Douglas Elliman Property Management

Awful as a coop property management company as well as a rental property management co. As others have said I would give them negative stars if I could.
Sold my co-​op in September and they still owe me my move out deposits as well as a month’s maintenance that they lied and said they had not received before closing. Turns out that they cashed the check 5 days before closing. In 7 years living in the building they NEVER once returned a phone call or answered an email — it was only if you caught them out by calling from an unrecognized number and they picked up by accident that you could contact them.
Many, many problems over the seven years with «lost» checks — including those sent by registered mail or fedex and signed for at their front desk. Also issues with changing bank and account numbers so that automated payments wouldn’t go through and then not notifying you for months. The only company I have ever dealt with that claimed they did not receive automated ACH payments that my bank showed were successful. Always quick to charge unexplained fees and to charge $ 35!!! for you to pay rent or maintenance online.
The worst management company ever — so glad I am moving out of New York City and will never have to deal with them again.

Like the other user, I would give minus star rating if it is available. It has to be the worst company in customer service possible or considering the lack of. Our coop building is managed by them and OMG, you can NEVER EVER reach anyone for ANYTHING. Every year we’re notified of maintenance increase, for what? It is despicable how these people are. All they want is your money. You can never talk to anyone if you have billing questions.
The building manager… she’s never there either, nor will she do anything to help you.
I wish the board can do something to switch to another company.

I would like to leave a minus star rating, but it is not available. Douglas Elliman Property Management has a general manager at the Sovereign, Midtown East. He is easily the most despicable human being who ever lived. He is nasty, overbearing, and threatening. Most people in the building detest him, as does most of the staff. I will never live in a building managed by Elliman again

Eastchester Heights Apts in the Bronx are horrible and badly maintained. It’s roach infested, smells like garbage in the building, the smell of drugs and weed in the hallways are revolting, and maintance are lazy and never cleans the lobby or elevators. There are always maintanence problems in my apt. The worse place to live!!! Not worth the cheap rent! I might as well move into the projects, they might be better. No thank you! Get it together Douglas Elliman!

We live midtown in a building managed by elliman (not rental building). The property runs very well. The onsite manager is very attentive to our needs. The building staff is always available to fix anything that is broken. The elevators are always working and the doormen are super nice.
Perhaps the experience of owners versus tenants may be different, I can’t say, but our has certainly been a positive one. We underwent permits for renovation of our unit as well and they were quick to respond and very accommodating.
I write this because when it comes to building managements, people tend to write when they are upset. Hence you don’t get to know about the positive experiences most of the residents have.

A year ago, when I moved into Ocean 1 West Street, we had a walk through with the staff and a slight small crack in the sink was questioned by me and my husband. They inidcated that it was nothing to worry about as it only needed a small polish and it did not deem for a new sink. It was still in perfect working condition and it did not contain any leaks, therefore, I was not worried at all. However, when I moved out recently, I was told that I am being charged for the same condition of the sink when I moved in (slight crack, in perfect working condition, and no leaks). I am infuriated as I was told one story prior to moving in and then another as I was moving out of the apartment. Now, I am penalized for $ 525 for a sink I should not have been responsible for.
I have asked the property manager to assist in investigating this matter whether this was indicated on the walk through papers from the prior tenant. Not only have I heard no answer back, but the property manager on-​site is ignoring my phone calls and emails.

A very late update since I was on Unilocal.
Douglas Elliman property managers at Ocean 1 West Street stopped responding to me as I continued following up with them on the status of my deposit. They were clearly avoiding me so I eventually had no choice but to take them to small claims court a few months after I wrote the review. No one showed up at the hearing so they were issued a summons to pay for the money owed on my rent deposit. I received a payment within a month and it was settled. The experience was extremely frustrating and would be really difficult situation if I were a tenant who moved out of Manhattan for good. There would be no way to chase for the money unless you take them to court.
I really felt like I was being scammed because they were clearly holding onto a lot of people’s deposits as you can see from reviews. I have also been contacted from other Unilocalers about my experience. It could be a big scam that they are using all the money to earn interest or earn some additional income. If you are planning to rent in this building then you will need to factor in the 1 month deposit that is NON REFUNDABLE.

Just moved out. They were nice enough to charge us $ 150 to clean the apartment (because there was dust on the floor… really??) and $ 20(?!) to replace 2 lightbulbs.
Summary: customer service is rude, they «lose» checks even when they have tracking that says they have been delivered, call you a liar and accuse you of conspiring with the US postal service and your bank to forge postdates (yes, this really happened to me), and they will throw fees at you for pretty much anything they can think of.
The building’s policies, including things like delivery reception and billing, change without any kind of notice to tenants.
At one point I was prevented from using an elevator and told that there was only 1 of the 4 elevators I could use on my way into the building after work (evening rush) because the rest were reserved for an open house. I guess they wouldn’t want the people they are trying to con into the $ 18k/​mo penthouse to experience the elevator shortage in their crappy building.

The staff at the Royale are terrific, but Douglas Elliman has failed to keep the elevators consistently working, the water consistently running, and the internet consistently working.

Definitely the worst company ever! If I was as bad at my job as these people are I’d be fired without a doubt. They fail to follow up on anything. They never call you back. They treat you like shit. They are without a doubt slum lords that do not care about the buildings they get paid to supposedly manage. Lisa Moretti and Lawrence Vitelli are by far the worst. Do not buy or rent at a building that they manage! They have totally neglected a leak in my apartment. They don’t live there so obviously they don’t care. Obviously the only positive review comes from someone in the real estate business. Stay away from Douglas Elliman Property Management.

These guys are bad news. Lived in one of their bldgs for 7 years. They shorted my returned deposit. After at least 10 calls their rep agreed that he would send the balance. Never happened. 15 calls later… no response. Finally filed a complaint with the State Attorney General and got the full deposit returned. No telling how many people DE has taken advantage of.

Oh good, so DEPM doesn’t have a vendetta against our apartment, our sanity and our well-being…according to the reviews here, that’s just how they do business! As I type, I am awaiting a response, ANY response, from ANYONE AT DEPM regarding the *most recent* (scores more before this) issues at our building, 100 John St (FiDi), which include changing the billing policy without notifying tenants (we always give it to the front desk, checks were returned in our mailbox a week later with a post-​it saying it now has to be mailed and our rent is now «past due») and… wait for it… opening bank accounts in leaseholders’ names without permission or authorization! I would be so pleased to give them a piece of my mind, but wait, they don’t employ traditional business practices like say… customer service or even replying. We’ve done email, Gchat, phone calls, voice mails, LinkedIn… we’ve tried reaching our «representative», the general building email, the real estate agent and as of last night, the managing directors and senior vice presidents. Really? Yes. Is it seriously that bad? You have no idea. If you enjoy spending the better part of a week with no plumbing or electric — use Douglas Elliman PM. If you don’t see a problem with receiving your rent bill on the 3^rd of the month and then being charged late fees — these are your peeps. If you’re cool with people effing with your finances… live in a DEPM building. I love our neighbors, the doormen, the location — I’d stay if these weren’t the worst business people I’ve ever encountered. A Getty station has better business sense than these people.

Wow. I sure wish I searched Unilocal before dealing with this company. This company is operating an illegal operation. They do not honor contracts or know much about customer service. They have held on to my security deposit for an extra 60 days without any written or verbal communication.
Stay away from any building that uses this company. It is worth paying for a more expensive building if they use a reputable management company.

This company routinely holds tenant security deposits longer than the 60 days provided for in the lease agreement. The apartment manager has been telling me that my check is in the mail for the past 2 weeks – it hasn’t been mailed.

By far the worst experience I’ve ever had with a management company. Moved out Dec 31^st, it is now May 4^th and am still waiting for my security deposit back. DO NOT LIVE IN ONE OF THEIR BUILDINGS. They are kept in poor condition and the management will do NOTHING to help you.