Bay Property Group

Daniel Bornstein and his team are top notch handling every property issues one can have in the Bay Area. Being linked to a talented legal group makes them the premier choice in the Bay Area. They have so much experience on all sides of these issues that I can’t imagine many coming close to matching them. I have worked a lot with one of their managers, Jonas Judd. He has an incredible wealth of experience and knowledge about every aspect of landlord and tenant problems. There isn’t much he hasn’t seen and he takes pride in knowing more about managing properties than anybody I have met in the business. He not only gets the issues, but understands the best approach to take to get them resolved successfully.

I have been a tenant of bay property group for over 3 years. I have been able to over look the stained carpets that I do not believe were actually cleaned before we moved in, the 2 washers and dryers for a building with over 24 units (one of the dryers barely works), the crappy job on the linolium in my kitchen, the 30 year old dishwasher, fridge, and stove, and several other things. HOWEVER, recent items have left me livid.
It has been over 6 months since we reported our heat was not working and they have yet to fix it. Every few weeks I send another email harassing them and they promise to get it fixed, sending another «repair man» to the apartment who can’t figure it out what the problem is, which is actually a violation of San Francisco Law about rental units.
On top of taking 6 months to fix the heat, it clearly takes them over 48 hours to fix ANYTHING. Thursday at 4:30 AM one of the shitty particle board shelves in our closet broke in half, knocking our closet bar down and all our clothes on the floor. It was reported via EMAIL and the online portal right away. Of course we did not hear anything from a repair man until 12:30 on Friday, more than 24 hours since the first report. The «repairman» claimed he called us but neither me or my husband had a voicemail or a missed call. He asked we text him the measurements of the shelf and photos of the closet. We sent them right away and waiting for him to get back to us. We followed up with him at 5 PM and he then tells us it is not going to be until Tuesday and he never got the text. Not sure why he never followed up with us, so we texted again and he claimed never to get them. So we finally emailed and are still waiting to hear from him if he MIGHT be professional enough to come today as promised.
Of course the office of Bay Property Group is closed and we cannot get a hold of Tina or Mary (the people we have been in touch with) until the weekend is over.

Never Again… they switch managers every so often so when new managers come aboard they’re completely clueless of everything! Very unprofessional when it comes to speaking with these people. When it comes to notices, they won’t tell you until its past due to pay or when you move out. Very unorganized.
Let’s talk about the run down property…
(high street, oakland ca)
*insect infested
*roaches
*worn out carpets
*loud neighbors
*thin walls; you could hear every word said from neighbors
*no parking; neighbors block you in when parking
*1bdrm $ 1000!!! FOR THAT!!!
*late fees charged even when you pay on time! they are money hungry!
*maintenance half fix things & come when they want to.
*shootings heard near creek
I would NEVER recommend this property management EVER!!! waste of time & money.

These guys are a joke… incredibly unprofessional!
I am a condo owner in a neighboring property Bay Property Group manages. Our bordering fence collapsed.
Instead of jumping in and helping resolve the problem they pretty much behaved like middle-​school students:
i) I first left a message for a property manager.
ii) A week later he called me back. He was polite and helpful and emailed a group of Bay Property Group employees. This is when the positive experience ended.
iii)12 days and a reminder email later I finally get a response. The employee provides her phone number and instructs me to call her. She provided the wrong number. She fat fingered her own phone number!
iv) After another day of phone tag and needless emails… she finally calls me. She is in the car on a microphone from the 1990s. She isn’t particularly helpful but we end the call with her acknowledging that the property management group would share costs for the fence repair. I asked for an email confirmation. It never came.
v) 5 days later and after another email reminder I finally get a response. This time from another person. She asks a question about the surrounding trees…
This passive aggressive attempt to shirk responsibility is pathetic!
They have a property in disrepair. It’s a $ 400 issue.
I’d never use these people to manage a lemonade stand nonetheless entrust a multi-​million dollar property to them!

So it was Friday before Memorial Day we had just moved in to our new apartment. I had never tested the response time of their maintenance department. Cut to my first interaction with Mary Dirks our maintenance coordinator. The garage door had broken its springs and I told her the imperative nature to which we needed it fixed otherwise our memorial day plans would be ruined and my girlfriend blaming me in some way;)
She said she would make some calls and get someone out there and not to worry. Boy did she ever ! less then 5 minutes later I had a call from repair company saying they were going to swing by within the hour as Mary had told them she didn’t want my girlfriend mad at me or to ruin my weekend. Okay she didn’t say exactly that but did let them know the urgent nature of the request.
They fixed the garage and I was able to get my car out. Usually everyone writes a review when they have a bad experience. but rarely do people right a review when they have a good one. thats all I’ll say about that… Thanks Mary you saved the day!

This review is LONG overdue. As a tenant for one very miserable year, my experience was so unbelievably horrid and unprofessional. This review is a warning to any current and future tenants that are unfortunate enough to have to deal with these people. Here’s just a few of my «favorite» memories.
1. Our original agent told us lie after lie regarding the lease and amenities. Topics including the allowance of pets, AC, landscaping maintenance, garages/​parking, utilities and a missing refrigerator and on-​site laundry appliances were exaggerated or just downright fabricated. This behavior was also replicated with the agent’s manager on several topics. DO NOT EVER speak with these people over the phone or in person. If you must, then I highly recommend that you legally record the conversation. Otherwise, you will be wasting your time. Ideally, get everything in writing.
2. Our original agent was mysteriously «let go», as stated from another Bay Property employee. Ironically, it was also discovered that our security deposit was «misplaced». There was, even for a moment, a discussion that if we did not show proof that we paid the deposit that it may not be refunded. So your careless and/​or untrustworthy agent almost became our problem? This was SIX months after we moved in.
3. Basic aspects of a property are apparently foreign to this company. For example, our lease stated we had to pay all utilities. However, upon move in we discovered this to be impossible due to city ordinances of the building we lived in. WE CANT PAY OUR OWN WATER IF THERE IS ONLY ONE METER FOR THE WHOLE BUILDING. WE CANT PAY OUR OWN TRASH IF THE CITY ONLY ALLOWS ONE DUMPSTER PER BUILDING. WE CANT GET MAIL IF THE BUILDING DOES NOT HAVE A MAILBOX THAT MEETS USPS CODE. Here’s an idea: Know what you’re managing before you manage it! You’re welcome that I, as a tenant, did your research for you. I would have appreciated it if you just fixed the problem immediately instead of feeding me crap over the phone for weeks while my trash piled up and my mail remained undelivered.
4. After all they put us through, they then had the audacity to attempt to rip us off of our security deposit. Damages and uncleanliness were fabricated. They also attempted to charge us for a structural defect that was clearly known upon move in. I spent enough time arguing over the phone to which they agreed to refund me most of what was due. The other few hundred wasn’t worth having to deal with these people anymore.
Needless to say, life has never been better since I stopped having to give my money to these goons.

Make no mistake — if you live in a building managed by Bay Property Group, you are not the customer. And if you are a tenant who depends on rent control because you don’t make six figures (like the new tenants they are trying to attract and charge the absurd «market rate») then here’s what you can expect: maintenance requests that go ignored for months, dirty tricks like passing the cost of badly needed repairs onto tenants via «material improvements» rent increases, etc.

Alisa McDevitt is the best! As my friend wrote below, Alisa helped us find our new home when many many others weren’t as accommodating or willing. She was our savior– we were at a point where we were pretty sure we would be homeless and Alisa stepped up and generously suggested areas for me to look, and thought of other options of places we could live and finally showed us our future apartment. She is as good as it gets, for real! She took me to see a place that was not even on the market yet because she felt it sounded like something we would like, and it was perfect! She even gave me a ride to Bart afterward because she knew how exhausted I was walking around all day looking at apartments! She helped us find our new home and I cannot thank her enough for that. She is the best of the best, ladies and gentlemen! If you are searching for someone to show you your new home, Alisa is the one you should go to!!!

Alisa McDevitt is absolutely amazing! My friend and I had been looking for an apartment for just over a month, and we were having lots of trouble since we don’t work in the tech industry. My friend had been out all day walking around Oakland, looking for apartments. Towards the end of the day, she met Alisa at one of the apartments she was showing. That apartment was not right for us, but Alisa generously took my friend to a two bedroom, which was perfect for us. I seriously dont know what we would have done without her. She even, generously drove my friend to Bart afterwards. I can’t say enough kind words about her!

Based on my experience as a real estate investor and mentor for new and seasoned investors, I’ve interviewed and hired real estate professionals including property managers in several states. I’ve learned how to be selective as real estate professionals are a dime a dozen and you only want the best to represent you! That said, for the last month and a half, I have been pleased with Attorney Daniel Borenstein’s representation and professionalism towards my Parent’s landlording needs. Yesterday, we met with Lisa Flores and she re-​confirmed my decision to allow Bay Property Group to handle my Parent’s landlording needs.
I would highly recommend Bay Property Group to every San Francisco Bay Area/​Northern CA Real Estate Investor/​Landlord.

Daniel — Thanks for your response, but your information is inaccurate. At no time did anyone from Bay Property Group contact me and try to schedule a repair. Therefore I could never have told you that a time was «not convenient» for me. A simple apology would have been fine, but lying about what occurred is simply wrong.

Absolutely the worst company to deal with. If your a tenant, they don’t care about your issues. They have the «we will get to it when we can attitude». The people that they use to fix things are even worse. Half the time they don’t know what there doing. I actually had one of there agent tell me why she didn’t stop by my place when she said she would is because she was too inebriated to drive.

Bay Property Group contacted me through Unilocal on 06/​13/​2014 saying «As you are aware, your application fee was refunded.» This was not true. I checked my bank records just to be sure and asked them to do the same. They found that thy had not refunded me in any way. I’m wondering what’s wrong with the communication channels at Bay Property Group.
They ended up sending me a refund check dated 06/​24/​2014. Yay for that, but my hunch is that this was more the result of a crummy Unilocal review than it was a sudden realization that they have at least one unethical agent on their payroll.

I lived in a property managed by BPG for over two years. The application process was easy enough, and the rental agreement was very reasonable. However, I have serious issues with the way they managed the property and I would not recommend them to manage a rental property, if any of you are considering them.
A week or two after I moved in, I had a maintenance issue. They dispatched two «maintenance men» who are contractors, not actual employees of BPG. They were SO SHADY. I was by myself in the unit, and they were so suspicious that when they both went downstairs to grab a tool, I took all their equipment (which included a KNIFE WRAPPED IN A TOWEL. WHY?) placed it outside my door with a note that said I had an emergency and needed to leave immediately. I called them in tears after finding the knife. They promised to have someone else out to look at the broken curtain that caused the initial call. The curtain was never repaired in the 2+ years I lived there, despite my dozens of phone calls. After I moved out, I spoke with the property owner, who knew nothing about the broken curtain or the incident, and wondered why they never called him about it.
When we moved out, our contact there was not very communicative/​accessible and ignored emails about getting our deposit back. We ended up getting it back slightly past the required 21 days.

Bay Property Group specially Daniel Bornstein the attorney went out of the way to help me secure a property and in the past resolved our issues with a landlord tenant situation. The service has been excellent, the staff always responsive and professional.
The rates charged were very reasonable and I am very happy with their service.

WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO USE ANOTHER MANAGEMENT PROPERTY WHO CARES ABOUT YOU, NOT YOUR MONEY…
This company was hired by our landlord to find renters since she lives in a different state. The lady we dealt with was nice at first, but disorganized, flustered, and always made us feel like we were wasting her time. She wanted HER paycheck, so she rushed the move in date, despite questions of issues with the condo.
We overlapped our rent so we could secure the place, and the day of moving in found a leak under the sink. Our landlord had asked THREE TIMES about a previous leak, trying to ensure it had been fixed, but this «professional» said (in writing) it was fine on 3 different occasions.
Long story short, we currently do not have ½ of our kitchen — there was invasive mold and a restoration company had to come in and rip out the sink and all the cabinets surrounding the sink. We were given a loose estimate of 2 weeks to replace the cabinets — the exact amount of time that we could’ve waited to move in a month ago, but Vikki was so insistant on us moving in so she could clear the property off her «to-​do» list and get paid. (Update — we’ve had no sink, dishwasher, flooring or cabinets for 5 weeks and expect AT LEAST another 4 weeks of this)
On top of our kitchen being out of commission and having workers in our home for weeks, Vikki used her maintenance guys to repair simple things such as changing lightbulbs and charged the landlord $ 800, $ 150 of that was for a «locksmith» who basically installed a new dead bolt. We then had only 2 different keys for the doors instead of 3, and the door knob didn’t lock. After a short trip to Home Depot and self-​installation, we now have only 1 key for all 3 doors, and our door knob locks.
Vikki didn’t want to get involved with the leak issue so she rented an uninhabitable home, which has now caused us a lot of trouble so that she could get paid. It’s unfortunate that there are such selfish people in this world.

Very disappointed !!! The maintenance charges is such a rip off !!!

New spam marketing? Unwanted.
Received a zero balance ‘owner statement’ for a property they have never managed.
The name, mailing address and property address are public record, but not all together on any public record
No contact phone number on statement for the business sounds a bit suspicious.
Called and they said a ‘toggle’ on their software must have been switched by mistake.

These 5 starts are for Kevin Skipper! I just finalized the sale of my home in Oakland with Kevin as my agent. I came to Bay Property Group without a reference, just found it in Unilocal and I wasn’t sure whether I should rent or sell my property. Kevin Skipper met with me and we had a series of discussions that lead me to decide to put it for sale to test the market.
Since the start, Kevin has been very knowledgeable, available, responsive, and overall a pleasure to work with. His guidance all the way to escrow has been extremely valuable and he has completely met my expectations of what I wanted to get for my property. He is also a very friendly individual and easy to talk to, which is much appreciated in the real estate business.

If you are looking to rent and see this company’s name, run as fast as you can!:((Here’s some of my personal experiences/​horror stories for the last couple years this company took over our bldg:
1) Locked myself out was told it cost me$ 150(not clear how they came up w/​that cost)
2) Even though I pay my rent on-​time on same day, ²⁄₃ times a year they sent me late fee notices.
3)When I asked to change the carpet that I have had for past 15 years they said NO, even though I expressed that I suspect I am developing allergies b/​c of it.
4) Bldg inside is falling apart, to throw out the garbage you have to go thro’ a dark alley that looks like. a crime scene.
5) They have not fixed a single thing
6) It took them 2 weeks to fix the garage door which stayed open the whole time.
Basically they are just money blood suckers, who will try at any opportunity to squeeze extra $$$out of you, but will not fix a single you request.
Again WORST property mgmt group ever!!!