Ben Leeds Investment & Management - Los Angeles, California

Kelsey H.

I have had a wonderful experience with the building manager Alex Stedman of Ben Leeds. She is the main reason I am probably going to rent this apartment. She's a living breathing human being who answers the phone, is responsive to questions, and seems entirely reasonable and humane. I have just been approved for an apartment so I cannot speak to the experience of living in a Ben Leeds managed property, but the place I saw looked like the listing photos, had all the listed amenities, and comes with a human being as a liaison rather than a hotline hellhole to get lost in a touchtone menu until you throw your phone out the window. In a world where the bar is on the floor for humanity in this process of trying to live indoors, Alex was a breath of fresh air.

Midas H. I.

Moving from Colorado to my renovated apartment in Venice in April has been an absolute dream. My property manager Jonathan responds within minutes whenever I text him, and always takes my requests seriously. My rent is the same as it would be in Denver, CO plus they left the staging equipment for me to make my move-in procedure easier for me. And when I got my own furniture, they took it away right when I requested to regain square footage for my own things.
Needless to say, I fully plan to extend my lease, highly recommend choosing a place with Ben Leeds.

Shakara W.

My mother is disabled and has Section 8. She applied for an apartment with Ben Leeds Properties. Even though she has section 8 and legally cannot work, they tried to deny her for not having an income. Her Section 8 would cover the full rent. I then apply as a co-signer, proving that I make over 6x the rent and they still try to deny her saying she doesn't qualify. I remind them that A.) She does because she has Section 8 and they cover the full rent and she legally cannot work with her disability, she also receives disability payments and B.) I've co-signed for her and together we're providing evidence of well over 8x the rent. The approve her, but that's when they begin to "stall her out". Legally they couldn't deny her because she was an adequate candidate, but stalling and not submitting paperwork was the route they chose to ensure my mother would not be housed. We started this process with them in March, by May they finally submitted the RFTA to Section 8 after months of me following up begging them to their part to finalize this-- the point of contact was Megan Kiniry. 10 days go by and they tell us that they've rented the apartment, but my mother can transfer her application to another apartment per their policy. So we do, and again, I am calling, emailing, begging them to submit the paperwork. My mother is houseless and disabled and they are refusing to sign the document that would secure her housing. My mother ended up suffering a small stroke due to the stress of this process and I again begged them to submit the paperwork, so that she would have a place to live when left the hospital. They finally submit the paperwork July 21st and then on July 24th, they contact me saying the apartment has been rented and that my mother is not allowed to transfer her application to a new place, she has to start the entire process over. We have reason to believe that this company knew directly denying her could potentially flare up legal issues, so instead they began stalling her out and processing paperwork for other applicants, while leaving hers to sit on the desk. We also ran into a few ADA things that were resolved, we had to remind them about reasonable accommodations. The regional supervisor Nicole R. Bryant, was also very unkind to my mother and made her feel badly for being there-- which isn't against the law, but definitely adds fuel to the fire. As of now, my mother is still houseless and they've taken our money in application fees and wasted 6 months of our time with no intention to rent to us.

If anyone has a similar experience with this company, please contact me. Would love a class action moment against these frauds.

They truly deserve 0 stars, I don't know how these people sleep at night.

Andrel R.

So my application was denied with a minimal score. Where multiple property Management companies have approved me. They accused me of owing a relatives past dept that's not even on my credit report. After a conversation with a friend whom lives at 5708 Tujunga, these people have even proven time and time again to be racists. Also, looking at the complaints filed and law suits against them, they did me a favor by denying me. Liz and Ruby definitely are not doing this company a service of any type. Ery thankful this didn't work out. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of any Ben Leeds properties. All that I have seen and heard are dismay and upset.

Kirsten L.

I was really interested in several units, but I never heard back from them. After finally getting in contact with corporate/upper management, they told me to apply for a unit and I would be given priority as I was serious and coming from out of state. I applied, and waited a WEEK before calling them and asking if I had been approved. I was approved the day after my application and never received any phone call or email from them. Then, it turns out someone else had dropped off a deposit the same day I applied.... why encourage me to apply, let alone approve me for a place that someone already has? The only reason I'm not giving 1 star is that the girls who work on the phones are very nice and it's more on the property manager, not them.

Barbara P.

Worst company I’ve ever had the unpleasantness of dealing with, if I had read reviews before moving in I wouldn’t move in at all. There are many things broken at the apartment since the day we signed the contract that the property manager said would be fixed, a year later nothing was ever fixed… Due to the rains there was a leak inside my wall and my walls were moldy and the room inhabitable. It took 3 months for them to fix it while I still paid full rent, and they said “there was nothing they could do about it.”

Sam M.

We didn't even have the opportunity to live in a Ben Leeds property. My partner and I got approved for an apartment and received an e-mail telling us to take our security deposit to the property manager within 24 hours. I called the property manager as soon as we received the e-mail to find out when she would be in and where she would like us to bring the deposit, but she didn't answer her phone. I left a message. I called again the next morning. Still no answer. I called the Ben Leeds office and was assured I could bring the deposit there if I didn't hear back from the property manager. Well, we finally heard back from the manager, 4 hours before our 24 hours was up, to find out that two other applicants had been approved and one of them already dropped off their deposit. There was absolutely no mention in the e-mail or from the Ben Leeds office of having to race other applicants to get the space. Talk about crappy business practices. The property manager's excuse was that she gets a lot of phone calls, but she apparently had time to talk to the other applicants. I will certainly not be renting any properties from Ben Leeds if this is how they run their business. No transparency, and no communication.

Erika S. V.

DISCRIMINATORY, RUDE & INEFFICIENT- 0 stars - It’s my 5th time renting in the US as a Mexican Citizen and this is the first time they (Samantha) requests so much information and despite me providing it, she says she can’t prove where I live? Every call she has requested something different and I’ve been waiting 7 days since first submission. Her communication is poor, rude and inefficient. Do yourself a favor and don’t waste your time with this company. Irvine Company and Decron (who I have rented with before) are amazing, accommodating and do not discriminate.