COLDWELL BANKER

My husband and I moved to San Antonio from North Carolina in August 2013. I had done my research on property managers before our move and went out of my way to avoid renting a home from D'Ann Harper Coldwell Banker due to the terrible reviews they had received. We initially signed a lease with Housing 1 Source and I was relieved that we avoided Coldwell Banker. Two weeks after we signed the lease, we got a letter in the mail from Coldwell Banker, letting us know that they were taking over our lease. I was definitely not thrilled with the situation and, as it turned out, they really did live up to the bad reviews. A couple of weeks after they took over, Coldwell Banker emailed us a tenant handbook that was very insultingly written, as if all renters are deadbeats or renting for the first time. There were very condescending passages about how we'd want to preserve our rental history and credit ratings, which seemed to presuppose that we were low class scumbags who were going to ruin the property. For some reason, the property managers sent me cutesy emails regarding rent and maintenance, even though we had requested that they send the information to my husband, whose military housing allowance was covering the rent. This wouldn't be a big deal, except that I had to ask them more than once to stop sending me emails, which, incidentally, were always addressed to my husband's and my given first names. Neither my husband nor I go by our legal first names; and if they knew us well enough to be calling us by our first names, they would have known that. But they apparently assumed that it's appropriate for people in a business relationship to automatically be on a first name basis . If they'd asked me, I would have told them to call me by my nickname. It's not that I want to be called "Mrs."; it's just that in a business relationship, it's proper to use titles unless invited to do otherwise. And it's yet another example of how presumptuous and unprofessional these property managers are. They treat renters like peons who should be grateful to be giving them money every month instead of the people who have given them work. If it weren't for renters hiring landlords, there would be no need for property managers. Work orders were not always promptly addressed and Coldwell Banker looks for any reason to charge you. We had a problem with the faucet in the kitchen. It took over five minutes to get hot water. We asked for a plumber and they sent one, who thought the faucet needed to be replaced. He was in the middle of a speech about the faucet being cheap and needing a new cartridge when the hot water finally came and it barely met the legal Texas standards for temperature. Since we eventually got the hot water after letting the faucet run for several minutes (in drought conditions, no less), the faucet wasn't fixed. We were charged $85 for an unnecessary service call and the bill came with a very nasty and insulting letter reminding us that it was "our responsibility to check" before asking for a repair. Uh, exactly how long should I be expected to let the water run before I come to the conclusion that there's no hot water? Five minutes seems excessive, especially in drought situations. It took me yelling at them over the phone to get them to fix the broken garage door, which the original property managers had promised us would be fixed. That issue was finally addressed over a month after we moved in. Months later, a pipe on the pool filter broke and it took several weeks before it got fixed, again during drought conditions. The pump was spewing water all over the backyard and we had to manually shut it off every day to avoid wasting water. A week after that, the smoke alarms started going off in the middle of the night. That issue, at least, was fixed quickly. The house was in poor condition when we moved in because the people who lived there before us were evicted and had trashed the place. We diligently notated all the problems in the house and took photos, which included filthy air conditioning filters, burned out lightbulbs, trash all over the backyard, a broken window, filthy carpets, dirty walls, Christmas lights on the back deck, toilet seats that were about to fall off and holes in the wall caused by a towel rack that was moved. There was a property inspection about three months before our lease ended. Our landlord invited us to stay another year, provided we sign a new lease locking us in for another year instead of going month to month as we had originally agreed. If we went month to month, the rent would be raised $100. The house was overpriced as it was and we were ready to move into a hotel before signing another year long lease. Fortunately, my husband was hired for a job abroad and we were able to move. Moving was probably the worst part of our renting experience with Coldwell Banker. In order to comply with the ridiculous list of demands required by this company, we had to spend about $500. We had to get the old and filthy carpets professionally cleaned-- several well known carpet cleaning companies were specifically outlawed. That cost about $250. We had to spend another $250 to have the home and yard sprayed for fleas that didn't exist. And, for the last month of our lease, we had to endure constant showings to prospective tenants. We also had to put up with a lockbox. One night, someone tried to break into the lockbox and ended up cutting themselves and bleeding on the driveway. Another night, someone came to the house wanting a tour. I got the sense they were casing the house to see what was in it. My father happened to die one day when we had a showing scheduled. My husband called to cancel the showing because it was scheduled for two hours after I got the news. Coldwell Banker threatened to charge us $50, because we had also asked them not to send people on a day my mother-in-law was staying with our dogs while we were making a hasty last visit to my dad while he was on his death bed. They did finally back off when my husband explained, once again, why we were requesting no showings on those days. And they weren't too happy when we asked them not to send people on the afternoon we were having the house sprayed for fleas (that didn't exist), even though we weren't allowed to be in the house, either, immediately after the treatment we were having done to comply with their instructions. Be prepared to give up your privacy for the last month of your lease. They will send people over even when you have movers there trying to pack your stuff, and even if the place is a mess because the packers are there. They prefer it if you're not home during the showings and, in fact, we were originally under the impression that we needed to vacate the house during showings and take our dogs with us. For over half of our last month in that house, we put up with this and went to a local dog park in July heat. Finally, when my husband complained, they told us we didn't have to vacate for the showings. But on a day when we had movers there, Coldwell Banker sent three different real estate agents with tenants, one of which seemed to think our home was her office. She had a little pow wow with the prospective tenants in our foyer as we were finishing up for the day. Another agent showed up two minutes before the end of the block he'd reserved, just as we were about to bolt the front door and go to a hotel for the night. Over a month after we moved out, we finally got our deposit back from Coldwell Banker. They had deducted $400-- $350 for the broken window that was there when we moved in, and $25 each for the Christmas lights and the holes from the moved towel rack, both of which were there when we moved in. Since our security deposit was actually $50 less than the rent, we didn't make a big stink about the $50 for the lights or the holes. And to Coldwell Banker's credit, they did agree to send us the $350 when we pressed them about it.. and they went to Housing 1 Source, which confirmed that the window was broken before we moved in. That's the only reason I'm not giving them an F. I was very worried that we would have to litigate in order to get our security deposit back. I went as far as joining the Texas Tenant's Union to find out what our rights were under Texas law because I was so sure they were going to screw us, which made it hard to relax and enjoy the property. Coldwell Banker's bad reputation is fairly earned. They are very strict about money matters, yet they aren't very professional or prompt when it comes to working with tenants. There are a few folks in the rental office who seem to care more than others do, but overall, it was a terrible experience renting a home through them. If we ever do move back to San Antonio, we will not be doing business with them, either to buy or rent a home. My husband and I have dealt with all kinds of people over the years, thanks to being military and having to move and rent so often. I can say without hesitation that aside from one especially poorly run apartment complex in Virginia, D'Ann Harper Coldwell Banker realtors in San Antonio are the worst property managers/landlords we have ever had the displeasure of knowing. I do not recommend them.

They were very unprofessional in their attitude and also didn%t appreciate the renters right to privacy. They claimed they were responsible for nothing but demanded much from us. I have rented several times in my life but will never again rent any home managed D'Ann Harper.

I have rented a house managed by D'Ann Harper Realty for 2.5 years. While the company has been polite, it has been a challenge working with them. First issue: I signed a two year lease initially. After the first 10 months, they presented a new one year re-lease. After some confusion, they indicated that the owner was willing to agree to a 24 month re-lease. Now that I am moving out prior to the end of my second lease period, I am responsible for the monthly rental until it re-leases. Oh well. Second issue: They were never able to provide the security code for the security system, so I was forced to disconnect it during my residence. After several calls, they seemed to "shrug their shoulders" on the issue. Third issue: They were never able to provide the code to open the garage. Similarly, when the home owner couldn't help, they shrugged their shoulders on the issue. Fourth issue: They were never able to explain what the access card did. Perhaps the community swimming pool? Fifth issue: With only 1 exception, all maintenance calls/reports required at least a second follow-up: three calls on a fence that was falling down (1 issue); two calls each for plumbing assistance (3 separate issues); two calls each for roof leaks (2 separate issues); only one call for failed HVAC in the middle of summer (thank goodness). Final issue: Probably based on experiences with irresponsible renters, they treated me as ignorant and didn't listen very well. I found this rather ironic as a prior home owner as their staff is largely younger folk who may not have owned a home yet. If you plan on renting in San Antonio, Coldwell Banker is the largest property manager in the city. Just wanted to share my experience to prepare you for yours.