Stern Property Management

The building I lived in was full of mold. I was paying market rate rent but the unit had not been painted and there was peeling laminate floor pieces.
The kitchen had mold under the sink and stunk, even though it had granite countertops and looked relatively clean it was not. The cabinets were super old. There was also no window covering in my kitchen window and when I called a mir, he said the apartment comes as is and that they would not be buying anything to cover my window so that meant anyone walking by could look into my apartment. When I viewed the apartment this was one small thing that I didn’t notice and it turned out to be a huge breach of my privacy.
The positive reviews seem like Amir and Ophirs friends.
My assessment of living here was that these people don’t care about the tenants all they want is the money and for you to be quiet and not complain about anything and not make them have to fix anything.
It was terrible. I felt like I moved into heaven when I moved into my new apartment because everything was clean. I don’t know how I could have standed to live and that musty apartment for 9 months. yes they let me out of my lease 3 months early because I complain so much. Lol.

I lived in their building on poinsettia place for over 2 years and can’t stress Ophir’s personal engagement enough .
He really cared about me and my son .
I moved out 2 weeks ago and had a check with my FULL deposit in the mail today .
If I ever move back to LA — I will rent from him again!

Worst management ever ! Stay away !
The heater in my unit doesn’t work ! I first started to calling the manager she didn’t even answer my call. After a few times of calling the manager, maintanance emergency, repair man, she (Jenna, the manager) said that you have to apply online for the maintanance. Guess what? It’s been two month that they haven’t respond and me here keep calling! Yesterday I called again and they send someone to see the unit. It has to change entirely. Gods know when !!
They don’t care about you.

I love my apartment, but not this management company. They ignore a maintenance request from their tenant for months, lose documents, and change their story a lot to make an excuse for their unprofessional management. I really wish my apartment could have other management company.

The worst management company in existence! I have been waiting for over 11 month for them to fix a hole in my ceiling that is accompanied by a leak from the neighbors showering above my unit. The apartments have horrible paint jobs with paint that drips. When a tenant moves out the unit is available a few days later because they just slap paint on flaws and holes in the walls. The boiler for hot water breaks every three months. We had squatters who some how had the code to a lockbox that had keys to the apartment. The same lockbox that’s used for future tenants to view apartments without a manager onsite to give a tour. That means it’s easy to make copies of tenants keys! If I could give a half a star I would. Stay away!

Do NOT believe the «glowing» reviews. We are in a tenant nightmare. Ophir and Stern management have created THREE vacation rentals in our 12 unit complex and they are horrid. All the neighbors are constantly complaining of the loud, rude people who are staying in them. I cannot tell you how many times we are awaken in the middle of the night with high heels scraping the ceiling, head boards banging on the walls and people running up and down the hallways. It literally feels like we live below a brothel!
It really came to a head when one of the tenants car was broken into last month. We have been here for years, others for over 10, and NO ONE ever had issues until they started these rentals. We email, call, plead for them to do something or to please add carpet to the floor and we are constantly ignored. We are good tenants and it is beyond frustrating that we follow the rules of housing to be a great tenant and the landlord cannot be bothered to do the same. Do yourself a favor and find different management when finding your new home. I promise you no apartment is worth the sleepless nights and anxiety of who is creeping down your hallways.

PAY ATTENTION to the negative reviews before you waste your time!!!
Orphir you need to have a sit down with Jenna ASAP!!! She is bad for business and your brand.
Recently had a very disheartening experience with this company when I applied for one of their vacancies. The leasing agent that I dealt with was Jenna and she was friendly until I sent in a copy of my driver license along with my application. She then immediately stop responding to my emails when I asked for help regarding the website to pay the fee. Since she stopped responding, I then called in to her office and was met with the rudest and most unpleasant leasing agent that I have ever experienced in my 27 years on this earth. I could tell just by talking to her for 60 seconds that she would not be calling back and following up on the apartment. And this was BEFORE she even ran my application.
I ofcourse tried reaching out to her the next day to check the status of my application. I emailed her twice, called in to the office, and even called and texted her personal cell that she provided the number to on her office voicemail. I did all of these things before jumping to my final conclusion because I truly did not want to believe that I was dealing with discrimination. After all of that, she still never responded. Not even to tell me if I was approved or not. I then called in to the main office and inquired with the manager. When I explained my frustrations with him, he was quick to tell me about how «diverse» his tenant population is and brushed off my concerns. He seemed like a nice enough guy but his leasing agent Jenna makes him and his company look bad and he seems to turn a blind eye to her unprofessionalism.
Obviously at this point, I no longer wish to live at this property but I wanted to right this review for others who may find themselves dealing with this same situation with this same property mgt company. The leasing agent that I dealt with (Jenna) is a fair housing law suit waiting to happen. My advice to you is to use a different company and not endure the same experience that I did.

Stay Away!
Unprofessional, lazy, and careless are words that can describe my experience.
I applied for an apartment on Westwood Ave. in Los Angeles, CA with Jenna Shirling and it was a communication disaster from the beginning. Jenna would not answer any phone calls or reply to my voicemails. Jenna would only respond through email or text. I filled an application out and paid the fees promptly after viewing the apartment on my own. Once I was able to communicate through email Jenna was careless with my social security number and wanted me to email it to her (which I did not).
After I sent in my application I waited two days and tried calling again with no answer. I left a message and waited another day. I called again and no answer. I then decided to text Jenna which she promptly replied with a generic text asking me to pay the fee first before applying. Once I informed her I already paid it she sent a text saying they wanted to offer me the apartment. She asked if I wanted a blank lease emailed me for review, which I agreed to. She informed me she was on vacation the next day and would contact me after she returned.
I waited and received no lease. Over the next few days I called and left voicemails with Jenna to no reply. Finally after texting her on the fourth day asking about the lease she informed she that the apartment had been given to someone else! Without apologizing she blamed me and tried to explain how apartments get taken up quickly. I can’t begin to explain how delusional and defensive she became.
There is one easy solution to this. Answer the phone number you advertise as a means of communication. I called her 7 times over a week and a half leaving voicemails to no response. This is unacceptable for any business.

This review is especially for Jenna from Stern Property Management,
I have been their tenant for over five years and Jenna is best out of all their employees, she is very caring, prompt, take care of issues on time.

SPM has since contacted me and my boyfriend and taken care of our deposit. They were very gracious and apologized for the delay as they were dealing with some extenuating circumstances.
The office staff was very kind and accommodating with our distressful situation and handled everything smoothly for us.
As I said earlier, the onsite manager was always very responsive and helpful, and the unit itself is top notch, especially compared to everything else in the area. The building is very secure with 2 security gates in the front, and 2 in the back.
They do have a convenient online payment system, complete with autobill or manual options, and the ability to set reminders for when your rent is due/​will be charged.
Overall a good living experience with minimal hiccups over the year that I lived there.

Moved in the middle of last year into one of their properties in the Palms area. At first everything seemed fine. Didn’t have a great first impression, but not a horrible one (and as an LA resident, you almost always prepare for the latter). The price we were paying for our 2b2b apartment was reasonable and the complex came with some great amenities (pool, exercise room) so that was nice. As the year went on, however, I started to get more and more annoyed at their lack of concern and low response rate. Below are just SOME of the problems I encountered with the management:
1. They barely ever answer their phone
2. They do not respond to emails (seriously — of the 8+ emails I’ve sent excluding those concerning our initial lease signing, they’ve responded to maybe 1 or 2) DESPITE sending out periodic updates with the signature «please email us with any questions»
3. Our pool and exercise room renovation was VERY VERY noisy and has been going on for the past few months without any updates at all — hopefully there will be some form of monetary compensation
4. One of the locks to our unit’s door was broken so about a week after our maintenance request was submitted, they changed our lock — which was GREAT — but did so without even warning us or giving us the keys… we had to find the on-​site manager ourselves
One of the only things I can say they are responsive to are maintenance requests. it’s convenient to be able to submit these in an online form rather than calling our landlord. Sad to be giving my first 2-​star rating on Unilocal to these guys, but that’s been my experience. Our on-​site manager, Jose, is excellent though. If not for him, I absolutely believe none of my questions or requests would have been addressed.

I’ve been waiting until my experience was complete before making any recommendations about Stern. We were with them for almost 2 years. Overall, I would rent from them again and do recommend!
They respond to maintenance issues and they show a human side, especially Ophir. For example, once my rent check had been lost in the mail. I was able to prove through my bank’s web site that the check was mailed. They forgave the late fee in that case.
They have a handy web site for paying rent (which I switched to after my bank’s billpay failed me.) and reporting maintenance issues, which are usually taken care of within a day or two, depending on urgency.
The only reason my review not 5 star is because the building has leaks and termites which they don’t care to fix. We were just renters, but if it was my building, I would want these things fixed because they did lead to other damage on the floors, for example. Maybe the owner knows and doesn’t want to do the major stuff (more likely.)
We cleaned well and used touch up paint, and they returned all of our deposit!

The WORST management company I haver ever had to work with. Jenna was completely unresponsive the entire week I was trying to view the unit, fill out applications, etc. Never replied to any e-​mails, phone calls, text message with what we needed to move forward with the unit. Even after filling out application, she still never got back to tell us know we were missing a letter– we had to figure it out by finally getting ahold of her two days later. Ended up canceling the entire application process all together knowing we could not deal with this property manager for an entire year. Total nightmare and waste of time and energy. DO NOT RECOMMEND.

DO NOT PAY THEIR APPLICATION FEE EARLY! It’s pretty much a scam for them to collect as much money from the application process as possible. Terrible business practices.
I saw one of their listings about 5 minutes after they posted it, called the lady «Jenna» but only got a voicemail asking to text her, which I did. She sent an automated text with directions on how to view the apartment and the application process, part of which said they wouldn’t run the applications/​credit history unless you go on their website and pay the fee first (30 bucks). I went to see the apartment right away, knowing how fast these places get snatched up and applied about an hour after the listing was posted so I know I was one of, if not the first person to apply. I have excellent income, great references, no pets, etc. After not hearing a response for a few days, I saw that they reposted the listing on Craigslist and the text once again asked for people to pay the application fee. I texted the lady again (she never picked up her phone) and asked when they would make a decision. She responded she would let me know ASAP when the owner decided. Never heard back from her again and when I looked up my credit history, saw that they never even did a credit check, not even a soft pull. They still charged my credit card for the application fee, however. Basically, I was robbed of $ 30 plus $ 2 processing. What a bunch of crooks who should be reported to the BBB.

All of the issues (minor) which were brought to their attention BEFORE we even moved in have still never been taken care of. Myself and my finance have just given up. There’s only 3 months left in our lease. The building manager accused my 2 year old car (who’s oil I JUST had changed) of leaking oil in the garage yesterday, and that’s kinda the last straw for me. The construction, the insane amount of dogs not on leashes, and people who don’t pick up dog waste are among other issues. It’s just so disappointing, because we love our apartment, but we will definitely be moving in August. It seems as though Stern cares much more for its fancy Beverly Hills properties, and significantly less for more modest areas.

These people are the worst.
I lived in a 1 bedroom in east hollywood for 1400. Not terrible. The apartment itself was adorable. The neighbors were interesting, but very nice, comes with the territory.
When I first viewed the apartment, I checked to see that it would be cleaned before I moved in; I was assured this was the case. Fast forward to move-​in day, and the apartment has definitely not been cleaned. Additionally, my garage was still full of garbage from the previous tenants, or as I found, garbage from other tenants.
I got in touch with them, and they had the manager clean it out. The manager in turn came to me and asked why i didn’t just do it myself. I would regularly find cigarette butts and assorted trash in there.
However, they never sent anyone to clean the apartment, I ended up paying to get it professionally cleaned on my own. I did manage to get them to put screens on my windows (I’m on the first floor, and there aren’t bars over the windows), but never locks.
The gate was broken for the first two months i lived there, and for a time, there were two homeless people living on top of the garage. The other tenants would sometimes jam things in the doors to keep them open (there were many people living in the building who were definitely not on a lease) for others, which meant that there were sometimes kids hanging out on the stoop who did not live there. My car was broken into a couple times as well.
Now I’m moving out. I figure, clean the place myself, caulk the holes, etc, perfectly reasonable. But apparently, they’d like me to go to the hardware store, get a paint chip, match it, and paint the whole place myself, AND get it professionally cleaned, AGAIN. So, live ANYWHERE ELSE.

April 2015 Update:
Yup, Stern Property Management STILLS sucks. In all my 20+ years of renting an apartment, this management company is the worst one ever! The fake glowing reviews still amaze me. Please take heed to the negative reviews folks. We’re not making this stuff up. They still ignore our maintenance requests like they’re the plague. They still insult our intelligence yet happily take our rent. They still have little to zilch communication skills or consideration towards they’re tenants. All of us tenants are praying they sell the building because NO one, and I mean, NO one could possibly be a worst slum lord than Stern. If it’s a new or newer building they’re managing, they are very attentive. Again, I’ve been renting for over 20 years, but no one has been this bad.

I have no complaints about this company… They took over my building and were much more attentive and responsive than my previous landlord who owned the building for years before. I hear that they haven’t gotten great reviews from other Unilocalers but I had no problems at all. When I called about something to be fixed, they were there in 2 days. The staff at the office is nice and personable too. And when I moved out, they were very easy going about the whole process and gave me back my entire deposit with no headaches, and within a reasonable timeframe.
Like I told them at the office, moving out was a little bittersweet because it’s hard finding a good landlord/​management company. It can make all the difference in the world. I’m super glad they took over my building.

My husband and I had the pleasure of being tenants of Stern Property Management this last year; the only reason we left our apartment was because we moved across the country! We have moved several times in our marriage, and Ophir and his team were by far our best managers. They were quick to respond to any issues, kept the grounds tidy and the laundry/​appliances running well. I absolutely recommend them, and I am very picky and pretty hard to please!

Ophir and Co. are reasonable, accommodating, helpful, and responsive! Repairs are corrected in a timely manner and the maintenance crew is very friendly. I highly recommend any property managed by Stern Property Management!
–tenant of 2+ years and counting!