Lapham Co Property Management

Avoid this company if you can. The accounting department is very inefficient. They told my roommate her check bounced when her account had more than enough money in it, it was an error on their side and when we tried to work it out with them we couldn’t get ahold anyone in their accounting department. They still tried to charge us $ 75 for the bounced check.
It took us months to get our deposit back once we moved out. They sent the check to the address we moved out from instead of our new address, despite the fact that I sent an email with our forwarding address and called to make sure they got it.
The building was not maintained well and they were constantly shutting off our water. The resident managers in the building were pretty helpful which was the sole redeeming factor.

If you can, avoid renting a property that they manage. If you do have to, take copious pictures of the place before you move in. Document it all. They tried to blame us for things that went wrong that are the property owners responsibility, and they tried to charge us for issues and fixtures that were there when we moved in. They represent the landlord, so you have to cover yourself. They also unlawfully took money from our security deposit for cleaning, which is explicitly not allowed in the lease. And that’s after we had the place professionally cleaned. We have to contest it in court, since fortunately we have pictures of the place before we moved out. It’s a huge drag though. I can’t wait to be rid of them all together. They are horrible. First property management entity I’ve ever had an issue with in my 15 years of being a renter in the Bay Area. Never again.

i’ve worked with lapham on both ends of the spectrum — as a tenant in a building they manage, along with having them help me rent out my house. unfortunately i see that there are several 1-​star reviews from other Unilocalers, but to be completely honest i haven’t had anything but great experiences with lapham.
as a tenant, i lived in a beautiful and well-​maintained building at lake merritt. any service requests i had were carried out in a timely manner, with great handymen/​plumbers/​contractors/​cleaners to make sure the jobs got done.
as a landlord, velina, the leasing agent, helped me rent out my house to highly qualified renters. however, my renters decided to move out of the house no more than 2 weeks into their lease, to move back to SF. virtually unheard of in her 10+ year career, velina went above and beyond to help me figure out the best course of action, and helped me get the house re-​leased quickly with yet another qualified tenant. technically, once the first lease was signed, lapham’s job was done — but velina was incredibly patient, supportive and accessible to help me navigate the second tenant’s moving in. by the way, this was my first time ever being a landlord, so the process was unknown territory to me, but velina walked me through it all.
on both ends, as a tenant and a landlord, the logistical parts of working with lapham (walk throughs, paperwork, etc) was always professional, and thorough. the apartment i had at the lake was really beautiful, and the building was very well maintained with an on-​site residential manager always available. i have friends that have also rented from lapham in the past and present, and they also had good experiences. (one couple i know didn’t get an apartment they wanted, but they were put on a waitlist and lapham called them to give them first dibs on 3 new apartments that newly came available).
i would highly recommend lapham for both renting an apartment and renting out your property, and will definitely work with them again in the future.
thanks team lapham and a special big shout out to velina, thank you so much!

Lapham recently acquired my previous management company, Crane Management. While Crane was far from impressive, they were at least courteous and helpful. I have tried to get in contact with a Tony for just over a month now. I have called 9 times and left a message with a receptionist. He has not returned a single phone call. I have went into the office on a day he was supposedly there. Only to find he had «just stepped out.»
Lapham is simply here to cash checks and fill vacancies. If you expect anything in between, good luck.

Because you want your «housing experience» to be impersonal and you want your rent checks cashed by a greedy corporation.

Here’s a novel concept, Lapham, return people’s phone calls, do what you say you’re going to do, and at least make some kind of attempt at being a professional organization. Property owners– if you’re hoping to find tenants for your space, don’t hire these people.

I have been renting from The Lapham Company for two years, and my experience has been very positive. The two times I’ve had maintenance issues, the issues were resolved within hours on the same day. There was no rigmarole, and I was contacted by a Lapham representative within minutes of relaying my needs. My property manager, Velina Barnes, has been responsive to all my questions and concerns, and I feel that she represents me fairly. I have a comfortable relationship with Velina and The Lapham Company, and I recommend them as a management company to anyone who is reading this.

I had a complaint that I reported to the company. I received a personal call from the owner of the company about the complaint and he not only heard my complaint but also followed up a month later (yesterday)! I have a huge respect for a company that listens to tenants complaints but to follow up personally was a great touch. Thanks Lapham.

Lapham recently took over the property at which I’m living at. So far, they’ve made it as difficult as possible for my new roommate to get on our lease. They are very inconsiderate when it comes to renter’s rights, and they disregard agreements that were made with our prior property manager.

If you treasure your happiness, avoid this company like the plague.

I would not recommend this company to manage your property. I was moving out of state and looking for a property management company to handle my property. They delivered very poor service, slow or lack of communication until I asked for something and nickle and dime me for everything. It was necessary for me to scrutinize all monthly statements to see what extra charges they would add without telling me. The icing on the cake was when they allowed the tenant to go month to month without renewing the lease and never even asked me. Never again!

I have been holding off for a long time to review this company. I wanted to wait until I was not their tenant, had my security deposit issues passed, and had moved on to a new landlord completely. They are a sleazy, ugly company that has been gorging itself on mid-​market rentals that it passes off as high end. They have completely decimated the rental market in Oakland, being the primary reason why slums have high rents.
I moved to an apartment in 1989 and lived in the building up until July of this year. When I moved there, I specifically looked for an owner run building. The man who owned the property was a really fair person He didn’t want the rents raised «just because». He said he has enough money and so he raised our rent one time in 7 years.
The owner died and tried to give it to his (second) wife — but the kids from the first marriage took the property and handed it over to the Lapham Company for management. They IMMEDIATELY raised our rent about $ 300.00 — citing «banking», which means an owner can charge higher raises if he didn’t raise it in the past — but they were not the former owner. In any case, there was little I could do — the City of Oakland’s Rent Board does NOTHING to help tenants. Due to financial reasons I was stuck with that BS. Also people were all happy about rents rising at that time, so not much public sympathy — I was stuck with this lousy company.
A year later another $ 200.00 raise — this time «market rate». THEY are the ones manipulating the market in Oakland — they run the majority of the rentals in the middle market! Market rate is a load of crap. Once again, the City of Oakland proved USELESS because this type of crap also helped the City’s gentrification project.
Despite the unfair raises I could still (barely) afford the rent. But after a while they made a move because even that was not good enough. In 2011, they found that the floor in my apartment was defective, making the slightest movement sound like a bowling alley to the people below me. They told us we would have to move out while they replace it. Instead, they totally renovated the apartment. We moved to a larger placed downstairs. I asked them about us moving back in and they hotly refused. They fixed all the things we were asking them to fix, and the things they lied about, saying did not need fixing (like our counters, which were inspected and found to have wood rot — but when it came time to replace them they said nothing was wrong with them… So why did they put in granite after we were forced out if the counters were okay???).
So after putting us out they offer us a one year lease in the other place — which they never prepared after the last tenant moved out. The only reason I agreed was because I had to — where was I going to live? It was bigger, and although I don’t like living under people if I can help it, I made a go of it. The place turned out to be a frozen tundra in the winter! It was 10 degrees colder inside than out. My PGE bill was crazy — so high I had to just freeze. The problem was drafts blowing right through the walls — to which Lapham basically told us to go f**k ourselves. They had an opportunity to insulate when they had to replace a window — they had the wall open and insulation only costs a few dollars… they STILL refused. They told us «other people don’t have insulation»! Wow… They wouldn’t lift a finger to help us and I spent the three years I lived in that unit sick every winter — which was abnormal for me.
Lapham’s cheap contractors — if I was an owner I’d be concerned (do the owners EVER get involved?). We had mold, rot, bad wiring, broken fixtures, flooding, cracks — they send out the same people who jerry-​rig crap together. Painting is a slop job. When they put down flooring or carpet, it’s slapped down with no finesse or care whatsoever. You see the same people doing electrical, carpentry and plumbing. They use the wrong kinds of paint and the wrong kinds of flooring. They put in fixtures, sinks and tubs with improper caulking and tiling. They hit put in flow toilets that take 12 times to flush. They over-​inspect — they say once a year but I see them 2 – 4 times a year — very invasive.
I felt that not only were they incompetent, unprofessional and generally nasty to everyone — I FEEL that they are also racist. They hired any freaks manage our apartment building over the 25ish years I have lived there. Homeless people, weed-​head waiflings, first year college students who have never had a job — anybody who wasn’t Black who lived in the building for a few months was okay. the last manager they hired just came from another country and barely spoke english. Well actually they did hire a Black guy once — they said they were looking for a couple, and then they hired him — over me and my wife. he lasted 2 months. They asked us if we were going to accuse them of racism if they didn’t hire us (during the interview). I could go on forever — just stay out of the Laphams… ugh.

Aggressive & unprofessional. When something (very simple & silly!) goes wrong, there is NO conversation, but immediate threats.
OMG, these guys are awful.

I had bad experience trying to reach them and solve my apartment problems. First of all, If you are a student and have tight schedule, it will be hard to visit them because it closes at 4 and also for the lunch time. They respond to your email very late, and often make many mistakes: either understanding my words, or dealing with checks.
I live in 2414 telegraph. As much as I love the location of it, it is poorly built that it is barely sound proof. you can hear the vibration sound of iphone from upstairs. Every walk they make upstairs, you will hear it. I recommend you not to live there. Whenever you have a problem with your apartment, the company would just say «I can’t do anything about it.» Their attitude is a problem.

LAPHAM company is absolutely unprofessional. I dealt with VELINA BARNES, who is quite possibly the most unorganized and unapologetic person in the industry.
As stated on the applications, «Lapham does not rent units, sight unseen,» «applications will be processed in the order received, first application with all requirement received equals first considered in the application process,» «applications are processed at [office]. Do not fax application. Deliver to… mail.» «if approved a minimal deposit will be required within two days of notice.»
Well guess what company disregarded all previously stated guidelines.
1. Turned in the application 9 am day after first showing. Told that I was the first to apply.
2. Approved.
3. VELINA BARNES Pushed me to 2^nd in line because the other person had a better credit score, and a higher income. Yet still approved.
5. VELINA BARNES said 1^st applicant did not get the deposit in within the 2 day period, due to the fact that they were out of state and had to mail. So how did they get the application in so fast? Fax? Email? Right…
6. VELINA BARNES sent me a confirmation, addressed to my name, asking for all deposits. Which by no means did any of the deposit numbers calculate to anything understandable.
Its a wonder how anyone would use them as a property management company, when they cannot even manage their own email accounts, and the only excuse was, «I’ve been on vacation for the last 3 days,» VELINA BARNES said. Oh, great that’s wonderful, you are aware that 2 of those days were the weekend in which your office are not open? No? Just me? And when I addressed all of my concerns, the only reply was a cut and paste document stating that it had been rented. REAL PROFESSIONAL. A real CUNextTuesday!
I wonder how much this company actually abides by the FAIR housing laws and regulations. Because I’m pretty sure that I was completely discriminated against by age, credit score, and income. Even though I was approved, and first.

I recently moved out of a property in Oakland that Lapham Company was managing and I’m very pleased.
The move out was just as easy as the move in and everything was on the up and up. No funny business.
I had a walk through with management they were courtesy enough to tell me what to do so I could get my full deposit back.
I did exactly what was expected of me and I’m also glad to say I was reimbursed for curtains that I bought for the unit I rented.
They didn’t have to do this for me but they did. They went half on them and it was more than I expected.
I’m pleased with how the management handled my move out process and I’d gladly work with them again.
I received my deposit in full in less than 20 days and I’m glad I dealt with an honest company.
Thanks Lapham!!!

Lapham Company is highly disorganized, poorly run operation, and after living in two of their buildings, I can say with confidence that my husband and I will NEVER rent from them again. But, if you’re a shady tenant that wants to get away with just about anything from drug dealing to damaging shared property, Lapham is a GREAT place to rent from, so read no further.
This particular review speaks to my experience at our last place of residence. Let’s start with the walk-​through with «Cherie». To be honest, I have no idea why we were dealing with this woman – she claimed she was Philip’s (our actual point of contact with Lapham) «assistant», and if she is who is out representing Lapham to future tenants, Lapham should be very concerned.
The walk through began with her extremely rude banter, disrespectful comments about my husband’s height, and inappropriate storytelling about a lesbian couple she had shown an apartment (she actually claimed she pushed one «into a closet» as a joke and shut her in there, which she thought was quite funny). That is not only homophobic, but completely inappropriate behavior from someone representing a property management company.
Then, before she could begin conducting the walk-​through, she ran into our bathroom and began vomiting into our new toilet. She claimed she had «food poisoning» from «bad mango juice». She did this several more times throughout the walk-​through, but insisted that we continue (rather than rescheduling). It’s really fun to try to examine a bathroom when it reeks of vomit from your «landlord’s assistant».
We never got a proper chance to review the state of the apartment upon move in, and felt completely rushed during the lease signing. When given the keys, she did not give us the laundry room key, so we had to do our laundry in a laundromat for the first three weeks of living in our unit.
While living there, our kitchen light, which we requested to have repaired multiple times was never fixed. We never had a functional kitchen light the ENTIRE time we lived in our unit (nearly two years). Lapham sent someone to change the ballast, and didn’t listen to us when we informed them that it was a wiring issue.
Our dishwasher was also broken the ENTIRE time we lived in our unit. We had two people come out to «fix» it, but it was never repaired to function normally. When we refused to have anyone else come out unsupervised, the repair staff were unable to accommodate our schedules and gave up trying to help us.
Laundry room repairs were even worse. The paddle in the dryer is still probably broken, and was for over three months.
Also, when there was a sewage pipe that had broken and was actively flowing raw sewage onto our walkway, it took Lapham days to respond. One day, I came home to find out that the water had been shut off without notification, and there was a giant 4 foot deep hole in the front yard and in the walkway, where City workers had to dig to fix a pipe issue. My «landlord» never responded to calls. When I called to notify maintenance of the lack of responsiveness, I got a very rude message from a woman named Joy (I think) explaining that with the amount of properties Lapham manages, Lapham cannot be expected to be responsive to all requests.
So, renters beware. Lapham seems enticing with their special move-​in deals and such, but there’s a trade-​off, for sure. I hope that someday they get it together.

I’ve rented with Lapham not once but twice! Once in 2007 and once in 2012. They are awesome! Super nice, professional and unfussy. Joan is probably the sweetest person alive :)
If I ever move back to the bay I’d definitely rent with them again!

Velina Barnes and Lapham Property Management are a terrible company, most likely only in business because of the cut-​throat nature of bay area real estate — with so few places to rent, you can’t just walk away because of who is managing…
I lived in a lapham property for a year, during which time we had (luckily) relatively few problems, but when we did, they were all mis-​handled. The company they outsource repairs to actually outsources the repairs to non-​english speakers, so it is rather difficult to communicate what the problem is – there were usually 4+ different people involved in a single transaction. Sometimes multiple repair men came at different times, no one actually knowing what the job was, and no one speaking English. (Once someone came, shut off our water and then left… with no plans to come back!)
My main complaint, however, has to do with the security deposit refund. We had the house cleaned professionally and were charged $ 300 from our deposit to «finish cleaning the kitchen and 2 bathrooms.» I’m sorry… how many hours could it take to do that… and what is the hourly rate of the people you use??? The pictures they sent as «proof» of the bad condition we left the house in, included rust damage to the sinks (in this rather old house) that WERE THERE WHEN WE MOVED IN, as well as dirt behind the washing machine that, again, WAS THERE WHEN WE MOVED IN. They also commented on the fact that we left a piece of masking tape on a light switch. Uh, what?
If you find yourself having to do business with this poor company, protect yourself, take copious pictures at move in, email them copies, and document the condition of the place at move-​out. Also, be very clear about what work is to be done on the house BEFORE signing anything. We were told we couldn’t complain about the lumpy driveway that scratched our car because we had already driven on it twice (the 2 times we visited) and hadn’t complained then, so it was too late.

We tried to rent a place. We have credit scores of over 800, were 5x the income requirements, and the first ones to put in an application. Yet some how, Velina Barnes took our application fee of $ 60 and found us unacceptable as tenants.
I bet they make a lot of money taking application fees in bad faith.