Kumba Realty & Property Management

Kumba Realty has been managing my rental property for over a year. We’d been burned by our previous property manager but as soon as I met Steve and Lydia, I knew they were a good fit for us. Over the past year, the entire Kumba Realty team has gone above and beyond for us. I’ve had to think about the property so much less than I did with our other property manager, which is exactly how I feel it should be. Steve has personally stopped by the property several times and handled repair issues on his own, in order to make our renter happy. When I first spoke to Steve he described his business as one that would completely take the work of owning a rental property off my hands, and that’s exactly what has happened. I love knowing I can depend on and trust the people managing my investment!
As a side note, Lydia is the sweetest. When I first met Steve and Lydia, my daughter was 3 months old. I was a new mom trying to get my bearings, and of course my daughter became hungry right as my husband and I were showing them the property. I apologized for having to multi-​task and nurse my baby while we chatted. Lydia’s response was a big smile and «babies need to eat!», and she happily chatted on with me about the house. It was so sweet of her to make me feel at ease and comfortable :)

Steve took time to work out an accounting issue. Thanks Steve.

Great staff, they managed my property for over 5 years until I eventually sold it. I can’t say enough good things about them, over the years we experienced our share of obstacles and every time things were resolved the best way possible in a professional manner. Regardless if you want them to manage a property or sale a property I would certainly use them again.

Kumba Realty is the kind of company that understands it’s tenants and owners. The staff is second to none and they strive to go over and beyond to make you feel right at home. I had an emergency situation that the staff handled very quickly; at times policy is policy but there are also times where human intervention is needed to build a business to customer relationship. I highly recommend Kumba Realty because they put you first.

Absolutely the worst. Lydia is a nightmare to deal with. Slow to reply, never followed up as discussed and completely rude. I would never do business with them.

After extensively searching for our home long distance we finally found a company that bent over backwards to assist us! Very professional and expedient with the whole process! Sandy Toro and Kumba are awesome!

Kumba Realty has managed two of my properties for the last 11 and 8 years respectively. Lydia has always been on top of everything and always gotten me great tenants. She handles all the maintenance and paperwork, so I’m free to focus on other venues.
I would highly recommend Kumba Realty for Property Management!

I used Kumba Realty to help me find my dream home. The staff overall is very friendly and helpful. My realtor has vast knowledge in the central Florida market and quickly found the home that my wife and I were looking for. I highly recommend their service!

Kumba Realty knows there is water and mold damage, but chooses to ignore it!
I moved into my home on 4÷26÷2014. Upon moving in I noticed that the carpet was stained, the home was infested with roaches and ants, the screens on the lanai were torn and popped out due to rotted material, duct tape covering electrical outlets, several issues with the pool, and a roof leak. The roof leak was pretty severe, and was over my COVERED patio. During move in I placed my sofa, and TV under the COVERED patio. It rained and my furniture and TV was destroyed. AJ with Kumba Realty was notified. In June I was told by AJ that the roof repair was approved, and that they were just waiting to schedule. This was not the case. In fact they sent 2 other people out to give an estimate. The roof was worked on, on 8÷11÷2014 (No Notice was given, and the gentleman repairing the roof stated to me I thought you were on vacation). The roof still leaks, and there is video evidence supporting this claim that was taken on 9÷7÷2014. Also, in June we advised Lidya of a possible code violation in regards to outlets that are covered in duct tape. Her response was «Are you a certified electrician?». This issue has NEVER been addressed. Our AC went down at the end of June on a Friday. Per Lidya they were unable to expedite services because they are not required to provide AC. I have 3 children under the age of 12 living in the home. I am not able to keep my children in the home when inside temperatures exceeded 90 degrees. The AC was fixed the first week of July (5 days), I had to put my family in a hotel and was advised by Lidya that they are not responsible for any out of pocket expenses on my behalf due to this issue. The bathroom faucet broke, and was gushing water everywhere! They responded to this repair in 24 hours. The plumber corrected the issue, but re-​installed the faucet improperly (Cold=Hot/Hot=Cold). In the middle of July Lidya requested to do a home inspection because of «all of the issues with the property». During this visit I showed her the screens that were in disrepair on the lanai, the outlets covered in duct/​clear tape, and a place in the master bedroom where the weekend prior to her visit the wall caved in by simply leaning on it. After this visit there was no correspondence from Lidya with her intent to have any of these issues corrected. In August I contacted an independent water restoration company to come to the home and do an assessment on the hole in the master bedroom. They did find that the wall material was anywhere between 86% — 99% wet and there was visible mold. I informed Lidya via email, and she seemed shocked, and advised me 2 weeks later that I needed to «move out of the home».
On August 22, 2014 I arrived home to find sparks shooting off of the side of the home. I contacted AJ with Kumba and advised him of the issue. An electrician was sent to address this safety concern on 8÷28÷2014. They determined that the pool pump was the issue. On 9÷5÷2014 Lidya stated that they contracted with the pool company to repair the pump. On 9÷8÷2014 during the cleaning of the pool I asked if they had heard from Kumba, and the pool company stated that they had not heard anything. On 9÷11÷2014 the pool company attempted to repair the pump, but needed to replace it instead. This repair was made 9÷17÷2014 and the pool pump and debris were left scattered in the yard.
On 8÷09÷2014 I advised Kumba of issues with the solar panels, and how they look like sprinklers on my roof. This issue to date has not been addressed. I did receive an email from AJ acknowledging the issue with the panels. On 9÷19÷2014 Lidya sent an email stating that the panels had been repaired. On 9÷20÷2014 I turned the panels on and obtained a video disproving this statement. Also, when the lease was executed Kumba opened a trade on my credit report for $ 18,200.00. This is the total amount of my rent plus deposit. This is ILLEGAL! Of course Lidya will admit no wrong doing because it seems that nothing is ever her, or her company’s fault. It always seems to be the tenants or the home owners’ issue. It seems that Lidya uses bullying and intimidation methods to get what she wants. DO NOT USE KUMBA REALTY IF YOU EXPECT YOUR DEPOSIT BACK HASSEL FREE

I wanted to share my very good experience dealing with Kumba Realty. I am from New York and wanted to purchase a home somewhere in Central Florida but I wanted to rent a home first while I looked around. Lidya from Kumba Realty was wonderful. She found me a rental property that fit my needs. I have 3 dogs and needed a place that had a fenced in yard and would take me. She sent me pictures and I rented it and was able to get a shorter than usual lease as I was hoping to find a house within a 6 – 9 month time period. We moved in in January and had a couple of issues with the locks and a handrail that were promptly taken care of. Lidya and her staff were professional and courteous and when I did have a problem (microwave stopped working) they took care of it immediately. As an added bonus Lidya helped me find a beautiful home in Mount Dora that we recently moved into. She was an excellent real estate agent and helped us through the purchasing process every step of the way. And she also found a new tenant a month before our actual lease expired which saved us quite a bit of money. All in all my experience was great and I would highly recommend both Lidya and Kumba Realty. As for all these negative reviews, I can only share my experience which was far from the nastiness I see written here. A couple of rotten eggs perhaps?

They are crooks, plain and simple. I rented from them and it was the most unpleasant experience I have ever had renting. They try to charge you for crazy things to keep your security deposit even if you leave the place nice. Dealing with the owner Lydia is impossible, she will threaten and bully you til she gets her way.

Kumba Realty helped me find my house in Lake Nona in 2009, and I couldn’t have been happier with the experience. Lidya worked with me to help find houses based on my needs and wants and made the whole house hunting experience quite fun. Lidya was very patient with me… as a first-​time home buyer, I was still trying to figure out exactly what I was looking for in a house. She also helped to advise me on each home we looked at, instead of just trying to make a sale.
I ended up bidding on several short-​sales and foreclosures before I got one, but we worked together and didn’t get up. I ended up with a beautiful home for a great price, that I still love 3 years later. I can’t say enough good things about my experience with Kumba! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I’ve already recommended several friends to use this company.

My husband and I are currently going through the same ordeal as mentioned in previous posts (e.g., rude emails, unjustified fees, calling tenants numerous times convincing them to request for repairs, etc.) Lydia (owner) and her «handyman» AJ wanted to charge $ 80 to change several light bulbs. We had our neighbor come over and do it for free.
Thank you Sarju, P for your recommendation. We will file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

I am an owner who entered into a management contract with Kumba in 2010. It has been one problem after another and has cost me more money than I want to think about.
They charged me for things that were clearly not my responsible and written in their own contract. I am trying to get a refund.
In my opinion, the manager for my unit (who was named in another complaint below) mismanaged my propery. I would not stand for it and since everything is in email they decided to break their own contract and terminate the relationship.
I couldn’t be happier about that, however, now they do not want to forward the tenants security deposit to me.
I have demanded it and filed complaints with the BBB and the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. I contend since they are no longer managing my property they have no interest in it and it is no longer in their care, custody and control. I am now responsible for the security deposit and the move out inspection.
It has been a two year nightmare. I have worked with two other management companies in two other counties, each for over 15 years and never encountered any problems.
After reading the reviews it appears both tenants and owners need to beware!

to all who have been wronged by kumba like myself. kumba tried to rip me off so i filed a complaint to Better Business Bereau and Orlando Regional Realtor association and they refunded my money but said i wrecked the place. they didnt charge me for any damage so i did not lift my complaints until i get a formal apology from Lydia. i thought I would share this so they do not get away with this with other people in the future. i told them i would be informing everyone they did wrong so they could file a complaint against them also. she has to go in front of the board to keep her realtors license upon them reviewing my complaints. thought you all should know how to take the proper steps agains a shady business. have a great day.

What a TERRIBLE experience! Home owners should stay away from Kumba Realty at all costs! I can’t base this review from a tenant perspective, but I do know that they scam, overcharge, and inconvenience home owners.
We used them to manage our family property in Orlando, and it was the worst experience ever.
(-) When you sign a contract with them, they collect the first month of rent from the OWNER! I thought this was absurd, but we paid it anyway, because we thought that using a property manager would make things run a lot smoother — not the case!
(-) After the tenants moved in, we ended up receiving less than ¼ of the rent, due to numerous superfluous fees. They billed us $ 300 – 600 for services that usually only cost a hundred or so.
(-) In addition to the fact that they basically cheated us out of thousands of dollars over the duration of the contract, they also began sending us nasty emails and calling to argue, after we notified them that we weren’t interested in renewing our contract.
We own a few properties in Orlando, and have rented them ourselves in the past. But since we all aren’t in Orlando at the moment, we decided to go with a property management company for the first time. After this experience, I can wholeheartedly say that we will NEVER again employ a property management company — especially if these fees and unprofessional attitudes are commonplace.

Very bad experience with this company. I asked then to do their job and I was accused of asking them to do illegal things. I had to fire then due to their incompetence.