ERA Shields Real Estate

Unethical practices, poor communication, and zero accountability. Should be BLACKLISTED for FCCO Soldiers. My experience with this property management company was a nightmare from start to finish. After moving out before my lease ended, they accessed the property without permission, removed the keys I left inside, and placed a lockbox on the door—all before my lease was officially over. This violating the lease agreement and causing an unlawful lockout. I’ve requested lockbox access records and reimbursement for the unauthorized use of the home and have received nothing but silence. They charged me $130 for a vague “yard cleanup” done 17 Days after my lease had already ended—essentially billing me for growth that occurred after I no longer had legal possession of the property. The invoice lacked any breakdown or mention of weed removal and doesn’t justify the charge. Furthermore, i have sent pictures showing the terrible quality the yard was at the beggining of the lease. They also billed me for a broken basement window screen that was clearly noted as damaged during my move-in inspection and confirmed with video evidence submitted to ERA Shields. I was also charged for a minor adjustment to the patio sliding door, even though their own lease explicitly states that normal wear and tear cannot be deducted from a security deposit. To make matters worse, a broken fence in the backyard—part of what I was paying for in a fully fenced yard—went unrepaired for over 30 days. Their excuse? “It’s not the owner’s fence.” Yet the lease clearly indicates I was renting a fully fenced yard, making its condition their responsibility. Still, they ignored it. Communication with their team was equally frustrating. They repeatedly told me they would “get back to me tomorrow,” but it consistently took over a week and several follow-ups to get even the most basic responses. This company is disorganized, slow to respond, and quick to pass blame while dodging their legal and ethical responsibilities. If you’re considering renting through them—don’t. Document everything, expect delays, and be ready to fight for your own money. Better yet, avoid them entirely.

Valerie is very personable and made the buying experience fun and exciting.  She has invited us out.  We got to meet her 90 year old mother.  We plan to invite her over and she is our first friend in Colorado! She really customized the search for us.

What ERA Shields did to us should never happen to anyone.  Our agent, Pat Bigley, worked out a deal with another agent in her office, who represented the buyers.  This contract was worked out between the two agents, and we were NOT PROPERLY REPRESENTED at all.  My own realtor called me to nag me to stop what I was doing so that I could fix a toilet leak while I was literally on my way to my mother's funeral.  We continually asked for different closing dates, but our agent kept telling us what the BUYERS wanted to do.  We were told by our agent, several times that the buyers would have no issues closing on this deal - but the buyers defaulted on the contract which cost us thousands and thousands of dollars in lost deposits on a rental.  After we moved back into our own house, the broker, Gayle Caldwell began calling my wife at work with intimidating threats that the buyers found a way to pay cash for our house, would close on it anyway, then sue us for every day we hadn't moved out.  All of that was a lie.  Then she refused to pay us the earnest money that was part of the contract. BEWARE!!!  These people have no moral foundation, no scruples and they are not concerned with their clients.  I filed a complaint with the Realtors Commission of Colorado, the Better Business Bureau and have told my story on Angie's List.  They are predators.

ERA Shields has been amazing to work with. Our agent Mark Rudolph has worked so hard for us to find a house and we saw more than the average person. He never made us feel like we were bothering him and worked hard to accommodate our schedule. He also took us on a tour of the city and got us familiar with key places and restaurants. The office staff is friendly and accommodating as well. The relocation staff connected us with movers at a discounted rate. The front desk ladies were happy to relay documents between us and our agent when he was not in the office. They even helped to open up a house for the home inspector when our agent could not. Although each agent works for themselves, you can tell they are a team. We believe our relocation was easier because of working with ERA Shields.

We started looking to move to Colorado Springs 1 1/2 years ago. We came to the area and met with a realtor we had been corresponding with on line. Very disappointing experience, as this realtor couldnt be bothered with property less than $400,000 and numerous times talked about all the negative about Colorado Springs. We thought perhaps we had made a mistake wanting to move to CS. We went to open houses the next day and met Marie Lewis with ERA as she was showing a house. Wow, what a totally opposite experience, she was fantastic to visit with and we asked her to help us find us a house. She worked with us for over a year, as we would come to CS periodically just to look at houses. She understood exactly what we were looking for and would check out houses as they came available. We have bought and sold more than 9 houses in our lives and never have we had a realtor as professional, knowledgeable, charming and pleasant as Marie Lewis. She gave 110% and was so patient and pleasant the whole time. The ERA office on Tech Drive is wonderful with friendly people and there to meet all your needs. I rarely write a review but we are so impressed with Marie, we want to let everyone know that is looking for a great realtor to sell their house or find the perfect new home. We feel so blessed that we met Marie at that open house, as we now have the home of our dreams and an absolutely wonderful home buying experience.

She was extremely flexible and patient.

Guy has been great in assisting with our home search, sent us links (MLS listings) quickly, and offered quality advice about the different areas to buy. We have since opted to build a home and he will continue to be our agent through the processes. He has done site visits with pictures, advised on different options to help with the overall value of our new home and has been willing to hold our hand across a few thousand miles - and hasn't shown a bit of frustration yet! We are almost to the finish line and it has been a great ride with him as our navigator.