Paulina Equities

4531 – 4539 N. Paulina used to be a wonderful family owned building. Then it was sold to slumlords worse than Boris and his Russian mafia crew. The idiot buyers/​handlers whose Italian mafia name and construction/​real estate company I will try to remember and update, immediately neglected the building, did not pay the utility bills, moved in Section 8 nuts, forced the building into foreclosure and stole all the tenants security deposits — with no reprecussions, City of Chicago did nothing. Then Boris bought the building at a bargain basement price, kicked everyone out so he could turn a beautiful one bedroom apt. Into a cramped, poorly designed «2 bedroom» apt to get more money. I feel sorry for all those who have had to cross paths with these evil creeps.

Constant problems with BED BUGS while living in these apartments!!! Never had that problem before and never had it since moving out. They were extremely rude and mean about it and tried to say it was my fault. Do NOT sign a lease with them!!!

DO NOT RENT FROM THESE BULLIES!!! Just as the other users said, the real problems started when I did not resign the lease. Then I asked for my legal right of 48 hour notice of showing my place because I would receive text messages at 11 at night for nine the next morning. I work second shift so it was unlivable for me. Since I asked for my legal right, they have spammed me with times no one shows up at and then just pop in. It’s harassment. Do not rent from these horrible people.

I intend to update this review as situations unfold to the better or worse.
My initial experience with this business was both positive and negative. There seems to be some organizational difficulties with tracking communication as this appears to be one of many businesses that are used by the same group of individuals. The primary contact for repairs and renting didn’t inform me that the apartment I was going to view off on Wolcott was not available until I was at the door and inquiring as to how to proceed. I was directed to another complex nearby, which is the one managed by Paulina Equities and found a location at an acceptable price. For the signing, I was directed to a used car dealership that has a small joint office for the dealership and the buildings. It didn’t look appealing, but the people there were significantly more organized and exemplary in their behavior.
When I got the keys to the apartment, it was unfortunately uncleaned. My understanding upon calling was that the floors were to be mopped and everything else was on us aside from any repairs that needed to be made (there were some). The turnaround on the repairs I requested was excellent, with assistance on the minor repairs coming next business day. I ended up just wanting to move my things in and cleaned the apartment floors myself, though the previous tenant pretty obviously had no interest in cleaning and there was dust and dirt everywhere.
The building itself is an old building, using steam radiator heat (no thermostat to control this), and needing window unit AC. The electrical outlets are sufficient and appear to handle the draw well, if slightly inconveniently placed, which is normal for a building of this age. The windows are just as old as the building and use the old chain/​counterweight method to keep themselves up, though for now they appear to seal well save the one in the bedroom. The ceilings are lofty and the closet space has a significant amount of overhead storage. Laundry is currently coin-​operated and in the basement, and I was happy to see a security camera out back in the alley by the dumpsters.
Overall the apartment I am renting is a bit worn but servicable and really comes together once cleaned properly. The location is nice with a Mariano’s, LA Fitness, and Metra station within a 4 block walk, the CTA Brown Line within a 3 block walk, and numerous restaurants and services within the area. As of right now a newer metra station is being built which will reduce the walk to it down to a 3 block walk.
I’m satisfied for the time being, but also advise that other potential tenants keep communications and expectations clear to keep everything easy. Note that they did accept credit cards for the initial fees related to the apartment, but rent needs to be in checks.

I GOT BEDBUGS IN ONE OF THEIR APARTMENTS. It was a courtyard apartment filled with dogs, so do the math. I was threatened and they blamed me for it. These are some of the worst people in the slumlord business. They don’t fix anything and they consistently raise the rent as much as they can after they get you in the lease. It’s a shame that they are allowed to stay in business. DO NOT RENT FROM THEM.

If I could zero I would. Our lease is set to end April 30, 2012. Upon saying that we would not renew with the increase, they began to parade people through our apartment with us here and without us here. By law, they must give 48 horus in advance. When I informed this mystery woman of this she proceeded to call me nonstop and tell me that 2 days from now they would be showing 5 times starting at 9am-6:30pm, saying they need to see all of the rooms, mind you I work nights and have told her this several times. Needless to say, when they show up in the morning, there will ea sign on my door saying «DO NOT DISTURB! SLEEPING 1^st SHIFT WORKER INSIDE!»
One of the funny things is, that after the first showing, painters showed up saying they were told to paint the rooms. No painting was done BEFORE we moved in. I wonder if they will send people to re0cut the sink pipes so they fit properly.
SAVE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE! DO NOT SIGN A LEASE WITH THEM!
This is also them:

At first these people seemed okay. The person I initially talked to on the phone was very friendly, on top of things. The guy who showed us around was very sweet though he didn’t speak much English. We were kind of in a hurry so we made a quick decision to sign a lease. It did give us pause that their offices were shared with a used car dealership (1^st United Auto Sales). But we needed a place, and though this was no palace, it was okay for us at the time.
The weird stuff didn’t really start until it was time to renew our lease about a year later. My partner got a call from a woman claiming to be the landlord’s wife who started not-​too-​politely demanding a hefty increase in rent. We had never met this person during the initial signing process, but she now was claiming complete authority. Her name had been mentioned somewhere in the paperwork. But boy, was she different from anyone we had spoken with when we signed. She used a condescending tone that reminded me of an angry mother, and seemed to prefer to speak with my boyfriend. I didn’t figure it out right away, but now I realize she has a way of verbally controlling men that doesn’t work on women. We were in no position to move so we did agree to an increase (about 5%).
After this we probably should have been more prepared the second time around at lease renewal time. My boyfriend received a call on Saturday, July 3^rd (holiday weekend), from Mrs. Landlord, saying we had 24 hours to re-​sign at an increase of 15%. If we did not agree, she said, she would start showing our place the day after. We told her no. From this point, things got worse and worse. They sent people to our door without any notice, yelling at us when we refused to let them in. We started getting text message «notifications» daily that they would be showing our place at 9:00AM, 10:00AM, 11:00AM, 12:00PM, 1:00PM, 2:00PM, and etc., for the next day. Then no one would ever show up. They once opened our door without even knocking, strangers to see the place behind them. A smoking man who didn’t live in the building started hanging out inside the security gate, just watching.
One of their favorite things to say to try to get more money out of people is that their apartments are 2 bedroom units. They are not. The units started out as classic one-​bedrooms, in the old Chicago style, where there is a full dining room and one bedroom. They cut new doorways, sealed others, and put in extra doors so that there are two rooms besides the living room that have doors and are large enough for beds. But the kitchens are not big enough to eat in and if the former dining room is really a second bedroom, there is no dining space. It’s an subtle bit of architectural deception that I admit we fell for at first. But after living there awhile, it really started to feel wrong. The flow of foot traffic doesn’t work with the new configuration, it doesn’t look nice, and there’s the problem of where to put the dining room table. Yet the «fact» that we were living in a 2 bedroom would often be hauled out by Mrs. Landlord as a reason we needed to pay her more money.
As if all this was not enough, after we got ourselves together and left, our security deposit was MIA. We got a bad check in the mail after almost 2 months. We wrote them a Notice of Dishonored Check by certified mail, also citing Illinois law regarding bad checks and security deposits (a court can award you several times the amount if you win), and received a good check shortly after that.
The legal address of this place is 3818 N Western. The address shown is the apartment building they own. Their names are Boris & Leana Berns. See also these 2 reviews:
They have a lot of different business names.
Update: link to a lawsuit filed against Boris & Co. by the City of Chicago: