EJF Real Estate Services, Inc.

I signed my lease and was due to move in October 1st 2021 but was held up by mold and mildew located on the balcony and terrace of the unit which you could smell in the unit. Reached out to the company and after 1 1/2 weeks was told the turnover team would get back to me and it’s now November 1st still no response. To add to my issues I delayed my move in by a month. Now finally moved to no heat and neither a stove or working oven. Again no response from the owner or property management company. Putting in a maintenance request is a joke only not to get a response from anyone for days. As a property management company they have truly been the worst. Oh by the way don’t call the number you’ll get the run around for hours. After reading all the negative reviews I see this is a norm for them. Since it’s no use talking to them, DC Courts can hear my story and get a response. No longer paying rent after this month my money will go into a escrow account until they get it together.

Terrible. I let EJF know that I planned to return and again live in my house. I wrote in January 2016 to ask the process for re-occupying my house as of June 1. After 3 follow-up emails and a phone call, they finally sent the forms in March. Since I needed to give 90 days notice, I requested a vacancy date of June 15. The tenants vacated by June 1 and left the property in a mess. I returned to DC on June 20 and went to the house to check the condition. In the front patio of the house there was a broken dresser, a sofa with stuffing coming out of the cushions, bags of garbage, old paint cans, and totally overgrown weeds. In the back space, the chain link fence had been torn down and was lying on the ground, there was an old bicycle, piles of bicycle parts, cement blocks and a bed frame. It took another week for EJF to agree to a walk through of the property. When we went inside we noted the filthy condition of the house; scratches in the floors and windows; the refridgerator was missing the shelf that covers the produce drawers, had mildew in the doors and shelves and had a taped-together bar for the door shelf; there was a broken handle on the microwave door; a broken seal in the oven door window; scum in all of the toilets; a dent in the bathtub; holes in the bathroom tiles; candle wax on the sills, blinds, and floors of the master bedroom; a sopping wet carpet in the basement; and dirt everywhere. This was a month after the tenants vacated! The EJF rep arranged for a cleaner and a yard person to come and clear out all of the junk and surface dirt. I sent several emails asking about the process to use the security deposit to address some of the problems but then I heard from one of the tenants that EJF had allowed them to use the security deposit in lieu of the last month's rent. After months of back and forth with EJF to get some restitution for the state of my house, they reconciled funds from the security deposit (after they paid themselves for their costs) but I was still out the last month's rent. They said it was up to me to take the tenants to small claims court. There were 4 tenants and I did not have the signed contracts with the tenants, EJF did. I did not give permission for the tenants to use the security deposit, EJF did. When I pointed this out they said that this was just bookkeeping, that it was just that the tenants left without paying the last month's rent and EJF was not responsible if tenants didn't pay. Much of this could have been avoided if EJF had done its job. They did not keep in touch with the tenants, provide any oversight, or even actively managed the close-out of the contract. It was clear that the EJF rep had not done any sort of walk-through before the tenants vacated. I strongly recommend seeking property management somewhere else. Please note that I am submitting this review more than a year after returning to my house. It has taken this long

Overall, I'd say this company is a LEGITIMATE group in a sometimes thankless real estate industry.  EJF definitely covered all bases with property management in terms of tenant requests and, generally, DCRA compliance.  I had a nightmare experience with another company and EJF took the reigns of an unstably managed property and helped keep things relatively quiescent. Unfortunately, the relationship became strained as EJF frequently paid significant premiums on work that is consistently less expensive elsewhere such as drywall repairs and apartment turnover- more-specifically carpet replacement, lock replacement and painting. Also, their labor hour rivals many independent contractors on Angie's List for example.  Granted, EJF was often flexible with when they were paid for work, but the premium of course, was exorbitant. This became a major challenge when the company subordinated the mortgage loan after some of the work completed previously.  Ultimately, our incentives were simply not aligned making management of this property unsustainable.
Overall, the quality of tenant EJF secured were responsible professionals with excellent rental payment records. Unfortunately, EJF's proximity to the building made it difficult to conveniently or regularly monitor the property.  There was one instance where a tenant or neighbor littered at the property and DC Public Works cited the property for accumulated trash (which was a few pieces of furniture as I recall). I was frustrated because it seemed that the event may have been avoided-but who really knows.
I don't mean to shine a poor light on this company because I believe they are a shining star in a grimy industry. I would note that they definitely have quality systems and processes in place like their accounting and record keeping which I felt was a MAJOR strength.  I would also note their leases and renewal procedures are seamless and convenient.  I also appreciated tenant screening briefs which were often informal but thorough-hence the great tenants they secured. 
All in all, I would recommend and work with the company if the right opportunities were aligned!

EJF has consistently done a bad job.  They are unresponsive, rude and make numerous errors on their billing/accounting statements.  I am constantly having to contact them for corrections.  The only reason I don't change managers is that it take so much time, energy and funds to make a change.  I would never use EJF again.

They were non-responsive to repairs. They were generally uncoordinated and they were condescending.