I rent the apartment where I live apartment from Bernstein Realty and actually am a property manger in the Bay Area, and as someone who does this job I can vouch that BR is awesome. I've been renting from them for nearly two years now and have had nothing but positive experiences. They are fast with maintenance, often coming the day after a request is made. Example- last night our hot water heater went out... today I arrive home to find a new water heater... for a property manager that does this kind of thing every week, it's like Christmas :) Mid-way through our tenancy at our building, the best unit in the place opened up and I asked if I could move to it. They said yes immediately and made it SO easy, and I know that my request created a lot of extra work for them. Upon move out, I had my old unit professionally cleaned, filled my nail holes myself, and my entire deposit was refunded and switched over to the new apartment. BR is responsive, understanding, and a pleasure to rent from. read more

*DO NOT RENT FROM R&D -- THEY'RE RUNNING A SECURITY DEPOSIT SCAM* This company demands a large security deposit upfront, and now I understand why, in that they have no intention of giving most of it back. When I moved out, I received an itemized list of "damages" and "cleaning fees" that was pure fiction, full of charges for normal wear and tear, and which were wildly inflated prices for basic services and fees for issues that existed before I moved in. They invent problems and assign absurd price tags until the total conveniently swallows most of your deposit. What makes it a true scam is that they know you're leaving. Most tenants are moving to another city and are too far away and too worn out to fight back, and the company counts on exactly that. If you do try to dispute the charges, SF's rent board offers little real help -- and the company knows it and exploits it. Stay far away!! Whatever "deal" you think you're getting on the rent will be wiped out, and then some, when they help themselves to your large security deposit on the way out. This isn't a one-off bad experience but a pattern, and I'm posting this so the next person doesn't get caught the way I did. read more

LOL absolutely ridiculous. don't speak with Alessandra. She told me the day prior that I could go in anytime at the open house hours and so I went the next day and showed up to no one being there... I texted her and she said it was no longer available (after I commuted two hours to get there) and that she forgot to tell me...that someone else had already applied for the unit Don't waste your time! Rent from other people who actually care to provide you the bare minimum service of communication read more

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My original message, which I posted five years ago: Truly the most negligent of landlords. They have made multiple attempts at passing the cost of their negligence onto us. Multiple times they have screamed and cursed at me. Rude and unresponsive. They do the extra work to make their laziness your problem. Pablo replied to it today, Jan 22, 2025 (five years later). No, Pablo, there is no mistaken identity. You in particular were very difficult and rude. Don't claim my review is inaccurate when you contributed to it. Classic landlord company upset and inconvenienced when you ask them to do basically anything. read more

R&D Realty are foul as they can get. This farce of a place will charge you an application fee of 65.00. Before you can even see the unit. I was lied to in my face about a unit. This person took my money and I was denied the next day!. The secretary or whatever she is or was. Stated to me that if it didn't seem like I would qualify. That I would receive my $65.00 back. That was a total fabrication. Please people do not fall for the gimmicks tricks and games. That these people are playing. I'm reading the reviews. They are horrible to say the least.!. R& D you need to better as a business. If not you may not be in business long!!!. read more

We lived in an apartment managed by R&D realty for about 2 years. We had a great experience! They were very helpful through the application process and always responded to maintenance requests quickly! Now that we live somewhere else we miss working with them! read more

The people who work at R&D are wonderful. They are ethical, caring, and trustworthy. Not to mention utterly amazing about problems that arise. You can count on high quality. They are the absolute best. I am grateful to them for being real friends to me during my years in San Francisco. read more

I lived in an apartment managed by R&D for four years, and they were an awesome management company. Maintenance is always so responsive, and they were quick to fix or replace things very easily. They also worked with us during COVID to deal with people moving out, and have always been so helpful and friendly. read more

Bernstein is actually amazing. Very awesome company compared to most managers in the Bay Area. Good job team!

I lived at 819 14th St for about two years and have nothing but positive things to say. We only had a small handful of maintenance issues, and when they occurred they were almost always resolved the next day. Pablo (manager) was always excellent. read more

Do not rent from this company whatever you do. Our unit had mice for many months and they did nothing to resolve the issue. They didn't even seem concerned that our unit was uninhabitable despite us continuing to pay rent. read more

There really should be a zero star option. Perhaps a class action lawsuit is due? Our mailbox lock is missing, our hallways are always dark due to broken lights, our appliances don't work, the entry system into the building has never worked, beams across our ceiling are just about ready to collapse, our doorknobs don't work, the carpets are stained from the last tenants, etc, etc, etc!! And just try calling them to get any help! How do they stay in business? really!!? Don't live in their properties - its not worth it. read more

I'll summarize my distaste for Bernstein in one word - Sketch! It's not easy to get anything done with these guys. Numerous emails, telephone calls will not get these lazy bastards off their bums. One star is generous! read more

ZERO STARS. Bernstein should have their business license revoked. I lived in one of their units at Lyon St @ McAllister for 15 days before deciding to move out. The upstairs neighbours were beating each other and I feared for my personal safety. During the next TWO months I was trying to get out of the lease because I had to call the SFPD several times on the upstairs neighbours for domestic violence and BR kept claming that they weren't getting any complains from any other units in the building. Want to know why? Because they were renovating the units around my upstairs neighbours and I was the only neighbour! 1) Stop by their office at 4248 23rd. Even if they are closed. Look through the window and see how "organized" they are. There are stacks and stacks of paperwork all over the place. They have filing cabinets, but apparently lost the key because they don't use them. 2) They lose rent checks and then don't notify you until they are past due. When confronted on the issue with a RECEIPT from the USPS Certified mail you sent them with the check, they still claim they never received it. 3) When your upstairs neighbours are beating each other, screaming, throwing stuff around at all hours of the night and you have to call the police many many times, BR doesn't do much about it. "I don't know if you've lived in the city before, but this is apartment living and you will hear some noise". Ok, fine. Some noise is fine. Beating your kids and screaming at them from the street at 3am is NOT OK. ---The owner comment below from Pablo states that he terminated these neighbours lease. The truth to this is that in FEBRUARY after several reports to Bernstein and the police Pablo stated that the building was not under rent control and the neighbours lease ended in April. I was not going to live another 3 months with that since Pablo / Bernstein was completely lacking in dealing with the situation. 4) The property management has poor and delayed communication skills especially in anything written. When my roommate and I called "outside of business hours" we were unable to reach the property manager. When we called the next phone number we had, the woman got very upset that we were calling her outside of business hours. Lastly, I love that BR posted a "reply" with 4 stars to drive up their average rating. read more

I'm surprised seeing some of the negative comments about BR. I can only speak for my building on Webster Street. I don't remember exactly when BR acquired 610 Websater St, but it has been more than 10 years. They are the best landlord I have ever had. The building is very well maintained, and whenever I have had an issue it was resolved very quickly. They have showed up to do work anywhere from a few days, or less. One time I had a plumbing issue and they showed up in less than an hour. read more

WHAT A SCAM! I went to one of their open houses and applied for the apartment. Following day I called them to see the status of my application and they told me that they gave the apartment to another applicant. A day after they posted another ad for the same place but this time for $300 more of what I applied for! Awful organization that will do nothing but waste your time. Just stay away or they will find a way to rip you off! read more

If you can avoid it, don't rent with Bernstein. I've been in my apartment for 4 months now, and they've just stopped caring. When I moved in I sent over at least a dozen problems with my apartment. Most have been fixed, but more have come up. My skylight leaks. The building has puddles of water when it rains. The appliances are all in really bad condition. They don't get back to you about standard maintenance requests. While few issues are hazardous, they do as little as possible to make my building a nice place to live. Neglect is the only appropriate word to use. The only reason this isn't a 1-star review is because they have online rent payment. **EDIT 10/12/13** Removing the bonus star because they replaced the hot water heater in my building, and now I have no hot water. These people have no idea what they are doing. read more

Two stars because we have rent control and I can't complain about the price. We've been here for a few years. Bernstein will leave you alone if that's what you're looking for. They do get small maintenance items done in a timely manner but they fall short on bigger items; filthy building with paint peeling, mailbox a target of vandalism since it's probably 50 years old, really rickety old wooden windows with decaying wood. No notice for loud work in the building. We had a lot of stuff go missing from our storage area. Their workers keep storage in our building and come in and out frequently. Pablo seems like a nice guy and I think he probably intends to do what he says, but for some reason, it doesn't happen. There is a photo of the office above, that is a good indication of what's going on with this company. read more

I liked Veblen's "The Theory of the Leisure Class," so it might be with some surprise (to me, if no on else) that I am giving a landlord a good review. But, you know what? I have had some absolute crap landlord/tenant experiences in San Francisco, so I think Bernstein deserves to be credited. I lived in a Bernstein property for about 2 years, and I have to say it was a pretty good experience. They would respond quickly to any problems, would give you ample notice if they needed to come into your apartment, and never otherwise hassled me. They also let you pay your rent online, which for people like me who need 3 days to find their checkbook and actually mail rent, is really convenient. For the property I lived in, they charge for water too, which I think just sucks. Other places do this too, so this isn't really towards Bernstein itself, but I think there is something awfully unfair about just dividing the bill by the number of units in the building. My neighbors included a couple with a newborn and a bunch of college girls. I KNOW they used more water than me. They were also very fair (and timely) about returning my security deposit. I would definitely live in another one of their properties again. read more

I have to write a review because some of these one-star reviews are the complete opposite of my experience. I have rented a Bernstein property for almost 4 years now. I have had to call for maintenance in my unit twice and both times they quickly resolved the issue, both times in under a day. I have been late with rent a day or two and they never make a fuss about it. We tend to have a graffiti problem and the tags are always painted over within a week max. Do I have any knocks? Sure. I am annoyed that we have to split water and garbage with the rest of the building and the way they notify you about it is inconsistent. There have been some general building issues that seem to recur way too often (such as our front entry system that breaks on a regular basis or the timer for hall lights not working properly), but overall I think they do an outstanding job at being "hands off" landlords that leave you alone as long as you're paying rent. When I hear stories from people that rent from Citi Apartments or meddlesome individual landlords (like a friend who had to, no joke, read his entire lease agreement in the presence of the landlord before signing it), I am glad to be renting from Bernstein. Their staff is fantastic. read more

I lived in a Bernstein property for over 10 years and never once had an issue with them - quite the opposite actually! At the height of the dot-com boom, in 1999, I arrived fresh from college, looking for a decent place to live. On the verge of a breakdown, I finally found myself in a beautiful Victorian apartment which was immaculately kept and came with all new fixtures and appliances. Pablo, who is still with them today, was gracious and decided to take a chance on me - despite my lack of credit history. And the rent was surprisingly reasonable given the insanity of the times. Over the next 10 years, they always sent help immediately when needed (even for something as silly as locking myself out while my roommate was out of town). They also reduced my rent when the market tanked, I lost my first job, and rent prices were falling everywhere. It was a relief to know that they both knew me and cared about my welfare - and that they value their best tenants. I left that apartment recently - Pablo met me there to wish me well. He thanked me for taking such good care of my apartment and said that they would not be deducting anything from my deposit. I almost cried - so hard to leave such a lovely place and landlord that takes the time to say farewell. I would recommend them without hesitation. If you are a courteous tenant, and take care of your home, I have no doubt that they will take care of you in kind. read more

Was a tenant for 2 years in one of their Haight St apartments. They were very responsive with all of our inquiries and took appropriate action to address any concern of ours that arose. Pablo in particular was very helpful in resolving any issues we had in our building. Would absolutely do business with them again and would recommend them to a friend. read more

I did not end up renting from Bernstein but they were a close second to the apartment I ended up finding. I found Bernstein quick to answer phone calls and respond to questions. Other residents I spoke to in the building said that the building was great and that the company took care of problems promptly. Mike, the showing agent, was easy-going and knowledgeable about the neighborhood. Mike and Pablo, the office manager, were upfront about some noise complaints the previous tenant had made -- omething about the upstairs neighbors making a lot of noise when they came up the stairs in the wee hours of the morning. They arranged access to the upstairs apartment so that Mike could walk, run, and stomp up and down the stairs while I stayed downstairs to hear what it was like. (Verdict: totally standard for an urban apartment building.) read more

They have worked with me through some very difficult life circumstances even though I had very little real history with them. It'd be hard to imagine a more flexible or easy going individual than Pablo, the manager. He says what he means, and does what he says is my experience. Could the common areas be kept cleaner, yes. Why the recycling bins are kept right outside the elevator exit to the parking garage I will never know. Why we can't seem to get the remote call/entrance box working is another mystery as well. But in the larger scheme of things, these are pretty petty complaints when you consider how easy to work with they have been for my particular circumstances. I think that Juan (our onsite manager) is doing a decent job. I do wonder though if I can pay my rent directly to him instead of using that very lame PayLease system. In short, my place is affordable, pretty quiet, newer with great views of the city, and in a convenient location. Personally, I like their hands off approach, in that when I need them, they are there but not in my face. The common areas, though... let's get those up to snuff for such a new and beautiful building. I mean, I got so tired of the half ripped off sticker on the main entrance door window, I just took a razor and got it off myself. Also, I have swept the elevator more than once if I had friends coming over. Even with these minor complaints I still give these guys 4 stars for being professional, honest and human. I'm a fan. read more

I can't take this realty company any more. They lose our rent on almost a monthly basis. If you rent from them, do NOT drop your check in the evening box. I've had to finally post here just to put in my two cents. If bernstein is such a horrible management company that they can actually get me to sign up a yelp account after 3 years to write a review, it goes to show how frustrated I am with them. If you rent from them and pay online, you'll all remember the infamous: "LOST ALL CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS FROM JANUARY 08" debacle. It's absurd. They've caused problems with my roommates because of their lackluster management skills. Do NOT rent from these people. read more

Well I thought I would write this review because I am pretty surprised by the ones I've read. I've been renting from them for almost a year now, and I am very happy. They have never lost any rent checks, and when I need something in the apt fixed they send someone right away. Overall, I am very happy with my experience! read more

I hate yelp listings like this one, don't you? It makes it so hard to decide on anything. Yes, I live in a Bernstein Property (going on a year here, in a very small studio, in the castro). Rents are outrageous, but that is true anywhere. The first/last/security is even more ridiculous, but, also true most places. Also same as anywhere, read the fine print and know your rent laws. They were willing to work around my bad credit with a cosigner. And though in the beginning things were pretty disorganized (calling my cosigner to ask questions about problems in the apartment when all of their documentation tells them that she lives in NYC?) they got it right after I complained. Basically this is a hands off management company. If you are a tech person and do everything online it's great - online rent payment, online maintenance requests (and quick fixes), prompt emails returned, etc. Also if you don't like a landlord who comes snooping around every time he hears you putting a picture up, it' might be a good place for you - I can't stand those. If you are a phone/face-to-face person, you will have better luck elsewhere. They don't usually respond to phone calls (even when you have locked yourself out of your apartment, in your underwear, on a saturday afternoon - I had to suck up some pride, go to a neighbor and call a locksmith). read more

This review is long overdue! Bernstein Realty and Pablo in particular were the best property managers I have ever had... and I have lived in at least 5 or 6 different rentals in my life. We happened to live in the unit above the office, which could be intimidating but we had a great relationship with everyone! Yes, I jokingly harassed them a few times about the paperwork in the office overflowing, but this never resulted in any of our rent checks being lost or service being impacted. They were kind enough to let us have things shipped to their office so it didn't get left on our doorstep, were very responsive any time we needed a maintenance call (which wasn't often), and worked with us when we needed to move out early to find new renters so we wouldn't be carrying the remaining part of the lease. The best part was we were able to get our full deposit back as well. I've had property managers in the past that nickel and dime everything, but Pablo and team were incredible in making the move out process so smooth! If I could have found another property they managed that was what I was looking for I would have stayed with them in a heartbeat! Everyone in the office are just genuinely good, friendly people. Thanks so much for everything!!! read more

Strongly recommend! I've rented with Bernstein for almost four years now, and it has been a wonderful experience. The management team and building manager Pablo are responsive, kind, and always on top of things. I've only needed two minor maintenance requests over four years, and each has been quickly and efficiently addressed within a day or so. I strongly recommend renting with Bernstein if you have the chance! read more

First off they are not perfect, but they do try to help and are fair. I lived at a unit in Hayes valley and had no complaints, got my deposit back in due time and they did not ripped me off when I left a wall with a few holes. In all fairness we all should remember that for the most part no one reviews landlords when they are good, usually most of us post a review on your landlord when you are pissed off! Given them a try, they are fair and they are actually nice people. read more

My partner and I had been looking for months for a place to live, we met Mike from Bernstein at an apartment he was showing, he was really honest with us about the property and after hearing our concerns about noise, he recommended that the apartment we were looking at would likely not be a good fit, its so refreshing to be given the solid truth about a home, in the end we appreciated this level of honesty so much that we asked him if he knew of any places that would be suitable to our needs, he found us the idea location and helped us secure the property. Cant recommend him enough, we also had some great experience with Carolina in the office, these guys get back to you super promptly and appear to be really flexible and helpful. Im excited to have them be my property management company. read more

Giving a one because you can't give no stars. They're crooks. Avoid them at all costs. They lost my rent checks frequently then two months later would send a confusingly vague form letter saying that my rent was late. Which generally they would have just cashed the current month's check. Further they never spelled my name right and always addressed letters to me and some random person's name (rather than to my house mate's name who was also on the lease). If that wasn't enough. They lost both the notice from myself and from my house mate. We took these in two months in advance in person and handed it to them. What we didn't do was get them to sign an acknowledgment of receipt (which incidentally they refuse to do). When we moved out they tried to make us pay an extra month of rent even though he did acknowledge that we had given 30 days notice (because I wrote it on the check he cashed). He wanted 45 days notice. Which of course I had given, and they lost. Eventually I had them do the walk through and he said oh this is fabulous! We'll definately give you all your deposit back. I again asked for this in writing which they refused to do. So after 60 days, I still had no check. At this point I had my lawyer send them a letter telling them they had 5 days to get me the check or we'd see them in court and would also be suing for damages. I got my check. But they were crooks and they called and yelled at me and called me names. And told me to my face that I was a liar. Because their office was too disorganized to find anything in. The place looks like a bomb hit it. Seriously. Run! away from these crooks. Also our property was poorly cared for. Since it was a new building they assumed everything was working, and if it was busted then clearly it was your fault. Screw the fact that it's in heavy use by a bunch of people who don't know how to use doorknobs (always broken) or even have the basic skills to not be total pigs (ie glitter and dirt coating the washing machines, I can only assume a job as a mud wrestler? but still-wipe the machine out when you're done.) This was the worst rental experience I've had. ------Update---------------- I know it has been a while since your posting but we are new to Yelp, I just wanted to take the time to tell you that we take our business very seriously, I would like to talk to you about your posting and see if there is anything I can do for you, I vaguely remember the incident with your unit, and I realize it has been a long time, we had hired to new assistants and we had the usual problem on training the new personnel, so your problem did not reach me right away. On the rent payment you had written "last month rent" on the memo area of your check and that was all the notice we had gotten from you, I see why we would have wanted to enforce the 45 day notice policy, after we spoke we resolve the matter to your satisfaction, and we mailed the check to you to the last known address, since we had not gotten a new on from you, I know it looks bad, but it was not our intention to retain your deposit, we do not go looking for trouble at every turn, we would not have time to do our job, let alone be in business for over 25 years. We have over 80 buildings in town and deal with an average of 1500 on a monthly basis, I wish all the satisfied customers would take the time to Yelp Us, it would greatly outnumber the negative reviews. I would like to extend my apologies to you for your experience with us, and hope you could reconsider your review. Regards, Pablo Tisker Office Manager Bernstein Realty ------- My response is too long to fit here. So I will summarize. We gave 60 days written notice, delivered by hand and accepted by Bernstein Realty. And a second notice 48 days in advance. Pablo was rude and derogatory to me on the phone and in person when I tried to resolve this matter. It was not some staff member. After the inspection I was thanked for making it so clean and promised a prompt refund. I gave them my address at that time, and also mailed a letter with the information and called the office after two weeks and left a message with it again. And they could have called me on the phone if they had lost it, so it's no excuse. California Civil Code Section 1950.5 states that landlords may only require 30 days notice. The lease is illegal and unenforceable. Blaming your staff is really unprofessional. Maybe people haven't taken the time to give you positive feedback because you haven't done anything well. My experience with your company was horrible. And the stress of the situation caused my Lyme to flare up and I have had a lot of medical bills because of it. You'll notice that for companies I like I've given really good feedback. I can't imagine ever treating anyone the way you treated me. --------- So If you do complain, expect Pablo to yell at you and belittle you. read more

WORST residential management company I've ever worked with. First off, YES they do consistently LOSE people's rent checks and try to blame you for their own negligence. I've lived in the city for 15 yrs. and have never dealt with such unprofessional so-called "professionals" in my life! They don't know whether to scratch their watches or whined their butts. Have you seen their office before? That should say enough! Disgustingly dirty and cluttered with papers everywhere. Pablo Tisker is the worst to deal with along with their incompetent receptionists. Stay away or prepare for the worst. read more

Haven't rented from them, but tried to and Karin never returned my calls, never showed for scheduled open houses at 2 separate apartments. That's just rude and especially unkind in such a tough housing market. read more

I am writing this update because of a slight improvement in Bernstein's response time on repair/maintenance. However, they are still deficient in many respects. Two examples: : 1) Rudeness by workers (not knowing I speak Spanish, older maintenance guy refers to me by derogatory term while speaking in front of me on phone to boss, Pablo Tisker -- gracias, feo viejo!) 2) Leaving common areas a mess (halls/basement storage) while working to remodel vacant units --for weeks -- sometimes months - piles of debris, old appliances (stoves/tubs), buckets of paint, & huge mounds of filled, leaky garbage bags are left in common storage area & halls. Inconvenient. & not safe. read more

Very helpful people! I worked with Pablo from Bernstein through both the move-in and move-out process and he was accommodating, understanding and always tried his best to make the process as smooth as possible. Definitely recommend Bernstein! read more

It seems that renters' experiences with Bernstein may be colored by the resident manager they have and what maintenance needs to be done. I was very pleased with everything for the first 7 months that I lived in a Bernstein property. Then our RM left and was replaced by a woman who (I'm not kidding) gave me the wrong emergency number 3 times and went back into her apartment when I told her I had called 911 about a fire in my wall. Yadda yadda yadda, after waiting over a week to get the hole in my wall repaired, I kept calling to find out when it would be fixed. No answers- but one day someone came into my apartment unannounced to fix it. Major issues: Washing machine water overflowing onto electrical outlet- not fixed until some of us threatened to contact a city bldg. inspector. Trash trash trash. We didn't have a resident manager for awhile, and no one was there to take the trash out, so people dumped their stuff next to the can. The result? An oily black goo that seeped into my parking spot. I also picked trash out of the yard on a regular basis. They sent me overdue rent notices with fees when I paid rent a couple of weeks early- it took me two times of this to realize that they just got confused and thought it was the previous month's rent late. I showed them the canceled checks to prove that they had my money. FYI- they have very odd lease termination requirements- 45 days in writing with certified mail with return receipt. I took photos of my walk-through, got my full deposit back. read more

I own the property next door to a building managed by Bernstein Realty and have had several discussions with Pablo who assured me he would take care of a problem of roof materials (flaking silver coating) blowing onto my outdoor decks. After several calls and several months, the problem has not been taken care of, so I can only assume Pablo was either giving me lip service or was forgetful. In either case, I don't think these are good attributes for a property manager--even if the property manager is well meaning or well-intentioned. read more

so i have a studio rented from them.. at first.. things were very sketchy.. bad customer service... shady "not quite right" feeling.... i was so on the fence with them when i was going through the process of signing my lease... my parents being landlords also.. had reservations about them too.... at the end i decided to take the risk and go with them.. i really needed a place to live before school started... as of today.. i am satisfied with them.. i havent had any reason to need them.. i dont know how it is with other realty companies... but this on is not bad... just go over everything.. thoroughly... i also like that i can pay my rent via bill pay and or their personal website.... that is a nice feature... read more

For some reason my previous review was taken down. I hope it was some sort of Yelp algorithmic thing, and not Bernstein attempting to cover their butts by reporting my review. In short: my experience with Bernstein was subpar. I will grant that they were actually pretty quick with repairs if they were needed, and for that I'll give them 2 stars. But they repeatedly attempted to double charge us for utilities. You have to pay a convenience fee to pay rent online, which isn't necessarily out of the ordinary, but it's not cool. They forced us to start doing walkthroughs for prospective tenants 30 days before we moved out. They also require a 45 day move-out notice. Finally, for the exit walkthrough, Pablo quoted a certain amount for painting to be deducted from our security deposit, which we were fine paying, but they then proceeded to deduct quadruple what he quoted us for paint, repairs, and labor. He had made no mention of the need for repairs during the walkthrough, and it appears they basically charged us to prep the house for the next tenant. read more