself. I sent them an email, and was told that the $133 charge for repainting was a great deal compared to what it could have cost. Then they stopped responding to me, despite multiple emails I have sent and a "3-5 day" response promise on their website. NW Apartments may seem like a good deal, but keep in mind that they will nickel and dime you every chance they get. And when you try to respond, they will tell you how lucky you are that they didn't take more, and ghost you. read more

We moved into Hillcrest Apartments on Capitol Hill in August. The noise that we experience living here makes it impossible to sleep during the night and to work for home during the day. Loud, heavy base, vibrating music is often heard in the middle of the night for hours. Every Friday ( sometimes Thursday), since we moved here, there are multiple loud leaf blowers that blow away the leaves from the nursing home across the street. This doesn't last for a little while but for hours on end. I, and many neighboring tenants, have complained but it still happens. I even have a recording of leaf blowing across the street on Thanksgiving afternoon. Just in case you thought about celebrating Thanksgiving in your big dining room, you may want to think again. Sitting on your balcony while leaf blowing is happening is an impossibility, too, unless you are looking for permanent hearing damage. There is not one place in my entire apartment to go that is quiet enough for me to do my online work as a teacher. I thought relocating to a different Northwest Apartment would be the best option given the circumstances. Trying to communicate this to Northwest Apartments personnel this was very difficult. I was told requests were not being considered. I took that to be very unreasonable given the reasons for my request. In fact, my interpretation was that a reasonable request would be honored. As a tenant who has paid my rent on time each month for six months, I would have expected my request to be honored due to the fact that I feel that Northwest Apartments was not meeting its obligation to provide a quiet a livable residence After weeks of attempting to get a clear answer, I was finally told that no requests to move were being honored even thought the request is stated in the lease in such a way that it seems that it would naturally be okayed, especially with price tag of $500. Unfortunately, I am about to hire my first attorney for a tenant matter. There is a reason so many people give Northwest Apartments poor ratings. There is nothing thoughtful about their business model. Instead, I feel that is has caused so much unnecessary stress in this time of Covid that is already difficult. read more

Never rent here. They keep your security deposit and then charge you extra for things that were ruined before you moved in. They will have their paint people come in--making mess of the apartment you deep cleaned--and then have the cleaning people come in two days later to clean up after the painters rather than the tenant. If you do plan to live here, take picture proof before you move in and before move out. They will charge you for everything. Read the lease closely and know your tenant rights. Maintenance line was never helpful (but the maintenance workers were). This is many people's experience. Know before you rent. read more

Absolutely avoid thus company at all costs. Easily the worst management I've ever dealt with--even beyond landlords. They are not responsive, do not generally make repairs on a reasonable / legally required timescale (took 3 months to fix a broken refrigerator, etc) , are incredibly rude and irresponsible regarding every matter, and they do not maintain the property well (despite some of their properties appearing nice on the outside you'll notice painted over cabinets, failing appliances and weathering, and extreme leaks). They arbitrarily restrict heat (they previously "forgot to turn it on" for a month) as well as communication but consistently provide headaches They are also incredibly dishonest and do not follow through on what they commit to (when you can get them to commit to anything, which is rare). Avoid entirely and save yourself a year of headaches Don't make the mistake of giving them a chance. You will regret it read more

I lived in the St Florence for over four years. There's a lot a renter in a city knows that they'll have to put up w, but over the years, the conditions in this building became increasingly disgusting & yet, they jacked the rent so high, at one point the city made them revert the rent back to what it had been the year prior. In the time that I lived there: I had a manager drunkenly rant on the phone to me that I was annoying after my uninsured upstairs neighbors flooded my apartment. When I tried to email NW Apts, they referred me back to him & didn't have any concern over the mess or distress I was in. The repairs made to my apartment were done so sloppily, paint was on my belongings, & some parts weren't dealt w at all. My bathroom had a vent to the building's air shaft, where every spring, pigeons would roost. I could both hear & smell them, & despite numerous coomplaints, they remained. Despite deep cleaning & throwing away several pieces of clothing & even a rug, spraying & setting out traps, I could never seem to get rid of the moths. Neighbors confirmed w me their frustrations w the same issue. (Since moving, I was able to quite easily.) To round out the pestilence triumvirate, I saw rats the basement on several occasions. Usually coming through holes in the wall. The laundry machines they lease are absolute garbage. They also only take credit cards, the transactions of which are handled by a company that consistently double-charged. To make suRe your laundry actually got dry, one load of laundry usually was $9, if you're not overcharged. Of course, I didn't get any of my deposit back. One of the phony charges I got was for $88 dollars on some failed cabinet hinges. The manager told me on the walk-through not to worry about it, that they needed to handle it. Ha! They also now charge for water/garbage/sewer to their business address & the cost of that literally doubled once that was in effect. Bunch of crooked scum. read more

Kiss your deposit goodbye I am shocked at the the things I was charged for on my security deposit. I lived in my unit for two years, cleaned the entire apartment before I left. It looked better when I left then when I arrived. I was charged for painting, blind cleaning (250 dollars), a separate cleaning fee, a re-key fee, and was charged for a light bulb. Pretty appalled this all came to over 500 dollars. Do not rent from these people they often try to add fees and change what you've agreed to, they also took away my parking spot, laundry room, and storage room. All in all not a great experience will never rent one of their properties again, they make you feel like you are doing them a favor by renting from them. read more

This is my first time renting with Northwest Apartments and I have nothing but positive things to share about the management. As a recent college graduate, renting from Northwest Apartments is a perfect option for me. I am planning on moving closer to capital hill in the fall and will definitely be renting from them again. I love how all of the buildings are vintage and have a ton of character The fixtures and hardwood floors are beautiful and parts of the apartment are updated as needed. Move in was so easy, paying for rent and utilities are very streamline, you do it all through the app. You can also submit maintenance requests through the app. I have done this twice and both times, the maintenance staff came the same day to fix the issue. My current apartment is incredibly spacious with so much storage. Everyone I bring over is shocked at how much space we have considering how much we pay. read more

First, I will say I had little complaints living 2.5 years at The Palamar - the units are very cute and vintage and the location was great. Like other reviewers, I have been completely appalled at the interactions with this company after I moved out. I was expecting to receive back the majority of my $800 damage deposit as the unit had been professionally cleaned and there was no damage aside from small nail holes. However, I was told that I OWED $400 in addition to my deposit for "wall damage and repair". The only way to discuss concerns with the deposit is to email a separate "disputes" email address that takes weeks to months to respond, and when they do respond, send flippant and disrespectful messages. When I asked for proof of the wall damage, I eventually received grainy photos of a furniture scuff and one nail hole. On top of all of this, this company lost my original move in checklist so had no basis for keeping any of my deposit. I have spent hours researching tenant laws in Seattle and can assure you that the charges they will try to deduct from your deposit will most likely fall under normal wear and tear. It took me submitting a case to small claims court for them to finally send me a check, with no acknowledgment of their errors. Do not let this company bully you into paying more than you should. Look up your tenant rights and take them to small claims court if you need to. read more

This was supposed to be a 0 star review, it's literally only this high because of what a good person the latest building manager Elatish Schmidt is. We moved into our basement unit at 1616 E Howell St. in 2018 during a very hot market, and essentially signed the lease in a frantic hurry with other people waiting to tour the building waiting outside the door. We had a relatively uneventful 2 years there (minus some calls about the walls in our apartment becoming.. squishy... which were seen by maintenance and determined to "not be a big deal", and "probably just from watering the plants"). Everything took a turn for the worse in the last 6 months there. Despite running a dehumidifier 24 hours a day since the day we moved in, this winter we moved a shelf to discover a patch of black (with a capital "B"?... who knows) mold about 6 feet wide, which had apparently grown over the course a few weeks, since the shelf had recently been moved a few weeks before. We put in a maintenance request and were told it was "just mildew from poor air circulation", which makes me wonder if anyone even looked at the pictures. It was -horrifying- to behold. With some insistence they came by and wiped it off with some surface mold killer, and despite doing no testing of any kind told us it wasn't in the walls. That patch regrew 3 times, and almost every outside-facing wall in our apartment building grew mold too. Clothes & belongings had to be tossed. Damprids in every room grew mold themselves. The building is old and likely has mold growing in the decayed insulation. Rather than fight then building manager & maintenance team on the validity of our concerns we bunkered down and waited for our lease to end and new housing opportunities to line up. I signed the lease, but I have never in my life lived in a building that was so draconian with what was included as the tenants responsibility in that document. Professional blind cleaning has never even been on my radar as service that existed, and certainly not incumbent on the tenant in any building I've ever lived in, but.. hey it's Seattle and the rental market is tight. I think it's creepy, and gross. The lease even states that you can't hang anything on the walls and that its considered "tenant caused damage". I can understand this for dorms & short term leases, but that space was not usable without additional shelving and many furniture items require wall anchors in order to be safe to use. You have to hang things on the wall in an apartment, and a $700 repainting fee for a normal part of apartment turnover that would be completed after any 3 year tenant left is just predatory. But hey, I signed the lease. I emailed the new building manger asking about recommended cleaning services and received an extremely friendly, helpful callback and got the name of approved services. I paid a lot of money for them (something, again, I have never been required to do in any place I've lived before) and emailed the receipts to the building manger as soon as I got them. She forwarded them along to the right people. Then, a few weeks later, I received a bill from northwest for over $1100 (that ON TOP of the death of my $800 deposit). There were 3 months of utility charges, charges for the cleaning services that had already been done, the $700 painting fee, a charge for a lightbulb (WHY?) when none were out in the apartment when we left, and a $400 charge for unreturned keys ($100 a key was also in the lease, and is also completely predatory; it costs $7 to cut a key. $7.), when only 1 key was missing. It's obvious that the folks at the top at Northwest put way too much on each employee and don't give them time to actually observe what's been sent to them. "Strategic understaffing" isn't "being a lean business", it's abuse. Stop. It causes burnout. Just treat people decently. Elatish, perhaps an angel on this earth, fielded my tearful phonecall and promised to help me.. and she did. She let me know who to contact and how. 1 month of the utility bill was fraudulently double-billed, and that charge was removed. It took several days of communication and hours of my time combing through records and stress crying to get the incorrect charges removed, and I have just paid the final bill today. I have always prided myself as being a respectful tenant, never missed rent by a day, reported any issues with my building to maintenance promptly and respectfully, but I left feeling like without the good grace of having a kind building manager having just joined on I would have gone in court over this, which is nightmarish to even contemplate. You need to treat your employees with respect. You need to quit the "lean" shit and the attempts to screw and squeeze revenue out of every person caught up in your system and hire adequate staff that actually have the time and autonomy to communicate with eachother. You need to hire 100 more Elatish's. You need to have the mold looked at. Goodbye. read more

Northwest Apartments - Round one of the nightmare mold in 1616 E howell st. This was "treated" by maintenance and grew back repeatedly. - Property Management Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I would say 3 years ago great people to rent from , now not so much ! We have called the police non emergency number 4 times and two times 911. Northwest apartments position is never happen despite actual reports on file with the seattle police department which total 6 times to our building twin cedars in u district!! Zero communication from northwest! I sent messages to northwest apartments and they state what message and my reply is did you even check the previous documents on file which they responded whaaaa! Can you send it please whaa really? Which I reply to had you checked on past reports given to past managers of this complex you should have seen several reports documentation given ! read more

Northwest Apartments Management is not a professional company. My apartment building got sold, and they took over the management. The first time I was notified of the change was by a new lease agreement put underneath my doormat. I had just come home from vacation. That document could have possibly been sitting there for days or weeks. They increased my rent by two hundred dollars, so I decided to move. They then charged me 430 dollars for cleaning fees. I lived in a 550 foot square apartment for a year. The management woman even said that I left it in good condition and that 430 was a flat cleaning rate. This seems like way too much money. Why did I even bother to clean it ? In addition, it is so hard to get ahold of them. I kept calling them about the moving out process. The process was putting the key in a freezer. When I called to question my deposit, it took them over a week for them to call me back. That is only because I called them several times. When you call their number, you always get their voicemail, or you have to use the contact form. All my other property management companies had a secretary that you could at least reach during business hours. What I think is even more interesting is that all their ratings are either a one start or five stars. Where are the three or four star reviews? It makes me question the legitimacy of some the of reviews. I have worked with property management companies and am even a landlord. Do not not move in a place managed by them. read more

This review is specific to the maintenance staff namely Dan and Will. Broken refrigerator was replaced and I received ongoing communication from Dan when there was an unavoidable glitch. Good guys! read more

If you are choosing to live in an apartment so you can rely on someone else handling the maintenance, do not rent a Northwest Apartment property. I pay $4995 to rent a 2 bed, 1 bath at the Highland Apartments on 11th near Volunteer Park in Seattle. They are marketing it as upscale, but the only thing that is upscale is the price! Before I signed the lease, Natalie (leasing agent) confirmed that blinds would be installed on all the windows before I moved in and that window screens would be installed on all possible windows in the next couple weeks. I was very clear with Natalie that I did not want to rent the apartment without blinds and screens because it is a sunny East, South and West facing, top floor window unit. Several days before move-in, I called Natalie to check on the status of the blinds and she said, she and Dave were looking at the blinds right now and sorting out which ones were to be hung in my unit. When I moved in on 7/7/21 there were no blinds or screens; so I created maintenance tickets to have this done; no one contacted me. I have had to physically tract down a maintenance person performing maintenance in a neighboring apartment and talk him into hanging at least blinds in the bedrooms and bath. A month later, still no one has followed up with me on the status of the 30+ day old incomplete maintenance requests. I wish Natalie hadn't over-promised. I also wish someone had warned me about Northwest Apartments before I signed a year lease...so I am writing my first yelp review in years to help others avoid making my mistake. read more

We lived at Annaron for three years and have lots of great memories. The unit was large and views of downtown great. An extra bonus was having a decent size deck in the city. However, the problem is... Management. Or NW Apartments. Not only do they steal your entire deposit when you move after several years of living there, but they ask for more. When we moved in, the place was not cleaned properly. It did not have new carpets in the bedrooms. Yet, they wanted over $2000 from us after living there three years, having the place professionally cleaned ($300) for apparently needing to paint, change out a little bit of carpet and some floor damage that I'd never heard of or seen. They took my deposit, but I told them they're not getting a cent more. If so - see you in small claims... Another contributor to some annoyance is that we had probably 15 property managers in the three years we lived there. Every email from mgmt was the announcing of a new manager Unfortunately North West Apartments own a lot of buildings in Seattle and their rent can be decent. But their goodbyes are not. read more

I moved into The Lindon Apartments, located on upper Queen Anne in 2012. I had no problems moving in (this was before the rent went crazy in Seattle). 2 onsite managers lived in the connected building next door. The layout of the units are what blew me away. They are each around 1100-1200 square feet, hardwood floors and some carpeting. Big closets and storage. Each unit is a bit different in the layout and design which makes it an interesting building. I realize there are some pretty low ratings of NWA and I am thinking a lot has to do with management of each building. I've had some managers who took longer to get back to me - once it took 4 days without hot water - but again, this was the manager's fault who failed to get maintenance into the loop ( he is no longer manager). But I've also had some good managers as well while living here. The maintenance man Del, is really great. Kind and gets to the problem super fast. The new manager Annmarie is on top of things and I know is a great asset to the building. After 5 years, I am moving into a house closer to my daughter's school in a different neighborhood. I've loved this apartment so much in the 5 years I've been here. I'm sad to leave. Let's talk pros and cons of the building. Pros: location on upper QA cannot be beat. You can walk everywhere. You can see a view of the park from my dining room and high fireworks from Lake union on the 4th. Cons: it is located right next to 7 eleven (not a problem for me, but might not be ideal for some. The delivery trucks come at night. The noise doesn't bother me. But my unit does not have bedrooms that back up to the 7 eleven. Some do.) Pros: Charm! The units are charming, with built-ins and leaded glass, french doors, hardwoods. A walk in closet. (see photos) Dishwasher and garbage disposal! Cons: as with many houses and buildings, the ceilings in SOME of the units are drop down and a bit ugly. No washer and dryer in unit. Some units have them. Coin op in basement. Pros: As a long term tenant, I am thankful the rent has only gone up from $1500 - $1800 for my unit. Cons: Rent will probably go up after I move out. To keep up with the standard rental rates in Seattle. But I felt I was rewarded for being a long term tenant. Pros: I love on the top floor, which cuts the noise from below and offers up great views of the lush neighborhood Cons: no elevator. It is a 3 story walk-up. Hire movers. :) I really do believe that each building under Northwest Apartments is different. And it depends on the management team. If your manager is not responding, emailing them AND the resident care email (found on their website) it helps expedite things. I've had a great experience living here. The Lindon was darn near perfect for me. read more

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I didn't even get as far as scheduling a tour for an available unit. I called the number listed for NW apts, 206-282-7401, hoping to leave a message as it was past 9:30 pm when I get home from work. Well it didn't go to an answering machine, and a very sleepy, and annoyed woman answered asking, "Do you know what f**king time it is?!" Time to avoid this management company o'clock. Girl, bye. read more

I have been a renter in Seattle for 20 years, and this is the worst management company I have ever dealt with. Here are several examples of what I experienced at the Sadie Ann apartments: 1. The manager forgot to show up for my initial walk through requiring me to call her and wait for her to arrive. 2. After difficulty receiving mail and having cable installed it was discovered that the manager had written the wrong address on my lease. 3. In my first week of tenancy my hot water heater failed. When reporting the problem, the manager argued I was mistaken and I basically had to beg for her to send maintenance. After three days with no hot water, the broken heater was finally repaired, after which the old water heater was placed outside of my door for more than 30 days. 4. The management was either slow to respond or completely unresponsive to e-mails. For example: While I was assured the laundry hours were strictly enforced (I shared a wall with the laundry room), I kindly asked if management would put a note in the laundry room after multiple nights of people doing laundry at 1:00am. I received no response. I also reported a security issue with the water spigot and the hose left outside that was inviting homeless people onto the porch just outside my door, with one man yelling through my window screen at me about the water. I received no response. I reported that someone in the apartment building next to ours moved out and filled our dumpster to overflowing and we would be charged for it. I received no response. At one point I requested her help with a noise complaint with my upstairs neighbor. I received no response. I e-mailed her a second time and found her response very curt and unhelpful and she refused to do anything. 5. One year I was charged a fee for renter's insurance while my auto renewing policy remained in effect. The manager claims to have notified me , but I received no notice to the effect that documentation was needed. When I requested that she resend the e-mail, so I could view the date, she claimed it had been deleted. 6. When you move out, they require that it be professionally cleaned, including the carpet and blinds. I have never had this requested in my 20 years as a renter. I have always cleaned myself and received at least 80% of my deposit back. So basically, by the time you pay for cleaners and also get charged a fee for painting, which they don't tell you about, your 'refundable deposit' is zero. Do not rent from Northwest Apartments! read more

When I first moved in, Luci Goins was the property manager for the building that I live in and she was honestly the worst. She was very aggressive any time I talked to her, which made me not want to have to deal with her or nw apartments. Ever since Elatish became new property manager, things have gotten so much better. Like, you can even feel it in the building. There's just a more positive energy around, which is great. Every exchange I have with her I just feel heard and it's a nice feeling to not have to interact with someone so negative. I also really like Roseanne too, she came in around the same time, and she's been nothing but pleasant and when I see her In the halls I always want to say hi (which if you're like me I usually just dodge any type of person working in or for where I live idk why lol) As for NW apartments, If/when I've ever had to get in contact with them, I can't. But I still currently live here so, will have a more accurate review once I've moved, since I haven't really interacted directly with them much. read more

Look, EVERY property management company has awful reviews, and up until this moment I honestly have never looked at property management reviews out of the 5 buildings I've lived in throughout my life. However - my average rating was for this reason. I viewed a beautiful apartment at the Washington Irving, that I was so excited about, I was ready to pay and sign a lease. Unfortunately my point of contact to get things moving along after getting approved was unavailable for some days and I had tried calling NW apartments to get a hold of someone, and that's when I stumbled upon the negative Google reviews. Then I decided to do some research and look at Yelp. To be fair, I also looked up my last 2 previous property management companies reviews to compare. They also had bad reviews/stories. But NW had more negative reviews which started to give me cold feet. NW asked for me to pay $1295 (1st months rent) 48 hours after I applied. Well, of course I'd like to see the lease before paying that high non-refundable fee. It was a little bit of a hassle but they did get it to me. If I were to have proceeded further, I then would need to pay a $700+ deposit, not including the pet deposit (but they do offer a payment plan for the deposit) before move-in. All in all, I decided not to proceed forward only because it was a lot of money upfront, and if I didn't ask repeatedly to have the lease ready, I wouldn't have seen the lease until 2 weeks later because they were understaffed. My point to anyone pursing a NW apartment building is to understand it will cost you a lot more up front. I can't comment on the move out fees but I think comparatively you can find an apartment for WAY LESS up front, who will promptly get you the lease within 48 hours w/out being asked. Hope this helps anyone looking for an apartment and for the management to possibly improve their upfront costs. To compare - I found an apartment for the same square feet on Capitol Hill for the same monthly price, paid a $250 non-refundable holding fee (which would be applied to my deposit) received the lease 2 hours later, had 48 hours to sign the lease and pay the remaining deposit (which was $500 for a total of a $500 deposit + $250 pet deposit) and also received 1 month free rent. I may have been just lucky to have found that deal, but it was much more reasonable for upfront costs. read more

I wouldn't recommend any NW Apartments buildings, especially 515 E. Denny Way. The building from the front entrance looks fine and has a mid-century look, however, inside was poorly renovated, smelled musty and cleaned poorly. The laundry room was a joke, at times the card reader wouldn't work and the machines themselves were filthy and small. You could hear literally everything inside the building and outside. Tenants here would have people over, against COVID-19 policy so you could hear that going on along with the screaming of homeless people walking by the ally. The studio rent was $1395 and we were somehow paying upwards of $1695 due to stupid fees like an "admin fee", "insurance fee", etc. along with that a $135 parking spot fee which was extremely overpriced considering the parking spot was next to the garbage and the entire parking lot was constantly filled with garbage everywhere and wasn't cleaned until they cared to do so. We're now in a lovely 1 bedroom in the same neighborhood and somehow paying less than we did here... To top this whole experience off, I alert the property manager that we still have mail/packages there that were not forwarded to my new address. When I arrange to pick it up, our mail and package aren't there and all the manager said was "idk its not here." Looks like they took and disposed of my package or someone in the building did (which I would assume is the former, since I never had issue with the mail while living there). This building mostly consists over people who just graduated college and are in their first apartment and people who are barely there. Regardless of what situation you find yourself in, avoid NW apartments and 515 E. Denny at all costs. read more