West End Associates

Terrible management of rentals & lack of response to concerns from neighbors of those rentals.

West End Associates is one of the most disorganized, dysfunctional, and sleazy businesses I have ever had to deal with. While many reviews from LANDLORDS praise them for their work, they have absolutely zero regard for TENANTS and their well-​being. While renting a property managed by West End for one year, I can honestly say I have been majorly disappointed with the way they handle issues.
First, you can forget having prompt service for any emergencies that arise. We had issues with our washing machine multiple times throughout our stay, including one where the washer had sprung a leak and was leaking water all over the house. We called every West End number multiple times, trying to talk to someone, including an EMERGENCY line, and didn’t get a response for a solid three day period. If something more serious had occurred, like a burst pipe, there could have been major damage to the property.
Second, they are not responsive when it comes to questions about or revisions to the lease. About one month after moving in, we approached West End about the possibility of allowing pets in the house, as the landlord (who we personally knew) said that pets were fine by her, with no security deposit required. We would be watching some our friends and family’s pets for periods of not more than one month, and this was disclosed to West End. We asked West End in the middle of June about an addendum to the lease for pets. Two weeks later (after I emailed and asked what the hold up was), I heard back from West End, asking for what breeds of dogs we would be having. To me, this should be information asked for immediately after the request was originally made. After a month, we still had no pet addendum, so I asked again what the hold up was. I received a response from West End, saying that they were still waiting for the landlord’s permission. At this point, we contacted the landlord ourselves, who said that West End never contacted her at all! Finally, we received the pet addendum at the end of September with a request for an additional security deposit equal to a whole month’s rent. Already holding $ 1200 of our money for a security deposit, we weren’t willing to give them an additional $ 1200 just for WATCHING pets at our house. Additionally, the summer had already passed and our family and friends were forced to find alternate arrangements because West End didn’t work it out in over 3 months.
Third, their billing practices are downright sleazy. Our rent check for our last month of the lease was sent out on time, but never «arrived» at West End. We were notified a few days later that the rent was late, that we owed an additional $ 60 late fee, and we were threatened with legal action. One of our housemates drove to West End’s office to solve the issues, and ended up writing a new check for the rent plus the late fee. He told West End to tear up the original check if it arrived and just cash the new one. It turns out, West End had just received the original rent check and cashed it, and then tried to cash the new check, causing them to overdraw our housemates account. They charged us an additional late fee as well as a bounced check fee (not to mention the bank’s overdraft fee). In my opinion, West End did this on purpose in order to collect more fees. When they were asked to correct their mistake, they said they would «try to fix it.»
In conclusion, if you are a tenant, do NOT rent any properties managed by this company. They don’t respond to requests in a timely manner, even on their «emergency» hotline, and they try their hardest to get every bit of money out of you that they can. I would also strongly suggest that you avoid this company if you are a landlord, as their inattentiveness could eventually cost you a lot of money in property damages.

I must give credit to West End Associates for the tremendous job they’ve done in finding a tenant for my home. Like many people I am an accidental land lord as I am renting out the property that was once my primary residence. I initially attempted to go at it alone, but ultimately connected with Rob and Liz at West End Associates to our mutual satisfaction.
The home was put on the MLS system and they also advertise in other venues. They take care of the signage and the showings saving me multiple trips to the property. When a tenant shows interest, they provide the credit app, verifications, credit report, and collect the deposit and 1^st month rent.
This has definitely taken a lot of stress out of being a landlord.