Metropolitan Properties Ltd

I lived in a MPL-​managed multi-​unit rowhouse in NW DC for two years. It was a good experience. MPL was helpful during the application process and move-​in (even making a cosmetic tweak to the apartment at my request). In short, MPL was a respectful, non-​intrusive landlord/​property manager throughout my tenancy.
I paid rent on time, they cashed the check, paid utilities, and kept the building/​outdoor area clean. MPL was responsive during the rare occasions I contacted them with questions and they followed up to check in a time or two. Move-​out processes were simple and I would certainly rent from them again and have recommended their properties to a friend.
I was initially curious about the few bad Unilocal reviews, but this former tenant was nothing but happy with my two-​year landlord-​tenant relationship with MPL.

Wonderful experience. The staff is friendly and professional. They took time to assist me over the phone and sent maintenance repair workers as soon as we requested them. I highly recommend working with Metropolitan Properties!

I rented from Metropolitan for nearly six years. I lived in the Macarthur Blvd apartments in the Palisades and my experience over the years was a positive one. I loved my apartment. The only reason I left is because I moved in with my fiancé.
I think you have to look at the situation of property management in the Georgetown/​NW area of DC realistically… There are a ton of apartments and management companies, but even more people looking to rent every month. DC’s population is rising at a higher rate than ever. You get what you pay for.
Metropolitan has spacious apartments at amazingly reasonable prices comparatively for NW DC. The buildings can be a bit on the older side (and the only reason for my four stars and not five) but this is common place for DC and especially for the price range. They have done some renovations on most of the units now. All that being said, I never had a problem with any maintenance issues (more below). Again, you get what you pay for and I was able to decorate my place to look really nice and take advantage of the character of the older features (hardwood floors, cute black and white original tiling in the bathroom). If you want new construction with perfect windows, stainless steel appliances, fancy exterior features and white carpet, move to a high rise and/​or cough up double/​triple/​quadruple the rent money and live at Alban Towers or the Ritz condos. If you don’t want bugs or mice, keep your house clean and don’t leave trash out. It’s that simple.
If something breaks they fix it and they fix it quickly. You call the 24 hour maintenance line and someone will get back to you in a day or two and will send someone to fix things within the week. If you have an emergency they will get back to you same day… even on the weekends. One story that sticks out in my mind: My mother was in town visiting and we made a very large Costco run on a Saturday to come home to a refrigerator that was not functioning. I called Metro in a panic as all the food we needed to refrigerate/​freeze was going to spoil. By Saturday evening (6 hours after initial call) they had brand new a refrigerator delivered. The door was too small to get it all the way in the kitchen and my mother and I had dinner plans. In order to not stall our plans, they plugged it in the back bedroom for the night and returned SUNDAY to take the door off the frame and install the new fridge in the kitchen and remove the old fridge. Excellent management and service in my opinion.
All in all, I loved living here and working with Metropolitan over the years was easy. The receptionist is funny and sassy, yes… but if you treat her with respect she will treat you with the same. Even after six years of living and quite a bit of «wear and tear» on the place I received my FULL security deposit back… that’s pretty much unheard of in this town. If I ever needed to I would definitely rent from them again.

I, for one, have had a great experience with my apartment rental.
When I was checking in advance before moving in, I did see some negative stuff online. I was really concerned at the time, and even went to talk with the current resident to ask how it is. She told me it was fine, and I moved in after she left.
And I have to say, look, it’s a fantastic neighborhood — the cherry blossoms here are better than at the National Mall. What are we, the Clintons? Come on, this is a great place. My room is huge and sunny, with a loft. It’s more spacious than anything I had in Japan (can you image those big wide rooms with empty floors? It’s like that.)
The property managers did respond to everything. When I moved in, the heaters were not working so I got some space heaters. Boo hoo, I’m not broke, it’s fine. I called them and they fixed it in a few days. Look, every place you go, you probably have to report a few things at first and make sure they are fixed.
Another thing I like is, these guys leave you alone. Just pay your rent and live your life, keep it clean and everything is fine. I’ve had now about 15 apartments in 20 years across two hemispheres and this is the best of them.
If you’re one of the people who needs a luxury apartment, they cost about twice as much, but sure.

Things I’d Never Thought I’d Say in a Unilocal Review:
–These people deserve NO stars!!!
–BEWARE.
–wut a bunch of crooks!!!
But I’m not sure I can get through this review without being automatically thrown into the Filtered Cesspot of Doom. My hatred for Metropolitan runneth deep.
I lived in a Metropolitan Property for over one year. The month-​to-​month lease, cheapish rent, and safe Friendship Heights location almost made the property seem attractive.
However, it is only because I was young and naïve about the rental market that I did not recognize what a terrible business Metropolitan runs. The receptionist does not understand English (that’s not me being Amurrican. Call her. Try to have a conversation with her. I don’t know what her native tongue is, but it’s not a language I speak). Her lack of knowledge re: English will not stop her from yelling at you, barring you from speaking to someone of importance, or (fun times) blatantly making things up.
The property manager, if you ever do get the pleasure of speaking to him, will occupy your time for at least an hour telling you how horrible his other properties are, so really, your roach problem «isn’t that bad.» He will fail to take meaningful action, but will give you little to no useful information. He also only does this during business hours, which means your coworkers will also hear his tales.
In case you’re keeping track, the critter count in one year:
–ants
–mice
–cockroaches
–spider crickets
–various expected buggers, like spiders and stinkbugs
Metropolitan does not believe in maintaining their properties, so all maintenance is left to the tenants. However, if you call Metropolitan to gauge their preferences on maintenance, they will tell you to drop everything and they will take care of it. They will — two weeks later, a non-​uniformed individual will show up to your apartment unannounced, whether you are home or not, and present you with a bill for an outrageous sum ($ 200 for a clogged drain was our favorite). The maintenance line messages will not be returned. The emergency line is a voicemail box, unchecked until ~9:30a the next business day.
The icing on the cake was coming home from vacation. I knew Metropolitan was renovating half of our apartment, but didn’t realize they instructed the contractors to lock the deadbolt every evening. Unfortunately, I never received a key to our deadbolt. I was locked out of our apartment, with heavy luggage, at 9p. When I called the next day, it was deemed my fault. I was insulted and belittled by the property managers and received no apology for the incident. Their solution? «Make sure one of your roommates with a different door key is home.»
Move-​out day was the happiest day of my life, save for the guilt I feel for convincing four innocent people to move into the apartment.

The property I lived in was on MacArthur Blvd in the Palisades near my workplace. There were so many things wrong with the management of this place it’s hard to know where to start. Tons of broken glass outside from a damaged window that broke before we arrived and was never repaired. A side set of steps that was falling off the building. Frequently there were new tenants upstairs who made tons of noise, worked on construction projects in their apartment in the middle of the night, played loud music, etc despite our requests to MPL to speak to them. We had a drain clogging issue that left standing water in the tub, called their number as instructed every day for a week and never heard back, until I left a message that I was going to call a lawyer unless they called us back. Instead of calling us back, they sent a plumber over without telling us while we were not home, and then mailed us a bill for over 300 dollars.
This is the kind of company that makes money of off the unsuspecting, captive Georgetown student population. They have zero respect for their tenants.
If anyone out there is reading this and considering a place with them, I would immediately turn it down. You can and will do better. Trust me.

These guys are a bunch of crooks. You can expect to leave numerous messages before anyone gets back to you and you can also expect arbitrary rent increases. I honestly feel bad for the people who moved into our place after us. Stay away from this business!