Mozart Management

Following a two star rating of Mozart, I have an update. As previously mentioned, this company is not bad UNTIL YOU DON’T RESIGN.
In the last two months of our lease the company has:
— Sent multiple emails asking us when we are leaving so that they can get into our apartment even earlier than the three days before (non-​prorated in payment) the end of our last month
–Entered our apartment, unannounced-​as usual, to conduct the final inspection while we were still under our lease
–Indicated that we owed $ 40.00 for a one hour broom cleaning fee which was unnecessary as the apartment was already clean– Don’t worry got that back!
–Took our keys off of the kitchen counter BEFORE we left
–Sent an email demanding our remaining keys before the lease was up
–HUNG UP ON ME IN A PHONE CALL
I don’t know. Like I said… great until you go to leave. It was a dissapointing final experience with this company. Just a few things to consider.

They take major advantage of students with little to no income by pressuring them to sign binding documents and bullying them into paying hefty fees.
Unfortunately, I was a victim. I saw an apartment that I thought was a great price and location, so I agreed to do the paperwork right away. Even though I wasn’t planning to move in for another 8 months, I wanted to snatch up the apartment before other people could. This is the mindset of most students, and Mozart Management clearly took advantage of it. The agency pressured me to sign a lot of paperwork and pay the first month’s rent + $ 150 deposit + $ 10 for each co-​signer (a total of $ 810). I am a graduate student at CMU, so I make almost enough to equal four times the rent, but they wouldn’t negotiate on letting me lease without co-​signers. What’s more, they forced me to get three of them: my mom, dad, and my stepmother. I thought this was way too much. I tried to explain to them that I make more money than my mother and I don’t want her to be a co-​signer, but they wouldn’t accept it. And they pressured me into signing a statement saying I would give up the $ 810 if I didn’t turn in the lease with my co-signer’s signatures within one week. This was my big mistake. I should NOT have signed this agreement and they were clearly taking advantage of me as a student who was desperate for cheap housing.
When my dad and stepmother saw the lease, they weren’t happy with all the demands put on them – releasing their social security number, banking account info, salary – the type of information that can result in identity theft. We tried to negotiate with Mozart Management to see if they would be okay with just knowing their company, title, and phone numbers to their HR departments (who could ensure they make enough money to cover the rent). However, Mozart Management wouldn’t budge. We asked them if they would sign a statement protecting us from identity theft and paying for any damages resulting from it. They didn’t even reply to this request. I also asked them again if I could rent without co-​signers or get my $ 810 back. They then threatened that if I didn’t have the lease signed by the end of the business day, that money would be taken from me.
They could have easily refunded me the money and found another renter for the place (it’s still not available for another 8 months!), but instead they decided to take advantage of my position. They pressured me to sign off my money on the spot without letting me show the lease to my parents or lawyer first.
Do you think Mozart Management should be able to continue to take advantage of students with low-​income? If not, I strongly advise you to boycott this agency!

Absolutely horrible. My sink has been overflowing onto my countertops and ruining my belongings multiple times. Management did not even apologize for my inconvenience.

Okay I wrote my previous review when I was mad at them for breaking into my apartment. I want to provide a more complete and responsible review now, so people know what to expect for living at Mozart.
1. READ THE LEASE. I have to put this in capitals because I didn’t. It’s very long, so I didn’t bother. I thought, how bad could it be? I’ve lived in various apartments during college and everything was peaceful. You just have to look at how much you have to pay each month and what the deadline is, and some other stuff like lost keys and maintenance. Mozart’s lease lists out at least a dozen things that they can fine you with, and the prices are ridiculous. On the top of my mind, there are full month’s rent for refusing uninformed inspection, full month’s rent for not returning keys on time, $ 500 for any animal, 3 month’s rent for moving out before the original date of leave, if you «move out» because you died your relatives are required to pay that 3 months rent… And there’s a policy that states that by signing this contract you waive your legal rights according to (some law that I forgot). I don’t have time to bring this to court but I don’t think it’s legal to make such a contract.
2. They provide almost zero service. We once called them for clogging in the sink and bathtub, and maintenance showed up for the first time over a week later. And it took about a month to actually get it fixed. I think there was a 3 day period where we weren’t allowed to shower to fix the problem. And there was also this time when maintenance showed up in the morning when I was in the shower. They told my roommate that they’ll come back next week if I can’t get out of the shower immediately. Also I think there was this time last winter when the heating broke down and we wrote them an email, and they said «we don’t take responsibility in alarming you of things like this. I would advice you to shut the windows firmly and use blankets to block where wind might blow in.» What? My neighbor moved out after 2 months of living in mozart because of things like this. Mozart gave no shit about his quality of life living there or anything they could do to make stuff less of a problem. He had to pay a fine equivalent to 3 months rent ($ 3000+), but he moved out with no hesitation.
3. They are extremely rude. I remember explaining something to them in email for an expensive fine that I didn’t think was my fault. And they replied in a middle school bully tone which basically said «we don’t care what your circumstances were. you owe us a grand. shut up and pay asap». So I replied in demand for an explanation for their attitude, and my next couple of emails were responded by three different person, each saying the previous went out on vacation. Lol yeah. And I can’t remember the circumstance, it was either moving or parking or cleaning, but I swear I’ve been called an idiot to the face by one of their people. They might seem polite when they’re trying to sell you the place, but they’ll show their true disrespectful nature when any conflict arise. If you can deal with that, welcome to mozart. Later a friend told me that it’s probably because that the fine is $ 1000+ that they’re so determined to milk that money out of you without listening to any explanation you might rightfully have and going as far as to insult you to sound firm.
4. Oh, by the way, I don’t think they really know their place. They were showing the place to some potential tenants, and they were pointing at stuff that we brought in and said it comes with the apartment. I had to tell the ppl seeing the place that it wasn’t true, that the microwave, wardrobe, mirrors were actually all ours. I’m really surprised the guy showing the place didn’t call me an idiot in the face right there lol. Anyway, I’m saying this, if they look nice at your first encounter (especially if that’s before you sign the lease and everything), don’t believe it. They’ll never be as nice after you sign, unless you get a perfect room with no problems and you never talk to any of their staff.
5. The price might look okay, but it really isn’t. I think my rent was a bit over 1000 for 2 people, but utilities are not included, parking is not included, and they have the highest laundry fee I’ve ever seen. Plus, they fine you a grand for the most trivial things. So think about how much you actually have to pay to live in such a bad place.
Anyway, I’m very happy that I moved out. If you are thinking about living there, DON’T. It’s gonna be a nightmare.

I have lived in the Pennsylvania building for over 3 months now and I felt a need to counter act all these negative reviews I keep seeing on here.
Firstly when I called maintenance to fix anything I would always get a prompt response usually within 24 hours. I remember my mailbox lock needed changed and 2 hours later a maintenance man came up to check and order a new one.
People say Mozart has came into their apartment unannounced but that hasn’t happened to us yet and Pennsylvania doesn’t have a law requiring management companies to notice tenants when they will be coming over. So if you want a company to respect that you’ll have to leave the state.
All the maintenance, management, and grounds keepers have been very polite and knowledgeable to my roommate and I.
Be sure to read all of the lease before signing. They have all the information in their leases.

One of the worst mgmt companies i have ever dealt with. The policies in their building are obviously very outdated but they refuse to make themselves better to serve their clients. As long as they can wipe their hands clean, they are ok with it. One aspect that they are great at is dishing off responsibility and making zero effort to give the tenants a better experience. Mgmt does not think how to resolve the issue, instead they will cite a policy to justify why they cannot help you.

Caution!!! Before signing a contract with Mozart, read it. If you find the following terms acceptable sign it.
Management has the right to enter you premises seven days a week between 9 AM and 8 PM. without any notice If for any reason, they are not permitted to enter you will be charged one full month’s fee as a penalty,
Management has no obligation to provide notice before performing any repair whatsoever
Management can run your credit as often as they want to do so. (your credit score can go do every time it is run)
If management or anyone hired by them causes damage to your personal property while making a repair, management has no responsibility to compensate you.
If you don’t renew your lease six months prior to its expiration, your apartment can be show between 9am and 8 pm without notice.
I was looking to help rent an apartment for my son who will be moving to Pittsburgh. I found theses terms unacceptable I spoke with management and they were completely intransigent on the terms other than being willing to drop the credit check if the full year rent is paid in advance.

I’m taking the previous poster’s advice and contacting the BBB.
After nearly 5 hellish years with Mozart, this week I received a notice from them stating that they weren’t renewing my lease.
When I called the only incident they pointed to as an explanation was because I warned my neighbors of the peeping Tom that was masturbating outside of our windows on the fire escape. There are numerous young college aged females that live in the building and Mozart refused to install motion lighting of any kind. After the 3^rd incident I contacted an attorney, warned every tenant with a notice and threatened to contact the media if they didn’t do anything about it. They still refuse to install motion detected lighting, there are just very dim fluorescent lights out there now instead.
Mozart then began updating my apartment on the guise that they were bettering it for me, when in actuality they were doing it so they could show it to others. They put in new floors and a new cabinet — I even had to stay in a hotel (at my own expense) because of the dust, dirt and lack of a floor in my bathroom! I posted a picture showing my bathroom one day when I needed to «go.»
Today, I posted an art mosaic that I was sure to point out when they were showing my apartment. The mosaic, posted inside my apartment, provides ample warning that this apartment came with «strings attached» — a sexual deviant.
I posted a photo of the art mosaic on my facebook page too, for you to see as well:
It says:
FUTURE TENANT (S):
THIS APARTMENT COMES WITH A PEEPING TOM.
I m not allowed to renew my lease because I warned all of the other tenants in the building after the 3^rd incident of him masturbating outside my window. (staring through blinds)
Mozart still refuses to install motion lighting
Read all of the nightmares about Mozart Management (aka NALCO) at
Read more:

I lived in Mozart’s Highmont apartment for the past two years.
The rent is too damn high. It was $ 730 including utilities when I moved in. If you sign a lease now it’s $ 830. It has hardwood floors… In between the gaping crevices in the floor and splinters galore. The kitchen appliances are ¾ size so your oven will not accept 11“X13″ baking pans and the eyes of your stove are too close to cook more than two items at a time.
This past winter was very snowy, and Mozart waits until the 23^rd hour after snowfall to shovel and salt the walkways, so be prepared to have several near-​death experiences getting down the two flights of steep stairs (with short, flimsy, definitely not to code railing).
They sometimes creep in for inspections, then give you a ‘B’ without telling you what they didn’t like. Aside from inspections, maintenance is really quick for all those pesky problems with the plumbing. The bathtub and sink drip constantly which would be concerning if utilities weren’t included. The air conditioning is weak, the heat is hellish and there is very little temperature control since your windows are painted shut.
The laundry room is coin operated, it costs $ 1.75 to wash and to ‘dry’. Your clothes will still be soaking wet from the dryer (yes even on high with a clean lint trap). Also be wary of the washers, sometimes people leave them nasty so do a sniff test and a visual inspection before you put your clothes in. The hallways smell like hot garbage, always. They will only be vacuumed shortly after move in in August and right before people start coming to view the apartments in February.
Also, since the utilities are included, your name isn’t on them which means:
1. When you move on, the utility companies want to say you have no history with them because your name is not on the account.
2. When Duquesne Light plays with power grid and knocks out your electricity for two days during a 95+ degree heat wave causing misery and spoiling all of your groceries so you are forced to go to the food pantry for months afterward, you can’t do anything or be repaid for your losses because of #1.
One last thing, there is a parking lot, but it costs $ 75 a month to park back there or you can park on a side street for free and walk 3 blocks with your arms full of groceries. And they will tow you! I was towed within 2 hours after parking back there at (10pm). So park tail-​in if you need to use the lot quickly because the tow truck will have to switch equipment to ruin your day.
TL:DR Value for apartment is not great considering all of the other b.s.

I can only comment on the lease application process, but my experience was very negative. They started out easy to work with, but that was short-​lived. Scheduling apartment viewing was simple, and the people who showed me the units were relatively friendly. The issue came when I actually went to sign a lease.
I was told on the phone and in person by the person showing me apartments that I would not need a cosigner, but as soon as I showed up for my lease application appointment, they told me I would need a cosigner. I scrambled to contact my mom, who was willing to cosign, but they said they needed BOTH parents to co-​sign, and they wanted me to sign an agreement saying I would forfeit the $ 1000 deposit I had to pay upfront if I did not return all of my cosigners’ documents within 7 days. This was an issue because 1 of my parents was out of town for the week.
I tried compromising with them and seeing if they could change the agreement to give me an extra few days to get the cosigner paperwork in, or to see if I could just have my mother (who was more than financially stable) be the sole cosigner. They were unwilling to compromise at all, and I left after about a half hour of unproductive back-​and-​forth discussion.
I could have gone back a week later, when both parents were in town, as the unit was still available, but I figured any place that difficult to work with when I was trying to give them money would be even more frustrating once I was contacting them for things like maintenance requests. I wouldn’t say «never ever rent from them», but I would definitely be aware of how rude /​difficult they can be.

The worst experience I have ever had with a leasing company. My fiancé and I were attempting to rent an apartment from Mozart. Despite the fact that we will be married, have employment, and have great credit, Mozart insisted on having co-​signers for our lease. Not just one cosigner, they insisted in having both sets of our parents (4 parents in total) co-​sign the lease. That is 6 people co-​signing the lease of 2 adults in their 30s who have great credit and employment. To add insult to injury they also insisted on charging $ 10/​consign. It seemed like a ploy to squeeze as much money out of us as possible. I was so shocked and offended by this that I asked to talk to the manager.
The manager proceeded to basically laugh at my fiancé and I when we insisted in seeing this policy in writing. She stated that they had no obligation to show us anything. Meanwhile they were asking for us to sign away many rights. She was so rude and unapologetic, she acted like she was doing us a favor by even answering our questions.
Then we read the lease carefully. Honesty, I don’t think it is legal to have this type of lease. Basically they state that they can enter the apartment at any time without any notice for any reason. How can that possibly be appropriate? They also insist that you renew your lease within 6 mos of the new lease or else they will begin showing the apartment without any notice to you. Horrible and completely invasive.
I have had rectal exams that were more comfortable than this experience. DO NOT RENT FROM MOZART. There are plenty of other companies and privately owned properties who are far better to lease from. The apartment we looked at was nice, but no where near nice enough to go through this mess. I will tell everyone I know to stay away from them.

Pro: Great location
Con: Rude management
Bathroom leaks atleast 5 times a month. Very old building.
Called emergency help line and couldnt take shower on Jan 1 for more than 6 hours. They have only person on call for 24 hour emergency.
Since its an old building, there is regular wear and tear, including boilers, which take all of their time, hence increasing response time to residents.
After 6 hours, we are still waiting for the guy to show up to fix leaked bathroom, so that I dont have to take a bath in shit water. Very common problem in these apartments.
Frustrated with service, and response. Hopefully nobody else gets dinged. Cant wait to move on. Have pictures with time stamp, if anybody is interested.

I just moved out of Mozart’s Arlington building in Shadyside, and I wanted to write a review to counteract some of the negative press that Mozart has been been getting on Unilocal and elsewhere. The reason I moved out was mainly due to increasing rent and my desire to check out one of the other neighborhoods in Pittsburgh for a change of pace.
Personally, I had no real issues with Mozart. The building was always kept clean and everyone I talked to – from the maintenance guys to management — was polite and helpful. The rooms in the Arlington were very quiet (I never heard my neighbors except for when people were talking while through the hallways). Heat (since it’s included in rent) was reasonable, if a little hot at times. I’d say the overall condition of my apartment was above average. It’s a really old building (~1910), but the amenities were kept reasonably up to date.
A couple notes that people might want to be aware of:
–Mozart requires that you let them know if you’re moving out in February (6 months before your lease expires in August). I think that’s pretty excessive, but it’s their policy.
–Mozart does not require a security deposit, so I’m not sure why some people are saying Mozart took their security deposit…
–They have a «broom clean» policy which means essentially that as long as your apartment isn’t gross when you move out, it’s cool. So when you move into a new Mozart apartment, don’t expect it to be spotless.
Overall, I would say Mozart is a pretty safe bet if you’re looking for an apartment in Pittsburgh. They have a few quirks, but I didn’t really mind and would definitely rent with them again.

Terrible!
I’m pretty sure I am the apartment above Serena R’s review. The time frame matches up well.
I moved in around August 2010 to a first floor apartment (with a lower level Apartment below me) Within the first weeks of my arrival, maintenance people were at my door nearly every time I tried to shower.
I’m a young girl, living alone, with guys unceremoniously entering MY HOME every time my shower leaks! Originally, they tried to convince me I wasn’t closing my shower curtain… but then a started collecting crocks full over debris and water from behind the shower plumbing access door. THEY tried to convince me that cups full were purely pipe condensation. It took 6 months for them to resolve this situation. At one point, they even asked me NOT to use the shower.
A year later, the ceiling in my bedroom began to leak. The wall began to crack and before long a grotesque, pink mold covered the backside of the layers of tan paint that fell from my walls and ceiling. I was spending most of time out of town with a family illness when I noticed this happening. When I stopped by the office to pay my rent, I talked to 3 people about what was happening… nothing was corrected UNTIL they started showing my apartment to potential tenants.
I used my apartment as essentially a storage unit until my lease expired.

I have lived at Mozart for 3 years now. Like anywhere else, there are pros and cons. Pro’s first. I like to live a very quiet life. I work from home and I value my privacy. Mozart has always been good, and now has improved on that. When Maintenance comes I get warning, if there’s a hazard or problem it gets fixed fast and usually at my choice of day and time, and the OUTSIDE is gorgeous. The guys who work and garden… they do a meticulous, and fantastic job. So often people who do «Small jobs» are forgotten so they don’t work hard. But house keeping, gardening, and the fix it guys are always respectful, friendly, and are highly knowledgeable.
Cons: Rent… goes up every year to almost a ridiculous amount. I live in a studio and without utilities besides water and heat) it’s over 600. However: I get this is a business and anything money related Mozart is a stickler on. Still: if they did some rent control… they could keep some really good clients. Sometimes I think that gets forgotten. I’ll have to leave next year, and who knows, I might rent another place w these guys. But for now, I’m going to make the best of my time.

Horrible in every sense of the word. We rented one of their properties in Squirrel hill. It had a major leakage and the roof leaked throughout the year. First of all consider yourself lucky if nick picks up the phone, If your work is done you might just buy yourself a lottery.
The washer and dryer in the basement seems several years old and the clothes come out wet from the dryer (I know!). When one of my friends locked himself out Nick was generous to call us all «Idiots».
After having spent close to $ 400 for cleaning further money was cut from our deposit and we were never given a explanation or the bill for that.
After making calls for several months we were finally given our deposit back. Do yourself a favor and do not take any house they have to offer.

I still get nightmares from just seeing Mozart management signs on
Buildings anywhere in Pittsburgh.

I lived at the Wendover for the past two years. As with any rental experience there have been both positive and negative experiences.
Positives:
–Easy to communicate with rental group with problems
–Fast service– less than 6 hours to replace stove and fridge when they broke
–Heating is included and there is garage parking (for a fee of $ 50/​month)
–In-​building laundry room
–Location is close to bus lines and convenient to many restaurants, stores, etc.
Negatives:
–From February through June, expect lots of showings of your apartment – including weekend mornings and multiple showings in a single day and little notice (depending on the showing, I received between 3 hours notice up to 2 days notice)
–In the first year I lived at the apartment both my stove and refrigerator had to be replaced, and while done quickly, it’s highly inconvenient and it seems unlikely that appliances should have to be replaced that often (as an aside, they were replaced with used units)
–Rental price: I would say that while well-​kept, these apartments are definitely overpriced – and rent goes up each year (after my first year by $ 25 and then it was going to go up by another $ 35 this year so I chose not to renew my lease)
While Mozart ended up being too costly for me, I’m sure that for some, its conveniences will outweigh the costs and to sum it up, I’d say that for the past two years Mozart has been an adequate/​acceptable management company, but I’m happy to be moving on.

I lived in The Pennsylvanian for one year. It was so intolerable that I moved a month early and just ate the cost.
The pluses: from a distance, the apartments are decent. and the maintenance staff is always around.
The minus: the maintenance staff is always around. As in, they took daily lunch and gab fests directly outside of the my living room window in the courtyard. I’m not trying to be an elitist, but I would have liked to have been able to use the table right outside of my apartment in peace.
Additionally, they do random pest control, which is an excuse to snoop in your apartment. Once, they found «a used pot soaking in soapy water and a teapot on the stove» (verbatim from the letter they sent me), which was considered «unhygienic.» This was a search they did without any warning to me and while I was at class. I’m obsessively clean and generally didn’t even leave any dishes soaking ever and I keep my CLEAN teapot on the stove since I make tea often. It was insulting, and to make it worse, they insisted that they had to come back once a week for the next three weeks to check on my sink’s cleanliness. Whoever had «inspected» my apartment had rummaged in all of my drawers. I then had a real estate lawyer friend remind Mozart of my rights, and they didn’t bother me again until I moved out early – they were upset I was leaving the apartment «abandoned,» even though I had paid the rent through the end of the lease.
Furthermore, they absolutely refused to tell me when they would be spraying for these so-​called pests, which I believe is why they started doing the «inspections” – to spite me. Their staff is horribly rude that way. After they posted a sign about spraying for pests, I went into their office with a note from my physician explaining I have very serious asthma and needed to know what they were spraying and when so I could go somewhere else for a couple days. They said I was hindering their pest control, and then started the weekly inspections of my apartment. This was after they randomly showed up unannounced and re-​finished my bathtub while I was in class, and just left a note saying I couldn’t shower for 2 days on the door. The smell was so strong that I would have had to leave for that long anyhow. Hence, why I asked about the pest spraying.
The dry wall from the ceiling fell suddenly in large chunks all over my bedroom once, and it took 2 days to fix and they left dry wall dust all over my room (this was after I had cleaned up from the first dry wall).
Incidentally, the first person they showed my apartment to took it, and the realtor thanked me profusely for having a such a nice set-​up that it made it so much easier to rent than the «messy» units… I’m guessing places with TWO dirty pots in the sink.

If I could, I would give this poor excuse for a managment company «0» stars. I’ve barely in my place for 2 weeks and have had all sorts of problems. Let’s see the second day I moved in, the bathroom ceiling started to leak and then ultimately fell. I was told that upon the initial complaint of the leak, that this was «normal» and that it was a result from the upstairs neighbors not fully closing their shower curtain.
I’m not sure if this maintenance guy thought he was talking to a total moron, but somehow I doubt that a few sprinkles coming out from a bathtub in the above unit b/​c the shower curtain didn’t close all the way would cause a rain-​like down pour in my bathroom. I promptly contacted the management company during normal business hours and they came in and put a temporary board up until they could fix the problem.
I stressed to them to please resolve the leak as replacing the ceiling wouldn’t fix the real problem. They said that they would look into it and replaced the ceiling but still needed to do a paint job and some plastering to seal the edges. I waited a week to see if they would do the «final» touches to the bathroom. They didn’t so I had to call them to see if they were ever coming back to paint the wall that was ruined by the water damage. They told me that they would try to get around to it but they have lots of units they have to work on… ummm so when did it become ok to do a half-​assed job and leave a tenant with no time frame on when it would be completely done.
I figured I would follow-​up with them regarding the final touches to the bathroom when low and behold the ceiling near the front door fell without warning, and from my perspective no reason at all. If someone had been standing there, this would have caused serious injury. This happened on a Saturday so I called and someone came to put temporary board up.
I planned on contacting them during normal business hours (M-​F 9 – 5) to make sure that someone would be fixing the ceiling when I noticed the the bathroom ceiling (that they had just replaced) is starting to get discolored b/​c of the leak. So it’s just a matter of time before the bathroom ceiling falls again since they failed to correct the source of the problem which is the leak that I had explicitly mentioned.
So if you want to move in to a place that is falling apart you should definitely move into their apartments. I just can’t imagine having to deal with this a year. I already know that I will NOT renew my lease or EVER rent from this management company again.
Also fyi — don’t bother calilng the emergency number b/​c they’ll either tell you there’s nothing wrong or not show up at all. This happened twice to me so far within a two week time frame.