M Fishman & Company

I got screwed renting from M Fishman. You are forced to pay the first month’s rent when you turn in your application. This is not refundable. I did this, feeling certain about the apartment. However the terms in the lease are not revealed until you have made this commitment. I have a cat and a dog and was willing to pay the $ 300 nonrefundable pet fee in additional to the move-​in fee. $ 600 down the drain– fine whatever. Come to find out the pet fee is per animal to I had to throw down $ 900 DOLLARS that I will never see again.
Also in the lease is a stipulation saying you have to take your dog out the back door. The only reason I live in first floor apartments is because my 14-​year-​old lab has hip problems. I chose a first-​floor apartment with 5 stairs for a reason. The dog can’t walk down the 15 steep, winding stairs in the back. The cost for getting caught taking your dog through the front? $ 150
Also, my building at 2617 N. Spaulding was advertised as renovated. It has a newer kitchen and bathroom. I pay $ 1k a month for a tiny studio. Renovations apparently don’t include ANY soundproofing. Every time my upstairs neighbor walks across the room my vases on my shelf vibrate. The noise is so sound it wakes me up in the middle of the night even with 2 noise machines and ear plugs. I can also hear my neighbor talking on the phone and even urinating. I don’t know how any of these people live in this building with upstairs neighbors. Why would a management company go to the trouble of renovating units without adding any insulation or soundproofing? Because a lack of soundproofing is not visible. You don’t know you will hear every movement your neighbor makes until it’s too late.
Every time I pay my rent I feel personally violated and ripped-​off. This is a hard lesson to learn.
STAY AWAY from this management company.

After the latest leak on Dec. 28, 2015, I couldn’t take the poor quality of my current management group anymore since they bought our bldg in May 2015, so started looking at new places Dec. 31^st. I’ve been in my current place for almost 10yrs, so moving (especially in the winter) is INCREDIBLY stressful, and you know it had to be bad to get me to move.
Anyhow, I ended up seeing an apt. owned/​managed by M. Fishman – 4715 N. Sheridan, over Inspiration kitchens – I liked it, and actually started submitting an application for it. What did I find when I got to the last page?
UPON SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION (NOT upon approval, but submission) THEY DEBIT YOUR CARD OVER $ 2000! Rent for the 2 bed and 2 bath is $ 1495, then there’s the $ 500 move in fee, PLUS the $ 50 application fee, PLUS (and the broker made no mention of this), a $ 46 «processing» fee! What’s the application fee if not to cover processing!
To pay $ 2000 for SUBMITTING an application is ludicrous!
How my old management co. at my current apt. did it was correct, and makes sense:
1. See apt., like apt., fill out application ($ 30 fee for credit check, which is reasonable)
2. UPON APPROVAL, make a date to sign the lease and put down the security deposit (they didn’t have move-​in fees 10yrs ago) + 1^st month’s rent.
3. Move in.
Now, it would even be ok (I think) to put down the security deposit upon signing, then pay 1^st month’s rent BEFORE you get the keys and move in, since many people may not have 2000 – 3000 right off.
But for Fishman to debit your card $ 2000+ for just submitting an app. is inexcusable.
I learned from this bad experience with my new management co. (Apt.s Management Group) how SO IMPORTANT a good landlord or management company is! It’s JUST AS important as the soundness, cleanliness, and quality of the space and area.
I’m set to move Feb 1. into a new apartment, which I’m really nervous about, since the landlord has a reputation for being «bad» and negligent as well. But since I was stuck either staying at my current place and getting a $ 135 rent increase for ½ a livable unit, or moving and hoping and praying my new place doesn’t have bed bugs (like other properties this guy manages has been reported to have), what else could I do?
Anyway, I digress. My point is, this potentially new shady landlord was what I chose over the «fishy» management company of M. Fishman. Based on how they do business, I could NOT live in that apartment, much as I liked it. Anyone who’ll debit you $ 2000+ for filling out an application is crooked as crack.
And the broker who showed me their place? From Live Here Chicago — I’d be hesitant to work with them again simply because the broker held back so much info and was misleading about what you’d have to pay JUST to get you fill out the application. She kept trying to pressure me into putting down the money and then guilting me when that wasn’t working.
I may not have been in the rent-​game for 9yrs, but I know a scam when I see it.

DO NOT SIGN A LEASE WITH THIS COMPANY! I have had many apartments and landlord, never in my life has it been this terrible. Do not believe anything on their flyers. They do not on on-​site maintenance and do not have working intercoms. They also could care less about the people who live here and the conditions. Hallway lights are never on and multiple people have fallen and they claim it’s not their fault. If you value your money. Don’t rent with these people!

The management is horrible and do not treat you like a loyal paying customer. They are very rude and never want to help you. I paid rent on time, I would expect a call back within a decent time period or please fix the stuff that we would like fixed.

Super fun to learn that your laundry services are being outsourced 5 days before it goes into effect. The new system allows you to conveniently pay with your credit card so they can steal from you and then ignore your phone calls of protest. The old system worked fine, the machines were fine and at least I was able to see how much I was being charged per load and who to talk too should i have any issues. If you are looking at a unit managed by M. Fishman think again. High rent, disrespectful neighbors, cheap appliances that break and an annual increase in rent due to «an increase in market value.» Not sure you can call it «market value» when you own the neighborhood. We will NOT be renewing our lease.

Once again I am conflicted. While I’ve enjoyed my communication with our designated rep, she’s always kind and prompt, the company as a whole is very selfish. Whoever makes the bigger decisions needs to have a reality check. Last week they switched our washers and dryers over to credit card instead of quarters. While I like this idea better, each was raised to $ 2 and we were given no notice. We had already bought quarters that are useless now. It would have been nice to have a sign posted or an email sent out. Then we get a letter on Friday right before we leave for vacation that the laundry room will be off limits for this entire week. The week after Labor Day, when everyone travels and comes home with heaps of uncleaned clothes. I think there would have been a better time to plan this out. Not having in unit laundry is already a hassle, the least they could do is be helpful.

It stinks that they have the monopoly in the neighborhood and can charge (probably inflated) prices, but I just signed a lease for a second year with them. While turnover seems frequent, all the property managers for my place in Logan Square have been extremely prompt and thorough in dealing with the minor issues I’ve had. The courtyard is kept clean. My neighbors are quiet. I live fewer than 100 steps from the train. Overall, a positive renting experience for me.

Fishman buildings are all over Logan Square; they purchase the buildings, jack up the rent which in turn forces long term renters out, and do nothing to increase the value of their units. I looked at a very small studio for $ 875 and it was a dump — the place must’ve been 300 square feet and needed serious work. No thanks!

I’m searching a few months ahead of schedule as I have not been in the apt search for the last 5 years. I have been trying to get an idea of what is available and the current rent rates. I responded to an availability through Trulia for a Logan Square location.
The agent of M. Fishman and Company I dealt with was absolutely rude. His response to my search was that it was a waste of everyone’s time, and he was going to pass on scheduling an appointment with me.
He could’ve responded with the company was looking to fill the vacancy sooner rather than «Really? Why would you start looking for units now? You are several months too early for June. That would be a total waste of everyone’s time. Sorry, but I’m declining this one. Good luck.»
If he is any reflection of the company as a whole, I would not recommend renting through this agency.

I can’t say enough good things about the service that I have received from M. Fishman. I contacted Sean via Craigslist and met with him to see a few apartments. Initially, I was looking for a July 1^st move in with the possibility of pushing it back until August 1^st. Sean showed me a ton of great options for July. He met with me around my work schedule, which was something no one else was willing to do. After Sean showing me about five apartments for July, I had realized August 1^st was probably a more practical option for me. I was hesitant to let Sean know because he had already spent SO much time with me, but of course, he was amazing and offered to follow up with me when he had his listing for August. I honestly didn’t think he would, but he absolutely did and he showed me a bunch of great places until I finally found the one. YAYYYY for Sean.
When it came down to signing the lease I received the same fantastic treatment from Sarah, she was very thorough and even got me into my apartment a day earlier which I REALLY needed. I honestly didn’t think it was possible to be happy with a big company like this but they have been absolutely wonderful.
*CUT TO SIX MONTHS LATER*
I meant to post that review when I moved into the apartment and never got around to it.
Now six months later life plans have changed as I received a job offer in another state so it was time to figure out how to deal with my lease obligation. I contacted M. Fishman and was in touch with Alyssa, who helped me learn all of the many options they offer (EXTREMELY REASONABLE BTW.) She seriously helped me through the entire process. I cannot say enough good things about my experience.
This actually sounds like complete BS because of how smoothly everything went. I would absolutely recommend this company.

I do not recommend this place at all. First of all, I called the maintenance for fixing the light of the bed room and they never showed up. So the bed room is dark as hell still. Second, the heater is making so much noise to keep me awake during the night and days. Also they never took a AC unit even they notify me that they will (it is now middle of freezing January yet they never showed up!!!) third of all. The company is notified me of 5 days termination notice for «no payment on the rent» asking me to pay extra $ 475 after I already paid the rent just 2 days ago. It is sooooooo illegal. I may seek a lawyer for this matter. DO NOT RENT FROM M FISHMAN CO. Just avoid.

I’m relocating to Chicago from Sacramento, Texas in June. For weeks I was doing research on Chicago and the different neighborhoods. I had contacted probably 20 leasing agents in Chicago, and Sean was one of only two people to respond to me. In our initial conversation, I talked his ear off for about a half hour, asking a million different questions. He was so helpful not only on the phone, but also in the subsequent email exchanges throughout the next couple of weeks. He definitely helped bring my anxiety down to a manageable level.
When I finally arrived in Chicago I looked at a handful of apartments with Sean in Logan Square. All of the apartments were exactly what I was looking for in terms of criteria – hardwood floors, dog friendly, close to train, dishwasher and updated kitchen, etc. – that it was hard to pick a favorite.
After our showings I told Sean that I would make a decision after looking at a few other places with different agents. He said, «Well, no matter if you go with one of our places or not, I wish you the best of luck with your search/​move, and hope that you find a place you love.» This really resonated with me. It showed that he was just genuinely interested in helping me find the perfect place.
I wound up renting an M. Fishman unit and can’t wait for June so that I can move in. I would definitely recommend Sean for anyone looking to rent in Logan Square.

From working at a different management company, I know how people complain about the SMALLEST things. My upstairs neighbors keep me up all of the time, but it is my fault for picking to live in a Logan square apartment where you share it with other people, not the management companies fault. Any time we have had maintenance issues, our building engineer fixed it. This has been a great company to rent from as they fix what needs to be fixed on time and have nice places for cheap. That is all I expect from a property management company. I do not expect them to make my Logan Square apartment like a 5 star hotel. They do their job and that is what counts.

Had a recent bad experience I want to share, trivia but important. But first the pros.
Pro: Good staff at the office and the Spaulding apartment we have is rather nice in appearance.
Recent Con which made me write the review: The rate for our laundry machine/​drier went up without any notice. Again, its pretty trivia but its important that companies explain their decisions to their tenants. Already some tenants here have written their dissatisfaction on the notice sign above the machine (which simply says new rate and lists the price without the why to it). The machines aren’t new, and they suffer constant problems.
Trivial? Yep. But rather scummy that it isn’t said why. Though Im sure we all know why. $$

If I could give them negative stars, I would. You need to run, not walk, from any building that they own. I lived at 5417 North Kenmore
— Bed bugs. Twice. The second time they gave no notice that they were coming into spray and I was caught by complete surprise when I walked into my apartment that was torn apart. I had to take a day off work just to get the apartment back into living order.
— Useless maintenance. It is just one guy but I am pretty sure I am more handy than he was. It took almost 6 months of living in the building for him to get around to adding my name to the list by the door which caused multiple packages to be returned since UPS/​FedEx didn’t think I lived there. Multiple complaints about lack of hot water in my kitchen never led to anything more than a big mess. I actually started buying plastic/​paper dining ware because I didn’t always want to deal with having to bring hot water in from my bathroom.
— Said maintenance guy has his wife, kids, brothers and other misc family members living in different storage areas of the building. So not legal.
— They were renovating the building I lived in and the workers they hired spoke no English and had no respect for the fact that they were in people’s homes.
— Maintenance guy’s wife would sign for packages without being asked and then not be available outside business hours for the packages to be picked up. Don’t sign for stuff if you aren’t going to then let people pick it up at say, 7pm.
— There were multiple sightings of mice, both alive and dead, on the ground floor.
— There were sex offenders living in my building, which I didn’t know about until I got a visit from the Chicago PD one evening.
— As my lease was coming to an end, they were trying to rent my apartment out via multiple apartment hunting companies. I came home 4 different times to people showing my apartment with no notice AND on one of the occasions where I said it was alright to enter my apartment, the person who showed it left my apartment unlock. Completely unacceptable.
These are just a few of my complaints over the year I lived here. The only nice thing M Fishman did was not charge me for all the marks on the wall when I moved out. Again, you should run far, far away from this company.

What happened after the slumlord Fishman bought my building?
–Plumbing broke in my bathroom. Repeated calls to them and their «emergency after-​hours number» have been ignored and messages not returned. I shower at my gym now.
–My oven has not worked since November.
–Constant «remodeling» of empty units in the building by unlicensed contractors.
–NOT VENTILATING FUMES FROM SAID REMODELING. A neighbor wound up being rushed to the hospital for this.
–Trying to evict tenants out, wether or not they have leases, and literally doubling the rent on very small units (the ‘one bedroom’ units are 440 sq feet – they raised the rent from $ 700 a month to $ 1100!
–Broken locks on the doors
–Dead mice and cockroaches littering the floors and stairwells
–No working smoke detectors!!!
–The elevator they advertise so much in their ads does not work, and when it supposedly «works,» gets stuck and has to be forced open.
–Half of the lightbulbs in the building, in the stairwells and hallways, have been out for weeks now.
Please don’t support this slumlord with your business. Rent from a reputable landlord that actually cares about the neighborhood and community, instead of some suburban money-​grubbing jerk like this. Unless you like having to shower at a gym and walk past mouse corpses on your way home from work!

Now I have dealt with some pretty crumby rental companies in the past 10 years of renting. I have discovered that I will always take a private landlord over a crappy rental company and this one is no better.
We stumbled across our current place via craigslist and was a sublet, M. Fishman were the managers of their lease. We jumped on the place because it was in Logan and the property has had some updates done and it came with a yard for the dogs, not to mention it was in our budget. The company itself was not hard to deal with per say. My partner was living in Chicago already and I was moving from out of state when my lease was up. He did the majority of applications and appointments with them. I guess we didn’t have any issues through any of these processes.
Their maintenance of their properties is where they fail. Because our apartment was a sublet we had some concerns about things being broken when we moved in. One of the bigger issues was an odd smell/​sound coming from the bathtub. Something was happening with the sewage in the house. Multiple emails went unanswered despite requesting it was an emergency. Our house smelled awful! It took way to long for a plumbing issue to be resolved. Additionally, I mentioned a leak under the sink in conjunction with a broken garbage disposal. They came and looked at the disposal and took it to fix it, brought it back, said it was fixed. The repair guy couldn’t find the origin of the leak. Well, it didn’t fix it, it still leaked and the garbage disposal only worked half time. Lastly, the light on our back porch didn’t work… I had to fix this myself.
The owners of the property completely switched companies recently because M. Fishman is so awful! As the new company took over, my garage disposal was repaired (it had a freaking crack in it) hence the damn leak. They have fixed our dishwasher since taking over possession of the property, and completely cleaned up the outside grounds. The place looks so great!
The only good thing I can say about M. Fishman is they are so incompetent that because of a mistake our rent didn’t increase the way it was supposed too… hence the two stars. Thanks M. Fishman for letting me live in this house which I couldn’t otherwise afford. Its a shame they are terrible at the actual «maintenance» part of the properties.

I’ve only lived in one of their buildings for a month, but so far I have been pleased. Everything was very clean when I moved in. I requested an additional lock, and someone installed it the next day. When I had a problem with my stove, I called the maintenance line and a man who lives in my building came to my apartment within 20 minutes. (On a Saturday!) It is convenient to pay rent online or drop off a check at their office. Whenever I send the staff an email or question, they respond promptly. Our elevator was out of service during Labor Day weekend but was repaired within hours.
Great service so far! And they hook you up with a private Comcast agent who gives you great deals on Internet (I’m paying $ 50/​month for internet and cable, including HBO.) Way cheaper than what the regular Comcast agent from the 1 – 800 number quoted me! So, so far pretty good, considering they manage thousands of apartment units in the area.

Please, Unilocal.Give us the opportunity for negative stars.
I have contacted M Fishman repeatedly about the regular breeches to the legal document they created. They failed to honor their lease. It’s a pretty clear breech, repeated breeches, not only to the lease, but to legal code. They also are dishonest enough to attempt to tell me that they haven’t broken the lease, while simultaneously acknowledging a pretty huge breech. I find this totally unacceptable on pretty much every level.
They refuse to acknowledge any wrongdoing, even after having it very clearly spelled out for them, including evidence that their own staff acknowledged it.
Simply put. They are a horrible, dishonest company. They lie, they cheat, and they won’t even take responsibility when it is totally clear. Nothing I despise more than such a painfully dishonest company. They don’t deserve any business, so please, PLEASE, don’t give them any.

Woke up today and began to run a bath, when I noticed a pretty important piece on the tub had simply fallen out due to excessive rust. I was unable to get the piece to re-​attach, so I now have this disgusting, rusted and smelly hole at the foot of my tub (see photos I’ve added today). Guess a relaxing bath is out of the question for this dump.
The lights continue to flicker throughout the building, and I have to turn everything off in one room before illuminating another. I’m really stoked to see if the radiator heat even works this winter, wanna bet it doesn’t? I sure as hell won’t be able to plug in an electric heater, seeing as it would probably shut off power to the entire building. Who’s gonna pay my hospital bills when I have pneumonia? Not M. Fishman, they’ve got too many more slums to buy up and rent out.
It’s come to my attention that there is only one maintenance man designated for 3 buildings, which house 100 tenants each. I’ve essentially given up calling in repairs because I know nothing will be done to resolve the grocery list of issues this place has. This is absolutely inexcusable and management needs to stop cutting corners if they wish to stay in business (I use that term loosely, as they wouldn’t understand good business management even if it hit them with a truck). God forbid hiring more staff (of the competent sort) or shelling out some cash so they can properly repair/​replace lighting, plumbing fixtures, door frames, etc. with new parts.
Bottom line, it shouldn’t take the begging and pleading of several tenants to get even the most minute of issues fixed. Do not give this company a cent or a minute of your time.