Forward Management

TLDR; If you want a good landlord in the city, live in a smaller place or pay an extra $ 200/​month. If you’re stuck with a Forward (or Lobos) Management price range, then find an independent landlord instead of a management company. No other options? Then read on for my experience and tips. I’m aiming for a balance here.
I lived in 2 separate Forward Management properties in Squirrel Hill: (1) a 600 sq ft 1BR for 4 years (starting rent in ’08 ~$ 650) and (2) a larger 950 sq ft 1BR for 3 years (rent in 2015 was ~$ 950 all utils included). You can view a blog I kept to track all the issues/​interactions I had with Forward Management over the years at
PROS
— Low price, but you’ll pay in other ways ;)
— Historic properties [in Squirrel Hill] with lots of vintage details (hardwood floors, lots of windows)
— Great square footage for the price, good locations too.
— Will pro-​rate your rent if you’re moving in after the 1^st of the month
— Accommodating to weird requests:
(1) if you need to move into the property a day early, the staff will work with the prior tenant to see if that can happen.
(2) I sold our furniture to incoming tenants, and Forward Management was okay with us leaving it in the unit for them.
(3) I needed to extend our lease 3 months to November 1. They charged me a fee equal to 40% of my monthly rent, per month, but at least it was possible. Then, when I found someone via Craigslist to move-​in October, they eventually returned half of the extension fees I already paid (~$ 400). Forward Management could have really screwed me there, but they didn’t.
— The account manager for Pittsburgh city properties, Tina, really tries to do her best by you. If she fails, it’s probably because she’s not been granted the resources to do any better.
— Rather lax about nail/​screw holes left behind in the wall and charging for them in the security deposit.
— Allow up to 2 cats with a refundable security deposit
— Laundry facilities are often contained within the building. The Alderson property even used a laundry card instead of quarters. Laundry prices were pretty typical.
— Reasonable rent increases each year ($ 10-​$ 30)
CONS
— Ridiculous lease-​breaking fees in the lease. Negotiate to make it so the fees are only applicable in the first year of tenancy.
— *Incredibly* slow at responding to maintenance requests & have a great deal of difficulty prioritizing them.
— Likely Forward Management Pittsburgh is incredibly understaffed. So. Keep that in mind.
— The company hierarchy is purposefully hidden from tenants (i.e., you will never get to speak with a ‘higher up’), an indicator of tenant/​customer satisfaction being a lower priority.
— When your building gets letters from the electric, gas, and water companies about an unpaid bill, they’ll get to it eventually. My utilities were never once shut off during the 7 yrs I leased from them, despite 15+ letters of this nature.
— If you call daily, they will eventually get someone to fix your maintenance problem. However, I called 3* in ⁹⁄₂₀₁₅ to get my oven pilot light fixed and no one ever came. I called 2* about fleas in 8/​2012, was told there would be an exterminator sent and there never was. We solved the problem ourselves with an $ 8 bag of diatomaceous earth.
— Maintenance crews do the cheapest possible fix. This is not great when it’s a bathroom leak that maintenance had to come and fix on 10 different occasions (over 3 years, see Unilocal photos) because they put a bandage over the cosmetic damage instead of fixing the underlying leak.
— The in-​between-​tenants cleaning crew could not possibly care less. Drips of paint on ceiling fans, paint on the windows, light switches entirely painted over, linoleum flooring placed *over* door threshholds, and hardwood floors a neglected mess.
— Typical old building problems should be expected: unpredictable water temperatures/​pressure, leaky pipes, crumbling plaster, etc. These are old buildings in Pittsburgh.
— Often, utilities are included but this means you’ll have no control over the temperature during winter. There’s usually a couple of frigid days until the heat turns on. If your electricity is included, then buy a space heater.
— Fwd Managmt’s financial system is a a mess. I’d get letters telling me I hadn’t paid rent. My bank automatically sent them a check every month, 2 weeks early to avoid this issue. And it was still an issue annually.
— Two bikes were stolen out of 5855 Alderson’s basement in 2013. Police report was filed: #13 209 989
Is Forward Management a bad landlord? Yes, probably. But not so bad that it kept me from choosing to move into a *second* property with them. It’s really a lot based on luck: how many disastrous maintenance requests do you think this unit will launch at you, and can you handle a non-​responsive maintenance service? For me, the excellent price, location, square footage, hardwood floors, and windows were worth it. You need to make that decision for yourself.

Since forward management is nice enough to go around commenting on everyone’s reviews, I will give an update now that I am officially out of that place. The comments they are putting are straight lies (and please forward, comment on this trying to dispute my claims) I can tell you from experience that they don’t fix any issue you tell them about. I still stand by my original review. I will admit I was wrong about one thing, they did in fact give me my security deposit back which blew my mind. They never helped with the security nor noise concerns. The comments they are leaving are perfect examples of how they run their business. They say all the right things and hope you believe them but nothing changes. Again, I would not recommend renting from this company, not only for the reasons given in my last review but also because I’m sure there are serious building codes being violated. I’m not a contractor so I can’t say anything, just my own opinion but before I moved out a good foot square piece of drywall just crumbled off my wall one day because there was so much water damage and behind it was the exterior brick. Living in the winters of Pittsburgh, I can’t imagine there aren’t laws requiring insulation between the interior and exterior walls. But again, I’m no contractor, just take this as a warning.

I have lived here for 4 years. And while its an affordable… I’ve started to have major problems. I want out of my lease so bad. The walls are paper thin and our neighbors suck! I’ve been sexually harassed by the maintenance crew… Was it a good start up place? Yes… But I’ve realized that it has not been worth it to stay here as the price goes up every year… I would suggest it to someone who needs a place for a year to save money.

Ahhh, Forward Management, the great slumlord of Sq. Hill.
Warning: They let personal bias dictate if you even are considered for one of their apartments and confirm this by sending inappropriate comments to you via email.
Considering what the agent replied with via email, what they included may or may not break the fair housing act (familial status) for what could be considered discrimination.
Way to go!

I used to be a former tenant here and I have to warn you: STAY AWAY. Due to time constraints, lack of options, and proximity to school, I chose to sign with Forward Management for the apartment at 5440 5^th Ave.
I have several complaints:
— There were SO many stink bugs in the apartment. They would crawl in through the many cracks and crevices of the apartment.
— The apartment complex is absolutely disgusting. The basement looks like a murder scene and unfortunately, it’s also where the laundry machines are.
— During finals week last winter, the power and heating went out for over an entire week. The management did NOTHING to make up for it, not an apology OR some sort of reimbursement for the inconvenience. As many of the residents are graduate students, you would think that they would have more consideration for their residents but NOPE. I wrote them several nasty letters and the best they came up with was «Sorry, nothing we can do about it. Don’t curse at us.»
— When I first moved in, the tub was molding and they did not replace it until I constantly harassed them for a whole month. It was absolutely disgusting. In fact, the condition of the whole apartment was filthy. They claimed to clean the carpet, but there were stains galore. I know for sure they did not clean it, especially after I got it professionally vacuumed and cleaned. It made a world of a difference. What’s more is that they retained about 75% of my deposit for bullshit reasons and charges such as «dirty counters» or «carpet stains». Excuse me?! I spent 3 – 4 days scrubbing the hell out of the apartment and that apartment was in shithole condition from the start. They claimed that I needed to write how DIRTY the apartment was when I first moved in. SINCE WHEN DO YOU COMMENT ON DIRTINESS WHEN YOU MOVE IN?! Shouldn’t the apartment be clean from the get-​go? I just assumed that the apartment was so digusting that that was the best it would look. I’m pretty sure they kept most of my deposit because I bitched them out so much that they were pissed about having to deal with me, but that just goes to show you how unprofessional they are.
— I had several other maintenance issues with the shower head and shower drain. I think I called maintenance 5 – 6 times throughout my residence.
— The wording in their contract is very ambiguous. When I signed with them, I interpreted their sublease rule to mean that subletters could be allowed depending on the situation. I also assumed so, since most leasing companies allow it… but NOPE. I can now understand why– they don’t want to have to deal with new subletters bombarding them with nasty letters. So basically, you’re locked into a one year agreement with them without exception.
— They once left threatening letters about not paying rent and charging me a late fee when I had indeed paid the rent on time. They made me take a screen shot of my monthly statement with their check #. How about they get their shit together and check THEIR cashed checks to see whether they cashed my check that month?
DO NOT LIVE HERE.
OH, did I mention that every time I wrote them a nasty letter, I found SOMEONE from Forward Management checking my profile on LinkedIn? How creepy and inappropriate is that? What’s funnier is that they refused to give me the name of the decision maker/​head manager at Forward Management. Everytime I demanded to talk to the HEAD HONCHO, the personnel in the office claimed that I couldn’t and wouldn’t even give me a name. Not even an email address or anything. They said they would take my information and someone would get back to me… and of course, nobody ever did.
Terrible and frightening experience. I shudder at the thought of this apartment and after this experience, I have learned my lesson. You really do get what you pay for, so if all of the above complaints aren’t worth it then look elsewhere. It’s unfortunate that all of the Google reviews for Forward Management did not surface until AFTER I moved in. (To check them, google «Forward Management, Pittsburgh, PA.»)