Marquardt Property Management

Just signed the lease and picked up the keys to our new house! This review is about the application process, not our residency, as we only handed over our check today.
We have been looking for the right new home for a couple of months now, and I was really pleased to see how responsive Joanna (property manager/​leasing agent) was, from the first e-​mail up until now. She has been super quick to respond to all of my e-​mails, and has been very upfront about everything she needed and what the owners of the property were expecting. Our application process (from initial viewing to now) has lasted over the past week, which has happened to coincide with New Year’s. Joanna has been in touch throughout, updating me with next steps and even making an extra visit to the property to give us a second showing before we signed the lease. She was in contact with the property owners over the holiday and sent them repeated follow-​up messages to get everything squared away and approved as soon as possible. She even called me on New Year’s Day to give us the good news we’d been approved!
Not only that, but she let me know that we had actually given her too much money for our application fee! I had mistakenly doubled the amount, and even though it was within the legal limit for application fees, and she could have kept the whole amount, she alerted me that she’d just give me back my check and have me bring a new one in for the lesser amount when we signed the lease. I thought that was really honest, and hopefully a great indicator of how it will be to have Marquardt as a property management company.

Worst Property management group, if they can be considered one.
I called in advance to explain my situation to them, wanted to know if I could be accepted even though I have no credit history because I am on a international student visa. Spoke with Karen, I think, over the phone and after hearing my explanation and hearing me saying: I dont want to waste yours or my time so please let me know if it makes sense for me to actually apply, She said yes.
So I go all the way over there and see the place. the guy that worked at the building was really nice and gave me the paperwork to fill out and bring to the office. I go all the way to the office, get in, Joann is sitting there, she sees me, but ignores me, doesnt look busy on the computer and wasnt on the phone either. so I am standing there, waiting. then Karen comes out of the backroom, carrying her jacket and stuff, ready to go. Joann sees that and says, oh, so I guess I have to assist you (!) so she comes and gets my paper work and all the papers explaining my situation and proving my income from my country and everything. She takes the money for the application and says okey, we’ll call you. 2 to 3 week days.
A week passes, so I call and Karen said they hadnt heard from the owners yet. Another week passes, she says they just know that the owners turned down 2 other applications, so mine is a ‘maybe’. another week passes, and same story, now she says the owners have reviewed the application and have turned down even more, so they are making a decision between me and two other applicants. another week passes and same story. a month already! after that I call everyday several times a day. they never pick up. same with the email, no answer.
My boyfriend suspected they knew it was me so they were not picking up.
i called using his number and they picked right away! it was Karen. From the moment I told her it was me, she started talking to me with the rudest attitude. ‘we told you we would call you’ ‘we are really busy’… so I told her to contact the owner or Joann, the boss, to give me an answer. she puts me on hold and then comes back to me and says,
-‘well the owner cant rent the place to you’
–why? does he need any other official info from me?
-‘no, you dont have credit, nobody rents a place to somebody with no credit’
–you knew this from the beginning, I told you my situation from day 1 and you told me to apply because there was a possibility
-‘well, everybody knows they ask for good credit’
–yes I know that, that’s why i asked you if I should apply and you said go ahead it could work. what kind of agency is this? you only wanted my application money! had me waiting for 5 weeks and only heard from you because I called like crazy…
–SHE HANGS UP!
have nothing else to say about these people…

The five star reviews this company has MUST be from hired hands or family. I would say friends, but who would befriend such awful people? It is as if they all know they are slumlords so they embrace it?
After two emails, filling out their online contact form and three phone calls, Karen finally answered this one time. I inquired about the property which she said was already rented and to go «check out» another that was to be vacant soon. I did.
My sister and I go to the office to get more information about the place seeing emails and calls are not returned in a timely manner. Unilocal’s one star description: «Eeeek! Methinks not!» describes my first reaction of the realty office. Old, small, cluttered and disorganized.
There was a young fair skinned gay male wearing a $ 5 white t shirt. The kind they sell at the Durant Square Flea Market. There was some kind of mac & cheese and what looked liked collard greens in two recycled gladware containers (what? no kitchen area, mini frig, ice chest?). We are ignored until a female «Joann» comes out to ask if we were helped. There was another woman already seated in the small two chair waiting area. I say «no». She motioned that the other woman was first and then gestures to the YGM (I do not remember his name) to assist us.
Void of any REAL care or customer service, he helps us only because he was gestured to do so. I explain to him that we wanted to inquire about property X.
Him You need to go by and check out the place first
Me: I did that already. What is the next step?
Him: I don’t know how? You need come here first and get the key.
Me: Karen advised me to go by and look at the property.
Him: I don’t know how? It’s occupied.
Me: Well, I did not go in. I just drove by.
Him: That unit is not available anyway.
Me: Then, why did Karen ask me to swing by?
Him: I don’t know?
Me: Is Karen here?
He calls for Karen and as we are waiting another client enters and the YGM not only rises from his seat, but begins to rattle off all the hello’s and can I help yous? Even gave THIS client a listing of their properties and the *leave your ID and get the key for viewing* option! My sister, the other female client and myself had our mouths open in shock! Really? What were we? Chop Liver?
Karen appears and I am sorry but it looks like she just spend ten years of HARD labor in a Women’s prison somewhere? I begin to explain all that has transpired and she cuts me off to interject a comment. I in turn, ask her to let me finish and she does so while rolling her blood shot eyes. When I am done talking she asks, «Are you finished now?» I say, «Yes».
To be honest, I have no idea what she said after that because I was sooooo DONE! She ended with maybe I shouldn’t have people swing by without coming here first. YOU THINK?!
She offered me their listing and I declined. I shared with her we just wanted to be treated like everyone else.
At this point, YGM approached the counter with some nonsense about respect being earned? HUH? No one wanted or needed his respect. We wanted and needed you to DO YOUR JOB!
I expressed that the other tenant waiting with us felt her encounters with them were ‘gruff’ at best. To that, Karen shrugged her shoulders and asked, «Do you want a listing or not?» I said, «not» and asked she merely train her front office staff.
*Now, here’s where things really got weird.
As we are leaving, YGM begins chanting (I say chanting because he kept saying it over and over again?) «I appreciate you!» I appreciate you!” I appreciate you!” to the point where Karen had to raise her hand to motion him to stop. While exiting I turned to say, «I do NOT appreciate any of you».
AVOID, BEWARE, STAY AWAY from:
«Gruff» Realty: «Cuz ’round here, we just don’t give a damn!»

Not sure if anyone was able to catch the KRON 4 news, but our apartment building was just on last night because the balcony of our two story, West Oakland apartment, collapsed. The initial trouble began just about two weeks ago, when Oakland was hit with that 4.2 earthquake. After that the balcony split from the concrete walkway. Tenants called, emailed and even went up to the property and physically SHOWED pictures of what was happening and they kept saying they would send someone out. Fast forward to August 24^th, about 3pm. The entire building shakes and rumbles and a large crash. The bottom of the balcony COLLAPSED. My neighbor luckily had just literally walked into his home and avoided the falling parts by mere seconds. We called the fire department and they come asses the damage and it is INSTANTLY red tagged. Red Cross came out and we are all (about 20 of us) considered displaced. My fiancé and myself have 3 very young children and we were met with an extremely ride and callous reaction from Marquardt. One of the daughters FINALLY shows up to the property as the fire chief explained the severe issue of wood rot. She said NOTHING to any of us tenants that were forced to stand outside until we could receive vouchers (3.5 hours). She didn’t even look at any of us. She went next door and chatted up the neighbors for a few, laughed and then disappeared as soon as the news van came. Karen had the AUDACITY to make a statement for her company on television that their company knew NOTHING about the state of the balcony until the same day. I was flabbergasted. She just LIED on national television! Our family of 5 is currently trying to hold it together as we are put in a sleezy Motel 6 for one night. Not sure what Karen’s problem is, but she is nothing but rude and terrible and very disorganized. My son is missing his first weeks of kindergarten because of this! Please beware! I know my tenant rights, and we will be taking action.

Still awful! I never give updates but after vacating my home of 5 years, managed by these completely incapable and unprofessional people, I felt compelled to inform the public, once more, how gawd awful this company is.
I gave notice 30 days in advance. I heard nothing from MPM until the very last day of my tenancy. Karen sent me a frantic (and grammatically horrific) email stating I needed to pay the rent or vacate. Asking where I left the keys, etc. Mind you, I wasn’t even due to be gone at that point. It was as if she was trying to feign never receiving my notice. I sent her an email informing her that I had left the keys on the kitchen counter. Her response? How do I get into the house then? Ummmm, with the keys that you have because you are the PROPERTY MANAGER, maybe?
She then proceeded to waste my time over the course of about 12 emails, telling me that I needed to fill out forms for key return, that she had never had a tenant do that before, that I was abusive to her for calling her out on her poor professionalism and that if I left her a poor Unilocal review, that I’d have to «live with myself». Ha.
I asked that she refrain from sending me further emails unless they were necessary… to no avail.
This place has been a massive joke and a thorn in my side over the years. I am ecstatic to say that I am free from this business arrangement! Over the years I have dealt with getting no responses on upkeep of the unit, unless I finally threatened to call the rent board. They have tried to convince me that my landlord had the legal right to make random visits the property without notice. As if I don’t know what the law is or my rights are. It went on and on with the crap that this company has pulled over the years.

This group is run by a seasoned and professional woman, Karen Marquardt. We have been working with her for the past five years. Karen has been helpful in selecting strong neighborhoods for our properties, determining fair rental prices, and managing the units in a practical way. I never feel she is padding the bill or taking advantage of us in any way. Karen is honest. Most importantly, Karen was there for us when we had a vandalism of one of our units. She met with the insurance company and she met with our contractor to restore the home. She is truly top notch. I enthusiastically recommend her services.

This company is as horrible as is posted repeatedly on this page. Don’t even submit and application to these inscrutable people.
After we applied, we didn’t get word of being approved for five days. We got approved but we had to move in immediately. I requested to see the apartment again to take measurements for our furniture and asked for a little flexibility for a move in date. I also asked at the end of my email to call me if they had any concerns.
Instead of informing me of the owner’s decision to reject our requests and giving us a good faith opportunity accept the owner’s terms, Joanna unilaterally, and without speaking with us, emailed us she had moved on to another application.
We asked to keep our place in line for the place 15 minutes later by email, agreed to the unfair terms (or our rejected requests) and she agreed to ask the owners. She just informed us that she went with other tenants. All of this because we asked her to show us the place a second time and give us a little time to start the lease.
The 15 negative reviews about this place are legit and we agree with another person that the positive reviews are of dubious origin. It’s pretty obvious they have no professionalism and you can’t trust them to assist people.
I repeat, Joanna is rude and lazy to a degree unmatched in recent experience. I feel sorry for her clients, and her children, who will inherit this horrible family run establishment. More people should report them to the Better Business Bureau.

Whoa. So rude. So unhelpful. I’m soooo glad I read these reviews and didn’t go through with it with them. They’re incredibly rude — particularly Joanna and Nicole. Their office is a complete mess and indicative of what you will likely deal with if you decide to go with them. Yuck.
**P.S. THE GOOD REVIEWS BELOW ARE CLEARLY FAKE — CLICK ON THE PROFILES. HOW PATHETIC**

I don’t know why so many others are reporting such a bad experiennce, because MPM has always been cool with us. They provided speedy reasonable accommodation after we submitted request for one and they send out a maintenance team when we ask. They’re pretty busy so they don’t have a lot if time to chit chat if you go to the office, but they’ve never been outright rude.

I can attest to what others are saying. It is extremely hard to get in contact with these people. They are horribly unresponsive. It took several calls and emails to get them to email me back and pick up the phone, and even then they continued to tell my application was still being processed for about 4 weeks. The person I was dealing with was Joanna.

While not the tops when it comes to repairs and bookkeeping, Marquardt finds friendly, reliable tenants. I don’t know how they do it, but I’ve got the best neighbors I’ve had in years.

We recently tried to help our daughter rent a home in Oakland. Problem was two labs. Marquardt went to bat for our daughter, and negotiated a very satisfactory agreement with the trust attorney. Our daughter just moved in, and couldn’t be happier. –Jeff, Lafayette, CA

My boyfriend and I have recently moved back to the bay area and are looking for apartments to rent. We saw a posting on craigslist for a property managed by marquardt property management. We went and saw the apartment and fell in love with it. We submit all of our information and paid the 30 dollar application fee on the 4^th of September. Since then we have basically had to hound them to check the status of our application and it’s now the 20^th. We’re fortunate enough to have flexibility in when we can move in, but not everyone does. Overall I am very disappointed. They took our information and our money and have not even been able to return a phone call or email. Then I come on here and see there have been significant issues with this company and Nicole Norris in particular. I feel thankful to have come across this information before entering into a contract with this company. This, my fellow Unilocalers, is what Unilocal is really for. Someone who has had a specific issue with these guys should really take this up with the better business bureau and shut their operation down.

I recently moved out of my apartment in Oakland that is managed by Nicole Norris and Marquardt Property MGMT. I had a great year at the property despite the early move-​in problems. It took Nicole over a week to get us a stove even though she insisted it would be installed by our move in date. She never installed smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and was again assertive that we sign the documents stating they already existed. My roommate and I never got keys to our mailbox and storage locker even after multiple request. After all that, the year was great, the apartment is beautiful and the neighborhood was nice with plenty of activities.
Here is where it went bad. My roommate moved out because of a work transfer to Los Angeles. I called Nicole to asked her if there would be a early termination fee for moving out 1 month prior to our lease end date. She called the owner and told me he accepted my one month notice and I need to submit to her a written notice to vacate, via email. I submitted my notice to move out in a month. I never heard from Nicole other than to get photos of the apartment to show prospective renters. I sent her the photos and she thanked me. Fast forward a couple weeks. I move out and go on vacation for a long weekend. Nicole calls asking me to show the apartment to a possible tenant, I explain to her that I have moved out and no longer live in Oakland. She then becomes disgruntled and says that I have a obligation to the end of July. I explain to her that I asked her to move out early and she accepted. If there was any confusion why didn’t she reply to my email two weeks prior to my move out date? Why didn’t she call after I submitted my rent check for only the first 12 days of the month? She had at least two weeks to contact me regarding any confusion to my move out date and my responsibility to pay for the entire month. She didn’t, and we argued back and fourth over email and came to no conclusion. 21 days later my deposit come in the mail and she charged me $ 925 for the remainder of July. She also failed to give me my pet deposit back, a additional $ 500. I thought Nicole was a very nice and down to earth person but after my experience and reading the reviews here I am no longer surprise at what happened. I now have the property owners phone number and will be calling to try and resolve the problem. DON’T TRUST NICOLE NORRIS OR MARQUARDT PROPERTY MANAGEMENT.

Corrupt, untrustworthy, deceitful, unethical and dishonest are just a few of the words I have for Ms. Norris who had the duty to represent me in a short sale. My home almost went into foreclosure and she just let the entire transaction go very near to foreclosure. Ms. Norris wanted to do her own business with my property. Along with other egregious actions from her, I was able to have an honest agent through the buyer’s agent of whom Ms. Norris did not want to do business with. The buyer’s agent completed the short sale within 60 days, moved my home from the foreclosure status, and got her client’s a home. Ms. Norris speaks as if she’s knowledgeable, but GREED AND DISHONESTY SHROUDED EVERY ASPECT OF HER AS A BROKER AND HUMAN BEING!!!

These people are rude, unorganized and act like they are too good to rent or show you a place. It is impossible to get them to show you a property, they ask for your contact information for an open house and then don’t call to confirm. Why ask for contact information if you aren’t actually CONTACTING someone? You are unprofessional, bitter people. Your business will eventually go under because of your horrendous customer relations… Just look at all your reviews!

Some friends and I came here to find a house in Oakland. We got approved and everything, and then when we were supposed to go in to pay the deposit, she wanted us to pay more money than what we had finalized.

Never rent from these people.
They are not good property managers, they do not care about your building, they will charge you way to much, and they will never come make repairs unless they evict someone and raise the rent.
They will show up at your unit unannounced.
They will not negotiate rent price, they will keep your security deposit, they will not negotiate your lease options.
The unit i lived in got broken into twice.
The first time it took them 2 weeks to come repair the doors after the break-​in.
They are basically slum lords.
Rent through someone else, I mean it!

Several years ago I had to move out of the area and had a small house that I needed rented but very little time or expertise to find a good tenant, figure out how to rent it, find repair people et cetera. Marquardt (Karen, the owner) helped me with the rental — handling every step along the way. She made sure the house was ready to rent, did some market analysis and presented to me a reasonable rent (including how she would adjust annually or if there were market changes). Rental fees were very, very reasonable.
It took about 2 weeks to find my first tenant. At first, I was worried because she turned down the first applicant (although she explained why and talked to me about it first), but she did a really thorough background check including calling past landlords. She responded very quickly when repairs were needed — even on weekends. She even went to the property to meet a repair person on a Sunday when the tenant couldn’t be there but needed the repair. My tenants never had anything to say negatively about her. I did go through a couple of tenants over the years, but they were all long-​term and only once was the tenant less than stellar (got a boyfriend who was problematic).
I recently moved BACK to the area and needed a place FAST. I turned to Karen as a tenant now. (I didn’t see that coming, but I wasn’t sure how long I’d be here, and I had about a month to find a place before starting my new job). She found me a house that meets my needs (and my dogs). She met me on her day off to finalize the contract.
Having been on both sides, I suspect a lot of the negative reviews come from people that were problem tenants to begin with — and sometimes, yes, that means making hard choices that is going to upset a tenant or applicant. However, I’m not rich — so when a tenant doesn’t pay rent it REALLY directly affects me. I think it is easy to see the landlord as some evil person set to hurt the 99% — however, I’m a single mom raising two kids. You don’t pay your rent, you’re taking food out of my kids’ mouths quite literally. So… YMMV with Marquardt — but decide for yourself.

Three reasons why you should NEVER rent a property managed by Karen Marquardt:
(1) She will attempt to unlawfully evict you. In our case, the landlord wanted the apartment back for some reason (still unclear to us), and in order to create the impression they were complying with Oakland and CA law (they were not), they cooked up about four different versions of a story that never stopped evolving — it was like a game of whack a mole. Fortunately we were able to beat them back, but it’s fair to say that the looming specter of an unlawful detainer suit pretty much destroyed our summer 2010.
(2) She is slow to respond to service inquiries. Sometimes she sends someone right away, but many times she would delay for days in responding, and even then grill us about the need for the call, and speak to us suspiciously as if we were at fault, and even then take a while to send someone. I would not call her a slumlord — the place was maintained — but she certainly does not do anything above and beyond the most basic requirements of CA landlord/​tenant law, if even that.
(3) She will cook up absurd theories to take money out of your security deposit. In our case, she decided it was «obvious» that we would have to have our carpets professionally steam-​cleaned upon move-​out because we had a cat. This, of course, was wrong, because steam cleaning was nowhere to be found in our lease — Karen just decided it was «obvious» all by her self, and then imposed this ginned-​up requirement upon us. After we refused, Karen sent her own carpet cleaners, then deducted $ 300 out of our deposit. Thus, we are in the unhappy position of having to sue if we want our money back. Thanks a lot!