This place runs a rental application scam... Their buildings smell like cat pee and the rental agent told me they have had problems with bed bugs.... Don't trust them!!!! I dot all my i's and cross all my t's when looking for an apartment. I know it is tough competition in Chicago, especially in the spring and summer months. When I contacted the rental agent, Brian, he told me to bring a check for the application fee and the first months rent to an open house in Rogers Park so that I could be ahead of the other applicants. The lobby of the building he wanted us to rent smelled like cat urine. When we disapproved he sent us to another nicer building that "had just opened up" that day. Since we were the first and only ones on the open house to have everything ready to hand in at the end of the showing I was certain it would go to us..... He took 1 week to get back to us and said someone else had an application in before us that was approved. The only unit open was the one with the cat pee lobby. Check had been cashed on the same day as the open house. read more

When making the first maintenance request in a new place, you don't know what to expect, and we were pleasantly surprised especially by Mas and Reuben. We've lived here one month and after just moving in I've had a great experience with maintenance in the apartment. We put together a list of 11 maintenance requests ranging from very small issues (e.g., noisy fans in multiple rooms) to slightly more important things like installing our AC unit, fixing the dining room light fixture, and replacing a cracked shower head.  We emailed our list of requests to Mas and received a reply within 12hrs that included notice about maintenance people arriving to the apartment the next day. Three maintenance people, Mas, Reuben and George, arrived on time during the 3 hour window within which we had been notified they would be there.  Almost all of the issues were resolved within an hour but Reuben stayed longer to follow up on a variety of smaller things like replacing dimmer switches to keep the fans more quiet. We had three outstanding issues that could not be resolved on the spot, and Mas called and hired an electrician, Stan, to come out the following day to repair the light fixture that needed more attention and special parts.  I received follow up phone calls, texts, and voicemails confirming the arrival time of the hired electrician the following day, as well as the timing that Rueben would return the next day to replace a GFI outlet with a new part he had to go buy.  I've read the previous reviews, and my experience suggests that the property management company has been responsive to improving their practices around providing notice.  I wasn't just provided notice, these appointments were scheduled around times that I could be in the apartment to discuss the issues and oversee the repairs. Through out the process, I interacted with Mas, Reuben, and the electrician, Stan, the most.  Mas and Reuben were thorough, and reviewed our list of requests with me multiple times through out the couple days it took to get the parts for the repairs, and considered their work done once I had agreed that everything had been completed to our satisfaction.  Not every request was possible, for example, smoothing the tracking in the 3 kitchen pantry drawers wasn't possible because the shelves are old and weren't built with the tracks I would have expected.  But the issue was revisited and reassessed more than once by both Mas and Rueben to verify this, and explain the issue, which I appreciated. Stan was also really helpful and went beyond what he needed to do by helping me with extra questions about our air conditioner before he left after fixing the light.  Even though it wasn't what he was called in to do, he helped me resolve a question about the AC unit by assessing the outlets in the apartment and identifying an outlet that work work for our 115V unit (it was too powerful and blew a different circuit, which incidentally also turns off the hot water heater for the whole building until a maintenance person comes out to turn it back on).  Stan offered some advice that could probably help other tenants in the same situation: usually an outlet in the front of the apartment by the window, or in the bedroom by the window as in our case, is better suited for an AC unit and can handle a higher power appliance.  As a side note, in our building I can reset the breaker if a circuit blows (unlike in a previous review in a different building) and I was shown how to do this by Rueben. In all, Mas and Rueben have been responsive, pleasant, and have done great work. Our apartment is great: pest free, spacious, and generally in good condition.  We love the character of the vintage built in cabinetry and fixtures, the two private outdoor spaces, shared yard, and parking.  The bathroom window is cracked, the bathtub appears to be painted with latex paint, and one window in the kitchen does not open, but neither of these issues affect the functioning of the window or bathtub. The process of viewing the apartment, corresponding with the management company, and signing the lease was satisfactory and went smoothly.  During the signing of the lease all of our questions were addressed and we felt there was plenty of time to ask questions. read more

Like a lot of other people we've had nothing but trouble getting any maintenance requests taken care of. They have maintenance portal which seems to be completely ignored. It seems that they'll take care of something if you bother them enough and it usually comes several months late. Currently dealing with a roach problem they just flat out ignore. They seemed great when setting up times to see the apartment and sign the lease, but they are uninterested in actually maintaining the apartment. The common areas are rarely cleaned and only after a lot of pestering. I'd suggest you look elsewhere for a properly management company. read more

I recently called inquiring about a apartment that I was looking to rent. I had a great experience on the phone with Stephanie. She was polite, she gave me all the information I need and gave me the phone number for a leasing agent. read more

I've been a resident in a Winnemac Property since July of 2014. Here's the good: The apartment is beautiful...spacious...nice finishes...they keep up the grounds very well (ie. lawncare & snow removal.) The building does not have critters (bedbugs roaches or otherwise) that I've seen other reviewers complain about. They have a convenient autodraft of rent payment so I don't have to remember/go out of my way to mail a paper check every month. Everytime I call the office, people are pretty pleasant and easy to deal with. The application process was very straightforward, and they were accomodating for me to move in the day before my true move in date because of my overzealous previous landlord wanting me out on the 30th. I've had to call the 24 hour maintainence line twice...once for my hotwater heater that stopped working, and the second time for a leak in the sink/dishwasher which was gushing water. They were very responsive. The bad: Getting maintenance for non emergency issues is like pulling teeth. I called on Sunday (1/4/2015) because I smelled gas when I turned on my oven and the drain stopper in my master bathroom won't stay down so water won't stay in the tub. They told me to turn the stove off, someone came by and took a quick look at it and said they'd get an appliance tech out to look at it and a plumber to look at the stopper. As of today, 1/8/2015, I have yet to hear back from them with a time for the service guys to come out. I'll update when I finally do get to use my oven again...which stinks because I am an avid baker. The last non-emergency issue I had: maggots in the stand up master shower...took two months for them to come out to address :-(. If it were not for their lack of attention to maintenance requests, I would have given them 5 stars, but that is a huge part of an apartment rental. read more

We signed our lease May 1st.We LOVE our apartment.Our rental agent Drew was more than helpful.Wendy in the North office is great to work with.The property owner has been very responsive to our requests and the little things that needed fixing were taken care of right away. Winnemac Properties did a lovely job renovating and what we appreciate most of all is that our rent is affordable. We hope to make this our home for a long while.We have already recommended Winnemac to our friends. read more

if you want to live with mice and roaches, come live here! maintenance is never done rigt, they will barge into your house without notice and make a huge mess while trying to "not" fix anything. you go to bed breathing in weed thanks to your neighbors. read more

I had a very pleasant experience renting from Winnemac Properties! Diane in the office is very helpful, and any required maintenance was always completed quickly. I've rented from several management companies over the years and Winnemac is at the top of the heap for sure. They even helped us find new renters when we purchased a home a couple months before our lease was scheduled to end, which we thought was really kind. We were in our apartment for two years and would have stayed much longer had we not decided to buy instead of rent. read more

Very Very bad behaviour by the leasing staff. They are very nice in the beginning until you sign the lease but after that if you try to call them they speak in a unfriendly,rude fashion. Worst people and unprofessional service.Especially a person in the leasing office who goes by the name Stephanie Lambrecht is super rude and very irritating to talk to her!! read more

My girlfriend and I just yesterday decided to go through with the pre-lease payment/paperwork. Yes, we have seen all of the nasty comments complaints which we got quite a kick out of. So far these guys have been responsive and helpful. We have no problem making payments and both maintain healthy credit scores so we hope all goes smoothly as we love the apt at this particular property and wont hesitate to sign the lease once and if approved. Thanks to Fredd for getting back to us asap with our questions and concerns. So far so great! Ricky and Maura read more

I think the five star review must've been written by someone employed by this terrible company. Winnemac Properties is by far the worst property management company that I have ever worked with. They habitually lie, never live up to the law without threats (just try to have your walkway shoveled or salted! - HAH!) They definitely enter the apartment without giving any notice - let alone 24 hours' notice. Worst of all are their lies. In our desperation to get out of this mismanaged experience, we threatened a law suit and finally agreed that they would show the apartment. They obviously had lined up someone to take the place - but not after trying to extort an additional six months' rent from us. When we caught them in their lie (had friends try to make appointments to view the apartment), they capitulated. Their buildings may be lovely, but they are not well-maintained, so they won't stay nice for long. And, ultimately, they are not worth the hassle of dealing with them. read more

I am writing this as a complaint about one of the people that shows apartments for this company. I would never have written this if it weren't a culmination of several instances of incompetence, disrespect, and overall bad business. Currently, our apartment is being shown so that new tenants can sign a lease starting in October. Of course, the asking price is a few hundred dollars more than what it was last year (assuming the price will drop to last year's price when no one signs for the current asking price), which means that we have had 20+ showings in the last few weeks. I work from home; therefore it is pretty inconvenient to have to step outside every time, but I have been reasonable with everyone. Even Brian, but he really pushed our buttons the last few weeks. First, on 3-4 different occasions he has said "Heads up, I'm showing your apartment" sometimes not even 24 hours before. Everyone else has had the respect (and quite honestly I think you are required to) to ask if that time works. We have been clear, "please ask." Yet, he continues to just tell us when he is going to show up where we live and work. Second, he has shown up unannounced once. My roommate and I were watching TV that evening. He brought three different parties that walked through for a total of 30 minutes as we were trying to unwind for the day. Third, on one showing, I went outside to make a phone call for work. Our super left and went home. I left the door unlocked. They looked at the apartment and then when they left, they locked the nob lock, which we didn't have a key for. I ended up having to sit outside for 3 hours waiting for our super because Brian said "Oh I'm sorry, don't know how I can help. Call your super" when it was, in fact, him who locked it. Why he locked the door when he knew I was outside is puzzling. It's also puzzling why he wouldn't just leave it as he found it. At the end of the day, I don't really care what happens. As a person who is in the process of building a business, I wouldn't want someone as disrespectful and incompetent as Brian to work for my organization. read more

I had an awful experience while living at an apartment run by Winnemac Properties. I would of loved to live in my apartment another year or two, but after experiencing what I experienced with our landlord who either owns Winnemac Properties or works for them, I decided to get out of there ASAP. First instance: The landlord was not present when I signed my lease, but the guy that toured the apartment with me and was there at the signing told me that gas was included in the rent. I had it in writing on the lease and everything. I get my first gas bill and call the landlord to ask him what he would like me to do with it because gas is included. He said, "that was a mistake and gas is not included." When I proceeded to tell him that I have it in writing that gas is included in the rent, he proceeded to FLIP OUT on me saying it was a mistake and making all of these excuses up. The conversation went downhill on his behave and I told him that I would just pay it because I didn't want to deal with him and his asshole ways. Call me stupid, but I didn't pay a security deposit and didn't need his scummy ass coming after me for money once I moved out. It was a regular $25 bill that I know he could of afforded, just as I did, but he opted to make such a big deal about it that I ended up paying for all of the gas even though legally I was not held accountable for it. JOKE. Second instance: My bike was stolen out of the laundry room and when I noticed there were cameras in there, I asked my landlord if I could sit down with him and watch the tape to see what happened. He said he couldn't do that and out of curiousity, I asked why and if the cameras were real or not. Although I was upset that my brand new $150 beach cruiser was stolen out of a locked laundry room, this was by no means a heated conversation, but he EXPLODED in a fit of rage that he wasn't lying and that the camera was real. The conversation ended after he screamed at me and I said I would just fill out a police report and see what happens. He ended up calling me back the following week to tell me he "watched" the tapes and it was "three thug guys" that took my bike. He couldn't seem to find it in him to apologize for my lost bike and apologize for not being able to do much for me. Thanks for the follow-up? Third instance: This takes the cake! It was a Friday night in the dead of summer (roughly 85-90 degrees outside) and I had some friends coming to visit and did not have A/C in my apartment, but I did have one window unit in my bedroom. I was on the 3rd floor, so it was HOT and I NEEDED that window unit A/C to be working 24-7. I was blow drying my hair in my bedroom to keep cool and I blew a fuse. I could not find the circuit breaker anywhere in my apartment, but then I quickly remembered it was downstairs in the laundry room. Low and behold, my apartment's circuit breaker was not in there, it was in a locked room that I could not access. So, here I am, in the pitch black, with no A/C and no lights and I have 3 friends on their way to stay with me all weekend. GREAT! I call my landlord and I reach his voicemail. I left a voicemail explaining the situation and asking that he call me back ASAP to help with the situation. I waited a half hour and never heard anything so I called the emergency maintenance line and got the voicemail to that as well. I am extremely frustrated at this point and all I want is for someone to answer me. It should not be that hard to get in touch with a landlord or maintenance man. To make a long story semi-short, my landlord never called me back and never fixed my issue UNTIL the next day once I called him AGAIN. Unbelievable!!!!! Your job is to service people and make sure all of your tendants are happy and taken care of. WHY ARE YOU IN THIS BUSINESS? When I finally got a hold of him the next day, his response was "oh yeah, I got your message, I'll be over in a sec to flip your switch." THAT IS ALL IT WOULD OF TAKEN and he didn't bother helping me the night before which is absurd to me. When I asked him what I could do to avoid this happening again, he responded with, "maybe don't run your A/C unit and blowdryer at the same time." THANKS A LOT, ASSHOLE! Needless to say - DO NOT sign a lease with this company. It's a joke and so are the people that work for them. Just a bunch of money-sucking landlords that are shady as hell and so ungodly rude. read more

These guys are bastards and have no qualms about demanding co-signers at double the cost and then pitting their applicants against each other in a bidding war so that they can profit. Their job is to read the applications, check the references and then find the best renters - not to take the application fee and then up the rent to the highest bidder. This happens in the real estate world but is not common in the rental world. These are just greedy people taking advantage of their clientele. Run the other way. read more

I've lived in a winnemac property for a total of 2 days and I already want tear my hair out. The only reason I am staying is because of it's unbeatable location to my university. There was a $300 move in fee for each of us, but it seems none of that money was used for what they said it would be. Half our windows are painted shut (a fire hazard) and 4 more are broken. The place was filthy when we moved in. Multiple lightbulbs were out and we are still waiting to have some replaced. The ad for the apartment said there was central air conditioning, heat was included in rent and a microwave was included. NONE of those things are true. They are crooks. Also, our fridge has broken shelves. It's embarrassing honestly. read more

Please beware of Kevin Mudd/Lakeside Street and/or Winnemac properties. I rented through Winnemac properties from an owner (Kevin Mudd) and he is the worst owner/landlord I have ever ever had. Our back door was broken (literally coming off due to rain-damaged hinges) and it took him a month to fix it. Our other door's lock got stuck in the open position and so we couldn't close it for almost a day before someone came to fix it. And there were drive-by shootings less than a block away. So, due to this lack of urgency, we had to keep our door open to the world for a long time before the problem was rectified. I understand that these shootings and the crime of the neighborhood is not in the hands of a landlord/owner, but I'd hope that any landlord/owner would fulfill some basic safety precautions. These were just two of the many problems we had. Many problems. I repeatedly asked the owner to fix the doors, he didn't even respond. I had to send him the "Rent Reduction" notice in order to get him to fix the doors (but he hasn't fixed anything else). Please be aware of this agency and this owner, this situation has added soooo much stress and anxiety to my life. I've never been treated with such neglect nor ill treatment. read more

My wife and I lived in the building at Glenwood and Winnemac a few years ago. The apartment itself was HUGE and very reasonably priced for the area. We never had any issues with the maintenance staff. They would show up when scheduled and always took care of any issues we had. I've lived in a few apartments since leaving this one and wished I would have stayed for longer! I would highly recommend Winnemac Properties if you are looking for your next apartment. read more

Incredibly rude and unprofessional. After asking for further information, I was no longer interested in a unit and the representative literally just hung up on me. I will definitely not be looking to rent in any of these units if that's how prospective tenants are treated. read more

I lived at a Winnemac property for two years and was fortunate to have a great property manager who even tried to find a new tenant for my apartment as I had to leave 2 months before the end of my lease. While living there, all my maintenance requests were taken care of promptly and their online maintenance request platform worked for me every time. read more

I love my apartment managed by Winnemac Properties. I've rented with them for over a year and have had nothing less than an excellent experience. The 2 other tenants who live here ( 1 for 5 years and the other for 4 years) said the same thing when to me when I moved in. The landlord and office staff have been both friendly and fair. Maintenance responds promptly and gets the job done quickly and correctly. I recently locked myself out of my apartment and they got there right away to let me in and were nice about it to boot. The entire group at Winnemac have exceeded my expectations. read more

We just signed for a lease for July 1, 2017 and are very excited about our new apartment with Winnemac Properties. The leasing process is usually long, but I was pleasantly surprised that this one was a breeze. My boyfriend and I both have 9-5 jobs and often find it hard to make mid-morning/mid-afternoons meetings in regards to leasing. With Winnemac, we were able to transfer the entire lease signing digitally and drop off rent after-hours in their night deposit box. Everyone at the office was highly communicative. Right down from Brian Hemstock, our leasing agent, who managed to show us the apartment on a Saturday to Stephanie Lambrecht, our executor of the lease, who took care of the entire signing process (and occasionally hiccups on our part) digitally. I would also like to give a shout out to Jennifer, who set up immediately for auto-withdrawal on our rent. I would highly recommend working with this competent group. read more

I really enjoyed my time with Winnemac. I believe that having the right support from their staff definitely made the difference in the few apartment maintenance issues I faced. They always responded in a timely manner. My apartment was well taken care of and I've already recommended my building to friends for its affordable rent and excellent management. read more

So no way to give 0 stars? This is for Drew at winnemac. So I put in a application online and messaged Drew or Andrew to let him know I applied and ask when they application would come back. So we text a day or so then he says the property would need 3 months proof of income and last years tax return plus 250 sec deposit for each person and they want another $50 for my wife to apply. Sounds like they really need money ha. Well anyway I'm like it sounds like they need a lot of stuff, he says sarcastically "yea they want to know if u actually make what you said" so I'm like my income has changed since last year will that matter. He then calls me and says "just sending screenshots of your paychecks is useless, its not going to cut it" I'm like well give me a link to send my stubs or bank statements to since there was nowhere within the application that mentioned where to send it.. so then after a 2 minute conversation on the phone after I ask where do I send this information he says "yeah this isn't going to work" And just to explain I'm in a situation where I need to move pretty quickly and this guy gives me a bs effort like this guy gave to help us find a home after we paid their application fee to apply for their shitty apartments. To give up after a few minute phone conversation cause he's too much of an asshole to tell us where to send our information? How does he get any sales (guessing he doesn't get too many). Just to top off this whole thing I call winnemacs office and tell the girl on the phone I put in a app and was working with drew but wanted to see if my application could be forwarded to a different agent since each unit has a different agent in the two buildings I was looking at. She's like "ok you talk too fast and I couldn't hear you your phone was going in and out" I'm like seriously.. so I repeat myself she keeps acting like she can't hear me (my wife made 3 calls today and speaks a lot softer than me and has had no problems) so she repeats what I said in a sarcastic way "you spoke to Drew and he was rude to you" I'm like ok so another asshole from this property I have to go through. She interrupts me 5 times before I can even explain briefly what happened. Finally I'm look can you stop interrupting me for 1 second I want to explain what happened. She complains about my phone several times through the call so finally I call her on my phone. She's sarcastic the whole time I'm like ok lady can I speak to your manager, she hesitates and says my manager isn't in... when I finally get to tell what happened and complain how this guy doesn't even want to run my credit app, when I can prove all my income and everything, for a overpriced apartment one in a less than perfect neighborhood (Howard street). I said I'm not sure how he gets any sales so not sure why he thinks his apartment is too good to work with me or give me information on where to send my income. She interrupts me and says "I'm going to stop you right there everything you said is negative" I'm like um ya think idiot. That was the point of me calling in because of how I was treated this dumbass couldn't even handle a simple call that should've taken 1 minute to explain and get me to a new agent which is what I was trying to request. This was the most sarcastic person I may have every dealt with on the phone she was very demeaning and kept cutting me off and said "oh I do care about your concern" in an annoying/sarcastic voice when I informed her she obviously didn't care about my issue since she kept cutting me off. Anyways this whole thing has just been a waste of my time. I would recommend not dealing with winnemac I would say especially Drew but it seems like the whole Crew are just rude and quick to get an attitude. I can't imagine calling this girl that answered the phone if you had any issues with your apartment; I imagine you'd get nowhere with her. They also nickel and dime you for application fees and deposits (per person) maybe that's normal in chicago. But seems counter-active if you ask me. Get it proof of income is needed but next time don't be a douche and tell me where to send it.. P.S. Told Drew this would be reported tired of people treating others like crap especially when it's important things like finding an apartment. Don't want bad reviews learn not to be a jerk especially the girl on the phone being a sarcastic asshole. read more

Where to begin? 1557 W. Fargo Avenue. Had to ask numerous times for the heat to be turned up last winter and I got tired of wearing a hat and scarf in my apartment. Should have called the city. Also, woke up once to the first floor resident beating on his door, drunk, his wife having locked him out. The man started breaking windows, I called the police. There was mold in the bedroom walls. The repairman damaged my curtains and furniture when he tried to repair the wall. I told Allen not to send him back to my apartment, but he sent him anyway and made another mess. My bikes were stolen from the back. Every Sunday a man loads his scrap truck with metal cans and garbage from the basement, loudly. And now that my lease is finished and I am in the process of moving out, the building caretaker enters the unit whenever he likes, they show the apartment without notice, no call, nothing. Allen is a hands-off property manager and he says one thing, but doesn't follow through with it. I would tell my friends to stay away from Winnemac Properties. read more

If you're in the market for a rental, you'd be better off going elsewhere. I was denied because I couldn't provide "pay stubs". I'm sure many can relate, because not everyone gets paid by check. When I was asked to provide "pay stubs", I was more than willing to provide statements from my bank accounts (which I did, and which contained more than enough for a years rent), as well as a job letter from my boss, and references. When this was not enough, I offered to pay 3 months of rent in advance, in addition to their "one time move-in fee" of around $400, which is a rip off, but I didn't mind, because it was a decent place. After all of this, I was asked for my tax returns, because I had not provided enough thus far. Let's be real, I wasn't applying for a 30 year mortgage on a penthouse in the Trump Towers, I was applying for a measly 12 month lease for a freaking 1 bedroom apartment in West Lakeview. Winnemac Properties is a complete joke! read more

I would not recommend renting from Winnemac Properties. If you don't mind dealing with substandard maintenance issues and are used to being treated like a moron, then go ahead. When you arrange to move in you will be told that your apt will be cleaned and painted. Won't happen. If a slob rented before you, the mess will be all yours. Demand that the apt be cleaned when you move in. Check the blinds, fans and fire alarms. Most of mine were broken, defective and filthy. If you are lucky and a maintenance person comes by to fix your problems, expect to be accused of causing the problem yourself. My apt had lots of bugs and I expected bedbugs. I was correct. Some of my furniture was ruined and had to be thrown out. Again-----my fault, not theirs. In the winter, outside areas are never cleared. Ice covered the cement steps and the walks remained unshoveled until a tenant did the work. The entry way was cleaned sometimes. It was swept but never mopped or polished. Winnemac raises rents every single year at a rate of 15-20%. If someone came around each year and replaced or updated things for normal wear and tear, I could understand the increase. You get NOTHING for the extra rent. I lived in their apt for 4 years and then left. It was 4 years too long. read more