Kokopelli Property Management

Criminals! Heartless and despicable. They don’t care or even show an ounce of compassion. Worst experience and horrible customer service. Booked a week in Angel Fire 4 days later I had to cancel due to a tragedy in my family. Hey what do they care? Nope sorry you didn’t pay your $ 60 insurance, so what if your family member has stage 4 cancer (and you provided medical records) and you can’t make your trip. Oh you just booked it 4 days ago? Sorry we will take your money and won’t return your calls. Scum!!!

I’ve had a fantastic experience with Kokopelli. I’m relocating to Santa Fe and am renovating a house and needed a house to live in while my place was being worked on. They have been accommodating and flexible as my dates for renovating have expanded greatly! Brian Dawson was our agent and he’s been so lovely to work with and has been a huge help! If you’ve ever built or renovated a home you know it can be extremely stressful and Brian of Kokopelli has been so wonderful in this crazy transition. We are really happy with our experience with Kokopelli. I highly recommend them!

Kokopelli PM folks are very professional. I’ve been pleased with how well they communicate, particularly if I have a concern or a need. While maintenance has been busy with my property from time to time and done a fine job, there are times when there could be more communication with the tenants. Example: Switching to heat from swamp cooler. Of course, everyone was needing that service and I know KPM worked diligently to take care of all in a timely matter yet it seems that the tenants had to ask a couple of times and perhaps a «by when» commitment could have been given to them.
I appreciate the ease of being able to track my account and business electronically. Being an out-​of-​state landlord it helps me keep in touch with what is going on as well as income, expenses and work orders. System works very well.

Me and two roommates recently moved to Santa Fe for college (another mistake we made, but that’s another story), and, of course, housing options in Santa Fe are not easy if you’re on a budget. We ended up settling on a Kokopelli Property near the college on Zia Road. Don Hurst was our agent.
The first thing that really shocked me was the presentation of the house. They literally just gave us a key and told us «There might be a little smell.» He really undersold it. The stench was horrible: A mixed flavor of cat piss and a rotting corpse. And they were advertising it like this! But, I digress, we liked the home otherwise. We told them the smell had to be completely gone by the move-​in date.
The first thing I wish I would’ve known was to take pictures. The house, while not in disrepair, has plenty of holes and problems with it, not to mention, the yard was a mess at the move-​in date. 3-​foot high weeds everywhere, overgrown bushes, and a «garden» of weeds and… I honestly couldn’t tell what was a weed and what wasn’t. Especially in the backyard. Turns out the fact we didn’t document this cost us a headache with our security deposit, as Kokopelli claimed «The yard was expertly taken care of at the move-​in date», a bold-​faced lie.
About a month in, we realized our keys couldn’t open the garage door into the house. Turns out, the garage has a different set of keys than the front door! Who knew? And whatmore, they didn’t give us these keys OR the garage door opener during move-​in. And something tells me they never would have if we hadn’t noticed it.
During the course of our lease we had a handful of wear’n’tear incidents and just old-​age stuff occur. This shouldn’t be an issue because of our lease, right? Normal wear’n’tear is covered as well as anything that breaks which isn’t our fault! Well, Kokopelli’s repair service is pitable. It usually took 2 weeks after reporting a problem to get it fixed. And in the case of our garage, which stopped working in March of this year, it took a grand total of nearly 3 months to get it fixed. 3 MONTHS! We’re paying for something that we can’t use! Yet it consisted of waiting 2 weeks for them to send out their repair man who took one look at the thing and told us, «Yeah, not sure why they sent me, I don’t know how to fix garages.» So ANOTHER 2 weeks go by before they get another of their cheapo repair companies who come by to say, «Yep, there’s something wrong with it.» Guess what happened after that? Almost 3 weeks before they sent ANOTHER guy out who worked for a garage repair company, did some tests, found the motor was totally busted, and left before, GUESS WHAT: ANOTHER 2 weeks to go by before they FINALLY fixed our garage door, which had been part of the rent in the meanwhile.
Speaking of repairs, the house itself wasn’t insulated too well, which meant summer months were hot. It could easily be up to 91 degrees in the house. Being a native Arizona-​dweller, I know that is not livable. I also noticed that there was a swamp cooling unit on the roof, which interested me. So I checked our lease, and, wouldn’t you know it, there’s a section which protected us! It said the owner was obligated to pay for any mechanical errors INCLUDING air conditioning. So I contacted Don about it, to which he replied, «Nope, it’s advertised as no cooling». I thought this was a cop-​out, so I pursued further, reminding him that this LEGALLY BINDING LEASE would hold up in any court. He still refused, claiming that I didn’t know what I was talking about. Comparing the costs of the repair to a court fee, I just threw my hands up in the air, told myself «F*** IT!» and just went ahead and repaired the unit myself. Cost about $ 100 and 5 hours of my time. Of course, I got the thing working with no extra help. I saved the receipts and brought them into Kokopelli, telling them I did the job for them and I expected to be reimbursed. Not only did they not, they tried to weasel out of it by telling us the owners «flat-​out refused» to repay us in any way.
YOU’RE THE MIDDLE MAN. YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR CLIENTS PAY UP WHEN DUE’S DUE.
Before the move-​out date, I once again attempted to get back my hundred dollars by bringing in the receipts, and telling them I wanted the money I spent on their repair problem. Don proceeded to talk to me like a child, using slow speech and waltzing around the problem like I didn’t know what he was talking about. Utterly disrespectful. On top of that, they told me shutting down the swamp cooler was a requirement for moving out! UNDOING MY REPAIR!
At this point, I just decided pursuing it was not worth the cost of legal fees to sue or the headache it was dealing with Kokopelli.
If you’re looking for a home to stay long-​term in, DO NOT, use Kokopelli. They don’t give two craps about their customers and would rather defend their stingy owners than give the leasers what they were promised in the lease.

Just got home from a great vacation in Santa Fe. La Vida Buena was a great home in a great location. I had some trouble figuring out how to operate the TV. I called the office and Michael was there within 10 min to help me. The staff was fantastic to deal with. Will call them again for next year. We are hooked on Santa Fe!

Not sure how these people expect to rent to anyone that doesn’t have any connections in New Mexico. I went in to rent a beautiful home and was qualified to do so except Kokopelli decided they didn’t want to give us the house to rent because they needed an in-​state guaranteur. We offered them the first two months, security deposit, and last four month’s rent up front and they still said that we could not rent the home because the guarantuer could not be out of state. Even after checking our nonexistent criminal records and exceptional credit scores, they said no.
*Good luck renting your home to people who want to park a big ass RV out front.*
The people are rude, don’t seem to know what they are doing except Tanya, and my real estate agent that showed me houses just unlocked the doors and didn’t do shit. Wouldn’t recommend working with these people. They just want your money.

Arrogant and out of control property manager (especially Brant)! I went with them because they were willing to negotiate a little on their exorbitant rental renewal fee, which charges you 50% of rent every time they renew a lease. However, I ended up regretting it very much due to the money they cost me in the end. About a week after signing a contract, I found out they required me to make $ 2,000 worth of repairs to the exterior, and about $ 400 of minor repairs to the interior before they would even agree to start marketing the property. This was a fairly nice and completely habitable property in the Blueberry Hill area of Taos, to which I’d just made about $ 30k worth of updates. They then wasted another 3 weeks apparently getting estimates and not returning phone calls. When it finally got advertised, about 4 weeks after signing, the local Taos property manager quit her job (the second person to quit that position in two months). In an effort to save a client, and knowing I was about to change managers, Brant called and told me they had a tenant that was willing to sign a lease if I would stay. This supposed tenant was out of town, had never seen it, and backed out a week later. When I finally called to terminate our relationship, I suggested they owe it to me to refund my $ 200 setup fee, to which Brant raised his voice, and told me he «completely disagrees.» I remained calm and continued to explain my arguments when finally he just told me very frankly, «look, there’s no way I’m going to refund that money to you.» In the end they cost me about $ 1,700 in lost rent and fees.

Kokopelli has been managing our condo in Taos for about a year, and we have been nothing but pleased with the service. The previous property manager and tenant situation resulted quite a bit of wear to the unit. The property manager in Taos was super managing every detail of the unit restoration, including daily work supervision visits to ensure that we would be pleased with the outcome. The work was completed on a very tight schedule and the unit was then rented right away to a first rate tenant. After that, routine maintenance to the unit was handled quickly and effectively. I have a lot on my plate right now, and thank goodness for Kokopelli that I no need to worry about our condo management.

Perfect Storm. The arrogance of Santa Fe home owners have found the perfect representative: Kokopelli Property Management.
I also was deceived into filling out and paying for numerous applications — while the rentals I enquired about were Already Rented!
I have over 800 fica score. No pets. Non smoking.
Was treated like Pariah.
NOTE — the Good Reviews usually only say they do not believe the Bad Reviews! I didn’t even know that qualified for Review! Too many Santa Fe-​ian heads-​in-​the-​sand.
GREAT OPPORTUNITY for some honest, friendly and savvy business types to take over Property Management in Santa Fe (Hint Hint)

Over the years, I’ve had a temporary vacation rental from Kokopelli, and a long-​term rental. The vacation rental was a disaster. I was accommodating an international group for one of Santa Fe’s big summer events. None of the gas appliances in the house worked, including the 2 hot water heaters. We arrived on a Friday afternoon of a 3-​day weekend, and were told that we’d have to wait until the following Tuesday for a repair person. No functional stove, oven or hot water for 4 days! My guests asked me if no hot water in summer was normal for America! (This is standard in parts of Eastern Europe.)
The plumbing in the only bath that had a tub/​shower was not aligned with the tub, so that every time someone showered, the bathroom floor would flood. Electricity in the living room was faulty, so when we entertained, we had to confine guests to the kitchen. Contract stated a cleaning person would come in weekly, but none ever came. The vacuum cleaner was broken, so we couldn’t clean the place ourselves. Homeowners left dishes for our use that had all been broken and glued back together. When dishes came unglued in the dishwater, we were later charged for replacing their «heirloom» dishes!!!
The long-​term rental was only marginally better. Advertised as having air conditioning, it only had one window unit that was woefully inadequate even for the «great room» in which it was installed, let alone the rest of the house. Drains were clogged, faucets leaked, the stove top didn’t work, and the heat gave out in the depth of winter. The agency took nearly a week to send a repair person, while I lived with no heat.
My privacy was limited by the frequent comings and goings of repair people, one of whom was consistently rude and inappropriate. Most of those interruptions could have been avoided by doing an inspection prior to renting to a new tenant.
When I called them to schedule their carpet cleaner prior to moving out, and explained I was trying to schedule cleaners and movers in time for the end of the lease, I was told rudely that they would have the sheriff remove me if I wasn’t out in time! The account manager hung up, so I had to call back to follow through on scheduling the carpet cleaner. After moving out, they charged a hefty fee for «repairs», most of which consisted of replacing door and window screens that I had left in the garage, where I’d found them upon moving in, and re-​hanging closet rods that were fallen when I moved in.
This business is a real racket. I’ve been a landlord myself for 20 years, and never had to send in repair people, except for one issue caused by the tenant. Once in 20 years. I treat my renters much better than this. Kokopelli just doesn’t care.

The recent company campaign to stem the tide of bad reviews has forced me out of staying in the background.
Two year experience. At first I thought they were just a little confused, a little absent minded. That is really not the case. There is no accountability, constant attempts to double bill for repairs to your home, impossible to understand bookkeeping practices, outright snide corporate attitude and, when we were winding down our contract and they needed to finish a botched repair job, they magically booked our house for the first time in 8 months so they could pay themselves before finishing the work.
Our home was left filthy, the repair job was not completed properly, guest damages scoffed at and Kokopelli paid themselves out of last minute guest bookings. We’re left picking up the pieces.
We didn’t need the holiday card, thank you. Yes, happy holidays! I know my 1099 is coming next where you’re going to show all that profit when you really took all but about $ 300 of rental receipts. These people have never seen an add-​on charge they don’t like.
Stay away.

I almost never write reviews but have had such a positive experience with Kokopelli that I feel compelled to do so. They brought me a perfect tenant in record time for our home in Santa Fe. They have been friendly, responsive, open, and cooperative. I used a competitor of theirs for years that was arrogant, greedy and always sided with the tenants at my expense. If you are a landlord or homeowner, Kokopelli is the best choice in Santa Fe. Jessica R.

Kokopelli has managed my property in Santa Fe for over 5 years.
I got an email from Brant the other day, in regards to my house, and I noticed at the bottom of his email, under his signature, links to Unilocal and trip advisor, etc. I’d never noticed it before so I clicked on the Unilocal link… and I’m astonished at the negativity of their reviews.
Kokopelli has always treated me with the utmost professionalism, handled problems and issues with the utmost efficiency, and most importantly have always treated me, and various tenants, with the utmost respect and fairness. It is not an easy job to do, but they always execute. And I’d work with nobody else in Santa Fe.
I’d wager that half of the negative reviews are fabrications put forth by their competition (they dominate the market), forty percent are just horrible people, and the other ten percent may be legitimate… hey, nobody’s perfect, problems happen and mistakes are made, and many years in hospitality have taught me that you can’t make EVERYONE happy. But as a family-​run business, you can count on them trying.
Don’t be fooled. These guys are F-​ing professional.

Kokopelli Property management is not trying to help ANYONE but themselves. Avoid at all cost
A cleaning fee of 210 dollars after a 6 days stay, for a 600 sqft apartment in Santa Fe is absolutely ridiculous. Cleaners make 20 dollars an hour. 10 hours of cleaning seems excessive unless… ohhh theyre just stealing your money
Furthermore they tried to blame this on the property owners, despite the fact that this fee applies to all the properties they manage. So clearly this has nothing to do with the owners
Its a shame they have a monopoly in the Santa Fe area, but we have just decided to vacation somewhere else in the future.

If you are planning to rent a home in Santa Fe, please don’t bother using Kokopelli Property management. They bother you constantly and their staff is in need of an intensive customer service training, they are rude, inexperienced and they treat their tenants like if they are doing them a favor.
I will never ever consider them again or recommend them to anyone. I think that even your worse enemy don’t deserve that kind of treatment.
Let me give you and example. They fixed in my property the irrigation system that exploded during winter because they fail to close the water (after they actually came twice to handle that). They left it running Indefinitely because they didn’t programmed the timer correctly and the water bill came for almost $ 300 when the average was $ 70 a month. When you called their office no-​one knows, no-​one return the call or take responsibility.
They suck!

The worse most unscrupulous property management. Buyer/​renter beware! The customer service is awful — no one knows what the next person in the office is doing so you get conflicting stories about the properties. I wasted an entire day waiting on keys they told me they would have to see a property after driving 1.5 hrs to view. They weren’t apologetic and even went as far to tell me that there were other applications received so why bother! This was after I was told that they wanted more than one application!!! I wrote the owners and let them know how horrible their staff is! Just read the reviews and decide for yourself if you want this hassle! No thanks!

These guys SUCK!!! Rent from someone else. I did a long term rental from them and they are so nice when you sign the paperwork. They didn’t even get my forwarding address right. And they wait until the very last day of their allowance to give you your deposit back. Even your worst landlord situation will be better than these guys!!! I left the house really clean and beautiful, followed all of their guidelines, left receipts, the house was perfect when we left. The yard was the same way when moved in and they are charging me $ 500 to clean the yard up!!! And $ 280 to replace lightbulbs!!! And they double charged for chimney sweeping!!! Try getting someone to call you back about this too. Horrible experience. And they expect you to show the property while your moving out.

it’s been almost a year… but I’m prompted still to vent. Marcia from Kokopelli booked my house for NDN market, but mistakingly booked me for April NOT August… I didn’t catch the error, nor did she. Because we have worked together on countless trips for Market for which I’m an artist, I trusted her expertise… well. the month of April came and went, again not knowing of the error, still thinking my house was reserved for August NDN market week… I was never notified from the company…(perhaps wondering why we never picked up the keys in April?) When August came around… I came to town and I had no reservation… informing me that” I” had made a mistake…(!) a supreme disaster to say the least… to top off this nightmare, no refund… no apology… absolute losers… and my 1600. bucks down the drain…

We went into their office to find a long term rental and were all but ignored. I did not take it personally since the other people there were being ignored too. The office was getting quite crowded with ignored potential renters actually. After waiting for a half hour, we were given a list of available properties. When I tried to get further information on a few, I was told we could see them the following week, and would get our questions answered at the showing. So we filled out the paperwork, requesting showings, and have never heard back 2 weeks later. The houses are still on their website for rent. Yet they do not return phone calls or e-​mails. Nor could they answer questions like: is there a bedroom on the main level? Is there a garage?
While waiting, we got to witness the tirade of a furious renter in the office too. Apparently he did not feel like his repair needs were ever met and nobody would call hime back.
A friend listed his property with Kokopelli and learned that they own a lot of their own properties, and will only work on renting yours once all theirs are full. He owns several properties in town, all very nice, and now manages them himself.
So owner or renter, enter with caution. Customer service and communication are not in the mission statement of this organization.

I wish I could review on an actual property or experience but I can’t. I have inquired about several properties Kokopelli has on their site as well as filling out several requests for more information on properties.
Completely non-​responsive and I’ve been waiting for several weeks.