Atrocious company. They wait 5 days to open your application and then take 5 seconds to read it and then run with your application money. Zero communication. I called their office multiple times to contact the agent I was supposed to be getting an email back from and even though the receptionist or whomever picked up said she was in office and right there, I was just left to voice mail and never even got a call back. Would give 0 stars if I could. read more

If I could give zero stars, I would. My experience with Schermerhorn has been defined by an inability to process one of the most basic responsibilities of property management: correcting an account error. For months, I have repeatedly provided documentation, followed up by email, and requested confirmation that my account would be corrected. Instead, I have been met with silence, delays, and a complete lack of accountability while incorrect charges continue to sit on my account. No tenant should have to spend months chasing property management to fix a straightforward billing issue. It's exhausting, unnecessarily stressful, and creates an environment where you feel ignored rather than supported. At this point, the issue is no longer the original error--it's the refusal to communicate and resolve it. Property management should be competent enough to handle basic accounting corrections, respond to resident concerns, and follow through on commitments. None of that has happened here. I pay my rent on time and have done everything asked of me. In return, I've had to repeatedly fight to have an obvious mistake corrected while being forced to wonder whether my rent payments are even being applied correctly. This entire experience has demonstrated a level of incompetence and indifference that I would expect from neither a professional management company nor anyone entrusted with residents' homes. If you're considering renting here, understand that when something goes wrong, getting a simple issue resolved may become a months-long battle. This doesn't even touch on the hostility of the property manager that comes to on-site. read more

!!!Beware!!! They're now posting their apartments and rentals under Southbranch Investments LLC. Presumably trying to dodge people from looking them up and finding the yelp reviews. Shame on you, Schermerhorn & Co! Jose (711 Dobson) is a really cool guy, but this is extremely shady practices and they need to be shut down! Listen to the 1 star reviews and stay away. The building is ran down and it smells weird. Dont waste your time and money. read more

Schermerhorn & Co - Taken from HotPads - Property Management Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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I tried to rent an apartment through them (specifically through William (Bill) Cannon) and found the process impersonal, out-of-touch, and shady as heck. Bill seems to think himself above human decency and refused to respond to any emails or inquiries and I felt my application with 800+ credit score was rejected due to either the listing being a scheme to collect application fees or for Bill already having an applicant in mind and not doing his job in good faith. I also heard from someone while visiting the property that he wasn't pushing needed repairs for one of the current tenants because he wanted them out, so I probably dodged a bullet. I guess I am a fool for expecting more from humanity than this, but I would avoid Schermerhorn and Bill Cannon especially. Housing isn't something you should be so blasé about. read more

Absolutely terrible place to rent. These guys took over a property and since then have been straight patronizing. I lived in the apartment for 12 years or so. When these guys took over completely terrible attitude and communication on their part. A dumb toxic new neighbor bangs on our door and he threatened legal action against them I assume and they completely took guys side! What's a waste! Looking at their reviews bill gets plenty of hatred and dog poop on his car! Skip these properties if you're middle age, adult hood, or even elderly. There property in the winter? TERRIBLE. ICICLES GROWING EVERYWHERE ABOVE YOUR HEAD. SCREAMING HAZARD. STAIRS ALL SLIPPERY WITH ICE. If i find the picture I'll add it read more

In my 20+ years of renting apartments all over Chicago, other cities in the US, and overseas, this is far and away the worst place I have ever rented from. The apartment I had was fine - but all the positives I can think of are about the maintenance personnel and the location. I rented for a year and half before I had to leave mid-lease. And before any judgement comes here - I understand that I was legally obligated to pay my entire lease and I did. On time. I paid every month until I finally finished, in full. The problem I have was that they actively worked against getting a new renter in by imposing an arbitrary 10% increase for anyone wanting to take over my lease. I had to plead to get them to advertise the place and put a "for rent" sign in the window. I paid an additional month hoping to entice someone to have a free month and at the end of the lease when no one had signed on and I emailed to confirm that the additional month that I paid would be used toward the last month. They responded that they "normally we would not refund that payment" like they were doing me a favor by not just keeping the money I PAID to get another renter in. There were a number of applicants and of course I don't know the details of those applications, but it was pretty clear they were benefiting by having the place vacant while I paid the rent. I had to follow up and chase every application I sent their way, even when I was the legal occupant of the apartment. I fully understand my obligations, and again, I met them. What I don't understand is the utter lack of humanity for someone who was always a paying renter. I will never rent from this company again. I've only had to leave mid-lease twice in my life, and the last company I did this with met me halfway and asked for three months rent. There are more options than just making people pony up $10K when they're forced to leave due to other personal circumstances. There are a lot of great places to rent form in Chicago, so avoid this one at all costs. read more

Yelp truly needs a no stars option. 1. Their malformed PDF application requires information no one should ever share through unsecured channels. Against my better judgement, and because I am orchestrating my move from 2000 miles away (an am presently evacuated from a SoCal fire) I filled it in anyway. Mistake #1 2. They REQUIRED the move in fee of $250.00 up front WTH?! Fool me, again because see above, I paid it. 3. I was not approved without a guarantor, and when I decided not to move forward, they volunteered no information about the refund. When pressed I was told it would take 10 days to process a check which would then be sent to my current home address. NOT okay. They do not get to float my money and send a check to a place that might not be there when it arrives. 4. When I told them in no uncertain terms this was unacceptable and offered alternatives and a deadline that if not met would result in a complaint to the IL AG's office, they went silent. DO NOT APPLY WITH THEM! I wish I had read these reviews first. While it is true Yelp reviews are skewed negative, and while I seldom submit reviews because of a history of Yelp's questionable practices, this was so egregious I felt it was only right to spare others the same shady nonsense. read more

Didn't actually end up renting from these folks, but certainly was not inclined to do so. I had two viewings at two different buildings. The first one I was told to call their live in janitor (710 Hinman) to schedule a viewing. The janitor told me that once I had arrived at the building for my viewing to call him and he would be there. He wasn't. I called him when I arrived and was told "one of his guys" would be there shortly for the viewing. A younger gentleman in headphones showed up and led me to one of the worst looking apartments I'd ever seen. I saw two of them at 710 Hinman, not wanting to be rude, and promptly fled. The second building (720 Hinman) was no better, though the apartment didn't frighten me so badly. However, the building was intensely overgrown and the tenants were extremely nosy, going so far as to shout at me while I was waiting on the street for my viewing. I didn't feel safe in either building and Schermerhorn doesn't maintain their units very well. Would not ever rent from these guys. No way. read more

Rented from this sham few years back they run a illegal opperation here they are rude they illegally cancel peoples leases they are stuck up the whole nine yards their only redeeming quality was the friendly on site maintaince people they recently fired stay away from this company they dont respect peoples privacy or basic tennant rights read more

They are not professional at all. I believe them to be very biased in who they rent to. The owner Schermerhorn was extremely rude and pretty much just hung up the phone without answering the question asked of her. Nice apartments, but beware because they are not owned or run by anyone interested in being kind. read more

I had to move from the building at 900 chicago ave and it was kinda a short notice due to sudden changes by the shipping company. Carmen Lopez and Bill Canon were able to accommodate me at a short notice and I immediately went to the office to deliver the checks. I was very impressed with Carmen with her willingness to help and professionalism. I hope im back to the same building in the future. I would recommend this management company. read more

Brian Kurtovic, the property manager, is unprofessional and does not abide by the standard rules of a property manager. He does not respond to phone calls or messages, he does not communicate with his staff, and the conditions of his properties are in less than good condition. Recently, he sent out a memo regarding a change in internet service and did not notify residents or owners of a change in schedule for installation. The service installers came 2 days later with no notice and left hardware in our apartment. After repeated attempts to contact Mr. Kurtovic at his office (where his staff had no idea about any of this), I emailed him to express my frustrations and he refused to acknowledge an issue or accept responsibility in an extremely unprofessional and rude manner. TLDR : I would not recommend anyone renting or working with this company. read more

Schermerhorn manages my condo building in East Rogers Park. Generally, I have no complaints about the company. But the employee assigned to manage our building (Brian K.) utterly lacks professionalism, in my experience. We had to go through him in order to rent out our condo , and on the very first call he was extremely rude -- to such a degree that I thought for a second that he must not be the right person (and annoyed that I and others were calling him). But no, he is the right person. After that I pretty much tried to stay out of his way -- because I was afraid he'd somehow interfere with our getting board approval for our new tenant. We pay more than $200 a month in management fees -- some of which of course goes to board activities, but for that I expect at a minimum a helpful and polite person on the other side of the phone when I call the management company. My two cents. read more

Where do I start, I recently moved into my apartment this past December of 2018 when I first viewed the apartment Bill was very nice kind and very professional, when I walked into my unit I instantly fell in love, it just honestly had fit me. I seen two gentlemen that was working in the apartment in the kitchen area and Bathroom area. Smelled fresh paint, Bill was honest and told me there are a few more things needs to be taken care before I moved but I trust they were working on it. (Which they did) No complaints about the beginning. Here's where things went left for me, 2nd month living there with my lovely dog. I start hearing sounds in my kitchen by my garage can and BOOM here goes RATS seen two and I instantly felt uncomfortable didn't even want to go to sleep that same night. That next business day I text Bill and let him know he seem like he cared to a certain degree, and told me that he will hire a exterminator to come take a look at it, mind you I work during the week, so apparently the janitor let the exterminator in... never seen anything left behind other than glue traps that i could've did myself... so the rats continue to come into the kitchen to grab food from my garage can it started to become a routine of them waking me up at 230 am when I had to be at work at 8 am in the morning. So when I called & complain they honestly didn't give a shit cause I threatened to get the city involved... things got worse so my kitchen ceiling had collapse cause of Dry Wall from the snow which I knew they couldn't control, but they could've took care it sooner than when they did at that point I was ready to move I was emotional stress tf out. Honestly they didn't give a shit, all they care about is their money, Will Cannon is a complete ASSHOLE... his attitude is horrible for his tenants... I made up my mind, I'm planning on buying a home going into next year. Til this lease is up... or maybe sooner I'm hoping I'm 25 years old have a Master Degree Never in a million years thought I would experience a property management that is rude to their tenants oh btw the secretary is just as rude as they are. Not saying to not rent from them, just be careful the buildings are very old look out for Rats and dry wall read more

Changing my review. I emailed corporate office and got a response within 12 hours via phone of my concerns by Dan Schermerhorn. He was very sincere and kind. I explained my frustration and he genuinely seemed to want to resolve the issue. The grounds are well kept. The buildings are quiet. My neighbors are nice. Building is always clean. I cant complain. Thank you Dan for calling and addressing this issue. read more

Schermerhorn & Co - Alone as maintenance I brought Central Station to number one. I know customer service. - Property Management Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

They still haven't fixed the radiator or cleaned up the dirty walls in this building. It's May 29th and warm out. "We will come fix it when the weather is better." was written in an email to me in February. Good luck living in their buildings. read more

Been here my second year. Was going to upgrade to four star because they have my repairs done relatively fat. However, no matter who I talk with still get this unwelcoming, I am wasting their time of I owe their money feeling. This really creates an emotional stress on me whenever I need to talk with them. And I was never late on rent or anything. One more thing I need to mention is the free parking mentioned in the original post I searched was not technically guaranteed. In my building its first come first served and you know what that mean during street cleaning or snow days. I wish they have options for paid assigned parking. Anyway, it's not as bad as I imagined last year but not perfect/care free either. read more

Looked at an apartment this week in Evanston I fell in love with it rent was affordable. The sad thing about is I did the application was going to sent it in with the $50 fee. I was told if I could show I made 5000 month with a co- signer also have to have a 600 or better score. They are basic discriminating I feel they don't want to rent to certain type of people. read more

Nope. Nope nope nope. I'm in their building on Washington St. in Evanston. For anyone who ignores the reviews about this company and chooses to rent from them, you will definitely need this document below - tenants have rights. Maybe the "Big Boss" only understands that when it affects the $$rent$$ he DOESN'T get. https://www.cityofevanston.org/home/showdocument?id=636 SIDE STORY: one of the Schermerhorns literally referred to himself as "Big Boss" on the phone when I needed to re-set fuses that blew on a sweltering 97 degree day and I was told to wait for a neighbor's wife to get home in 45 minutes, as she "maybe" had access to the fuse boxes. Mind you, I don't know these people I was told to bother, and it's not really their responsibility, is it? It did get resolved after quite a lengthy hassle with several rude/inept employees, and then this buffoon,"Big Boss", had the nerve to call me so I could thank him - he actually said that - after maintenance came out. For....what, exactly? When I laughed and hung up on him, he called again & threatened to call his lawyers. On himself for not fulfilling his contractual obligations? What a ridiculous little man. I still don't have access, but am not renewing my lease so I don't care. *2 people have had several items stolen from the basement. Either someone who lives here steals, or someone who shouldn't have access, does. Either way, super creepy. *This is a Verizon dead zone. You will not be able to make or place calls, nor will the wi-fi on your phone work if you use Verizon as a carrier. The neighborhood itself is great, though! read more

My partner and I rented an apartment with Schermerhorn & Co for three years. Just as you'd like, we didn't have all that many reasons to interact with the management, but when we did, they were always straightforward and professional. And rent was quite competitive for the area. Is the rare landlord that treats tenants fairly. read more

Very good management company that responds in a timely manner to all maintenance requests and makes sure of social distancing and masks worn by all of their staff regarding Covid-19 precautions. I would highly recommend. read more

Uncomfortably Cold !!! I am spending my first winter in a vintage building in Evanston. The temps are often below 68 degrees! Room temps often read in the 50's. They are in violation of the City of Evanston heat requirements: From City of Evanston website:http://www.cityofevanston.org/building-housing/rental-registration/heat-requirements/ "Every rental building owner or operator that furnishes heat for tenants is required to maintain a minimum room temperatures of 68 degrees F between September 15 to June 1; specifically in all habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms. " Good luck getting an answer. The office on Central says the building manager will fix it. The building manager says there is nothing that can be done because heat is being released on a timed system. read more

Slum lords. I had a major leak in my apartment wall because of a clogged/broken drain and Schermerhorn simply refused to address it. It took another tenant on the phone with them at 1AM begging and pleading for them to call a plumber before they did anything. After that, all they wanted to do was patch over the water damaged wall instead of actually fixing the broken drain. This company is cheap and negligent. You get different answers on property matters from different people in the office; nobody seems to know what they're doing. Even hooking up the cable was a headache! Schermerhorn can go bobbing for apples in an outhouse. read more

The horror stories you hear about the management of 718-726 Hinman are true, particularly the behavior of the father/son janitors, Mike and Aldin, who don't hesitate to yell, use profanity, name call, insult, and pound on the walls. There is very little investment made by the management company at bringing the facilities up to par. The bathroom cabinets were old and the paint was chipped, the tiles were cruddy, the tub was painted with enamel that never got clean in order to avoid the expense of replacing it. We lived for nearly a year with the promise of new windows; the previous ones were painted shut, dirty, and you couldn't see out of them. They were finally replaced towards the end of the lease, but by then it was too late. The radiators are disgusting and there was no way to clean the years of grime and rust. The outside paint is chipping and peeling and looks like it has never been refreshed. However, the biggest problem was living above the janitor/son, Aldin. My husband and I are not lightweight; he weighs over 210 and me 180. The floors are 1930s parquet. We had area rugs, never wore our shoes in the apartment, we are respectful, don't play loud music, etc. but there was nothing we could do about the floors creaking. It seems Aldin's wife works night-time hours; we are happy to be alive and are early risers. One morning my husband was alone in the bedroom taking off the sheets to do the laundry, it was between 8-9 when BAM, BAM, BAM pounding came from the Aldin's apartment. This was the second morning in a row that this happened. Needless to say, the threat of violence was frightening as we are in our 60s and my husband has high blood pressure. I had to find out what the problem was so I went outside and found Aldin on the telephone in the alley pacing around wildly. He charged toward me and among other things said the ceiling in his apartment shakes when we walk on the floor. He also said that we made too much noise, when from our point of view we were just living... cooking, cleaning, going out for a morning jog, etc. We contacted Brian Kurtovic to mediate but we knew that life could never be lived normally at the Hinman apartment. To keep the peace, we started whispering, and walking on tiptoes, literally. We began to use the front stairway more often in order to avoid the janitors. When we received a notice to renew our lease, we declined but the last few months were hell. Another thing... If you have a problem with one person in the family, you have a problem with the entire clan. Mother, father, son, daughter-in-law. When Mike heard we had complained about his son, we knew it would only be a matter of time before we were confronted. As I said, we did our best to avoid them, but one afternoon my husband passed Mike on the back landing, and he swore at my husband using the foulest F- you language, calling him a nobody, a DP (he's European). During the course of this conflict, I checked this site and read that several people had similar complaints. You can imagine my deep regret at not having checked Yelp before signng on with them. read more

This "company" made our lives a living hell. Bill Canon was the property manager for our townhouse in Rodgers Park because the landlady lived in California. We moved in while I was 5 months pregnant. Bill had told us that a cleaning service would come and clean before we moved in. That was not the case. It was FILTHY, there were ripped screens in the windows, a broken shower head in the bathroom, marks all over that needed to be painted, and the toilets hadn't been cleaned in what looked like months. We kept finding more and more things that were dirty and it was disgusting. We contacted him and he said "his guy" would come clean the property and to let him know whatever we need. This guy Sabrija came, and painted over the walls with the wrong color paint, fixed 1 out of 4 broken screens, and replaced the shower head with another old one. Whatever. It gets worse.. About a month in, we started smelling a raw sewage smell and notified our landlady. She informed Bill, he came out, and told me that I was just really sensitive BECAUSE I WAS PREGNANT. WTF?! No. This jerk then hires a plumber chum of his, Terry Garrity plumbing, to come out and check what's going on. Let's skip to December: the smell has been there now for 3 months. This same plumber kept coming out, charging us, and not fixing anything. All they did was rod out the sewer line 3 times. Clearly it didn't work the first time, eh? They finally ended up pouring cement over the trap in the utility room. That's nice.. just seal off the problem, don't fix it. It smelled like crap on a daily basis and no one was handling anything. I had the baby and we were paying to live in a place that was making us nauseous. The worst part? It went all through the ventilation system into our BABY'S NURSERY. Fast forward to March. I am trying to keep this short, but along with the smell, the fridge, sink, and water heater have all given us continued problems as well - with no one fixing anything. Also, the washer has now overflowed 2x and we were told we could have to pay for the carpet to be cleaned.. yeah, ok. The smell isn't just bad, it's getting worse. THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING. I have texts from Bill telling me he is "not coming out there anymore", and to "call my landlord". Uhmm.. she's in Cali. and you are the manager. She hired YOU to handle her business. None of the problems we encountered were caused by us. None of them. The place was obviously not well maintained and we were lied to moving in. Outcome? FINALLY, and exterminator came because we demanded, and there had been a rat infestation for.. MONTHS and they just dicked around so much that we were living with that in our walls. Thanks a lot Schermerhorn! Thanks for allowing us to live with rats in our walls. Not to mention, not handling your business in a timely fashion or responding to your tenants. They let us bring a newborn baby into an unfit living situation because we had no other options. Were we going to move out while I was having the baby? Come on. Also, NEVER rent from Eva Cecilia Palmcrantz. She owned the townhouse. That is seriously the short version. So much happened in the 7 1/2 months we lived there (obviously we couldn't take it anymore and with a 3 month old child, had to pack up and move out) They caused me an extreme amount of stress. I have covered the worst of it though. I'm telling you- living hell. Side note: my labor had to be induced because of my blood pressure and I was told since I had no other symptoms.. it was because of stress. Hmm.. why on earth would I have been under any stress? THANKS SCHERMERHORN and BILL CANON. DO YOURSELVES A FAVOR AND NEVER RENT FROM THIS COMPANY. Learn from our experience. They are a dishonest, scummy, and cheap company. read more

THE RUDEST PEOPLE I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH! I would give negative or even zero stars if I could. Every time I have a conversation with anyone from this company they are rude, degrading, have the nastiest attitude & even use profanity. It is purely disgusting. Brian Kurtovic should not be allowed to deal with people. He has a short fuse & curses at people that have nothing to do with the issue(s) he is upset about. How is that professional?! Dan Schermerhorn is not much better. When on the phone with him, he makes rude, nonproductive comments. Grow up! If you are a renter or a condo looking for a management company: RUN AS FAR AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN! No one should have to deal with their idiocy. read more

Unprofessional. Flat out. Their office is unhelpful & arrogant. You would think that they would be more courteous to someone who wants to do business with them. They do not return calls, nor answer emails. Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. Their horrible reputation proceeds them. read more

Every time I have a conversation with Brian K, one of the property managers here, I am in pure shock that this guy still has his job, given his incredibly unprofessional demeanor. On numerous occasions he has raised his voice when speaking to me and sends rude, threatening and not at all thought out emails. This has been going on for YEARS. If I had a choice, I would get rid of Schemerhorn in a heartbeat and give it to a company who actually cares about making their clients happy. read more

Absolutely despicable. Do not take this review lightly if you are considering renting from them. They are not a good company and are not good people. Every person in their office is unpleasant, especially "Dry Guy" Jim Schermerhorn, who may have the most dry, unpleasant personality of anybody I have met in my entire life. I attempted to reach out to him upwards of ten times in regards to many different situations and he would NEVER respond. I would have to send multiple follow-up emails just to simply garner a response. They also jacked up my rent, multiple times for zero reason whatsoever. It started out at $900 and before you know it, it was $1200. This was while the same unit in my building was going for $950. The WORST EXPERIENCE I had with JIM is when he entered my apartment twice without notice, once while I was asleep in my bed and once while I was in the shower. Both times I was completely startled, especially when I was awoken by somebody wandering in my apartment. That is absolutely NOT ACCEPTABLE and I was aghast that he thought that was okay. Management overall, specifically, "Dry Guy" Jim, are absolutely low-class, greedy property owners. In regards to the actual apartment, I initially really liked the building. It was a nice spot, relatively cheap, in a nice location. This was until winter hit and I realized that my entire apartment was bug infested and rat infested. The building smelled terrible almost year round because of the dead mice and rats everywhere, literally in the walls. I felt appalled even bringing anybody over to my place because of the smell and was legitimately embarrassed. The craziest part was that every time I would ask Jim to get an exterminator to come, they would say it would happen and then it would never come to fruition, which shows how crummy their management is. The last thing about the apartment is regarding the maintenance families that would help maintain the building. All of the maintenance people, husband and wife, were actually very friendly and nice, the only problem was we had about 5 different families maintain the building throughout my time living there because each one kept quitting. I remember talking to one of the husbands while he was helping me in my kitchen and he was complaining about Jim to me. Again, another testament to their poor management. If you have gotten through this entire review, I am telling you, if Schermerorn and Co. owns the property you are looking to buy: Do yourself a favor and find a different spot, unless it is your absolute LAST RESORT. I have heard so many great stories from friends about their landlords being very understanding and helpful, especially during this crazy time of Corona, but these people could not be further from that type. This was the first property I rented in my whole life and I learned a valuable lesson to not trust these types of people and companies. Schermerhorn and Co. and Jim Schermerhorn specifically should be ashamed of themselves and need to reassess themselves as people and as a company. read more

I've rented from Schermerhorn for several years, in part because I was waiting for the real estate market to bottom out. Overall, the experience has been so-so. The vintage buildings are what you would expect: in need of more (quality) repair than the janitors or management company is willing to provide. The sad thing is, unless you want to pay $2000 and up for a rental, Schermerhorn is likely to be your best bet. I've had some decent interactions with the senior people in the office, but only after having incredibly frustrating experiences with the "front line" people, like building janitors and property managers, who failed to do their job correctly and make the (very) necessary repairs.And even when "repairs" are done, there is more damage done in the process--damage that's never fixed. (Our ancient dining room window was nearly torn out of its frame to "fix" it when it was stuck. So much old rotten wood and paint flew off in the process that we would have been better off leaving it alone. The janitor never cleaned up or offered to remedy the additional damage he did.) In my experience, the janitors completely colored the living conditions, so much so that it became very uncomfortable to live in a Schermerhorn building. Our janitor gossiped like an old lady about tenants to other tenants, including personal details. He once revealed to me who was divorced and under what circumstances. I think you get the picture. My advice? Find a good realtor. read more

AVOID!!!!!!!!!!!ZERO STARS..This is the worst rental company on the planet. When I moved into my building I was told repairs were going to be updated once the summer months came. HA,joke was on me. They've literally done nothing. Besides the dire need for updates the manager JIM is the rudest person you'll ever meet. After months of dealing with a noisy neighbor I finally called the office. He never once showed any compassion,was extremely curt, and push me off on the janitor. In addition they give you your renewal with raised rent at least four months in advance and give you two weeks to sign. Thus putting you in an awkward situation. Please do your self a favor and avoid this company,or stock up on Excedrin. read more

I am updated my review to 0. Avoid this company. They are unprofessional, extremely rude, and just do not care about customer service, from the secretary, to property manager, to broker. I am in building 718 Hinman. These units only have 3 circuits per apartment. Which means, if you actually need to use electricity to function, you will be going up and down to reset the circuits many times. So don't have all the lights on and the dishwasher. I have placed a call to the vice president concerning the professionalism of his management and staff: James Schermerhorn 224-420-9547 I have also called the City of Evanston to see what is within my rights and to report the maltreatment of clients, as well as the double move in fee on one unit. * To report tenant landlord grievances and check on your rights as a tenant with the City of Evanston call 847-501-5760 ext. 411 For 1400 a month, I can easily find an apartment with modern circuitry and a professional leasing company with qualified maintenance. Unfortunately I am legally obligated to be here till this lease ends April 30. It takes a lot for a company to wrong me to the point of reporting them to the city, and getting lawyers involved, it really needs to be on the slumlord level, and that has only been once before in 10 yrs. At this price point, these apartments should be better run and maintained. The details on my situation: My roommate had to leave the lease due to family emergency, they do not sublease. She had to pay $700 to break lease and relet. We found a new roommate, who on top of the $40 application fee was charged $250 non refundable move in fee. I called to inquire why this one unit would be charged a second move in fee, since we had already paid the $200 move in fee last year. I was told it is a move in fee and applies per tenant (which was not the case last year, when me and my original roommate applied). When I asked what it covers, since nothing needs to be cleaned or repaired since the roommate is moving into a occupied unit, I was told by the property manager first to "be quiet" and that he would not sit here and list all the work that goes into moving in a tenant. When contacting Daniel Schermerhorn, the broker, he repeated a move in fee is a move in fee, and that it covers cost of cleaning for moving out. Upon receiving the new lease, the rider specifically lists under section 4 for termination of lease "cleaning and maintenance cost are at a rate of $30 per man hour." When i tried to bring up the issue of un-addressed maintenance issues regarding the falling apart wood windows, he said they would be replaced them in two weeks....when I moved in I was told all the windows would be replaced within that year. The blunt out lie to tenants. The screen on my bedroom window constantly falls in because it was replaced by a screen that was too small. The second bedroom radiator can not be turned on or off without a wrench, since the second attempted repair on it. read more

Heat in my building was not turned on even past Thanksgiving - and much to my displeasure, management denied they were negligent when we were all freezing in our apartment. Had to get the police involved at some point. Poorly maintained building and tenants are not respected. read more

After reading these reviews I don't think I'll be renting here anymore. My review was based on communication skills at this company. I have called and left voicemails with an actual schemerhorn and have not heard a word back. I tried a different rental property with a different contact with the schemerhorn company and haven't heard back from them either. It's been 2 weeks. Either they are finally completing everyone's complaint down below or they just could care less. Moving on. read more

Don't rent from Schermerhorn unless its the last apartment available! I've never been associated with such an unprofessional company. My contact at Schermerhorn lied to me many times about repairing things and making improvements, would never fix anything including a leaking toilet leaking from the sewage line. The only way to get Schermerhorn to do anything is to go through the hassel of submitting a rent withholding form that gives them 10 days to fix something or you can withhold rent and fix it yourself. The roof leaks and they will not fix it, the electrical outlet system in the kitchen only lets you have one appliance on at a time or the power goes out, and the parking lot is so bad it's all mud in many places. Schermerhorn are slumlords and you should avoid them at all costs. Robert L read more

I have been staying in one of the townhouses for 1 year and experience was good till we were dealing with our contact Bill. We had only one occasion to talk to James Schermerhorn and he is a rude person, does not talk properly. Our bad luck that he was Manager on call, and we were very much disappointed as instead of solving our problem, he started shouting and abusing. I will suggest not to take any apartment if your manager is James Schermerhorn. Beware folks. read more

I have to agree with the other reviewers. A Schemerhorn realtor showed my home to an unqualified buyer who made a low ball offer and then never responded to our counter offer. The contract specifies that negotiations should be carried out in good faith and offers should be responded to within a reasonable amount of time, which is not never!! read more

I have had great results from Shermerhorn. Those pictures look like water damage that is in the process of drying up. It also looks like the radiator needs to be replaced. Most can't happen until the boilers get turned off before summer. While this is unsightly unless you are sleeping on the stairs? I'm not sure why this person would be so concerned. Did it get fixed??? How was the apartment in the inside? Blame the owner for a dilapidated apartment not the manager of the building. Someone with a townhouse also mentioned Bill Canon. I once had him manage a property and he was FANTASTIC. Your issues sound like those of an absent owner that won't fix anything and hired him as their scapegoat. Also, that townhouse sounded like crap from the beginning. Why set the bar so high when you noticed so much wrong with the unit. Why did you move in? Were the screens and walls pristine when you did your inspection? I'm sure you were a charm to deal with. Newsflash-when you rent a condo don't act like a tenant and you wont be treated like one. read more

For over 3 years we lived in one-bedroom apartment on 2118 Central St., Evanston, managed by Schermerhorn & Co. Due to a job relocation, we had to leave the premises before the end of the lease. So, we notified the company, and we had to pay $445 (equal to 50% of a month's rent) as a re-renting fee. (Even though we had paid $445, they said that they could not guarantee being able to find any tenants for us, and we would have to pay the monthly rent until they did. The written agreement stated that if they could not re-rent before our lease expired, the fee would be returned to us.) Within two weeks of our notifying the management company, we found the tenants to continue our lease. To find the tenants, we went the extra mile, showing the unit to eight potential renters, posting ads and continuing updates at the local stores on Central St. and on Craigslist. However, the management company found only one potential renter -- 9 days after the current tenants, whom we had found and referred to the management office, had submitted their application to the company. Since we had done the lion's share of the work while they did comparatively little, we requested a partial refund of the $445 re-renting fee they charged to us, but they refused our request. Despite their claim that they needed the $445 to process the re-renting of the apartment, their poor efforts did not justify that amount. In other words, they did not live up to their end of the contract. We would like to inform people of Schermerhorn & Co.'s bad business practice in this regard. We are very sorry that this happened in a nice place like Evanston, IL. If there is any supervisory body over rental-management companies in Evanston, we would like to report this absurd practice to them. read more

I rented from these guys for a few years at the building off Sheridan in Chicago. It was a decent enough building, and they kept pretty good care of it. Never had any problems with the heat, pests, etc. The Janitor in the building, Omar, was a pretty nice guy. I'd recommend. read more