I have wanted to write this review for quite a bit, but have waited until I received my security deposit before doing so. I rented a house from Zabace starting Sept 2016-August 2018. Before I went with them, I of course did my research and read a lot of these same 1-star reviews. However, being the broke college student I am, and finding a house that was on the cheaper side that allowed dogs, I decided to just wing it, and hope for the best based on the few good reviews.
The first bad sign I got was how difficult it was to get anyone on the phone. All the times I have called them, they have only answered their phone one time throughout these two years, and that was after I had moved out (discussing security deposit). All the communication was basically done through email and their website. When we got the tour of the house, my mother was with me and the lady giving the tour (Diana) was very friendly. The house seemed fine, and it was promised that everything would be cleaned and working at our move in date. As a transfer, I was desperate to secure housing, and decided to go with this as soon as we could. I do have to admit that during this time, emails were punctual and they were really accommodating when we had to switch out housemates on the lease.
Skip forward to move in day. The house was slightly dirty, but nothing too crazy, and the cleaning crew came within a week and did a fast clean. There were also some issues with a hazardous ceiling fan/light that almost fell off because it was installed in a horrible spot, but they assured us that it was because of the last tenant, and they fixed it within 2 weeks. This timing might seem like a long time to anyone reading this review, but believe me, compared to the next maintenance requests, this was nothing. One of the bedrooms had its light on the ground when we moved in, and none of the electrical outlets were working in that room. When we had the repair man come in, he told us that the room was wired incorrectly, and that it was dangerous. He told us that we would have to get a certified electrician fix it, and make sure that no one used the outlets. The housemate that was going to move into that room was abroad until the end of September, so we of course thought it would be okay and it would be fixed by then. Unfortunately, that was not the case. It wasn't fixed until after she moved in, over a month from when we first brought up the issue. There were other issues with maintenance throughout the two years, but I guess we just learned to not expect anything and try our best to fix it ourselves.
Now, about the security deposit. This was a huge hassle for my housemates and I, and was unnecessarily stressful. We asked if we could receive our deposits in the proportion that we paid them, because we did not split our deposits equally in the beginning. They replied in an email and approved it, but we also had verbal confirmation that it would be split accordingly. When we received our deposit 3 weeks after we moved out, we realized that they had not split it to how we asked them to. Why bother filling out the security deposit form and having each housemate sign everything if they aren't even going to split the deposit how we asked it? They also charged us for things that we had clarified with the person who did the move-out inspection would not be charged. My housemates and I immediately sent an email, telling them that we had been given the wrong amounts for our security deposits and questioning why we had been charged for certain items on Sept 21. They replied and asked us about where we had sent the email about our security deposit splits and we told them. After that, there was no reply. Contacted them for an update on Sept 29. No reply. I was extremely frustrated, and called them on October 3rd, and left a voicemail that showed my frustration. I guess that finally worked, because I missed a call from them an hour later. I immediately called back, and THIS IS THE ONE TIME THEY ANSWERED THE PHONE, out of the two years I've lived there. The guy answering the phone was rude, but I guess I deserved that after leaving a pretty rude voicemail questioning their professionality. He basically told me that someone would get back to me. My housemate emailed zabace as well, and Jennifer told her that they had taken out all the charges from only my security deposit. Well that was a mistake, because our security deposits were divided equally, so I really question the proficiency of their accounting department.
In the end, my housemates and I all venmo'ed each other the correct amounts that we had originally requested zabace to give us back, and zabace refunded us the extra charges. I guess it all worked out in the end, (no thanks to zabace) but if you go with this company, be prepared to be treated unprofessionally, wait a long time, and double check EVERYTHING. I would write more, but yelp has a limit. read more