Kunevich & Lau Realty

Used K&L for one year while living in Brookline, the online withdrawals for rent were very convenient, never had any problems with the place. They were always very responsive and helpful.

I called just after lunch on a recent Thursday afternoon. The person who picked up told me that he would relay the message to the agent in charge of the retail space I was interested in. Around an hour later, I received a text from the agent, Catherine, asking if it would be okay for her to give me a call at 6 that evening. I said 6pm was fine and clarified that it was the ground level retail space I was interested in and not an apartment at the address. She said it would not be a problem.
6pm rolled around and I did not get a call or a text letting me know that we should reschedule the call. Okay, I thought, not very professional but I’ll wait a bit more. Well, I waited until after 1pm the next day. During this time, I still haven’t received a follow-​up call from her. So I called her number. She answered the phone. I was told that she actually didn’t handle retail spaces and that her boss Jarrett Lau would give me a call. Since I saw how poorly follow-​up protocols were, I asked her if I should call the office instead if I wanted to reach out to him first. She said calling the office was fine.
After hanging up with her, I called the office and requested to speak with Jarrett Lau. The man answering the phone put me on hold. The next thing I heard was a guy barking into the phone, «Did you just give my agent a call about three minutes ago and then call this office number?» I was taken aback and really confused, «Yes, I did.» He said, «Even after she told you that I’d give you a call?!» HUH? It took a moment to register he was pissed that I was following up on a call so soon. I said, «I wanted to get the ball rolling.» He said, «It’s a Friday afternoon and we are a bit swamped here and she said that I would give you a call.» Holy cow, does this business’s operating hours NOT include Friday? If so, what the hell does my calling any time within normal business hour matter at all? Also, having seen how unreliable the first agent was, why should I have any faith at all in believing that my call would be returned that day? You see, Jarrett, expectations are set with first impressions and since your agent failed to call at 6pm the previously day like she said she would and I received only silence the next day, I needed to be more proactive in the light of your company dropping the ball.
Very unprofessional. It’s as if he has never worked in an office environment or served customers in any professional capacity. If he was busy, it’s simple enough to have the secretary take a message and for him to return my call later when he’s not in the throes of drama queen anxiety. Don’t get on the phone and yell at a customer who’s trying to give you business. In what world is that normal? If you cannot put your best face forward, don’t attempt to handle a customer in that moment. Once I repeated the address to him and my intention for the space, he was able to tell me why the place wouldn’t work. Altogether, the call took 2 minutes. Was that so hard? Did anyone die because of it?
Interestingly, the place I was looking into has been vacant for two years. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Used K&L as my property manager for two years. They did a great job and I had no issues. Extremely responsive and helpful in dealing with some stressful situations (busted pipes, broken heaters, etc.)
I decided it was time to get out of the rental game and used K&L to sell my house. They did a great job prepping the house and getting it ready to sell. It quickly sold and it was a great experience.
I fully recommend them.

Worst renting experience I’ve ever had. Everyone else has already hit all the reasons why.

Terrible customer service. Emailed three agents here about a listing and left several voice mails and never received a reply back.
Apparently they are too busy to provide customer service.

We were tenants in a property managed by Kunevich and Lau for 2 years. My husband and I are both educated professionals and have never had problems with management companies before. We have lived in many rentals in many states and were blown away by how amateur and unprofessional Jarrett and his staff were.
In addition to extremely poor communication both internally and externally to renters, there was a laundry list of problems we experienced. We frequently needed to contact the property owner directly to intervene on our behalf.
Here are a few of our experiences:
— Jarrett was rude, insulted my husband, and raised his voice on the phone when we asked why our property was not ‘move in ready’ when we arrived. The property owner needed to intervene and coordinated with Jarrett to have the issues resolved.
— They entered our unit without notifying us on two separate occasions. We only knew about it because there was someone else’s trash on the kitchen counter.
— They frequently changed the way tenants were to report maintenance issues, so when one was reported and nothing happened after a week, they would tell you that you ‘didn’t do it right’.
— They made errors on documents, billing and repairs and refused to take responsibility for the errors.
— We had an appliance break and the property owner was prompt in getting a replacement. Kunevich and Lau took over a month to have it installed.
— Jarrett would frequently throw his colleagues under the bus to absolve himself of responsibility when mistakes were made.
— It took them 45 days to return our security deposit. We asked about it on day 30 and they stated it ‘had been mailed’. When it finally came, the postmarked date on the check was 9 days after this phone conversation.
If you are looking at renting a property that is managed by Kunevich and Lau, you will be in for a frustrating experience. In my opinion, avoid the headache and look elsewhere.

Jarrett Lau is an actual idiot. Actually, maybe he’s not an idiot, just a slimy piece of filth. He’s a liar, and tries to take advantage of student tenants with no shame, even graduate and medical students. I’m not even going to explain this situation — but please know if you ever want to get your security deposit back, it is really helpful to have a Lawyer father for anyone at K&L to take you seriously.

Looks and smells like a Sweat Shop! Horribly run «Business»

Since day one i made it clear, we have a dog, So guess what? JENNIFER got us approved and put down $ 2400 for a place that DOES NOT ALLOW DOGS. Sure, this was a mistake on her part, but everyone makes mistakes right? What was REALLY uncalled for was the fact that she tried to blame her coworker for the blunder and did anything possible for us to sign the lease so that she gets paid. Shady shady SHADY.
My friend and I are coming from out of state and since we’ve never lived in MA before, we were at Jennifer’s mercy. Although she was very responsive and gave great advice in the beginning, she royally screwed us over with her complete and utter negligence and manipulative nature.
Since day one, i told her, we have a dog. So obviously all of the suggestions had to revolve around that and she agreed. She then suggested a «great» place at a reasonable price so we were happy to send in our deposit and secure the place. When it came to signing the lease, i read the document and noticed that it clearly states «NO PETS ALLOWED» I emailed her about this and she replied with, «Yes, they know. The lease is a standard lease. That they send me so it will be 100% fine» (screenshot attached)
UH… HELL NO (why would she ever advise me to sign a contract without the correct terms?! Oh right, she just wants to get paid). So I offered to WRITE that we have a dog and she replied with «let me see if they can give me a pet addendum»
Two days later, she emails me.“We have a small issue. Can you please call me at your earliest convenience” (shit is about to hit the fan)
Jennifer states, «this apartment complex RECENTLY changed their policy b/​c they USED TO allow dogs.» uh, YOU DIDN’T EVEN CHECK THIS?!
She then tried to push off responsibility, «it’s all Nick’s fault. He submitted the application while I was in Florida so he should’ve checked this.» REALLY?!? No. It is YOUR fault, b/​c YOU should’ve DOUBLE CHECKED the pet policies before EVER suggesting the property to us. I understand that everyone makes mistakes, but it’s absolutely essential that the people I work with know how to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for their mistakes.
Then she had the balls to ask, «is there anyway you can leave your dog?» WAHT THE F*********
Lastly, she straight up said «OH, this management company is so huge, they’ll NEVER know if you bring your dog. Trust me. This is an unit right next to the stairs so your neighbors will never notice. The maintenance guys won’t care if you have a dog either» SERIOUSLY? Can you predict the future? so what happens if we get evicted? Are you going to cover the costs?!
At this point, I was really conflicted b/​c we had already submitted the deposit and were running out of time in securing a place. So i gave her 3 requirements:
1. we’re not going to pay her the full broker’s fee. (obviously because she screwed up)
2. she’s going to send me a check to apply for my dog to be certified as an Emotional Support Animal
3. She has to come up with a written liability waiver acknowledging that IF WE DO NOT GET APPROVED FOR THE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL, and then if we get fined, she’s responsible for the fees. if we get sued, she’s responsible for hiring an attorney. And if we lose the lawsuit or get evicted b/​c of the pet policy, she’s responsible for the moving expenses and finding us a new place to live
(THANK GOD i did not just take her word for things b/​c it soon became clear that she only had her best interest at heart)
Here’s what she came up with:
1. Of the $ 2400 broker’s fee, she can offer us a $ 200 discount? (What a JOKE, but whatever)
2. she sent me a check for the ESA application. (shady, but appreciated)
3. and this was what REALLY pissed me, and my lawyer friends, off. The liability waiver said ASSUMING WE GET APPROVED for the ESA, she’s responsible for TWO HUNDRED dollars in fines. and FIVE HUNDRED in lawyer fees. ARE YOU JOKING? the whole point of me requesting a waiver is in case we do NOT get approved for the ESA. If the management company decides to add on extra fees for my pet at a rate of $ 100 per month, I would exceed the amount of her coverage in two months. As for legal fees, in the event the management company moves for eviction, I will be forced to retain an attorney, and any competent attorney would require at least $ 2,000 as a retainer!
Her non-​offer is so ridiculous that I could not see it as anything but a bad-​faith attempt to protect herself while still trying to collect her fees.
When i forwarded my lawyer friend’s response specifying the problems with her liability waiver, she left me a voice message the next morning: «I’M DONE, i will get your deposit back BUT I AM DONE.» Very unprofessional to say the least but honestly, GOOOOOOD RIDDANCE!
if you ever work with Jennifer. She is great if she does everything correctly. but if She makes a mistake. You’re at her mercy. BE WARY of her manipulations and NEVER just take her word for things

Reviews here seem binary either you hate these guys or love them. Personally, real estate is a rather poopy business. Tough to please everyone, it’s like middle management you got all this responsibility and no power. Anyways, living in allston and brighton for 11 years, i’ve had experience with the good and the bad, these guys were good all the way through the process. sure there were bumps here and there and i let out my fair share of expletives but generally it wasn’t their fault if the owner of a unit decided to back out, or if a potential buyer got cold feet. In the end, i tried to treat them like a partner instead a servant and it worked well.
I started as a renter, ended up as an owner and recently sold my place. Goodbye allston, hello world. That said, their service is good, they know their stuff and since they do property management they have access to units that aren’t available on to the open market. That was a pretty good reason to use them. I support family business, they aren’t always as slick and technologically advanced as the corporate cats but it’s nice to know there’s real people there who care about what happen to you.

The owner, Jarrett Lau, is an awful, irresponsible and rude property manager to work with.
He constantly says that «i don’t care» to us and rudely interrupt me when I’m trying to make a point to him on the phone. and made several mistakes on our renewal lease and sublet addendum. I mean, wouldn’t it be a realtor’s job to explain any question that a customer has, well I guess Jarrett Lau doesn’t CARE.
If you are a tenant trying to rent a place but the property is under this company, BE CAREFUL.
If you own a property, DONT USE THIS COMPANY AT ALL.
THEY DONT EVEN DESERVE ONE STAR.

K&L showed us our latest apartment. We’ve been living here for 3+ years now. We went through 5 reators and they didn’t show us anything we wanted. We worked with Jarrett who showed us around 15 apartments in a span of 2 days. He was very easy to work with. There were no hidden fees and the signing went smoothly. Would definitely use K&L again.

K & L has managed our Brookline property for 5 years. They have recruited tenants, handled leases and been troubleshooters when needed for plumbing issues, etc. In this time, their fees never increased. K & L provided insurance services as well.
The staff is professional. We appreciate Jarrett’s leadership, his excellent communication, follow-​through, real estate knowledge and personal touch. He has provided us with referrals, and, a few years ago, he even shoveled our walk!
Always professional, always knowledgeable and responsive! They go above and beyond!

This is the WORST management company you will ever find in your life time. The lack of integrity, respect, and resonsibilituy is incredible. I have a guy illegally parked on my spot right now, I try calling Kunechi and the «operators» can’t handle my the situation. I emailed Kari and NO response. If you plan on living somewhere where the place is managed by Kunevich please DON’T. I’de give it 0 stars if I could.
WORST MANAGEMENT — WORST MANAGEMENT — WORST MANAGEMENT
WORST MANAGEMENT — WORST MANAGEMENT — WORST MANAGEMENT

Jarrett and Kari and the rest of the team have been really awesome throughout all the different aspects of managing my family’s property and renting out our units. They’re always available to answer any questions I have and have done a tremendous job dealing with all the issues we started out with. Jarrett is extremely knowledgeable in all things real estate, from making sure the building is up to code, to managing construction and renovations, to dealing with and finding new tenants. It also comes in handy that you can get snow plowing services for these winter months when the last thing you want to do during a snowpocalypse is go outside and shovel!

For almost 8 months now I have lived as a student in a Chinatown studio shown to me by Evans Mehciz who works at Kunevich and Lau. I like the place that I’m living in because it is in a great location and it’s pretty inexpensive relative to most studios in the area. I pay $ 1350 for a 500 square foot studio.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when you make a big commitment to something like a car or an apartment and what was promised to you is not delivered. Everything I was told about this place is true. I have found no hidden issues. My last realtor knew that I was a student who needs high speed internet and she didn’t tell us that the place we were signing for had no cable internet access. I am never going to that realtor again since I feel like I was scammed. I was skeptical about Boston realtors after that experience. I did not feel like I was trying to be scammed by Evans and now that I have lived in the place for a while I can safely say that I was not scammed.
The company I am renting from covered the realtor fee, so I had no realtor fee to pay. Evans went above and beyond to make the signing and moving process as smooth as possible for me. I am a busy student so I was available at odd times. Evans met up with me at times that were convenient for me and even picked me up and gave me a ride when need be. I have no complaints so I feel like 5 stars is deserved.

They lack integrity and transparency. (Step up your game if you want a better review).
We were unable to move in into our September 1^st apartment. When we finally did move in on September 15^th (after they «fixed all safety items») the apartment almost blew up due to a stove gas leak! Not just bad/​criminal property managers — they seem to have murderous intents. I’m not surprised if this property kills us somehow.

Unprofessional. Abrasive. Unresponsive.
We went through another company who was showing K&L’s property. When it was time to deal with K&L’s realtor, she denied having the listing without even checking. After that speed bump, she took days to return emails (if ever). In comparison, the realtor from the company who was actually helping us (showings and paperwork) would get back to me via phone, email, or text within an hour.
It took almost 2 weeks to sign the lease because the K&L realtor kept trying to use a digital form signing web service that she had no idea how to operate.
The day we moved I had to swing by to get the key and our K&L realtor informed me that we never signed the lease (false). Why would she wait until now to say something?! I had to pull out my phone to show her our email convo where I sent her signed PDF of our lease and with her confirmation.
While I was waiting for her to finally review our signed lease, which she should have a month prior, I was listening to numerous parents, students, and other renters coming in with a laundry list of problems and amenities that were missing but included in the lease.
If you’re looking at a K&L property, be ready for poor customer service. You’re on your own.

Worst rental company I have ever worked with. Nonstop «mistakes», hidden fees, and unprofessional behavior.
My first issue was when my gas got turned off in late November and when I called the company they said my gas bill hadn’t been paid in over a year. My lease states that heat and hot water (gas) were included in the rent, so I called K and L to ask why this bill wasn’t being paid… and they said that the «heat and hot water» in the lease was a mistake in the lease and that I was responsible. A MISTAKE in the lease?! That mistake had clearly been in the previous tenants lease as well because I only had lived in the apartment for three months and the bills werent paid for over a year. Their stupidity and unprofessionalism had my heat and hot water turned off for TWO WEEKS in 20 degree weather in November. We had no heat, no way to cook, and no way to shower. While dealing with this whole fiasco, Jarrett Lau, one of the owners, was incredibly rude and condescending, and has been in every subsequent interaction since. Oh, and by the way, we’re paying the gas bill now, not them.
K and L is also the only company I know who charges a lease resigning fee… $ 100 for «paperwork refiling.» Also, my roommate and I both tried to find subleasers this summer and emailed to find out exactly what needed to be done… and the agent «forgot» to tell our subleasers that they needed to pay a $ 100.00 fee until after they had sent an application and signed a sublet agreement and already paid a $ 40 fee. When I called to tell the agent that this mistake was completely unacceptable, her response was «well, what so you want me to do?» Your job adequately, for starters… oh and also it takes a week and sometimes multiple emails to get any questions answered.
Lastly, Jarrett likes to show up unannounced and/​or let himself into our apartment without calling… Or sometimes even knocking. One time I woke up to find he had left a key on the counter… and I would have heard if he knocked as my bedroom is right by the front door. Another time we came home to find lights on and the toilet seats up… again we we were not notified anyone was entering the apartment and still have no idea why anyone was there.
Save yourself some money and frustration and never, ever rent from this company.

Oh yeah, I forgot to «update» this. I lived in a decrepit 2 bdr apartment from September 2011-​July 2012. Screw the realty place for renting out such an awful space. The kitchen ceiling collapsed in the first month, there were holes in the walls, layers upon layers of paint were peeling from the bathroom wall, most of the windows would fall out or wouldn’t close properly, none of the doors shut properly and I was scrubbing/​chipping off several years worth of mouse/​rat poop off the kitchen walls.
I suppose it’s really Fineberg Management’s problem. They were an absolute nightmare to work with too (and I never got my security «deposit» back??)
so really, Kunevich & Lau, way to sell me a completely awful apartment and take advantage of students moving across the country.