Hajjar Management Co., Inc.

Worst management company ever. They don’t maintain their properties and cut corners all the time. The best is that they raise rent every year too. Avoid these people!

We’ve lived with Hajjar on Queensberry St. for the past year and have been very impressed. Management is really responsive to maintenance requests – whenever we have a question or concern, we email Julie and she gets back to us right away. They truly go above and beyond – from broken blinds to lightbulbs to a leaky radiator. The apartment’s in great shape, don’t get me wrong, but they’re very helpful with little things as they come up.
We had a pest scare at the beginning of our lease (we thought bedbugs, but it turned out to be a tiny cockroach nymph and a couple of adults) which needless to say we weren’t very happy about, but the occasional cockroach? If you want to live in Fenway, which is basically a backfilled swamp, you’ll deal with an occasional pest. Hasn’t been an issue since.
Our building is a mix of students and professionals, who for the most part are very respectful. We have the occasional subwoofer issue, and loud disagreement between the people who dumpster dive in the lot behind the building.
Hajjar keeps the common areas of the building impeccably clean. They repaint the units as they turn over, and the units are a mix of old-​but-​serviceable and upgraded kitchen and baths – it seems to be that this is done at the tenant’s request, and results in a small rent increase. We love our kitchen, and our bathroom is, well, a bathroom. Rent is commensurate with prices in the area.
All in all, honest, responsive landlords in a great location. We are moving for work/​school, but would certainly stay on with Hajjar otherwise.
P. S.–Ours is a pet friendly building. Our particular lease allows cats, but there have to be at least four dogs in our building. We love dogs – no issues there.

Trust me when I say the only reason I am giving a single star is because I have to. If you are looking for legitimately the worst experience of your life then by all means, look no further, because Hajjar is the place for you.
The place is an ABSOLUTE. NIGHTMARE. My roommates and I were merely subletting for FOUR months and we managed to have the most awful experience to date, for all of us, in the field of renting/​subletting apartments. The people that work at/​manage Hajjar are absolute invalids. We had to hear from our SUBLETTER’s that we had apparently not paid May’s rent. Keep in mind that we hear this in late June. Also keep in mind that our check for rent had been sent and CASHED a full week before it was due. We went back and forth with the company about said check and eventually asked for a full copy of all of our expenses and payments. Needless to say, we were on time. They apologized eventually but the drama that has previously ensued was not worth it.
We had an unreal amount of problems with the apartment. The garbage disposal broke every time it had a chance to. In fact I sit here now still awaiting maintenance’s arrival on a call we made two days ago. The first few weeks our toilet was constantly broken. We had to call maintenance at least 4 times. On the fourth time they came and fixed it and we had to call them an hour later. After that, they finally replaced it fully… but not until we had to go a full 24 hours without a toilet. (Cool.)
In addition, the front door of the apartment was always a disaster. We had to grapple with the lock constantly. This is only confirmed by the fact that people would run full speed ahead to get to the door before someone could close it so they didn’t have to deal with it. It was common knowledge that is was a serious pain in the butt.
Naturally, we were subletters, therefore it is common that our apartment would need to be shown to prospective tenants, and trust me, I respect that. All that I ask is a little bit of warning. More often than not one of us would be barged in on with the excuse of «Well, I spoke to ______“roommate’s name who has a full time job:_____» Really? Well, listening to a voicemail greeting doesn’t really count as speaking to. When you have all the numbers on file… you should probably try until you reach one. Regardless, we never complained. That is until 930am on a Friday when a strange man barged in on me naked in my bed in the back room of my apartment. I was very polite and allowed them to see my room, however, when we called Hajjar later to ask that, again, they please get in ACTUAL TOUCH with one of us before coming to view the apartment, they were absolutely confused about who had come to see me. In their data, there was no one scheduled to see my apartment. In fact, the only other person on duty for such a responsibility had called in sick. Um, I’m sorry, but the fact that you have legitimately NO CLUE who the hell has the key to my apartment is BEYOND unnerving. It is absolutely, NOT OKAY.
As if the preceding evidence was not enough, my landlord seems to be absolutely incompetent when it comes to email. Hi, its 2010, learn how to reply. I messaged her with distinct information regarding our parking space: asking questions, and asking for confirmation of certain plans. After a week and a half of no answer I emailed again to ask specifically for a confirmation to which I received, FINALLY, an answer of «ok.» Listen, I know we aren’t in a hospital but a little bedside manner/​professionalism would be GREATLY appreciated. Also, how hard was it to send your three symbols, «o,» «k,» «.,» a week and a half ago? Just wondering.
Overall, this company is an absolute nightmare and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. In all honesty, you would be better off living on a park bench in the Fens… at least then someone is throwing money at you rather than scamming it out of you. Beware.

I have only had two apartments. Both were with Hajjar. I digress…
For my junior year of college, I decided to go the apartment route. I wanted a place to myself, nothing fancy, where I could eat, sleep and have privacy without worrying about a sloppy roommate or something. I started searching and I kept hearing that of all the management companies in Boston, my best best was to go with Hajjar. After a very short hunt for an apartment, I found a pretty studio managed by Hajjar. I lived there for two years, and I never had a complaint for them.
Any time I called they were always incredibly nice to me, and they were punctual. My ceilings were high and there was no way I would ever be able to reach the lights (I’m teeny), so I called them and within minutes I had a new light bulb. Little things like that make them such a great management company.
While still in my first apartment, I was robbed. You wouldn’t think living on the fourth-​floor of a walk-​up building you would be a robbery risk, but I was. I went out for dinner, came back, and all my electronic stuff was gone. So I called Hajjar to let them know about it, and not only did they respond quickly, but they put bars on my windows, they put safety glass over the gate in which the robber got through, and they showed me where all their hidden cameras are. We went over the tapes together multiple times, and they were in constant conversation with the police (who were no help). They made every effort to help me feel safe in my apartment again and it worked. I stayed for another year.
When it came time to get a new apartment, my sister decided she wanted us to be roommates, so once again the search was on. She was getting stressed and wanted the first dump we saw, but I called Flathound Realty, said I wanted Hajjar as my management company, and I found a place in literally five minutes. Any problems we have had with our apartment has been dealt with in a super timely manner, and we have absolutely no complaints.
Another thing about Hajjar that I really appreciate is that they are really understanding about money. I’m not saying you can live there rent-​free, absolutely not, but they are understanding if you are having a rough time meeting the first of the month deadline, so long as you stay open and honest with them. It’s really nice to know you’re best interests are with Hajjar.
Definitely look into Hajjar when you are searching for your perfect apartment. I’m so glad I did, and I will continue to when I look for my future Boston/​Cambridge/​Brighton apartments.