As a licensed realtor in the Washington, DC, area, my dealings with The Barack Company have been strictly related to my brokerage services for one of their listings on 16th Street, not their property management. While I'm sure they may be good property managers, I can't speak to that. My experience was solely in helping my client secure one of their rentals. My client found the unit adequate, though the fact that the bathroom was only accessible through the bedroom was less than ideal. After bringing a ready, willing, and able tenant to the table, I inquired about the cooperating broker fee and was surprised to find that it was only around 10% of the rent. For a monthly rent of $2,038, they were offering just $250. Instead of paying a more reasonable broker fee, they presented incentives that my client found somewhat favorable, but it was disappointing for me as a realtor. Perhaps this explains why the unit had been on the market for over a month. The customer service also left much to be desired. Payment was delayed for several weeks despite my promptly providing the necessary forms. Normally, payment is made at the lease signing, so this was an unnecessary hassle. Overall, I find their business practices unfavorable for realtors. If you're in the business of bringing qualified tenants to the table, beware--The Barac Company doesn't seem to value cooperative broker efforts. Realtors, take caution when dealing with them if you can. read more

Living in this building has been nothing short of a slow never-ending nightmare. The elevator is rarely consistently working, and Barac blamed Potomac Elevator. The walls of my unit are legitimately closing in. The heating rarely if ever works. Cockroaches, oh you mean my neighbors? Live everywhere. Sometimes a bed bug shows up for fun! After two years of living here I also just received a notice that my rent is increasing yet again, so I'm going to be paying more and seeing absolutely nothing come from it. My unit has decreased in value and the building is falling apart as the days go by. The low rent is a trap! Don't! Move! Into! A! Barac! Unit! i tried to give them 0 stars but unfortunately this shit app didn't let me so 1 it is (begrudgingly) read more

negative 10stars! I moved into 5740 Colorado Ave #305 in July, luckily I did month to month!! It's Nov and I've already moved out. Big roaches & mice within a week of moving in. When I called the property manager, his response was " what do you want me to do about it!?" In a very smug tone! However, the contractor who came to plug the numerous holes, many times was very delightful. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the pest problem! The walls & floors are paper thin! The kids next door would make my apt shake from running all day!! Pros: Location, the apts looks nice, but don't let that fool you! read more

Recently moved in to one of their properties. The customer service is inadequate. Often feels like the building jumps to make things presentable for new tenants, but neglects loyal ones. Only pro is the affordable rent and location. One bright spot in customer service was the were the maintenance contractor, Jose. He and his team essentially remodeled our apartment after 7 years last summer. Jose was great, so was his team. However, that should have been done years ago. No tenant should have carpet in a basement apartment in 2019. Even though the men on Jose's team primarily spoke Spanish, and had to deal with communicating with my broken Spanish, they still provided excellent service. On the flip side, when you call the office, folks act like it's a bother. read more

This company doesn't deserve the one star. They are unprofessional and disrespectful in dealing with applicants. I applied to lease an apartment that was not ready for lease and was told that because they couldn't verify my rental history, which I had given them all means to verify, my application was not approved and the apartment was relinquished. I followed up on this request and asked to speak the the supervisor who then berated me for their own negligence. Dismayed that the only reason I didn't qualify was because they couldn't get in contact with someone at my current residence and by the time they received the information they needed they had already released the apartment and kept my application fee. They failed to make every attempt to notify me of such so I could remedy the situation and when I proceeded to inquire as to their practices/policies of such the supervisor was indifferent and irate. If this is their management style please save yourself the trouble as they are unorganized, rude, disrespectful, and not deserving to have your money. You've been warned. read more

This review is solely based on a tour there. First, I work as a leasing agent and I know the correct and proper way to do things, and what I witnessed was sheer unprofessional manners. I arrived when one of the leasing consultants was walking in and I thought she was a tenant as she had an "ODD" appearance for someone showing up to work. (Sign # 1) This is not the place for me. After brushing off that thought, I proceed to enter into what I thought was the leasing office but it was just an apartment that they rented out to workout of on a property that doesn't own the apartment building. After waiting for them to greet and acknowledge me after listening to how one consultant took another's glasses and how he wasn't expecting her to come in today,they asked me what unit's was I hear to see. I told her of the building address from the advertisement on craigslist. After confirming, the address she sent me to a gentleman who proceeded to give me the keys to the unit's I want to see (blank stares). I followed his gesture by asking him is it in this area and are you going to show me the grounds. He said "We don't show you the grounds as we have various properties and that would be time consuming; since they are different locations." WTF! Using my gps and car to drive the ten mins to each building, I proceed to view the apartments. During the first apartment the building key he gave me was universal to all. Which would have been helpful if the doors were locked. Then as I entered the building; I could hear the neighbors music, their kids and other arguments. The apartments are spacious; however the unit's are in unsafe locations and they obviously don't care. If you can't tour me at your location obviously it's not safe and I shouldn't move there. Save your money and time; better off getting a roommate until you can afford your own place. read more

Living at a Barac owned apartment was the worst two years of my living in DC. Although it is true they have lower than market priced rent in locations near the metro, you are also signing up for: 1. Frequent bug and mice problems, 2. paper thin walls, and 3. a bathroom wall that grows mold and mildew no matter how often they send a contractor to repaint or fix the issue. Also, my first winter in the apartment, my radiator was broken for a month before a contractor was sent to fix it. I also had to schedule monthly appointment with the exterminator to attempt to control the bug problem in my studio. Is this experience worth a low rent? I do not think so. read more

I've lived here for some years & im just tired they don't have any customer service skills at all. They don't fix anything, the units they sell you are some shit, they have mice & roaches & they try to overcharge you on your rent! This has been the first ever review I ever did on anyone but I feel like people should know before they purchase an apartment or home! read more

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Poor customer service and worse maintenance. Repairs are left half finished if they even do them. Cheap rent is the only thing this place has, but it's tough to say whether they are cheap enough for the amount of effort to get them to take care of major repairs (holes in the ceiling) or rodent issues. read more

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I have had nothing but complaints since moving in. I should have listened to the other reviewas. I have a really bad roach and rodent problem. None of my complaints are answered. I only hear from the rental office when they don't get a payment on time. The building is full of smokers and things are always stolen. Please stay away if you can. read more

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Hands down some of the worst customer service I've EVER come across in my ENTIRE life. I once tried to offer constructive criticism to a woman at the head office and she beat me down like I'm the problem. Tenants are like cattle. My building is always filthy. I once threw a grocery sized plastic bag of my trash in their building garbage bin and they sent me a threatening letter accusing me of being a nuisance for throwing my trash in the trash rather than do their job and just take it out! I always pay my bill on time. I am respectful of other tenants and try to watch out for the general well being of my neighbors. Our mail is frequently stolen. We've reported it to management and it falls on deaf ears. You can't have packages shipped to the building because they'll surely be stolen. Horrible read more

I'm moving out at the end of this month after living in one of their units for over a year. Everything being said here is true. I fell in love with the unit, but everything has been down hill since. They have the worst management and customer service I have EVER experienced. They are so difficult to deal with when you have a problem - it's almost like they don't even treat you like a human being. I've felt trapped in my apartment for the last few months. Repairs are not made well, the building manager hangs up on you, their work crews are next to incompetent, I've had a group of guys loitering and selling drugs from my front steps (I'm not in a bad area of town), and a neighbor whose heat is still not working. Having said all of that, it's not even the worst of it. As I discovered over the year, my entire building is crawling with bed bugs. Slowly each of my neighbors began telling me of their problem, and then one day sure enough I woke up with bites all down my leg. I started noticing them below the washer and dryer, and even more of my neighbors are complaining now. They have never treated the entire building and just keep treating each unit - chasing them from one apartment to the next. Forget about calling them over and over because it does no good. Please listen - it doesn't matter how adorable the apartment is or how awesome the location is - IT IS NOT WORTH IT TO DEAL WITH THE BARAC CO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Been renting from this company for the past 7 yrs and now all of a sudden they are harassing people for small petty reasons so they can evict them and bring new tenants in. We can all see it. Its sad to be loyal to a company for so long, while receiving terrible service (maintenance is and has always been a nightmare) just to have them flip the script. read more

Absolutely brutal customer service. I loved the location. they were annoying and I will try to avoid the company in the future but I don't have complaints about the condition or location of the apartment. read more

I lived in a Barac property in NW DC for almost 10 years. I moved in right after finishing university in DC, and stayed because I worked in a non-profit (and while the cost of living was going up around me in Columbia Heights, my rent stayed very, very affordable). There are some pros for living in a Barac property. PROS: it's inexpensive for pretty large units with really gorgeous charm and hardwood floors. I rarely needed repairs but if I did, they were ok and the people in the office were very nice to me. polite and responsive. My neighbors were very nice, families, and older, long time DC residents. I feel like we really looked out for one another. I knew people's kids, and saw them grow up. The cons however...oh, the CONS: management constantly tried to add extra charges and fees to my account (for repairing a clogged kitchen sink after 7 years of living there! their reason: they found a child's toy in my kitchen sink. I do not have children.), old, unrenovated building - bordering on dilapidated but still liveable. washers flood constantly. bed bug issues all around me no matter how many times they "sprayed." I never had an excessive mouse or roach problem -- but I could see how it could easily get out of hand, because some of my neighbors bordered on hoarding and no matter how clean you are, you can't control animals moving from apartment to apartment (Tip: before moving in, try to seal every crevice). the walls were paper thin: coughing, arguing, kids throwing balls, music-- I could hear it all. It was a poorly managed and sometimes unsafe building. Our door telecom never worked in my 9.5 years living there so people propped the door open, and there was literally a sign on our back door that said "Please don't urinate or do drugs in the hallway." I was much more concerned about pee than drugs, tbh. I needed a cheap place. I got what I paid for. The key-- lower your expectations. read more

No. Just....no. The Barac gets by on that it has cheap, relatively large apartments. I tried to rent my first solo apartment through this company. Two months after putting my application in, still no word. I eventually stopped calling and moved on. Found another property, applied, and two weeks later I've already moved in. From the failure of staff to answer the phone to poor communication between them, the Barac is clearly not well organized. A few examples of their poor service: 1) Persistent, I visited the office one day instead of calling and saw how there were only two staff in the front working. Neither acknowledged me, nor did the other two people who came from the back. After about 10 minutes of standing there, I tried calling (while still there) to see what would happen. The person looked at the phone, grunted loudly, complain to their coworker, and ignored it. Then I suddenly became visible. The person was nice enough during out face-to-face interaction, but was clearly overworked. Their niceness also meant little in the grand scheme of things. 2) I visited over 10 properties managed by the Barac. Only a handful were actually livable for anyone with standards. One apartment was in a basement more dusty than an unclean vacuum; as the person showing me the apartment talked, I learned that drug dealers and addicts regularly did their duty in the backyard. The backyard connected to the apartment in the basement. Another apartment had foam filler all over the wall, coming out of the baseboard heater and bathroom pipes, in the shower, in the toilet, on the floor. The apartment after that? Walked in to a wonderfully giant stove covered in not-so-wonderful, well, I'm not sure what it was. But it wasn't supposed to be there. Neither was the roach in the bathroom. 3) The company told me to call one week after submitting my application. Fair enough. I call and am told my application was never reviewed because they discovered something wrong. Instead of calling me about it, they just let it sit. Fine. I fixed the issue. A week later, something else pops up. I resolved it. Then something else. Resolved. Then they requested paperwork that it illegal to provide. Final straw, gave up. I ended up missing out on four apartments that I was excited about because of this company's carelessness. Probably for the better, though. If you're desperate and can't find/afford anything else, go with the Barac and don't hope for much. If you can do a little more digging, though, there are other options. I sacrificed location/space for good customer service and have no regrets. read more

STAY AWAY!!! Bed bugs at the 1614 17th st nw DC . While moving in i noticed bed bugs crawling on the wall. The management although were quick to send a technician , they sprayed numerous times but the bugs kept on coming ;( I loved the location and the apartment but I had to move out . read more

The Barac Company has a ton of inexpensive properties. You can stop by their office in Takoma and flip through four thick binders full of pictures to get a sense of what a big company it is. It's impressive that they manage to manage to so many properties with old technology (check out their website, their office, or their payment policies), an incompetent staff, and a general sense of disrespect not just for the customer, but for each other. We looked at a really nice, inexpensive apartment in Capitol Hill, put in our application (on paper, hand-delivered, because Barac is stuck in the 1970s), and were approved. While applying, we got to witness a supervisor condescend to, and even straight-up yell at, the woman who was helping us, but neither my partner nor I thought too much of it. When we went to sign the lease, it was our turn. First, they told us to sign a form saying we had inspected the apartment and that there were no problems with it. While we had seen the apartment a few days before, we hadn't inspected it. I brought up that point and was told to just sign it. Again, we went along with it. Then it came to talk about the move-in date: we had been told by the person who showed us the apartment that there was some flexibility with the lease start date, but the supervisor (the same one who had been so rude to her employee before) told us that wasn't the case. We balked. She brought her boss out, who coldly told us that we were wrong, that no employee would have told us anything like what we claimed, and that we were lying. So, we left, out the $80 application fee, but saved from dealing with a bunch of rude, incompetent people. While were waiting, we also got to eavesdrop on another employee on the phone telling a resident that they didn't actually have a roach problem in their apartment. read more

I live at the Sophie on 1847 Mass Ave SE. If I would have read these reviews before moving in, I would have ran the opposite way and never EVER looked back. However, I'm here now so I'll just list the pros and cons. Pros: 1. The management lady here at the building is friendly 2. Safe neighborhood 3. Friendly tenants Cons: 1. Laundry room only has two Very Old washing machines and two Very Old dryers. They don't work, and they will take all of your quarters. 2. If your not living on the top floor, you can hear EVERY single thing from the floor on top of you. It's rediculous, I'm sure if the upper floors were carpeted with foam under it (which I thought was mandatory) it wouldn't be as unbearable 3. The back door is always unlocked, so anyone can walk in whenever they want, I feel sorry for the tenants that live by the door because it's always being slammed constantly, if the door is going to be unlocked, they need to at least put a padding on it so it won't slam so loudly. 4. If your in need of a repair, they Will Not Budge, my mailbox has been broken for sometime now, to be exact for about 2 months, still no maintenece. I had to fix my own tub facet the best way I knew how (still having issues) 5. The windows are painted shut. 6. No online option to pay your bills 7. The cable literally comes from the ceiling from a little cord, theirs really no way to make this look appealing 8. In the font of the building, there is a major health hazard/violation. The step that's by the door is very unleveled, making it impossible not to trip and fall a few time. Especially your guest. I can go on in on, but I wouldn't recommend moving here if you need privacy, quietness, a clean and working laundry room, and safety. This place is serving its purpose, but I won't be here for too much longer. read more

If I could give them a lower rating, I would. I lived here several months ago and this was the worst renting experience of my life. The apartment looks fine when you first see it, but the construction is so poor that it is unbelievable. You can basically hear people whispering in the apartment next to you. You can also hear anytime a step is taken above you. Everything here was constructed as cheaply as possible. In addition, the customer service is abysmal. I'd never dealt with a shadier bunch of people. They couldn't be any less responsive or competent. They have given me the wrong keys to my apartment twice upon moving in. God forbid you have an issue within 30 minutes of their closing time. I came to get the keys from them around 4:30. I went to my apartment and the keys didn't work. I then called the office at 4:45. They said they were sending someone out to help me get in. Instead, they waited until 4:59 and called my neighbor asking them to open the front door for me, which did me no good as I had no keys to the actual apartment. I called them back and all of my calls we're sent to voice mail. Their office is zero help. Nobody is able to help you or they are not willing to help you. You are either responded to with attitudes or by forwarding you to voice mail. I should've taken the hint when I first tried to arrange a time to sign the lease. While I was trying to arrange a time so that I could give them my money, the woman that I was speaking to began to get loud and basically told me that they would not be flexible and did not care about my schedule at all. Not to mention, the cops always seem to be called to the property and it sounds like fights are breaking out in the apartments every week. The bottom line is that I've had to go through this horrible experience. I'm not the type to write internet reviews and I am fairly easy going, but this was such a bad experience that I needed to share it out of the hopes that I would save somebody else this frustration. Please, please, please save yourself and don't rent a Barac property. I would never live in a Barac property again. Truly horrible, absolute slumlords. read more

This was the most confusing and disheartening experience I have had thus far while searching for an apartment. No, I DID NOT move into a Barac owned unit -- but I visited the apartment and even filled out the application with every intention on turning it in if I discovered I liked the apartment. It was located in Eastern market only 3 blocks from the metro so you know that is prime real estate. (The Saratoga) For $700 a month, I figured it was a steal! When I called Barac to inquire if the unit was still available, I was told "yes" but subsequently transferred to a very rude woman who hollered at me and practically refused to answer my questions about the apartment. She told me that there was an application pending on the apartment. When I asked her if I could apply -- just in case things do not work out she said she could not advise me on whether or not to do that and hung up the phone. I called the Super at the building to schedule an "appointment" to view the apartment...he seemed nice enough & told me to call him 30 minutes before the day I wanted to visit. Since he lived on site, it would be easy for him to show me the space...or so he said. A few days later, when I call (an hour before I plan on being there) he instructs me that he is at another property and should be there by the time I arrived. When I did arrive (albeit cold weather and rain!) he is not there and gets another tenant to let me into the building. I was mistaken!!! The outside of the building was very nice, newly painted, nice landscaping...only the windows seemed very old at first glance. When I entered I noticed that there was a very musty smell about the building and that it was very dark. I called the Super back, and he instructed me to go up to the unit and view it myself (go figure, right?)...the door was unlocked . OH THE SIGHTS!!! The "living area" was barely 50 sq feet the place was covered in cobwebs and dust. Someone had left a drop cloth, ladder and paint bucket right in the middle of the room.The windows were practically fallling out of the structure! The bathroom was covered in a layer of grime and was so dark...they need to call Bath Fitter STAT! The kitchen was equally dirty, and in dire need of renovations. That fridge looked like it came out the day I was born, twenty something years ago! I spotted several open crevices around the radiators that could easily allow critters to get in. I took plenty of pictures. I was also pretty worried about the creaky floor and and thin walls. When I was exiting the building, I could hear someone talking on their phone from an apartment on the other side of the cluster. The Super called me after I had already left the building and asked me what I thought. A nice gesture, I will credit him. I saw that this unit is no longer available on the Barac site, so I'm sure that some poor soul will be moving in soon. I feel very sorry for them! The building is in an excellent neighborhood and has plently of potential, but someone needs to put a lot of TLC into some pratical renovations and it won't be BARAC! Tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but they truly must be slumlords! read more

The worst apartment,I've ever lived in! All the reviews are accurate! The rent in some areas are cheaper than most. If you can avoid, please do! read more

Ok, this is my second review but more of an update. I've been very proactive in spreading the word in The Barac Co.'s unprofessional, horrible customer service, no integrity, low class staff and mismanagement of their practices. It turns out each person I spoke to familiar with them did not have anything positive or good to say about Barac Co. Hilarious! I recently was provided the contact information for the owner(s) of my previous address as I fully intend on reaching out to them. I feel sorry for the unsuspecting owners who has decided to partner with The Barac Co. as their property management firm. If they're fully aware of their practices then shame on them. Goodbye for now! Friendly reminder to all who are looking for a reputable, professional property management firm....DO NOT RENT WITH THE BARAC CO.!!!! read more

I tried getting an appointment to view a property they had for rent. I called the main office via the phone number on the sign at the property and was directed to one of their "agents". I called four times over two days and the woman never bothered returning my calls. I called the main office again and was told the agent was the only one who could help me. At that point I called a fifth time, no response. If this is how they do business I'm glad it didn't work out. I would have loved to have lived at the location, but their customer service was extremely lacking. read more

Most outdated company and worst customer service I have ever had to deal with! I only rented a parking spot at one of their properties for $50 per month (I didn't live in the building, just wanted a cheap spot to leave my car in DC), yet I had to go through a full credit check and put down a security deposit in order to rent the spot. They even called my work to verify my employment and salary!!! It took over a month just to get approved for the parking spot, and when they needed additional documents they would send me a physical letter in the mail instead of just calling or emailing me. Their entire office is SO outdated, they required payment in money orders and the place looked like my 90 year old grandparents' basement that hasn't been updated since the 1960's. Anyway, I finally got the parking spot but was never able to actually use the spot because every time I went to the building someone else was parked in it. I talked to other residents at the building and they said this happens all the time and it wasn't worth waiting 3 hours for the police to come ticket it and call a towing company. I also got in an altercation with a resident who claimed my parking spot belonged to him. After having to tow several cars from my spot, I finally I just gave up and called the Barac Co. for a refund. It only took over an hour of being on hold and being transferred to 6 different people to finally talk to someone about the problem. I have to send them a physical letter in the mail to explain what happened and why I want my money back, but at least this ordeal will be over soon! If this is how much trouble I went through for just a parking spot, I can't imagine how bad it would be to rent an apartment from them. Avoid at all costs! read more

Their customer service is awful. I loved my apartment manager, but they shadily fired her. They haven't updated their apartments in eons and still charge you highway robbery for what you're getting. When I'm paying upwards of $1,200, I expect for people at least to be attentive to fixes/repairs. Not in the least - they send in a "repairman" who is someone who does a half-ass job. I still have missing tile from my bathtub where the person supposedly "fixed" it. And there's black mold I'm pretty sure growing out of all of my vents - can only imagine how much it's been awful for my health. I've been renting there for 3 years now and they keep upping the rent. I've paid my rent on time (early, even) for 3 years and they're not willing to negotiate keeping the rent controlled. I also asked if they could pro-rate the month that I'd be moving out and they said absolutely not. Arian (?) is also a huge jerk. They're not in the business of being friendly and they treat people like crap. Makes me so mad that I've paid them upwards of $45,000 over the last three years. This is my only form of vindication - this company is full of creeps - hopefully you steer clear. read more

The customer service and overall attitude of the staff at Barac Co is absolutely horrific. The staff always treats you as though you are inconveniencing them, whereas, it is actually them that are making your living miserable. The company is poorly run and I would never in a lifetime recommend them to anyone-- not even my worst enemy. The units they have are affordable, but you receive the service and treatment you pay for. If you're considering renting from Barac-- DON'T. read more

Thanks so much me and my hubby to be were planning on getting our first place here because it was cheap and no other sites werent comparable and were only 21 just starting out but i see that wont be necessary ...because as all of you stated they are true slumlords and don't care about the reaction, nor statement, or comments that you made i found very valuable and i read them all ..... thank a ton...... keekee read more

Worst apartment ever! Thank God I don't live there anymore! Horrible customer service! Staff was incompetent and rude. Without any advanced notice or warning, we would lose water, electricity, and the communal washer and dryer in the basement would go out of service. They don't take ownership of anything and instead try to blame the contractors that they hire and pay. Also, they have some really questionable tenants. A furniture rental company was basically pounding on our neighbors door day after day, waiting outside our building to try and reclaim their furniture from a tenant who wouldn't answer their door. People would pound on the building door in the middle of the night for hours, disrupting the entire building. Once, our family ordered a very large package from a retailer, and the delivery provider left the package inside the building, which you need a key to get into. A tenant -- our neighbor -- stole our very valuable package! We later saw the exact items we ordered -- same exact brand, same exact color, same exact quantity, in the communal washer and dryer in the basement. Who wants to live with such disrespectful neighbors? read more

I lived at 1321 Kenyon st. NW for 2 years and it was for lack of a better word excellent. The location was excellent, the building was always clean and not to mention the great overall management of the building and customer service. The contractors were always on time,respectable and always cleaned up after themselves. The price of the rent for the location was to die for.....metro, shops,bars and grocery stores were a block away. If I had not gotten married and moved out of the district for my husbands job....we would still be there. If you have a chance to move in this building....DO NOT HESITATE.....Buildings like this are few and far in between read more

I am currently a tenant at a Barac Company property. My lease is up in May and they have given me nothing but issues. I moved in a year ago, and I have been ready to leave since the 6th month of living here. The building is very old and it faces 295. Every time a truck goes over the highway the whole building shakes, and I feel like my front windows are going to fall out of the wall. The maintenance sucks and do a half ass job. I've made several phone request, verbal request in person, and written request and it took for me to not pay my rent one time and consult a lawyer for them to come fix one of my request ( a shower rod that fell on my head that was hanging off the wall while I was in the shower). The walls here are very thin...you hear every creek in the wood. You can hear the mice running through the walls during the day and night. You can hear the mice in the stoves and radiators as well. They schedule once in a blue moon for an exterminator to come but when no one is home. So they just put some sticky traps under your door and say they will be back in a month. I've had my sink flood with black water several times. My refrigerator leaks water and freezes everything in the refrigerator and it is on 4. The freezer melts everything. I am loosing money every month buying groceries. When I tell their costumer service department they give me a number to call a plumber or a technician to come out. Hello....isn't that suppose to be their job and why I am paying all this rent? I've seen others on the property not pay rent for months and run up a bill of $4200 worth of rent and Barac let them stay there for months. I was a few days late on mine and they are pushing eviction papers on me. My sister-in-law lived a few buildings up and she was current on her rent and they wrongfully evicted her and they never sent her a notice. I hate dealing with these people...they are rude, unprofessional and one of the WORST SLUMLORDS. They make the properties fit enough to move in when you view the apartments but once you move in to them everything starts falling apart within the month. All they are about is money...ARIAN is the worst person to deal with. Is there anyone else above him to talk to? It's like you get no where with his cocky, asshole, prick attitude. It's like you can't get anything done to your apartment unless you call the Housing Authority or call 7 on Your Side! They truly need to be sued because they are the worst people to rent from. The property was previously run by Morris Management which is another SLUMLORD company. My windows don't have screens in them, some of them are painted shut which is a health and safety hazard. The maintenance people changed the locks on the building door, so all the tenants had to basically rely on each other to get in the building. Not only did we all complain, but they changed the locks back to the old one and still did not tell us that is was back to the same old lock. The only reason we found out was because the mail man kept coming in and out of the building with ease. The bugs are terrible....every thing in this apartment is just terrible. I can't wait till May 9th when my lease is up because I will never rent from these people again. If I could give these people a negative rating I would....the price will pull you in but the Barac Company will push you out. They are money hungry, inconsiderate, unprofessional, and point blank idiots. I could go on all day about what is wrong with this place but I hate this property. DO NOT RENT FROM THE BARAC COMPANY BECAUSE YOU WILL REGRET IT IN THE LONG RUN! read more

I fell in love with an apartment in Columbia Heights and put in an application. First off, they want originals of EVERYTHING so you need to go to the office in person. No online payments of any kind, cash or money order only for applications. They are not friendly or helpful and acted put off by any of my questions. I put in my application on a Tuesday knowing that the apartment I was applying for wasn't ready yet and they couldn't give me a move in date. I was told to call the following Monday to check in. It took me an hour to reach someone in the leasing office that day, and they still couldn't tell me my move in date. With my time crunch, I had to pass. Don't use this place if you want a business that will be flexible and helpful. It's their way or the highway, if you don't like it they'll tell you to move on. read more

The WORST management company. Very rude and unprofessional !!!!!!!!. They hate answering questions - go figure - and when you raise a concern in any way, your accused of having an attitude. Several years ago, a 1st floor tenant place was broken into, she asked managment to place an additional bolt on the sliding glass door. The accountant, who I guess was handling the front desk was so nasty and refusing to assist, even when she produced a copy of the police report. He didnt want to make a copy. No empathy, no I am sorry, let me see what I can do... nothing. Needless to say, she ended up purchasing a lock from Home Depot and paying someone to install it. They constantly make mistakes, threaten you with notices which causes you to take off of work to straigthen their issues out. If you ever visited the office, there is plexiglass between you and workers. Hmm, I wonder why??????. Maintenence is every slow but eventually they come if you threaten to put the rent in escrow or call DCRA. If at all possible, avoid renting with The Barac Company as the property manager. read more

7611 ga. ave. nw the building really need renovations bed bug infested mice problems cracks in all the walls in the apartment from the tremor we have walls are bubbling they just need to fix the place up they think we don't know that William C. Smith own the building already just had to get a different name. read more

Great past 2 years living at the 1321 Kenyon St NW location. If I didn't have to move for work, I'd still be there for sure! Great location, close to all the shops & restaurants that Columbia Heights has to offer AND Metro station is literally a 5 minute walk! Really can't beat it for the low prices. Management was always responsive when I needed them (which was not very often) and friendly at the same time. Made some friends in the building and everyone was respectful of each other too. Kept a tidy place, so I never had issues with pests, mice, etc... Would definitely recommend to anyone... read more

This is the worst property management company I've ever dealt with. If I could give them zero stars, I would. I do not recommend renting from this company. Their customer service is deplorable. I no longer rent from this company and never will again. First of all, simply signing the lease took weeks. Although we came prepared with the typical renters paperwork (bank statements, letters of employment, pay stubs, rental history, etc.) and had the necessary funding, the plethora of paperwork they wanted signed came in piecemeal requests, so the process was stretched on and on despite our best efforts to complete the transaction more efficiently. Also, Barac's office closes at 4:30 pm, and they did not offer any flexibility for clients working during normal business hours. Some examples regarding their paperwork: they were not interested in our rental history, but rather demanded a notarized letter proving where we had spent the previous night. Aside from this being a truly ridiculous request, it is also most likely a violation of the the Fair Housing Act. My husband and I had just moved from New York City to Washington, DC and were staying with family while we tried to sign the lease to our new apartment, so we were able to provide the letter, but it seemed like one more unnecessary step in an already drawn out process. And another example: when they were finally ready to accept our cashier's check for the first month's rent and safety deposit, they refused the check because we provided one check for the total amount, and they belatedly informed us that they wanted two separate cashier's checks for the individual amounts. It was a lot of petty issues like the ones listed here that made the entire signing process a very frustrating experience. When we were finally able to sign all their paperwork, they delayed our move-in date by another week, saying that the apartment needed to be cleaned and repainted. So we waited, of course, and when we finally did move in to the apartment, it had been neither cleaned nor repainted. It was the dirtiest, filthiest apartment I've ever moved into. When we called to complain, it took them weeks to send someone to repaint the apartment, and we had to clean and scrub the apartment ourselves, buying our own cleaning supplies to boot -- we were not reimbursed. The apartment itself was fine after we spent a lot of money, time, and energy cleaning it. But it had been very cheaply repaired over the years and when any issues arose, Barac did not respond promptly. Their customer service was terrible -- staff were consistently rude and evasive. Some issues that came up during our lease -- we unexpectedly lost water for two days; the washer and dryer in the basement were out of service one weekend -- a lot of things that should have been repaired quickly but instead were met with very defensive, aggressive responses from Barac, with a slow, unapologetic resolution. Based on my experience, I do not recommend renting from this company. read more