Golden Estate Management

If I could give this business negative stars, I would. It is THAT bad. Even though I see that it has closed, I would like to write this review nonetheless in the hopes that it never reemerges.
I lived in 654 Dunsmuir for 2 years when it was managed by Golden Estate Management. My contact was also Karelina Elena. She was great the 2 times I met her, but everything in between was an absolute nightmare.
I liked G.E.M. because it was the first time in LA that I was able to pay my rent online. That was probably the only good thing about them. I moved into a bachelor apartment here and immediately things went wrong — the freezer and the burners on the kitchenette didn’t work. I called and called and called for LITERALLY a year and was given the ultimate form of runaround. Some guy came in to measure the old kitchenette and the window (which I complained about on my first day in the apartment because it had no screen), but I was never given a new kitchenette or a screen. Upon moving out of this apartment I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. My full complaint is below and the response I got from G.E.M. is basically summed up by the review posted to Unilocal by what «Pete T» wrote in his review on 12÷17÷13 — Management responded by saying that I was only complaining because they wouldn’t give me back the complete security deposit and that I never submitted the multiple complaints to management that I did. This is so much BS. When I filed my complaint with the BBB, I didn’t ask for a single dime back. I just wanted people to know how horrible they were.
Here is the complaint I filed with the BBB:
Company Information:
Golden Estate Management, Inc.
439 North Cannon Drive Suite 300
Beverly Hills, CA 90 210
Website:
Phone: (888) 999‑6575
Complaint Text
On September 1, 2009, I moved into my apartment in 654 Dunsmuir Avenue #206. Unfortunately, I realized that my freezer and stove were broken. I immediately called the customer service line for Golden Estate to have someone come out & fix both problems. Also, I moved in the middle of the summer & realized that although all the other apartments had screens on the windows, mine did not. I called Golden Estate to get a screen on my window immediately. The repairman came to check on the stove, freezer & to measure the window for a screen, but I was told that neither the stove nor the freezer could be fixed and that it would be replaced immediately. After a month passed, with no screen, freezer or stove, I began calling Golden Estate literally every single day to check in and I was always directed to voicemail and never called back. This continued for months and although I lived there for two years, I never had any of these problems fixed.
Once I moved out of the apartment complex, I received my deposit with a subtraction for a window treatment and for painting. I called repeatedly to repute these charges because I don’t believe I should be charged for the window screen when I asked repeatedly for it to be installed while I still lived in the apartment and never received a response. I can prove the walls weren’t damaged beyond everyday wear and tear, in which case I am not responsible for such a charge according to my lease. For weeks, I called and never received a response.
Resolution Sought: Fix the broken stove and freezer. Place screen on window. Not mislead a prospective tenant by claiming that the appliances work when they clearly do not. Respond quickly to complaints especially when in regards to essentials (like the stove, freezer and window screen). Answer phone calls and return phone calls.

This management company deserves absolutely no stars. I have dealt with such unorganized and incompetent individuals. Not only did they promise us things when we moved in that were never received, in the two years we lived in their property not once did they promptly return a call or need — even when our sink was clogged and the doorknob broke. Upon move out I have never been so disrespected, they cancelled on our walk through multiple times and then sent a check with ridiculous charges in it, for example they charged us to change THEIR locks. I highly recommend that you do not rent a property through them as it is the WORST customer service I have ever recieved.

Fully the worst company in existence. Negative stars should be available just for them.
They are fine with letting things like gas and water leaks go on for months. Fine with electricity not working for months. Also fine with making you move in you own appliances… The whole time being overly rude about it.
They will not respond to service calls. They will treat you like scum. Even if the place looks great, please avoid getting sucked into the disarray that is this place.

The absolute most unprofessional and unorganized management company I’ve ever worked with. A few things are blatantly clear regarding their work method:
1.) They have zero sense of urgency in that they constantly do not return calls, emails, etc.
2.) They’re maintenance capabilities are a joke.
3.) They’re attention to detail and overall work ethic is laughable: They are constantly late to appointments/​showings and don’t bother calling. They’re also guaranteed to mess up any paper work.
4.) Their staff and site make me almost positive it’s a scam. Once you meet their agents and ESPECIALLY if you ever get the chance to talk to their «president», you quickly realize that something very fishy is going on.
Overall it was a very negative and miserable experience working with GEM. I would highly, highly suggest you look for another management company.
D

By far the WORST management company out there. Karelina Elena was my leasing agent and from day one she was nothing but unprofessional. The apartment was absolutely filthy when moving in. I tried to contact her via email and phone regarding the unclean apartment but she never returned a call or email. (This is a norm for her and the PRESIDENT of the company James Engel.) I spent 3 days cleaning the apartment before I moved in, which should not be the case. I have since moved out of the apartment… this is where the major dispute begins. I decide to move out of the place, I arrange a walk through with Karelina a week prior to our set date. She never showed up at the arranged time and location. I call her 20 min after our arranged time and she says (shockingly she answered the phone) «Ohh I just sent you an email, I’m going to be an hour late… is that ok?» I said, «absolutely not… we both agreed on this day and time, I can not wait around here for you.» (and btw who sends an email if you’re going to be late??? CALL the damn person!!) She said, «that’s fine, just leave the keys there and I will do the walkthrough» I said «ok but call me as soon as you’re done with the walkthrough» She said «OK»… What was I thinking, I thought she’d actually pick up the phone and call me to let me know how the walkthrough went??? hah… right. So, a few days go by and still no call or email from her… surprise surprise. I finally call her a few and ask her how the walkthrough went. She said, «good, you’ll be getting your FULL security deposit back soon.» I said, «great» She asked me to email her my new address so they could mail the deposit to me, which I promptly did.
Weeks go by and still no security deposit. I call she doesn’t ever answer so I leave a voicemail… thinking she’d call me back. HAH… RIIIIIGGHHHTTT. Finally I start emailing her about it, no replies to that either. Finally I call her from Skype because she’ll never answer a call from my cell, she answers and says the security deposit was mailed out and she doesn’t know why I haven’t received it… Long story short they mailed it to the apartment that THEY manage, which is also the apartment I just MOVED OUT OF! Is it that hard to keep track of which apartment your tenant moved out of and which one they moved into??? If they can’t even keep track of that, I’d hate to see what they do with their clients rental properties. My full deposit was not received like Karelina stated, It was $ 450 short of my full deposit. I called Karelina about this after I received my deposit in the mail and she hung up on me!!! That’s right people, this is how she deals with her problems. Either A) doesn’t answer your emails or calls or B) she hangs up on you. Since she hung up on me I got in contact with James Engel (the president). Not once did he apologize for his nincompoop of a property manager Karelina for what she did, which wasn’t a big deal for me but c’mon really? An employee of yours hanging up on a customer didn’t bother you Mr. Engel??? James Engel operates like Karelina, doesn’t return phone calls or emails, except when he wants to… I think I see a company motto here. I called him out on not returning my email one time and he said that «he gets 750 emails a day»…So, I guess that’s 750 emails he doesn’t reply to.
I have a complaint filed with the BBB. What Golden Estate Management claim they have done is a complete lie. They said they provided me with an itemized receipt of the repairs made. WRONG! I’ve asked JAMES ENGEL for a receipt multiple times and have NEVER received one. I’ve asked for the supposed before and after pictures that were apparently taken, haven’t received those either. I would think if they actually did take pictures that the before pictures would look a lot worse than the after pictures since they let me move into a filthy apartment and when I moved out it was spotless.
Long story short; Karelina Elena, James Engel and Golden Estate Management are unprofessional, lie straight to your face and to the BBB and steal your money. Run away as fast as you can from this company. DON’T let Golden Estate Management manage your property or even worse don’t let Karelina Elena be the property manager. Also DON’T rent a property that is managed by this horrible company and people.