Mark B Weiss Real Estate LLC

This morning I woke up to our sinks overflowing with brown murky water! I guess the City of Chicago shuts down sewer pipes if it rains too much? And its backs up the pipes (gross!). Anyways Mark and his team were very responsive and had someone out there to fix right it away. Very grateful for the quick response!

Myself and my boyfriend have been renting from Mark B Weiss for nearly 2 years. We have had good and bad points. However, in the past 6 months to a year it has been significantly on the good side.
When we first moved in he had a horrible Maintenance crew and a lacking office system to put in requests and pay rent, although he did tell us this when we first met him (not that the maintenance crew sucked but that he was working on an online system)
However, he implemented said online system where you can pay rent online and send maintenance requests. Although for a while he had a less than desirable office member who processed the requests, they would get lost or missed. However, a direct call to Mark and it would be addressed. He also after a short period of time got rid of said office member.
Most recently, we had a huge issue with our new neighbors, they were awful and it got to the point that we could no longer live in the property despite several attempts made by us and Mark to improve the situation. So one day after a huge blowout with said neighbors my Boyfriend called Mark in a fit of rage and said we were done and could no longer live there, and asked how do we get out of the lease. He talked us through our options and said look around see if there is anything and get back to me.
So we looked and actually found a great one of his. I mean we already rented from him and knew that we had somewhat of a good relationship. So we contacted him and set up a viewing with the existing tenant. We loved the property and got back on the phone with Mark. Who talked us through everything, said there would be no fees or charges but would we be able to help show our apartment. Well of course we would! He is helping us to move out we felt its the least we could do. He would give them our contact number and we would arrange it so it was on our terms. This worked great.
Move date Dilemma: It turned out that the move in date was the day before we went on a vacation that we had planned several months previously. So back on the phone I got to Mark to see if there was anyway we could either go in early or late. He said give me a day to see what I can do. Well within an hour he called me and said we can go in a day early, I also confirmed this with the previous tenant.
Closer to move in. He gave me a call one Saturday afternoon and wondered if I would like to go and meet him at the new address to do a walk-​through with himself and the new and much improved maintenance crew. I, of course jumped at the chance. We did our walk through and made the list of any issues (all minor). He confirmed that the property would be painted, cleaned and issue fixed while we were away or before move in date.
The move: The day before Mark called me and said I can get the keys to you now but would you mind meeting the old tenant directly. I said Of course the sooner the better. So I picked up the keys. He also told me the painters would be there later that day. In the evening we went over to move a few little bits and check out our new place. We caught the tail end of the painters which had been very busy. My only nitpick was that they gotten quite a lot of paint on the floor, which is by no means Mark’s fault and having painted a house before, even when you cover everything paint somehow manages to get on something!
Whilst we were away Mark called me, asked how the move went and informed me that the cleaners had been delayed due to illness but they would be there next week. Totally out of his hands and fine. I mean it happens, we all get sick. They did come the next week and did a great job and are so friendly and professional!
As you can see through every step of our move he was there and I can honestly say without him being so supportive it could of easily turned into a disaster.
With maintenance requests here is my experience: Urgent ones he will have someone out there that day, more or less. Less urgent you sometimes will have to wait, as its well, less urgent and he will address more important ones, which is more than fair. Sometimes you will have to remind him as lets face it he is human not just a professional. He has a large amount of properties for a relatively small office staff. So be patient and be respectful. I think if you are respectful and helpful towards him (as we all should be to each other) than he will do the same to you.
I plan to rent from Mark for the foreseeable future. For me he has been a good landlord.

This review is, in absolutely no way, considered defamation or libel. Defamation is the communication of a FALSE statement. Here are some true facts. I have copies of all maintenance requests and email correspondence. I could easily write pages upon pages describing the issues we had. However, Unilocal only wants 5000 characters.
I won’t even begin to go into detail with the various maintenance requests that we struggled with or how he handled those. While that was miserable, the move out was the worst.
First, we were sent a letter that said «This is your official notice that we will begin showing your apartment each day until it is rented. No other notice is required as this covers our perpetual notice of entry into your unit.» We then received an email from someone in his office saying that they would send us an email with times and dates of showings. I have a dog and my roommate has a cat. In our lease, it says that they will abide by local ordinances, which state that we are to be given 48 hours notice before anyone enters our apartment. (This is not the first time we have dealt with him or his workers entering without a notice) I never received an email with dates or times for the showings; instead I received calls or texts usually around 2 hours in advance-​IF I got any warning at all. I contacted attorneys. This «perpetual notice» is not sufficient notification since it gives no times and no dates. There were multiple occasions where my roommate and I would be busy in our apartment, only to hear a knock at our door and several random strangers outside.
By June 29^th, we had almost everything out of the apartment, aside from some trash, a few small items (including valuable items such as laptops, purses, etc.), and some furniture we were trying to sell. Our lease expired at 10am on June 30^th, 2015. On June 29^th, my mother drove into the city to help me finish moving and completely clean out my apartment. When we arrived to my apartment on the 29^th, we were shocked to find painters in my apartment. All of my furniture and belongings had been pushed to the center of the room. There was no tarp on anything and therefore paint on several of my belongings. It was virtually impossible to clean, since there were several men in an already small apartment and all of our furniture was in the middle of the room. We then called Mark. After several minutes of a conversation that went nowhere, with Mark continually cutting my mom off and not allowing her to finish speaking, he says «I’m going to call my boss.» And hung up on her. He never called back. Minutes later, one of his workers arrived. He was extremely apologetic and understood that it was impossible for us to get anything done with painters everywhere and wet walls, so he told us to just move out what we needed and leave behind any trash. I told him that the lease states that we will be charged for all the cleaning, light bulb replacements, etc. that need to be done. He said that there was no need for us to do ANYTHING, they would take care of it and we would not be charged. We recorded this conversation. We moved out all the things that we could, and then left.
Our lease said for us to be moved out by 10am on June 30^th. Clearly, that was impossible. Had Mark informed me that a painting crew would be entering my apartment, we could have made other arrangements (and I surely would have taken my valuables out of my apartment!), but he did not. At 11:59am on June 30^th, my roommate and I each received an email from Mark. The subject line was «Congrats! Your video is now on YouTube!» and the only thing included in the email was a link to a YouTube video. In the video, Mark himself enters my apartment and points out everything that wasn’t finished. At the end of the video, he shows a picture of our lease and says our last names.
We each left work as soon as we could (try explaining this to your boss.) and emptied out the apartment. It didn’t take long at all (The most difficult part was trying to find someone to help two 21 year old girls carry furniture down 3 flights of stairs, since we had arranged to have that help on the 29^th) and we were done by 4pm. We also took a video of the apartment exactly how we left it. The video will show the state of the apartment and I explained the issues he brought up in his video. Here is the video of exactly how we left the apartment:
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In an effort to keep this post to strict facts, I will not go into detail on my own personal opinions of Mark B. Weiss.
At this point there is ONE review that is above 1 star. It is a 5 star review. That review was posted by someone named Mark W. Please, do yourself a favor and read carefully through the fourteen 1 star reviews that were posted prior to mine and prior to «Mark W’s» review.

Oh my god, how much do I love Unilocal???
We are looking for an apartment. I saw a property on HotPads for a unit that looked pretty nice, and so I filled out the contact form.
This being Unilocal,and you all being Unilocalers, I probably don’t have to explain the concept to YOU all, but you’ll understand shortly: A contact form is one of those things where you put your name and phone number in, along with your basic info, and the form is automatically filled in with the info about the property – the address, rent, availability, etc. They, like the websites on which they appear, are available 24 hours a day.
Now, you may be wondering why I felt the need to provide that information. But here’s the thing: Apparently Mr. Weiss is Unclear On the Concept.
Why do I say that?
Well, a couple of hours after I sent the contact form, I checked my e-​mail, and here’s the response I got, in full:
«We are through working today. Text tomorrow after 11 AM for our showing schedule.»
Ooooookay_​, I thought. _That’s an… unusual response. But okay.
Immediately following that response came another. Again, in full:
«what is your name please, what building are you referring to, what is the move-​in date you are looking for? And how many people will be living in the unit? «
For a good two-​three minutes, I was rendered completely speechless. Literally every piece of information Mr. Weiss was requesting had ALREADY been provided in my initial request. Not only that – and okay, I don’t mean to be THAT chick, but – seriously? This is supposedly a «professional» person? Does the concept of grammar enter ANYWHERE into his world? Or more importantly, the concepts of professionalism and customer relations?
I started a snarky e-​mail to Mr. Weiss, and then I said to myself «No, no, Regina; this is what’s wrong with this country nowadays – don’t do it.». Besides, I thought, I really liked the apartment, and maybe I might still want to see it.
A couple days later I saw another listing I liked, and was disappointed to see Weiss’s name attached to it. But I figured, okay, everybody has a bad day sometimes; maybe he’s normally the nicest guy on earth and I’ll find that out when I send him a response THIS time. So I responded to his original «what is your name» e-​mail, calmly and informatively; told him that I was very interested in two of his properties, gave the addresses, gave all the information I could. Surely, I thought, I’ll get a more-​professional reply this time.
Aaaaaaaaaand…nope.
Same «We’re done working» response. And then… nothing. No reply, no call, no text, no appointment, no nothing.
That’s when I came to Unilocal and had all my worst suspicions about this guy confirmed. So thank you, Unilocal,for saving me from further beating my head against the brick wall of Mark B Weiss’s jerkwaddery. I feel like I’ve dodged a bullet. But I do feel bad for the actual OWNERS of these buildings, the ones who contract for this douche to show and maintain their properties. Imagine the hell THEY have to go through.

Called to set up 2 viewings. Took the day off of work. Confirmed that a broker would meet me at set time and location. Broker did not show up, did not answer my call. Instead, texted me back to tell me I was probably at the wrong address… I was at the correct address. No apology or further communication. Would give 0 stars if possible. Saved myself from a crappy landlord!

warning: if you want to deal with real real estate agents, this is not who you want to talk to. terrible service, he will mock you whenever he gets a chance. i was told that «i was not properly taught by my parents when i was younger.» throughout the year, he barged in through the doors whenever he wanted and said he can either tell you he is coming to the apartment either 2 days before or the day after he makes the visit. he will insult you. please beware (if) you do business with him.

DO NOT RENT! Our issues were as follows:
1. Our heat broke multiple times during the winter, and every time he sent over someone who put on a fan in order to fix the problem. Apparently something was overheating (the switch? I am not sure because no one ever gives you a straight answer). Instead of replacing the very old unit, which it needed, the workman was instructed to put a fan. He failed to see that the PIPE WAS ROTTING OUT and all the Carbon monoxide was entering the unit. Thank god, I had him put in a detector…
2. Carbon Monoxide detector went off after I had asked him many times to put one in by sending a link to the law. After it went off (and the fire department left) we had to wait 2 days to get the heat turned back on. This was because the guy who he sent over to fix it quit on the job, indicating that Mark never pays him. Mark did not answer our calls the night the heat was turned off due to Carbon monoxide in the unit, and he never said sorry or anything to the extent of that. THEN, he sent out an email saying that because they put in detectors, they saved lives.
3. We found out, shortly after moving in, that PROSTITUTES were living in our unit before us. Apparently Mark knew this because another tenant told him (there were lines down street), but he did not care as long as they paid rent. Nice. Eventually the were raided by the cops and forced to move out, so we were told by neighbors. Then one night I’m asleep on my couch, home alone (12 AM), and someone starts banging on the door. LET ME IN, I WANT SERVICES. I HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE, LET ME IN! He would not leave, I called 911 scared to death. He was gone before they arrived.
4. Our electricity in certain areas turned off when I vacuumed, it took multiples days/​weeks to get it fixed. The water frequently turned off and/​or was cold.
5. Our unit smells like mold, very musty. After coming over to the apartment and acting like I was out of line for asking him to check it out, he said that if he can’t see mold, he isn’t going to send someone out. Well, apparently a great deal of mold cant be seen and is detected by smell. So, I am left to figure this one out…
6. He and/​or his workers come over when you are not home, and he does not let you know. One day I was in the shower and I came out as a young man from his office was letting himself in (According to the law, landlords must let you know they are coming over). He got scared when I was startled and left without saying anything. Mark also shows up unexpectedly without notice and says, «Just checking on things.» OR, he will come over and say, I need to check something. If you ask what he checked, he looks at you like you’re asking too much.
7. At the signing of the lease, he told us we had central heat and air. However, we’re stupid for not checking that this was in writing. Turns out, there is no air. Of course, he denied saying this. One day, after making multiple calls to his office, I went to the office. I asked why no one had called me back or contacted me on every occasion I have had issues. The women there said that was not their job and that Mark was not in but would be back later. So, I went home and did some things and then returned. Apparently because I came back after they told me to, I «harassed them.» He eventually put in a standing unit, which seems to prove he told us it had air, otherwise why would he not tell us to go buy our own window units? Makes no sense. Anyways, the air does not even reach one bedroom THAT HAS NO WINDOWS. That is our fault for not checking… but still he told us it had central air and heat, which would make the whole windowless thing a non issue.
8. He plays mind games to make you feel like you are being unreasonable and/​or stupid when you need s/​t. For instance, when our carbon monoxide detector went off and he was non responsive as to getting our heat fixed, I lost my temper when he finally called us back and acted like it was our fault. So, now when he comes over he says, «Can I leave the door open? I would feel more comfortable with that.» Sure, whatever Mark. Further, he somehow found out what I do, and I asked him, «How did you figure that out?» To which he goes, «You are not hiding anything.» I looked around and said, «What? There is nothing here that suggests my career path. What did you stalk me online or something?» Then he goes, «Ok, I think we are done here.» He is a con artist… if you check other Unilocal reviews, he has done weird things to other tenants as well.
9. We have an ant problem. which I cannot cure with Raid! It is common in chicago apartments to have ants, but usually they go away when you Raid the place!
10. A washing machine broke and 2 – 3 months later, when the other broke, he came out to deal with the issue. The only way to get Mark to come deal with stuff is if you say that you will go and get it fixed and take it off the rent OR you say that this is the law.
I feel unsafe living here!

FUTURE CLIENTS BEWARE
I am a real estate broker and unfortunately I see too many instances of blatant disregard and negligence by the broker/​agents on behalf of their clients. This is yet another instance to add to the list.
I saw a listing for 2 apartment units in the same building, and I was interested in renting BOTH. I called and emailed several times for more information and have yet to get a response. In fact, when you call the numbers listed, it goes to a voicemail saying «if you are interested in a specific apartment, do not call but TEXT this number». So I did… still, nothing. After looking him up and reading these reviews I’m glad he hasn’t responded; looks like I dodged a bullet!
I can only imagine how angry his clients would be if they knew all of this. They hire this man to rent out these units on their behalf; when you get someone interested in more than 1 of their units and you don’t even return a call/​message/​text/​email then that constitutes negligence. Again, I see and have dealt with this much more often than I should and I feel it gives good honest brokers a bad reputation. If only his clients knew…

Awful. I was very interested ina property, but decided to Unilocal first. Good option… when I finally spoke to Mr. Weiss, he was just as arrogant and douchey as all the other reviews warned. I asked about his Unilocal reviews and essentially was told that I was stupid for reading anything. Really? Sounds like I’ll be apartment shopping just a tad bit more…

Mark B Weiss emailed me personally to ask that I take down my previous review because he believes it’s defamation. Defamation – also called calumny, vilification, or traducement – is the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation.
So here are some facts:
1) There was mold growing in the common areas of the building (I’ve posted pictures here) – it took over 120 days for the management company to fix.
2) During that time I legally withheld rent. In response, MBW illegally sent me an eviction notice (it was not delivered properly, it was not signed, it was sent in response to the legal withholding of rent). City Ordinance 5−12−150 specifically prohibits retaliatory conduct by landlord – such as attempting eviction for withholding rent OR POSTING TO SITES LIKE THIS.
3) Upon asking for the parking gate to get fixed, MBW asked me to come into the office to «discuss these issues,» to which I declined because I had already «discussed the issues» in my maintenance request. Parking gate is still not fixed.
4) Dishwasher broke April 2014, put in a maintenance request, got an email back immediately that someone would be out the following week. A month later, still no fix for the dishwasher until I nagged a bit… to which I was told that I could setup a new installation. AKA… I can do his job.
5) MBW is acting as the property manager for the bank as the building I am in is in foreclosure. Was informed he wasn’t renewing the lease, which violates City Ordinance 5 – 14. He claims there is a new owner, but has failed to provide any evidence.
Now let’s remember defamation is communication of FALSE STATEMENTS. All of these statements can be backed by fact. His management company is extremely slow at fixing issues, if they will fix them at all. He acts like a bully; sends threatening communication via emails and phone calls.
So why do I keep living there? Because honestly, when nothing is broken, it’s a great place to live (and frankly, he doesn’t own the place, I’m just unlucky that the bank put him in charge of my foreclosed property). But believe me – if you are thinking about living in a MBW property, think real hard if it’s the type of struggle you want to deal with.

DO NOT RENT FROM HIM!
He is the shadiest person I have worked with to date in renting, and I have been renting for 15 years. I have been burned before in renting from bad owners/​lessors and he exhibited a few signs of shadiness. So I came on here, and found all the bad reviews.
I confronted him on these, asking him nicely to explain these to me. I said, «Mark, I really like the apartment, and i was doing my due dilligence and looked you up online and saw all these bad reviews, is there a reason?» He said to me, «I do not have to explain myself to anyone, ESPECIALLY not YOU!» Seeing that he was getting angry I tried to explain that I just wanted to feel comfortable with renting from him, and i wanted to give him a chance to make me feel comfortable. He responded by saying, «I am not going to rent to someone who believes what they read online.»
Needless to say, he is clearly hiding something. And that is his shadiness!
Believe me, DO NOT RENT FROM MARK WEISS!
SHADEBALL!!!

I made the mistake of signing a lease before looking into this and also based on the unbelievably cheap monthly lease for the area.
To no surprise, I discovered the ugly truth in less than 1 month after moving in. For starters, the apartment was painted like a 5 yr old to do the job with strokes that were visible and other areas having no paint. Within a few weeks and the change of season, cracks become visible and larger letting in drafts of cold air, freezing water, bugs of all sorts and mold. It took 2 months of constant nagging to have the water issue half fixed because it would freeze, back up, flow into the apt and no one seemed to think it was a problem. The heat is a space heater and it turns off when it wants to. The doors don’t lock or even close all the way, items such as packages disappear and no one seems to think it’s a problem!
I cannot wait for the lease to end and move out!

Negative 5 stars for this slumlord. In 40 degree temperatures, he has withheld heat from 9 tenants, one being a 92 year-​old housebound widow. Several of us have had to involve the local building inspector due to lack of heat, building code violations and entry without prior notice.
A report has been filed with Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering and withLisa Madigan, Illinois Attorney General. I can’t wait to move!

So I decided to join in on a lease with a girl who was already renting an apartment from Mark B Weiss. She gave me the info to call the office and fill out an application, sign the lease and whatnot. It took me 2 weeks just to get someone ON THE PHONE. No, not return my call. My calls were never returned. I had to keep calling day after day after day.
I finally got in touch with Lea who is probably the most useless person at that office. She ignored several of my emails and told me I would need a co-​signer! I’m 23! I’ve been renting apartments WITHOUT a co-​signer since I was 19! But my mom happily obliged and when I faxed over the application and co-​signed lease, I received no confirmation until 3 days later when I FINALLY got someone on the phone to confirm it was received.
Mark took me into his office to sign the lease. He just looks greasy and untrustworthy. He even gave a snarky little comment about me taking time to read the entire lease (line by line). I responded that I was in law school and was smart enough to read contracts completely. He seemed annoyed.
Maintenance is terrible if you go through the office. We called about 2 problems – one with the toilet and one requesting a peephole for our door because a stranger got into the building one day and was banging on our door, telling us to open it so he could look at our electric bills… CREEPY! But of course we had no idea what this person looked like because there was no peephole. Not safe!
Thankfully the maintenance person gave us his number and told us to call directly for any work that needed to be done. Even he realizes that his place of employment is a scam.
Oh, and $ 3.50 for laundry? What a joke! I take my stuff to the laundromat just so I don’t have to give this place any more of my money. Terrible value. Small, over priced, out dated apartments.

This is a SCAM! BEWARE!
After receiving 6 negative reviews (all 1 stars), he took down «Mark B Weiss» and now it is «Weiss Mark B». What a crook!
In summary:
* He is extremely rude
* He will find different ways to rip you off
* He is a racist
* Problems with your home (like dangerous molds)? He will not fix it.

«Somehow» my review was deleted. I will happily repost:
i would rather live in my car than have to deal with these people again
mark b weiss single handily personifies and exemplifies the true meaning of a money hungry, completely incompetent and useless landlord. i had the pleasure (*much sarcasm*) of unfortunately living in one of the units. let me just start from the ground up:
— outside door to building did not lock. found homeless men many times sleeping in our hallways
— apartment always reeked of sewage. of course, we made them aware of this multiple times and received the excuse, sometimes things die in the walls and there is nothing we can do to get to them (lovely and ridiculous)
— mr weiss, the slumdog himself, came once to let one of us in after we were locked out (thanks for showing up 45 minutes later). mind you, this was the first and only time it happened. upon arriving, he wasted no time bearding and lecturing us for having locked ourselves out. once in the apartment, he walked around investigating the apartment like he was mary poppins at chore time. even went as far as to point out, «the fucking hand prints all over the table» (my glass coffee table, mind you)
— after this lovely encounter, mr. weiss and/​or one of his cronies (likely the useless receptionist he has) came into our apartment while we were not there and took pictures of our «uncleanliness». mind you, this included: dust bunnies, some glasses in the sink, hair on the bathroom floor, etc. . you get the idea. i was living with 2 other professional 25 year old women, you can probably guess how dirty the apartment wasn’t
— he then sent the images to our PARENTS, along with a letter, claiming we lived in filth. let me reiterate that, OUR PARENTS. we are 25 years old. of course, to be expected, our parents were appalled at his actions
— after this, a series of heated phone messages were exchanged, all to know avail, as surprise, suprise, the lovely mr weiss hid behind his receptionist and his voicemail
needless to say, we ended our lease early and could not get out of that place fast enough. i URGE you, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not rent with these people, it will be a HUGE mistake. RUN, don’t walk, VERY FAR AWAY from them.

It doesn’t get any worse than these scam artist. This is my first ever Unilocal review but I felt compelled to say something. They happily took my $ 50 credit check fee, said my credit was fine, but said someone else was a «better fit» for the unit in Bucktown. No IDEA what the hell that means. I’ll I know it is a big pile of BS. Plan on getting ripped off and given the run around. I tried sub-​leasing from a girl who had been in her unit for over 3 years and on the way out she mentioned to me that they threatened her and were rude despite her being an outstanding tenant. Mark B. Weiss himself is a hypocrite and dirt bag.