Benchmark Real Estate Services in Tallahassee
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Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, US
Site: http://www.benchmarkres.com/
- Monday:10AM–5:30PM
- Tuesday:10AM–5:30PM
- Wednesday:10AM–5:30PM
- Thursday:10AM–5:30PM
- Friday:10AM–5:30PM
- Saturday:Closed
- Sunday:Closed
Ever heard the term lipstick on a pig? Thats what our house was- looked great at first but shortly after we moved in is when a cascade of problems started. Highly unprofessional property management service with terrible communication skills. Literally ignored my emails and phone calls regularly. Ignored concerns about soft flooring which was indicative of excess moisture under the house and rotted subflooring, mold growth in inaccessible places, leaky roof which caused warping of the walls in multiple place, they falsely flagged maintenance requests in their system as completed when in reality my requests were consolidated and deleted. Leslie straight-up lied to me and said repairs were completed when I have photo evidence proving otherwise. High turnover of staff so you never have a consistent point of contact. Conditions eventually became so poor I had to reach out to code enforcement. I generously spared Benchmark a lawsuit and in turn, they returned only 10% of our deposit. Complete slum lords. If you guys wanted to screw me so badly you could have just told me you were attracted to me...
Adding to the slew of one stars because this has got to be the worst rental company in the city. Won’t fix an old ac system despite knowing its old and can’t keep up with the Florida heat
I could not get an apartment. However, during the application process JT was very kind and helpful. Benchmark keep him around.
I have lived in their 830 E Park apartment for over two years now, and I must stay I do enjoy living here, it is a nice neighborhood I have never had any issues here and they are very friendly . The only complaint I have is that I was originally talking to Laruen about moving into their 2/1.5 but sadly she left before I was able to move forward so now I have to pay a little more then what I agreed with her originally and also not on the date I was hoping to move, I also discussed with Lauren waving my pet deposit fee due to me already paying in the current apartment but now they are not sure they can waive it though I am re leasing at their 830 location and have emails with Laure back in January. Even with that complaint I do love living here and recommend it.
The worst service I’ve ever had. They almost never answer or email back even after promising to answer or email back. Very unprofessional. Last two managers of our property quit back to back within a two-week period. Friend got broken into yet got charged for damages. The only… ONLY reason I chose them is because most of Tallahassee’s apartments were filled up. And the only positive thing I’ve noticed is the fact that the apartments look decent for the price.UPDATE: They accepted me for an apartment they did not have. Trash.
I currently rent an apartment that is managed by Benchmark Real Estate Services. Since the inception of their management, I wasn’t pleased with the timeliness of their maintenance service. I submitted a request late yesterday evening and by 10am today, a maintenance worker was knocking at my door. His name is Ronnie and he did an excellent job responding to my needs. He was very friendly, concerned for personal safety (wore a mask), and he gave great advice about some of my inquiries. I could tell that he cares about his work and the service he provides for others. He is working hard to modify old impressions about maintenance service from Benchmark. For that, Ronnie receives fives stars for a job well done.
My fiancé and I (now my husband) chose Benchmark during a very stressful time needing affordable yet comfortable housing leading up to our wedding. We were in need to find something very comfy for us that would accept large dogs. Moving in had some challenges, items I reported from the move in sheet never initially got addressed and I had to report them more than once. The staff at Benchmark has worked with us thru this and payment challenges with the tenant portal and mistakes at our bank that were not our error. Angela Barr is great and Lisa has been helpful in some significant ways. However, I must be truly honest: maintenance sucks & half the office staff cant even get what you need done and they dont follow up they say they will call you back. I have a plumbing issue thats only been patched and isnt fixed after three months! I still dont have full water pressure on my washing machine over this issue. Additionally my parking area right in front of my door floods everyday it rains and two maintenance requests to ask for a solution have been ignored. The landscaping guy is nice but does a mediocre job only coming once per month.I truly love my neighborhood, the area and my home but I wouldnt recommend benchmark cause I constantly spend half my time hearing excuses and never get resolution to anything easily. Its not been the most ideal situation as a tenant to have to constantly go by the office for issues.
I rented from Benchmark in college 6+ years ago and it was the worst experience. Ive rented from multiple other management companies in Tallahassee and have never had any problems. I pay my rent on time and treat each property with respect. Everyone covers Benchmarks unprofessional and unethical ways quite well in this post so I wont go into too much detail, but wanted to share one item. We had a leak in our apartment near the front door. We took pictures, contacted maintenance and someone came out to repair it. Benchmarks maintenance did a terrible job with the repair to the wall and carpet around the leak and we took pictures of the repair job.They gave us a laundry list of charges we owed to the complex after we moved out and one of those charges was damage to the carpet and wall from the leak they repaired. It was laughable. This company is a joke and it surprises me they are still in business. Obviously, they are hurting for money and someone is not managing their finances well or else they would not be trying to scam people left and right. I tell everyone not to rent with them.
Unhelpful, rude, and horrible. Took 2 years to get my deposit back after moving out, and charged ridiculous fees. They never fixed any issues (water leaking from chimney, expired and empty fire extinguisher, termites). On move in day, they gave us the wrong keys so could not get into the house for HOURS, and then the house was filthy (old food in the sink, hair all over the bathroom, dirt on the floor) and had to call to get them to clean it.Basically a nightmare experience. Everything is an argument or the renters fault. Avoid this company like the plague. Its not worth the headache.
Ms. Leslie,Thank you for helping us with our rentals the past two years. You have been amazing in recruiting and responding to tenants needs. You have exceptional knowledge of real estate and leasing practices in Tallahassee. We are most grateful because you are always ready to tackle challenges, efficient, and most important, easy to work with.
I have lived under the proper management of Benchmark for almost two years. I absolutely LOVE this management company, they have all been very professional and always quick to assist when needed. When I moved to Tallahassee two years ago, I was really concerned on finding a place for me and my dog that was quiet, comfortable and safe. They were hands on through the entire experience and any concerns I had they were quick to address and problem solve immediately. I would recommend this company to anyone moving to a new city and needs a great company to work with to make sure their needs are met professionally and appropriately!I am renewing my lease for the third year soon and I will say I am one happy tenant!! I have to make sure to mention Angela Barr, because she has been my realtor with Benchmark that I have worked with from the beginning. She is the BEST and anytime I have emailed her or needed her assistance specifically, she is quick to respond and assist when needed. She is professional, accommodating and will advocate for her tenants to make sure they are happy and satisfied, which is extremely important for me and lets me know she cares about her tenants happiness!:-) I am so happy that she was my realtor, because she has helped me in so many ways and thankful that she chose Benchmark for her career endeavors! Despite the negative reviews that I have read on here, I would recommend you try this company for yourself and I am sure you wont be disappointed!!
This company is THE WORST. They took over 830 E Park in the middle of my lease. Our air conditioning went out twice in the middle of the summer and it took them 4-5 days to get it fixed each time. Another time, someone came and removed all the washers and dryers from the laundry room, with my clothes in them!! When I contacted the property manager, she had no idea what happened. Speaking of the property manager, she is worthless. She NEVER returns phone calls and takes days to return emails. When you call the office, they refuse to help only saying you need to contact her. She’s never on site either which leads to a filthy property. Lastly, their move out request list is INSANE. The list of things asked of the residents before they move out is more than I’ve ever seen at a property. We left the apartment extremely clean and with no damage and only received 1/3 of our deposit.I can’t speak to the other properties managed by Benchmark, but 830 E Park is a dump and the property manager is worthless. Do yourself a favor and do not move there.
Living in a benchmark property was nothing but trouble. On day one they provided me with the incorrect key then after I drove back to pick up the correct copy they failed to keep a master copy for themselves. Months later they called my emergency contact claiming they did not have my phone number (they wrote it down incorrectly) threatening to charge me for changing the locks and would force me to pay for a locksmith if I did not contact them immediately. During the one year I lived in this property it had to get a new floor and a new roof. Both times Benchmark left me completely in the dark and would send maintenance people to the house without any notice. I didnt have a kitchen floor for over a month. I put in a maintenance request for mold and literally nothing was ever done about it.
Horrible. This company rents out nice places but their service is incompetent and unprofessional. Decided not to renew my lease that ended at the end of July and this company started advertising for new tenants the March before and had prospective tenants constantly viewing the property for at least three times a week for five months. If you do rent with these people always communicate by writing and get receipts. They gave me a notice of non-payment of rent after they lost my check which I gave to them in their office after re-signing the lease! They also gave a negative reference on my tenancy saying I paid rent late twice, but since I always paid them a day or two early somehow I was never charged a late fee. Pretty sure will have a dispute with this company regarding my security deposit despite leaving the home in a pristine, clean and movable condition.
Benchmark is wonderful! I rented through them in Tallahassee and they were always responsive, courteous, and most helpful. When I decided to sublet my place, they jumped right in and enthusiastically found a new renter. Their maintenance personnel are excellent and so quick to respond to a request. During my short year-and-a-half in my apartment, they gracefully replaced my refrigerator, my thermostat, and repaired my dryer. They are a great company with wonderful, helpful employees. I strongly recommend their properties!
Benchmark is, by far, the worst company I have ever dealt with. After living in my unit for a few days, I developed an uncontrollable cough due to mold exposure. When I expressed my concerns to Benchmarks staff through several emails and phone calls, they thought it would be best to completely ignore me. They kept telling me that my property manager was not available and that he would get back to me. Luckily, I managed to get out of my lease under Florida law, but Benchmark refused to return my security deposit. I filed complaints with the BBB and FDACS, but Benchmark claimed that I didnt exit my lease properly and that they would send me to collections.
The Benchmark Real Estate team is fantastic! Lauren, the manager, understands how to juggle competing priorities with the number of properties she manages while still meeting her tenets needs. In the absence of Lauren, Sarah is the go-to and does not miss a beat. Dan is the maintenance technician, and when he is dispatched for work, he arrives ready to complete the task promptly. Best price in town with friendly staff, you cant beat it!
From the moment I made contact, they were so accommodating. Lauren made my transition into the complex so easy since I hadnt lived in an apartment in 25 years.The maintenance crew never hesitates to answer a call, if needed.I love living here.
In reality, I give Benchmark zero stars. But apparently I have to give them at least one in order to post a review. So here goes!Benchmark is the worst company Ive ever had to deal with. If I had had any other option, I would not have rented from them. They were shady from day one. They will nickel and dime you at every turn and then leave out information pertinent to obtaining your keys because they assumed we knew, forcing you to move in later than expected. So sorry if youre homeless in the meantime!Before we moved in, we were promised certain things in the house would be fixed. It is now a month later and still nothing is fixed. Two of the bathrooms in our home dont have doors and although weve called them multiple times over the past three weeks, nothing has been done. Same goes for our air conditioning/ heat, which has been broken since we moved in. Theyve sent out the same repairman at least five times now to replace parts because theyre too cheap to replace an obviously old and broken unit. But these are just the work order complaints!Now to focus on their customer service, which is quite possibly even worse than their inaction regarding work orders. On multiple occasions Ive called many times during business hours only to be redirected to a voicemail box which says this mailbox is full, please call again later and then hangs up on you. So naturally, I go into their office, only to be greeted by the rudest receptionist Ive ever met. When I brought up the fact that I couldnt get through to them on the phone, she immediately struck and attitude and began arguing with me that she had been answering phones all day. When I showed her my call history, she just got angrier and it pretty much devolved from there. She was extremely unprofessional and just downright rude.This brings me to my final complaint, which would be their online portal where were expected to pay rent and place work orders. While this would usually be ideal, Benchmark continuously fails to take already paid charges off of our accounts and seems to just be ignoring our work orders (as mentioned earlier). In addition, if you wish to pay with a credit/debit card, they will charge you $17.So basically, if I could give Benchmark Property Management negative stars, I would. Save yourself the trouble and rent from an independent landlord if you can. And if you cant, JUST DONT RENT FROM BENCHMARK!!!
I’d love to give this management company 0 stars if I could. They ignore all maintenance requests, property managers never seem to be on site or return calls/emails. My dishwasher has been broken and flooding for over a month and no one does anything about it. They were real eager and helpful when I signed a lease but afterwards it’s as if they vanished. The unit itself is nice but what does that matter if things are broken and not getting repaired. Additionally when I moved in I was NOT given a move in check list, a red flag. I requested one and filled it out but I’m already anticipating that I won’t see my security deposit because they did not give me the form. What a bunch of crooks!!
Benchmark has hands down been the absolute worst company i have ever dealt with. They are unprofessional and inept. From never answering or even returning calls/emails to ignoring their tenants on matters that are important to our everyday living. The maintenance is awful, they left my roommates and i with a dysfunctional fridge for almost two months. In addition to my fridge, they also left us with a dead garbage disposal for over a month to the point where my house smelled like rotting food and had flies everywhere. On top of everything, they have also failed to even pay our internet and cable which is supposed to be INCLUDED in our rent. DO NOT choose to live anywhere where benchmark is in charge of your property, i promise you will regret it.
If I could give a 0 star rating I would. Take ur business elsewhere. They have awful customer service skills and are very inconsiderate to current tenants. They almost let my cat escape when showing my place and were very difficult to work with on viewing appointments. They kept my deposit for unreasonable and excessive charges like paint and cleaning (even though I thuroughly cleaned before moving out), a “broken fridge bar” that wasn’t broken when I left, and a gulf club that was left in the shed from a previous tenant. The $29 they decided to give me back from my $775 deposit was sent to the wrong person (but never was cashed) and they never resent it to me.
Ive been complaining since I moved into the Pointe at Adams Place for the high water bill. The property manager kept saying she adjusted my bill and made all repairs in my apartment. Well long story short, I contacted Ms. Sanny at Benchmark Realty and she was the biggest help ever! Thank You, Ms. Sanny, for investigating my ledger and getting to the bottom of things. If it wasnt for you, I wouldve still been overcharged and continue to receive 3-day notices for unpaid rent, that wasnt accurately, fairly, or justifiable by other staff members. Ms. Sanny, youre AWESOME! Thank you for caring about your tenants and treating me with respect and honesty!!!😘
Horrible company lost my job due to covid with limited income and asked for a 5 day paid extension of my lease and was denied. They dont mind seeing a 19 year old girl homeless on the streets until she is able to relocate. Even after paying rent on time every month with horrible maintenance service. I moved in with a crack on my door and let it slide due to me having empathy but they dont got any for me.
Benchmark is the absolute worst rental management company. Not only is the stuff absolutely rude but ABSOLUTELY no one seems to know how to do their job properly. It was the worst living experience of all my rentals in Tallahassee. When we first moved in the house it was infested with flees and roaches, damages to the flooring and doors. We had to postpone moving in to the house by three days by all of the bug bombs we had to set off, THAT WE HAD TO PAY FOR!!! which was suppose to be reimbursed to us and never wasMoving in, the house was disgusting. The toilets where dirty, there was hair in the sink and it smelled so badly of wet dog we had to call Benchmark and ask them to resend a cleaning crew. They ended up sending someone and while cleaning the house, the people sprayed BLEACH on all of the carpets, ruining the carpets!After moving in it was one problem to the next, the house flooded, the pool broke, the air conditioning broke in the middle of winter, all the piping broke and literal feeces was coming up from tubs and sinks, the water heater broke and the dryer broke and mold was EVERYWHERE!!! Our clothes and furniture was ruined, I had to throw away so much stuff! Our house was completely UNLIVABLE and they REFUSED to let us out of our lease! Turns out the house was in foreclosure anyways so the landlord was pocketing our money. We had to find some where else to stay while the house was being fixed, DURING FINAL EXAM week I might add, and the only thing they offered was a couple hundred dollars off our rent for a month. Wow thanks.They take advantage any chance they get and squeeze any amount of money they possibly can. They had to refill our entire pool TWICE because the entire time it was broken due to the landlord not fixing it and each time our utilities had to cover the cost of the water, which they also said they would reimburse us for but when it was time to being the utility up there and get our money back, NO ONE seemed to know what I was talking about or who told me I would get reimbursed. They charged us $85 for the garbage disposal being broken, claiming it was our fault but the whole house was falling apart and was a peice of crap!! I had to eventually call Tallahassee Code enforcement because we had no screens on any of our windows, no smoke detectors, holes in our roofing outside, broken fences etc! And when I did call code enforcement, the Benchmark team was extremely rude to me afterwards.Lastly! Upon moving out, Benchmark went under new management so I explained to them all of the things that went wrong in the house, including the bleached carpets and ruined floors etc and they told me I had to provide proof of everything! HAHA are you kidding me?? Luckily I saved every picture and email and resent them. Never heard a reply. We moved out July 31st, I get a phone call from someone at Benchmark August 18th telling me they have been serving eviction notices to the property because we havent been paying our rent. I looked on our online portal, $4,000 in charges!!! They didnt terminate our lease! They literally thought we were still living in the house, even after I turned in my keys and provided a forwarding address! When I called to complain and see what was going on, once again, NO ONE knew what I was talking about, Finally I get to speak to a manager and she claims we owe nothing but we are still receiving letters?? No one knows what they are doing at this management company. They are seriously money sucking con-artist. Im still waiting on a reply! And still waiting to hear if there is any possibility of my deposit being returned, most likely not because they are idiots. DO NOT. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT rent with them. You are better off living in a tent.
Horrible place to rent from . Stay away. The only thing good about this place is the location, other then that nothing. When they took over the 1 thing they did was raise the rent by no longer including water. Ok fine.. but then they got ride of half the parking spots and made all visitors pay for parking. The pool area is nothing but concrete. They ignore maintenance requests. There are no inside washer dryer connections and they claim they cant find an electrician to fix the credit card operated ones that havent worked in a month. They are way overpriced for the service. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place
By far the worst management company Ive ever experienced. If something breaks in your apartment, youre basically SOL. They ignore maintenance requests and take forever to send someone out once they get to it. Employees and managers can never seem to answer a question straight forward. They charge visitors $2+ dollars per night to park. Trash gets out of hand. I only chose to rent with them despite the reviews because its in a good location and a decent price. But I dont plan on renewing next year.
My recent experience was one of the worst, stay away from benchmark!! My house has been without AC for 3 days and we are being told it is not a true emergency because its not 100 degrees, its only 95!! This has prevented us from sleeping in our own home that we pay rent, and from living in the house. We are now on our third day and the issue is still not fixed, we asked if we can bring our own mechanic since they cant figure out the issue and we were told they will not pay for it. We also have a leaking roof that has created mold in the living room that we have asked them to fix 3 times already. At this point we are going to have to break our lease.
Do NOT apply to rent here.My girlfriend and I applied for an open apartment, only to find out after reaching out to management that the room was actually not available. Ive called several times over the weeks as well as emailed multiple managers, leaving multiple phone and email messages, with absolutely no response.In short, they took our money for a room that wasnt actually available and wont give us back our fees.Going to try a few more times before possibly taking legal action. Even if they responded, there is no way I would trust these people.
I paid an application fee to rent an apartment with them in November as they have a property near FSU school of Law. When I looked at the apartment I was clear that I could rent from them immediately. I submitted my application and fee on Thursday. It wasnt until the following week until I called them did I get any answer. They took my money but had no intention of renting to me. They had to make it look good by having the leasing agent call and ask when I was moving in. I had already found another place and had left FL. I asked them for a refund of my application fee as they had obviously acted in bad faith and refused stating, application fees are non refundable. Beware of this company as they want your money but dont want to give you an answer and definitely dont want to admit when they are wrong!
They deserve 0 stars. Avoid doing any business with this company if you can ! They do not care about the tenants or conditions of apts/complex- The Alliance : They will have you living in hazardous and inhabitual conditions. Examples : leaking ceilings, sunk in holes in the carpet (if u accidentally walk over it you might land on the next floor after being knocked off of your feet), roach investation, MOLD, damaged furniture, non tenants having free access to vacant rooms with stolen or borrowed keys (in other words having strangers break in at their convenience and managment has refused to change the lock) , not having AC for OVER A MONTH during the summer time (no compensation or rush to fix the issue) rotten carpet, holes in walls, leaking water heater, leaking sinks, broken pipes, bathtub is about to detach from wall...the list goes on. These are current issues from the moment I moved in. I have 1. Written on my move in sheet 2 .made numerous maintenance requests 3. inspectors stated the apartment is inhabitual. I have pictures, screenshots, emails... managment does not know how to handle matters that CLEARLY need to be addressed more professional and taken more serious. They will agree to a payment plan/to fix all of the issues then in return not accept your money and refuse to fix anything.repeat.Theyre a joke. Do not move into the Alliance at 400.
Terrible. They have lied numerous times and are extremely condescending and unprofessional. Do not stay in any of their rentals. There is a lady named Melinda who works there and she patronizes people by laughing at them and their situations. My apartment complex had a shooting and a stray bullet went into our unit. I informed Benchmark of what happened and they terminated my renewal lease agreement. They are scammers. The regional manager is never in her office and she deliberately doesnt respond to emails. There is no direct phone number and they take advantage of people everyday.
DO NOT RENT FROM THEM!!!I moved from out of state and told them I would not be able to see the place first, and was worried about being in a bad neighborhood. They assured me they had a great place and sent me pictures of a beautiful apartment with hardwood floors, a carpeted bedroom, and freshly painted walls.When it was time to move in, they couldnt even find the key, and an hour later when I was finally able to see the place it had cracked tile floors, cables ripped from the walls, and black mold in the closet! When I went back to tell them I would be exiting the lease, they insisted the place was great and were not professional about the situation.TLDR: They scammed me into a horrible apartment and refused to be professional when I called them on it.
By far the WORST rental company I have ever dealt with. Completely unprofessional and unorganized. We filled out a move in condition form a month and a half ago under the impression (they verified) that everything would be taken Care of- maintenance hasn’t stepped foot in our house. The mailbox keys don’t work, and we had to break into our laundry room because that key didn’t work either, and if we didn’t, no one would’ve opened it for us. Of course, my front door handle literally came off in my hands and it’s been a week and they still have yet to fix it, so it just falls off every time you try to open the door. I’ve called three times and was told each time that someone would be out to fix it same day- lies. Pretty annoyed with this company and I do not recommend it one bit.
I rented from them for 2 years. To this day I immediately ignore any rentals from them. They don’t accept financial responsibility for their own negligence and will leave you with the bill. Trust me when I say that so long as your dwelling is considered “up to code by city standards” they wont fix anything. They tried to tell me that the apartment was cleaned but I found dead roaches everywhere the second I walked in. They don’t care about mold in your room and tell you that it isn’t anything dangerous but nobody actually comes to check on it. Save yourself the hassle and go with another rental agency. If I could give zero starts I would. There is nothing good to say about their service, rentals, or agency as a whole.
Ive been living inside of a 90 degree apartment in the Pointe at Adams Place for the past 3 days due to a broken air conditioning unit. Emergency maintenance has done nothing to help despite stating that over 80 degrees is deemed an emergency. Someone I believed to be maintenance came today, stayed for five minutes, then left and has been gone for the past 4 hours without leaving a callback number or notifying me that he would be leaving. The office has been unable to help me and me and my roommates have been left to fend for ourselves despite paying over $400 in rent. Do not move to any location managed by this company. They do not care about you. This is the second location that i have lived in that is managed by them and it is the second location that i grew to detest due to poor management and a general lack of concern for the well being of their residents.UPDATE: They told my roommates and I that they won’t reimburse us for the money we spent living in a hotel for 7 days while they refused to update us on when our AC would be fixed.
They are a crappy service company. I moved into a property near lake Jackson paid 1,100 a month for a place that was not maintained. I cleaned the property up fixed things because I couldnt get the mangment company to do it. Also gave them 10 months worth of rent in advance. I lost my job at the end of the year and moved out. Now i have stuff showing on my credit report from them when we had an agreement that I would let them keep my deposit and I moved out and left the place move in ready.
Please do yourself a favor and do not rent with them!!! You will only regret it!!! I have been living in a house through them for almost a year now. My least is up at the end of June. My boyfriend and I liked the place at first but it is honestly a crap hole that needs renovations desperately. Most recent thing in a string of horrible experiences with them is that they put our house on the market for rental WITHOUT informing us and BEFORE we could tell them whether or not we are staying here. We are looking for a new place and havent found one yet so we dont know, but they went ahead and scheduled a showing of our house anyway! We do not have to let them know until 30 days before our lease ends. In what world is that not a violation of our lease agreement? Secondly the lease says the house needs to be showing ready by June 10 -- over a month from now. We have a pet and will be working -- who would feel comfortable with strangers in their home if they couldnt be there??? The place has termites and foundation issues. The picture they use for the property ISNT EVEN A PICTURE OF THE HOUSE. Its the house next door, because that one looks nicer on the outside! One of the reasons the place has termites is probably because the company does not include pest control. We pay that on top of rent, utilities, etc. And even after our pest guy confirmed it was termites, they still dont include it or inspect the place more than once. In the middle of our lease, they sold the property we were living in to another owner WITHOUT TELLING US. This new owner apparently hates the environment because on AT LEAST 3 occasions by boyfriend and I were woken by banging on the door at 8 AM letting us know we would need both of our cars gone all day because they had to tear a tree out of our backyard. WHAT??? Landlords are required to give 24 hours notice of something like that. We were never once given any notice. When we moved in, the carpet was literally covered in piss stains. The tenant before us had a dog. We demanded they replace the carpet. They said they would never allow new carpet in a rental with a pet because we have a cat. We said that our cat doesnt piss on the floor and didnt do it and the logical, ethical thing to do would be to use the previous tenants security deposit to pay for the damage he did (thats what they are for, right?). They outright refused. I fully expect them to try to claim our entire security deposit, blaming it on us, and we are prepared to take legal action against this scummy slime balls.To go back to when we decided to rent this place, hindsight is 20/20. First we found a place through Benchmark we liked and we tried to sign a lease for it but they did not return our calls for a week until finally calling to say they leased it already. Then I looked at 2 properties with them. I showed up, surprised to find I was viewing the properties with 2 other potential tenants. This made all of us feel an odd sense of pressure. The first place was an absolute dump but they assured us they would renovate it. Now that Ive lived through this, I know that was a lie -- dont believe anything they say!!!Then we saw the place I currently live. It was alright but a guy was living in it so it was hard to tell how crappy it was until we moved in. I guess I felt rushed and pressured with other people looking too. Because I felt so pressured and my boyfriend and I had been getting worried about finding a place (thats how they want you to feel), I decided to immediately go sign the lease. While I was doing so, one of the other people called and tried to say she wanted the place, so clearly she felt pressured too.Now, they are trying to force us out of our lease 2 months early by showing our apartment to other people before we have even decided whether or not we will be currently living here!!! We told them that and that it is a violation of our lease and they continuously stated they would do what they wanted to do because they have a right to do it.Bottom line: these people are the WORST. Dont do it.
Im currently staying at one of their properties and it is awful. My dryer has not worked for over a month now, and I put in 4 maintenance requests. When I called to ask about when theyre coming, the receptionist sounded confused, then said that she would be emailing them. When it wasnt fixed a few days later I called again, and was told they emailed the company and are waiting on a response. In the mean time, my kitchen light would not work and a maintenance man came to fix it. I asked him about my dryer and he called all of his workers, none received a work order about my dryer. I called AGAIN, and was told they were still waiting but it would be fixed early this week. I also called yesterday, a man said he would be calling the company. It is now Thursday, and is over a month that my dryer has been broke. I have hardly any clean clothes and have to take them to be dried at a sketchy laundromat near my apartment. Im a college student and feel they are not taking my request seriously. Dryer is still not fixed and its really disappointing.
They managed my property for me for 10 years before I had to switch to a different company. They started off nice but the last couple of years were simply horrible. Rarely ever responded to my email, and took days to respond to my phone call. I switched to a different management company. Now I found out that my backflow prevention assembly was removed without my permission, and it will cost me $800 to replace it.
If I could give this place 0 stars, I would gladly! I had THE WORST tour experience today. My tour guide was 20 mins LATE for my viewing, but blamed it of course on something with the system. The apartment that was shown to me and another potential renter did NOT match the price OR the pictures they have online! We were told she did not have the keys to show us the “correct apartment”. Not to mention, the apartment shown to us was in extremely bad condition. A/C vents falling out of the ceiling. Outdated appliances which clearly doesn’t match their “renovated” lies in the ad. I mean god, the front door knob was jiggling and holding on by a thread!!! By the way, if you’re going to show someone a potential rental for sale, maybe it should be clean, not filthy and WREAKING of a strong urine smell!!! NO THANKS. Beware! This place literally looks like a LIVING NIGHTMARE.
My roommates and I are pretty lowmaintenance tenants and don’t ask for much except for issues we feel truly should be handled by the company who owns the apartment. With that said, unfortunately Benchmark has been a let down since before we even moved in. The lack of communication and miscommunication from this company is extremely frustrating. We were given the wrong keys to our place, moved into an unfinished apartment with things that were broken (we either fixed them ourselves or waited weeks for them to fix), and can barely get anyone on the phone about very simple questions. During the hurricane my window in my bedroom was blown out and this company still has not fixed it/ has not given me a time frame on when it will be fixed and won’t answer me when I have questions about it. This is absolutely unexusable because it’s a safety issue. I tried to remain positive about this company when we were told that they would be taking over ownership but i’m amazed that they have stayed in business. I never write reviews but our experience has been so negative I hope that no one else has to deal with this
Do not rent with them! They are crooks! Im not a tenant who doesnt pay bills and then complains about the company for charging extra. I pay my rent on the first of every month in full. But these crooks withhold the water and sewer utility bill and tack it on whenever they feel like it, long after the first of the month. I live in UG II, and when I signed my lease, it was under STU. My lease says if I have a balance over $100, they can charge late fees. But when Benchmark came in (and I dont even think this is legal), they changed the limit to $50. I did not sign their lease. Yet and still, now they can essential withhold a $50 water bill, put it on your account at any point in the month and charge you $10 everyday that you dont pay it. They sent me an e-mail today saying I owed $68, but when I looked at my balance report, it said my utilities were $47. It wasnt even over $50, and they are attempting to tack on the late fees! Either someone needs to go back to elementary or Benchmark is the most crooked real estate agency Ive ever has the displeasure of being a tentant of. This is blatant disrespect, and it is criminal. Do NOT rent with them.
This is a terrible property rental company. I have had the worst experience with my living arranagrments and the property manager at the Alliance @400. There is no care in how your living arrangements are or in the request put in for maintenance. All they care about is taking money and you better make sure its on time. Seriously the apartments are cheap for a reason youre living with roaches and they expect you to think that this is healthy. Please dont rent with these people they dont care about how you live just about the money!
The worst company I have ever dealt with. They took my SSN, run a credit check and finalize the apartment with me and the last moment (when I have stopped all my other apartment searches) they drawback from their promise and say sorry we can not give you the apartment because I have a daughter (3 years old with me) that I have already told them from the very beginning. Then promise to get me another place but after that no connection with me even they have deactivated my account from their portal, which shows that they have no intentions to solve my problem any more.Awful experience I will recommend every user to stay away from them and do not trust their promises.
I had a terrible experience with Benchmark. Management is disingenuous, unpleasant and horrible with communication. They charged me after my lease was over and have provided no paperwork to justify it. My leasing office changed twice during my 1 year renting with them. Ill be surprised if they have any of the original paperwork.
I wish I could give 0 stars. On May 8th I requested I get a call from maintenance about setting up an appointment to fix my AC, as I have a dog and didnt want them entering without me present. I went completely ignored, including when I called the office, so I physically went to the office on June 4th, a month after the initial request, and asked someone finally respond to my request. I got the whole Oh thats ridiculous were so sorry well get them to call you right away and then of course nobody ever called, and nobody came to fix the air conditioning. It is now July 16th, over 2 months from when the AC stopped working, Ive had to set up fans all over my apartment, and despite multiple more calls to the office, my AC is still completely broken and my apartment is 80+ degrees. My location used to be owned by different landlords, and the ability to get maintenance to fix anything has vanished since it was bought out by Benchmark real estate. I cannot stress enough, if you are moving to Tallahassee for any reason, do not ever rent from these landlords.*EDIT* - For anyone who takes their replies seriously, its been 4 more days since the property management account responded to my post apologizing and saying theyd be in contact with me right away, and I have not heard one word. Its exactly the same as when I go into their office. Id bet money its the same thing with every other one of these insincere responses to their multitude of 1 star reviews. To reiterate, do not rent from these people.
My daughter is currently going through the approval process with Benchmark. This is the third property management company we have dealt with trying to get her set up for the fall semester. When we initially contacted Benchmark we were frustrated and had no real faith in property management companies due to our 2 previous experiments. We are working with Nicole. She is absolutely amazing! She goes out of her way to help us with any issues or concerns. I was not aware that today was her day off when I called her, she did hesitate even for a moment, she stopped what she was doing and immediately started to assist me with things. II have never experienced such exceptional customer service anywhere! Benchmarks goal should be to be find 5 more of her! Thanks Nicole for everything, you have and continue to make this a wonderful experience!
There are literally no words to describe my experience with this company. Please let me preface this by saying I am never the type of person to leave angry comments on the internet. I have my PhD in psychology and understand that much of the time the most vocal people are often going on angry rants because they are trying to get money or change circumstances that are unavoidable. I however, genuinely feel passionate about sparing future residents from the heartless crooks that run this company. I lived with Benchmark for nearly 2 years. Never missed a payment, always kept the house extremely clean and truly cared for the property as my own. However from the moment I signed my lease they treated me like some ignorant sorority girl despite the fact that I was well into my doctorate. They took advantage of me, constantly sent people over unannounced and even made me take off a day from work to come resign my lease threatening if I did not do it sooner then they would give my home away. All of these things I was able to push aside because I consider myself a very understanding person and am a big believer of karma. However, when I suddenly had to leave town for work they convinced me to pay an extra $300.00 sublet fee, on top of paying for the vacant property. I paid the fee because I had no other options but they assured me this was the best route to take. I then paid for a completely empty residence the month of January and February and when I emailed to check the status of the property they said, Im sorry I forgot to call you, new tenants have been approved. Swallowing my pride one more time, and trying not to think about the $2,100.00 I had just thrown away, I politely forwarded my new address for the return of my security deposit. I was then informed I would not get that back and in fact, when the new tenants who are now subleasing my apartment move out, they will be given my security deposit. Now I like to consider myself a somehwhat generous person however, since I already paid the new tenants rent I did not see it was fit that they get my security deposit as well. At this point I am done fighting because as stated above, I truly do believe in karma, and I hope that this dispicable company gets what they deserve. I wanted to share my story in efforts to save all of you considering working with this company in the future. I mean this from the bottom of my heart, I have never been more disappointed, and screwed over in my entire life. I suppose companies like this truly do thrive on the saying nice guys finish last.
I am a current resident and I really enjoy living in my apartment. The leasing office staff is always helpful and professional. In specific, Angela is awesome!!! Shes both personable and professional. Ive lived in my apartment for 2 years and Ive had a great experience!
The worst experience in my college living career. The worst customer service, the worst maintenance. If one of their old appliances, or units fails expect to be charged for their maintenance men just coming out. They will find anyway to charge you for any kind of thing they feel is in their right to charge you. The A/C unit failed, they sent a maintenance man out to fix it. He unclogged it, didnt replace any parts, yet they charged us $185 for his labor. The staff is unprofessional, theyve showed up the day of trying to show our house to possible residents without notice and tried to argue with us about giving us at least a 24 hour of notice. Whenever you have a question expect a rude response over the phone. These people dont care about any o their tenants they are just money grubbing slime of the lowest sort. I could rant all day about these people but Id rather just tell you DO NOT SIGN A LEASE with BENCHMARK.
*AVOID AT ALL COSTS*--> TL;DR I rented from Benchmark last school year and it was hands down the worst experience I had with housing during my 4 years at FSU. My student housing experience with University Village and Aqua Club were far superior than Benchmark, so what does that tell you?- We had a disgusting blue tarp on our house upon moving in. They never removed/fixed it, and when we called about it 4 months after moving in, they sounded as if they had no idea the tarp existed.- Our fridge had duct tape holding it together upon moving in and our dishwasher was from the 1980s. We didnt even say anything about it at first, they actually called us initially about it; they asked us if the fridge had duct tape on it b/c they said that they had paid for a new fridge and dishwasher and were confused why their vendor didnt fill their order! Lmao!- The main ceiling fan was loud and squeaky to the point where it was hard to sleep sometimes. After making 3 attempts to have them send someone out, the maintenance guy who came did not have a ladder tall enough to reach it. He said that he would have the other maintenance guy who works for them come out. We made 5 additional attempts to get this other maintenance guy to come - he never came.- As a student in grad school, there were absolutely zero parties thrown at my house, and had probably a maximum of 5 people over at a single time during the entire year. They still stole half of our security deposit. I received my entire deposit back from both Aqua Club and University Village, but not Benchmark.
I have had the most trouble with Benchmark. Before moving in I dealt with a rude realtor, Beeta. I would email her, call, and even go up to the office but they would always referred me to her. She hardly responded to my emails and phone calls. When she did respond she was tremendously rude, writing in all caps and saying such phrases as I told you when I know she had not.Then leading up to moving it, I was not told my move in date until 2 days prior. I was stressing out because I had no other place to go. I continuously asked and would receive no response.Finally, I was able to move in yet I had to drive 2 hours back home because I refuse to stay in such a filthy place. It smelled like cat, the stove seemed not to be cleaned in years, the fridge had food all in it, the carpets were stained and filthy, dirt all over the floor, and the previous renters had left a lot of their old dirty belongings.I ended having to deep clean the floors myself and the fridge. The only thing they had cleaned was the stove. Everything else was left up to me even though they said they would. That was at two weeks in my move in I could not stand the filth. Then now a good 6 weeks later, the things they told me were going to be fixed have not and I have yet to hear from them again. I will never do business with benchmark again!!!!!!!!!
EDIT: THEY DIDNT PAY THE POWER BILL AND MY POWER HAS BEEN SHUT OFF! TERRIBLE COMPANY.Absolutely horrible company, completely ignores multiple maintenance requests for weeks on end and lies to you saying things are in the works. Never calls back when they promise they will. My oven has been broken since I moved in 3 months ago and they have yet to send a single person to fix it or gotten a replacement. My heat has been out for over a month and again no one has come to fix it despite probably 6+ calls and maintenance requests.
-5 stars. Roach infestation which ended up be our problem to deal with. Oven has been broken for 3 weeks! They have no care for their tenants. They make my old company, which was not good, look like saints! Never ever rent from them!
Only reason I give 2 stars is cause its not like Im the best tenant in the world, that being said these people suuuuuuuck, I left the appartment I had before benchmarks because my landlord refused to fix the AC, I chatted with Agent about how my current place had no air, he assured me wed have none of that with them, whole year I was there, air never worked, in the summer it was NEVER cooler than 80° inside, I and each of my 2 roomates put in countless work orders, emailed, and even called, no-one ever came, it wasnt really until after the actual ceiling fell in (which still took several days do get done) that they got working within the thinnest definition of the word. The kicker is after the lease ended I called to dispute damages they claimed, and the woman looked up what work orders their had been and only 1 of the dozens wed submitted actually went through and it came in blank so it was automatically cancelled.I can personally attest to flaky nature of renting to college students, thats why I wasnt deterred by the expensive application fees or a large security deposit or general state of apathy, but come on, is it so absurd expect the property to be maintained to the minimum slimy condition in which I rented it?
I have been staying at The Pointe for five years and I just recently moved out at the end of my lease in July. I have been figuring out whats been the issue with getting my secutiy deposit of $1000+.Now I have a letter stating no deposit was transferred and they want to charge me $400+ for damages that were minimal. When I first moved in years ago the stuff was used and not brand new. I have contacted and communicated with the old management (Student Housing Solutions) and new management (Benchmark) and all Im getting is the run around plus lies. I am now getting legal with in the situation.I would not recommend staying at a apartment associated with SHS or Benchmark. The management are unprofessional and scammers.
Scam Artists!!!! Run as fast as you can from these people. Once you have signed your lease they will be rude, unfair, not answer your phone calls and at the end of your lease they will take all of your deposit plus lie and say that you owe more. We went back to our old apartment that they said we owed so much money on and they still did not use the money we paid them to fix the things they said were wrong. Karma will come around and haunt them, because they take advantage of college students who dont know any better. This company will close down, because of their shady corrupt ways!!!!!
I have lived at Ashburn Hills for 3 years now and have had four different landlords during my time. Lauren is far and away the best one I have had! She has been helpful with everything I have needed to get done from scheduling maintenance to general assistance. Would absolutely recommend working with her and living at Ashburn Hills in the future!
I Currently stay at the Cottages at Magnolia and have to say the management is absolutely horrible. When we first moved into the apartment the carpet was dirty, the dish washer was in the middle of the living room, and there wasn’t any furniture even though we got it furnished. The bathrooms were dirty, and the sink was leaking. To make matters worse they are trying to charge me for a router that didn’t even come with the apartment, and they have no records of us telling them this. If you every think about renting with benchmark I would advise you to choose otherwise.
I have worked in a property management company for over a year in the past and have never known such rude, disrespectful, unprofessional, scamming, lying, conniving, lazy bunch of so called professionals. This company cares only about getting your money and taking your money once youre moved out. I lived at 2350 Horne Ave for a year nd a half and at the beginning of my 2nd month in this property I received a utility bill higher than my rent! I incurred a $679 bill in less than 26 days!! I inquired of the city of Tallahassee as to why my bill was so unreasonably high. After looking through past usage of utilities at my residence I was informed that BOTH the tenants before me AND benchmark had been notified of the leaking pipe that caused water to run 24hrs a day outside of the building for over 8 months PRIOR to my move in and 4 months proior to their move in! I was furious that this company had known for so long of this and did NOTHING to fix it or inform me of it. I went to their office and demanded they reimburse me for THEIR negligence and manipulation. Their receptionist literally got in my face and got into an argument with me for wanting them to pay for their screw up. She yelled at me and got up from her seat in my face like she wanted to do something taking the situation personal as if I was asking her to give me HER money out of HER pocket! BTW she no longer works there. So benchmark REFUSED to give me the owners name or any information on the owner because they kept lying saying the owner was not going to pay. Finally they were sick of me showing uo and calling all the time that they decided to give me $190 of the over $650 utility bill that I owed not to mention that after this I still had ANOTHER utility bill of over $200 because they resided on getting the pipe fixed over seven days later once they found their ideal cheap corner cutting construction company. Due to hiring a irresponsible and negligent construction company I was injured right in front of my door to the building and then was given lots of hell, was harassed, lied to and threatened to be evicted for random crap because they now knew they had a lawsuit on their hands. I still have not recovered from my injury that occured in February of this year! I cant kneel because my injured knee cant bend like it used to. Please think twice about dealing with this scamming, manipulative, deceitful, unprofessional, excuse for a company and keep your money. If youre a minority such as myself, trust me youll have just as bad experience as they have been told by so many tenants how racially prejudiced they are and how rude they are. NOW they have decided to hire a black receptionist to prove they are not discriminatory lmao. I would give this whole scamming skeaming place a minus 10 if I could. A NEGATIVE 10 is what they deserve. Good luck getting your deposit back from this place!
I wish I could have uploaded all the photos I have! this has been the worst experience of my life!!! Don’t rent here ! I had to clean my own apartment when I moved in... since I moved in I’ve experienced mold , water leaks in the roof, AC unit issues, water pipe bursting outside causing me to have to pay a 1000 dollar light bill , doors breaking , windows that don’t close all the way, and electrical issues with the kitchen light where the roof was leaking, which could have killed me by the way! I’m getting the hell outta dodge ! and anyone who gives them a good review was paid to.
Do not live at any of the benchmark managed housing units! They will take your rent money and have you living in mold for a year before maintenance comes, the entire unit is collapsing and no one in the office who gets paid to know things knows anything. If you are a student I suggest you spend your money where your word carries weight, here your complaints are taking lightly you will have to get your parents to travel from out of town to talk to (Ms. K) she is extremely unethical, they are paying her to do nothing she needs to be replaced!!
Benchmark Real Estate Services is a great property management company to work with. They were always reachable and very efficient. I was able to do almost everything online. I found there staff very helpful and friendly!This company cares and they let you know it. They go out of their way to resolve any issues. The owner goes out of her way to help even its issue with the rent.
As a previous college student that rented a home for years in college and now, today, as an owner of a rental unit, Benchmark Property Management is nothing but professional and fair. Benchmark Property Management is fair when dealing with both owner and tenant, because the line between the two is a fine one. Meaning, if Benchmark does not protect the owner and their investment, then the owner will leave for another property manager and if Benchmark does not treat the tenant fair, then they stand to lose a potential tenant that could be a client of theirs for 4-5 years while the student is at college. Speaking from a home owners perspective, I do not look forward to the turn. The turn is when the tenant leaves, because 9 times out of 10, tenant damages far exceed the security deposit collected, leaving owners to pay more than what was collected. I would gladly refund all of the security deposit in trade for leaving my unit clean and without damage.
While they are professional in their presentation and personnel, Benchmark Services are absolutely horrible in their treatment of their tenants. They are extremely slow to respond to requests, some times taking a full month or two to fix problems with your apartment. Overall, they demonstrate a complete lack of concern for their patrons. While the location of their properties maybe ideal, I would not recommend these properties at all because of their poor services you will receive. Avoid them!
Benchmarks is the worst! Honestly their management has disappointed me on every hand in numerous Ways. Professionalism is not heard of! I have left voicemails stating if no one called me back I will call ATHORITIES and STILL not a single soul called me back. When I do get the receptionist the conversation is always inappropriate and reflection on the company as a whole in my book! For the 2 years I’ve lived under one of their properties I have never made any late payments, and have been a respectable resident. Please consider other living arrangements before making a decision to live under one of their properties
This is my second location renting with Benchmark. I am about to sign my third year. Maintenance is always quick to respond and office staff is always helpful. Ive never had an issue getting my security deposit back because I followed their easy cleanup instructions. I would highly recommend their properties.
It is very hard to get them on the phone and when I speak with individuals at the front desk my messages never seem to be passed along. Customer service is improving overall. Due to my lack of trust in leaving messages at the front I go up to the main office. This is more beneficial due to the fact I normally am able to work with Ms. Angela Barr. Once I work with her she always completes the task and treats me with great customer service. She never comes off elite or rude, she is honestly why I want to stay with Benchmark. Her and their online portal.
While the physical property was nice enough and the move-in process simple, the amount of blunt unprofessionalism and lack of courtesy I received once I gave notice of my intention to vacate was appalling. They continually waited till the very last second to either alert me of potential renter walk-throughs or mail me information regarding my lease and security deposit, and when I called to investigate they threw the book of FL Statutes at me and said they didnt have to do anything but what the law states. Yes, I get that, you ungrateful hack of a landlord, but seeing as how I never damaged your property, was never late on a payment, and even went out of my way to pressure wash all of the decks and facades - something you should have done as a professional realty company - it would have been much more appropriate to try and accommodate your patrons. I will never recommend this company to anyone. In fact, I would implore you to save yourself the headache and take your valued business elsewhere. Amateurs. Oh, and did I mention the absurd state of the appliances/lack of installed light sockets?
Horrible.I booked two showings with them two weeks apart from one another. The first showing they were over an hour late and they gave the excuse of slow traffic for the reason why instead of just telling the truth.After no agent came after 15 minutes of the scheduled time for the second showing, I called and was told someone would be over soon. 30 more minutes pass and I called again only to be told that the showing was cancled and that it was my fault for not checking in before the scheduled time I had made a week prior.The customer service rep. had a very rude undertone and was acting like I was wasting his time, even though they had just wasted an hour of mine. I would recommend to never consider renting from this company as they are very unprofessional and are not deserving of business.
Im only giving this review because I feel like I was kicked out of a place (Colonial Dr) that I loved and stayed at for 6 years because they wanted more money... a LOT more money. Granted they did do renovations but they increased the rent from $720 to $1250 per month (The rent when I first moved in was $650). I understand that the owner wants to have a return on investment but a 73% increase in rent is the definition of GENTRIFICATION.
They dont accept money orders as payment for rent nor do they accept checks. This real estate agency is about one thing and one thing only, making as much money as possible while putting in as little money as possible into maintenance, renovations and repairs. A.K.A. Slum Lords.
I live at Villa Cortez. I absolutely LOVE what benchmark is doing with this place. New pool, new chairs around the pool, fixed gates, new paint and warm hearts. Maintenance responds quick to my request and they dont mind taking the extra mile. My stairs needed to be fixed and I forgot to mention it to them, after I got home from work my stairs were fixed! Overall, having experience with 4 different apartment companies in Tallahassee, Benchmark is by far the best to ever do it!
This is the most unprofessional place I have ever encountered, they are taking advantage of young college students, my daughter is a resident at one of their properties, the management uses deception in order to rob these tenants of fees , They are like the lure fish they show you and eloquent elaborate model then switch one you with a roach infested moldy run down property and have them rent furniture that even the good will won’t sale. They may do some people right I don’t know the entire workings of this place but what I do know is the unjust hand they have dealt with us they are Calais and have no understanding.
We have a few mailboxes (about 16 units per box) at Capital Village. One of them, for about two weeks, was tipped over and held up by a cinder block. Then one morning, it was gone. About a week or so later I called again, because I like being able to get my mail every day (call me crazy). They said that the property manager claimed to have fixed it. I thought that was odd, as I was standing where my mailbox used to be when I called, and there was no mailbox in that spot, only me. Look, I guess you get what you pay for, but yikes.
I ignored the bad reviews when moving in bc I was desperate, don’t be. Believe it they are SCAMMERS! That’s why they try to make good move in deals because the management is terrible and constantly change. They have terrible communication and unreasonable fees. I didn’t get my security deposit back and they said I OWD THEM! Ha! I saw a comment just like this before moving in and I wish I would’ve listened!
Tallahassee is known for being home to some of the worst property management companies, but Bench Mark takes the cake. This company has accused me of just about everything to try to get money out of me. Including charging me for rent I had already paid and for carpet cleaning in a house that was all wood floors. They have some of the least professional people working for them I have ever come across. I dont care how nice the house that you want to rent is, if it is with benchmark save yourself the stress and live in a box.
I find the rash of recent positive experiences posted here unnerving. Although Benchmark makes the move-in process delightful, just picture someone with their hands over their ears screaming “LA-LA-LA!” because that’s what they will do once they get your money. In retrospect, it would have been better to pitch a tent among the homeless near I-10 – no joke.To be succinct, I wound up hiring a lawyer and unleashing codes enforcement on them to address the god-awful living conditions I endured. Ever have to smash roaches while you’re trying to make dinner because they’re falling out from your air vents? (Thanks disgusting upstairs neighbors – you can take trash out more than once a week!) Black and pink mold bleed through the recently-painted walls? Or your ceiling crack at 12 inch intervals because the upstairs flooring system is deemed deficient by a structural engineer? I won’t even address the thugs that lived above us – a restraining order sufficed. But a note on that: Tallahassee does not currently have a noise ordinance. So FYI - if your neighbors are blasting heavy bass music, or at 3 am in a drug-induced stupor are yelling through the floor that they will kill you if you call the police on them again – no one will help you. Well, except your lawyer.My favorite part? I used their preferred floor cleaning vendor and paid 3x the normal amount to ensure that the carpets were spotless. Day after their work, I came back to carpets smeared with black and brown patches, almost like if someone had a mud-slinging contest in my apartment. Per Benchmark, I was charged again to clean the carpets, which were perfect the 2nd time around, of course, while also being charged for every item I marked damaged or missing on my original move-in sheet. Be advised – Benchmark wants better ratings, and incentivizes positive posts. Listen to those of us who survived this joke of a management company, and AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
If I could give them a zero I would. Customer service sucks and you can never get in contact with anyone important. It’s crazy how they managed a property for me but I knew more about what’s going on than they did. They’ll take your money and avoid responding to voicemails and emails, their favorite line is I was on vacation or I been out of office sick. Staff is horrible never knows nothing but manages your property. Not sure how they’re still in business but they need to close the doors ASAP. Don’t waste your time renting or letting them manage your properly RUNNNNNN.....
Benchmark recently took ownership of the property where I lived. My husband and I were planning to move and needed to sublease our apartment in a short amount of time. I reached out to the portfolio manager Imani Osborne, and she worked diligently and patiently with us in order to help up fill our apartment. The process wasn’t as fast as we thought it would be but in the end, everything worked out! Imani is very helpful and gave us just a glimpse of how amazing Benchmark really is! We could not be happier.
My apartment always had issues. I made multiple complaints. Towards the end of my lease, they cut a huge hope in my bathroom. I moved out early, but still paid all my rent. They had the nerve to send me a bill. Ridiculous!
STAY FAR AWAY- Very unprofessional businessThey will try to get money out of anyone they can. I put in an application on a house, and was told I needed a guarantor to sign the lease, no biggie as I had my mom fill out the paperwork. I get a call the next day saying that someone came in and put a deposit down on the house and that we could look on their website for another that fit our needs. Why would I want to rent a different house from the same shady company that had already screwed me out of my money before even signing a lease?
I contacted Benchmark Real Estate 5 days before I needed to be moved in somewhere. I was put in touch with Chad and my experience has been nothing short of fantastic. He made me a lot of promises and he delivered on every single one. I have been moved in and I love my new place. Nothing but gratitude for Chad and Benchmark!
Benchmark Real Estate Services is in charge of our home owners association. Furthermore, the owner Kevin Collins (which I believe this to be a conflict of interest) is the president of the board of the HOA. He does not return emails, calls and is always at lunch whenever I try to contact him.In July 2017, I asked them to fix the roof and soffits/fascia. They had a local roofer come out 3 months after I made the request. Now 4 months and the soffits/fascia was never fixed. I emailed and called them when I saw the quote, which didnt have the soffits/fascia in it (no answer) I emailed the woman in charge of the account and asked why they were not fixed. Now to make matter worst (Oct 2017) squirrels moved into our attic. I cannot recommend them as they take so long to fix incoming work orders. More damage was caused and their communication is lackluster.
I can’t overstate how helpful our property manager Sarah has been! She has been very responsive, helpful, and open to communicate with. When any issues have arisen she has been attentive, clear, and quick to resolution. Repairs and maitence requests have been simple to enter and quickly attended to.
They took over my property 2 weeks before my kease was up. They held my deposit with no explanation. They even said the house was in better shape moving out than it was moving in, according to my move in inspection. Shady people.
They keep your security deposit, you’re your own pest control and plumber, the office workers know nothing and after you move out they are positively absolutely going to make every excuse to keep your money. If you do move here take plenty of pictures and ALWAYS EMAIL, never call bc they all have amnesia.
Rented a 2br townhouse. I will say the unit wasnt the cleanest upon move-in. Had no other issues; all maintenance requests were fulfilled in a fairly reasonable time (though sometimes I did have to call and follow up). Left the place cleaner than we found it and got our full deposit back no problem!
These people never return a call. Always promise to call but never do. Their communication with me was very poor, but then they seem not to communicate with each other. The contractors they use are second rate. Time to find new managers for my condo.
The people at Benchmark have been extremely helpful since my family and I started our relocation to the Tallahassee area. We moved from Pittsburgh and had a very small window to be able to tour potential homes in Tallahassee to rent and Beata and Eric were a great help lining up multiple homes for me and my family to tour. I ended up with a great place and actually was able to take care of everything online. Overall great experience. I highly recommend!
If I could rate it less than one star I would. They took over our property and they literally go through property managers so fast there’s no one to communicate with. Our fridge and disposal were broken for over two months. I went in repeatively only be told there was a work order in for it and it turns out surprise surprise there was never a work order put in. They are literally the biggest group of incapable idiots and don’t know the first thing about running a business so I can’t wait to see them fail.
Benchmark did an AWESOME job helping me find a residence in Tallahassee, FL!!! Being new to the area I had little knowledge of what was available in the area, but Chad’s personal attention & diligence found me a perfect spot in just 2 days. HIGHLY recommend Chad & Benchmark realty to anyone searching for their next residence. THEY ROCK!!!🤘🏻🤘🏻
I cant speak for the company itself because I primary dealt with Nicole. I can say she is amazing! She went out of her way on multiple occasions even providing me with assistance by answering questions and calling me back after hours. I didnt end up renting with them but only because I received an out of town job offer. If I end up back in Tallahassee, I will be calling Benchmark and working with her. Thanks Nicole!!! :)
Save yourself the trouble and rent elsewhere. Just look at the reviews for one of their properties called The Alliance at 400 and it will speak for itself. I was super excited to rent out the Lexington Woods apartment but, of course, these scam artists just bought it out.
They made finding my new home a breeze. I moved into a wonderful home that has been extremely well maintained. I love the online portal, makes paying rent a breeze. I will be renting from them as long as I am in Tallahassee.
This is the worst and unprofessional company I have ever dealt with in history. These people want your rent on time, but when you have a problem with something you’re definitely not a priority. They don’t call you back nor respond to e-mails. I can’t wait until my lease is up! I’ll be filing a complaint in the mean time!
Giving 0 stars. This place should not be in business. There is a total lack of professionalism and they are thieves. You do a job for them and they will not pay. Just read the previous reviews lol Im surprised this place is still up and running. Further more do not trust Chad Hollifield he is a terrible property manager. Do not let them scam you.
Im a resident at Campus Edge apt. for the past 2yrs and was on my way to looking for a new place because the management here was horrible,but then Ruth and Tone showed up from Benchmark. These guys are the best , they have came in and hit the ground running, taking care of things I asked to be fixed for years, and keeping the grounds clean. Ill be signing up for my 3rd Yr. all because of Ruth and Tone. Great job.
This is a sloppy organization. Theyre slack in answering and returning phone calls. Professionalism is very suspect. Theres a strong lack of accountability with the staff from top to bottom. We put a deposit down on a Saturday. By Monday, they informed us the place was sold. Its been a hassle trying to get my money back.
Crooks!! I went out my way to DEEP CLEAN the whole apt and they still trying to keep my deposit.. never late rent, no damage, and left apt spotless..they think they smart.. rob you with a pen.. RECORD ALL CONVO AND KEEP RECEIPTS.. better yet, that probably wouldnt work with these Crooks... just stay away, far far away
Dear Benchmark Team,We were very pleased with the smooth preparation and closing process as prepared by your offices. We appreciated the timely response, thoughtful and professional advice, and proficient management of the house sale. We can highly recommend your services. April 2015
- 10 stars, worst company I have ever dealt with. Got broken into, filed a police report, called and called and called left messages after messages and got no response from them for weeks on weeks, completely ripped us off billed us thousands of dollars, lied on our security statement do NOT rent from them.
Have had problems getting maintenance requests to come out to my unit, but the personnel are very helpful.Would like to take this moment to acknowledge the ethic and merits of one of Benchmark’s finest, Forest. He’s helped me through some complicated situations, and has maintained an aura of professionalism the whole way.
They were 45 minutes late for first appointment.Second appointment they told us to kick rocks.I would rather listen to DESPACITO on repeat for 29.3 hours straight then rent through Benchmark Real Estate.Sharknado 3 > Benchmark Real EstateThanks Chad.
Absolutely terrible. This company is negligent. If you are a Tallahassee resident steer clear or any property owned by this company. They are a bad company run by incompetent people. Negative 5 stars
Good people care about tenants who communicate issues if any. They have been good to me through the pandemic.
Extremely unprofessional. They refuse to do any timely repairs and do not respect their tenants. They will not give you any prior warning to when they will let themselves in to your apartment for repairs.
Villa Cortez Apartments leasing Office Staff is extremely friendly and helpful. They are constantly improving the property daily. Its a financially savvy choice with a very accommodating location.
Joey Stein Cares about his tenants. Anybody who has a bad thing to say about benchmark probably doesn’t like to be a normal functioning member of society. I live in peace and quiet and care.
They are rudest real estate services that I have ever seen. In addition, they change your application in whichever direction they want to for their maximum profit. Never again. Why is there no 0 star?
I have been a tenant of Benchmark going on my second year. They are great to work with. Maintenance issues are handled promptly and efficiently and the staff is both friendly and understanding.
Guy had me on hold for longer then 15 min. Put the appl on tues been calling ever since . Finically got someone . Ask for stubs to tell me I was approved but that someone else got the place . They scam you.
Extremely unprofessional. This place is run by people with npd. They are flaky, gas lighting, pushy and they act as if they are doing you a favor by answering the phone. They will ghost you. I’m so glad that I won’t be doing any business with them and I feel bad for the people who have signed contracts with this company.
Waited a year for a replacement washer and dryer . No communication . And I currently have a badly leaking a/c leaking from the ceiling and I’m afraid of how long this will take to get fixed . STAY FAR AWAY FROM BENCHMARK . THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER RENTAL COMPANIES TO DO BUSINESS WITH .
Havent had a problem! Very responsive to requests, repairs done quickly, easy autopay setup for rent. Great downtown location that just cant be beat.
If i could i would leave negative stars - they constantly break the law- management doesnt last, they never pick up the phone, each person tells you something different, they gave my security deposit to someone else, after months of asking about it and people telling me oh check is at the office - oh we didnt have your address oh i dont know ...turns out they had sent it stop someone else, the guy was honest so he gave me the moneythey tried to change the terms of my contract they bought a building in thimble of my tenancyits been over 6 months since my lease was over and i just got a bill today for 85 dollars they claim something for June -i would be really careful dealing with them they are terrible terrible and will cause monetary issuesstay away from their properties i am a broker myself in florida - they are a complete JOKE go somewhere else
They seem nice enough, but they overcharge for services and milk people for every dollar they can get. I had a maintenance issue and the cost of sending their service person out was twice what I could have gotten a handyman to come out for. No me gusta!
This place is absolutely the worse management in tallahassee maybe Florida. Cheats people out of their deposit. MOLD in units. Poor customer service . Take my advice and rent elsewhere. Never came out to fix anything
It deserve no stars. They lie and take your money nothing gets fixed you have to pay out of pocket and after you sign the lease they get very disrespect.
Biggest scammers right before I was supposed to move in they CONVENIENTLY lost my double deposit notary forms and all my payments was trying to force me to repay all fees (far from inexpensive) #lawsuitEdit: I initially applied for a 2/1 apartment for 598 I believe it was they tried to give me a completely different more EXPENSIVE and smaller apartment in my desperation to move I accepted and clearly learned my lesson
I have called their office number non stop for 3 days and NO ONE answers the phone. I tried at ALL times of the day. Left tons of messages with no response. Its a $%@@#% Joke. This place SUCKS !! Meanwhile the property they rented out is falling apart and needs immediate attention.
Getting into this place quick and easy! Admiring spencers work he has done with us. Hes professional and cool.But reading all these reviews scare me a little! Cant turn back now.
Do not sign a lease with any property owned by this company. Very unprofessional staff, I always have to call since my online maintenance requests always go ignored, and no one there ever seems to know the answer to any question I may have.
Rude, unprofessional. Disgusting apartment. Take pictures before you move out, theyll do their best to keep every dime of your deposit.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR LIVING SITUATION. THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT TAKING YOUR MONEY. THEY WONT FIX ANYTHING BUT WILL CHARGE YOU AN ARM AND A LEG TO STAY AT THEIR 1960 BUILT HOMES.
Ya tried not be biasis and signed a lease with the company. But ya as advertised everything correct had someone even randomly try to open my apartment ! At 10:30 pm saying it’s there apartment
Tenant for 3 years. I love the service, quality, timely maintenance and polite leasing agents... Thank you so much for always being so friendly and efficient.
Less than one star would be the way to describe this company, the management is completely unprofessional. Refer is rude, a scammer, and absolutely despicable
New management at Benchmark is professional and quick to fix problems. Ignore old reviews, they have really stepped up their game.
DO NOT LEASE WITH THESE PEOPLE. AS A CURRENT EMPLOYEE THEY ARE NOT FAIR AT ALL!!! COULD CARELESS WHERE YOU STAY AND WHO YOU LIVE WITH. GOES OUT THE WAY TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR OWN FIRST. MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO END A LEASE BUT EVICTS FIRST CHANCE THEY HAVE. HORRIBLE TWO FACED PEOPLE.
They WILL steal your deposit, and are impossible to get any repairs done while you are living in their units.
The absolute worst experience ever. Once they have your money customer service is out the window. Please leave a comment if you would like in on this class action suit Im about to file.
They will leave you feeling neglected and feeling violated. My opinion is to have a lawyer on stand by.
Nicole is great! Contacted her Sat and she fit me in knowing I had an immediate need.😊
They never repair anything, you can call and email but nobody will respond back. Dont waste your time.
Great place to deal with when renting an apartment. Great management and maintenance team.
Terrible, glad they only hooked me up with my apartment, but handled no further management.
There are numerous pot holes on our street and they will do nothing about them (among other things). Terrible company.
I would have given zero stars if I could. I don’t even understand how this place is in business. Absolute trash company and employees.
Doesnt have move ins till August poo poo
SCAMMERS, they don’t care anything about you, they are hungry for money because of their failing business!
If everyone in their office died in a fire it would be the greatest thing since sliced bread
Thanks for the past 2 years. Maintenace took care of issues in a timely manner.
They are the worst landlord in Tallahassee....Conniving Thieves....Never Again
DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! MOLD AND POOR MANAGEMENTWILL KEEP YOUR SECURITY DEPOSIT (GURANTEED)
I would rate a half star if i could. Absolutely HORRIBLE.
Stop requiring decals/towing cars.
To many bugs in these apartment building
They are very unprofessional and are scammers.
Ruth is the best ever!!
Scam artist at its finest!
Terrible company stay away
Do not use these people!
Total reviews rating 2.1
164 Reviews for Benchmark Real Estate Services 2023:
Review №1
2022-06-23Slum lords! I have reported a leaking roof for 6 months now, has yet to be repaired, they either cancel the maintenance request or mark as completed. I reported A/C is leaking water and stayed home from work so maintenance could enter the home, was not notified they were not coming until I reached out to them. Washer and dryer both broke down, contacted management asking them if they wanted me to have them removed or if they wanted to pick them up, they stated I had to keep them in the home and that I should have asked permission to purchase a washer and dryer. At this point I am contacting a lawyer. Stay away from Benchmark Real Estate.
Review №2
2022-08-18Benchmark is super lit. They accommodated me during move in last minute with no extras fees or hassle. JT and Chanelle who work at the front desk handled my annoyance very professionally. And shout out to Leslie the property manager. She was incredibly accommodating and nice. 100/10 recommend this leasing agency to all people looking for rent. Especially at Lexington woods apartments. !
Review №3
2022-07-19This company is by far one of the least professional property management companies that Ive run into. When I called to get more information about available units on their properties, the woman that answered instead told me, well weve got lots of applications in, and theyre all getting approved right now so were going to have zero. The attitude I received for asking a simple question lets me know that I dodged a bullet.
Review №4
2022-04-11Seminole Village Apt 5! Worse apartment ever! Everything is patched up, you will need maintenance once a week not to mention the mold and ridiculously outdated appliances that are not as advertised. Respectfully, Benchmark Real Estate Services needs to do better or start all over again. What a waste of peoples money & time.
Review №5
2022-08-18Worst property management company in Tallahassee. The communication between staff and tenants is horrible. No callbacks on maintenance requests unless you call and complain, only to hear them blame the third party for the delay. Very unprofessional and stressful.I could say a lot more but rather not.Don’t waste your time
Review №6
2022-08-05DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY!They are slumlords! Mold everywhere, unannounced entrances without anyone home, destruction of personal property, and will steal your security deposit.
Review №7
2022-08-09This has been one of the most enjoyable and fruitful move-in experience Ive ever had. Chanelle, Lauren, and Leslie are incredibly helpful, kind, and thoughtful.
Review №8
2021-10-18I never review or complain about companies, but this one’s an exception. There’s a reason why they have a 2 star average. It’s been almost 4 months and I still haven’t gotten my security deposit back. I’ve called them countless times within that time frame and they still haven’t resolved the issue. I also lived in a house through Benchmark a couple of years ago and it took them 5 MONTHS (almost half my lease) to fix the air conditioning. I was living in an oven and it was impossible to fall asleep. Do yourself a favor and don’t sign a lease through this company. Very unprofessional and a terrible experience.
Review №9
2022-03-22Now that this company had decided to BAN me from their property because Property Manager LESLIE Refused to speak with Us the issue of our apartment, I will no longer have NO MERCY. The most disgusting, Dirtiest, Conniving, Lying, RACIST Property management to exist. I am so disgusted that i even stooped so low as to become a tenant with them. What a bunch of unprofessional, no life, no soul, theiving COWARDS. This whole company is going up in flames .
Review №10
2022-05-13Excellent service, no issues. Moving in was a pleasure. Staff is always helpful. I think they are now working overtime trying to rebuild their reputation. Nothing, but good things to say about this company.