MERIT CO INC-REAL ESTATE

Keith Kohl met us the first time at the property and did not properly explain he would not be the one to actually manage it. We never saw him again.  Apparently each job is divided between different people in the office.  Phone calls are not returned.  When you call back there is only one person that can help, no one else seems to know anything. They did not check on the property by driving by. When we called with concerns we were put off. They would not do more than the scheduled inspections even tho we had seen reasons to be concerned just by us driving by. When they finally did the scheduled inspection they missed damage. They have a list of how they want the house to look when they rent it but do nothing to keep it in that condition.  When the tenant moved it took all the deposit to fix the house plus some.  They are unresponsive, unprofessional and I could not recommend them to anyone that wants their property taken care of.

I have been notified when the people are coming to do repairs and whether the owners approved of the repairs before they were done,this makes me very confident that they would be a good company if I owned a house and needed property management company.

We purchased our home through them as well. Sally Ann has been our real estate agent through our purchase and sale. She is extremely flexible, easy going and does not exert any pressure. She takes her time and showed us a bunch of houses when we were making our purchase. They are all great to work with and are very professional.

Prior to us signing the contract with them, Keith Kohl was very
responsive and helpful.  However, after signing, everything changed.  We
were not notified of changes in tenants, or damage to the property.  It
was our neighbors, not Merit PM, that reported events to us and then we
would have to contact Merit for more information.    Merit routinely
did not perform actions as required by their contract and did not uphold the terms of the rental contract with tenants.  Mr Kohl was not even familiar with the details of the rental contract which he utilizes.  Merit did not prevent damage from occuring to our property, did not perform required property inspections and failed to notice tenant modifications to the property.

A few years ago I was about ready to fire Merit because they failed to inform me that the tenant had not renewed the 12-month lease and was on a month-to-month lease.  I found out the hard way when I called to get an update and was told the renter had put in their notice to vacate.  I should have learned from that and found another management company, but I didn’t. Since then I have had frustrating experiences when contacting them for information and updates with the renter who eventually moved in.  I would notice that I had not received my rent payment and would call and they would act surprised and I was told they would call the renter and call me back.  Multiple times I did not receive payment, with no word from Merit explaining why the payment was late.  I would think if a renter missed a payment they would be on it, but not this company. It is like they have no clue a payment has not been made by the renter until the owner calls and inquires about it.  I have sent multiple e-mails to Beth with not reply.  When I would call her and ask her about the e-mail I sent, she always tells me she never got it.  This happened MULTIPLE times.  Of the 20 plus times I have called and left a message for her to call me back, she returned about 3 calls.  Getting any type of response from this company is difficult and it seems they fumbling when it comes to managing properties.  I have more negative experiences with them, but I will leave it at this.

Contacted Merit Real Estate Company about a vacant property in my neighborhood which they are managing and attempting to rent.  No yard maintenance has been performed on the house for a few months now.  Whenever I look out my front window I'm treated to weeds that are reaching 3 feet in height across the lawn and driveway.  I'm not sure how you rent a home when it looks like this and I've honestly never seen anyone view the house although I can't claim to watch it all day.  We have an HOA in this neighborhood and I'm not sure who is paying the fines for the lawn care but I'm sure they're racking up by now.Home owners looking for property management, beware.

Our experience with Merit was beyond frustrating, it was a nightmare from the beginning. They were incompetent to the point of being negligent. They were unresponsive, unprofessional and unethical. They use questionable vendors without licenses but charge premium prices. I suspect they "pad" the repair bills. Beth and Keith Kohl do not return phone calls nor will the owner, Kerry Brill. They failed to have our sprinkler system winterized, resulting in damage to the system which they refused to pay for. They just don't care, especially if you are out of town.

They kept the same family in the house. That helps me in different part of the company. They take care of things. I would use them in the future.

They were responsive and pleasant to deal with. They answered all my questions. They called back immediately and they were on top of it.

They manage my house for me.  They collect the rent and they send me a check after charging a fee.  I don’t have any complaints.  They do regular drive to the property to make sure that the yard has been taken care of and all that.  So I don’t think it is very expensive.