Marshall & Co Property Management - San Rafael, California

A A.

Marshall & Co is one of the worst property management companies with an ineffective resident manager (Dave P) and ineffective building manager (Sarah J). I moved into one of their newly renovated apartments in Laurel Heights last year and it is the CHEAPEST reno ever, however, this would be OK if they actually fixed the issues the first time in a timely manner BUT THEY DID NOT.

- Contractors shoved the Xfinity cable behind drywall and maintenance could not find it after making large holes in the living room and closet walls - this was such a nightmare because I work remotely and of course Comcast could not do anything. I just had to find an alternative provider (and we know how limited SF is on options depending where you're located).

- Maintenance person they send out is a general handyman and should not be trusted with expertise work. My oven was not working upon move-in and when it was fixed while I was out of state for work, the oven WAS PERMANENTLY ON and my apartment was sooo warm when I came home at MIDNIGHT. This maintenance person also will show up AT HIS OWN TIME, like he will say he is coming between 12 - 5P on a specific day and SHOW UP THE NEXT DAY IF HE EVEN SHOWS UP.

- During the heavy rains Jan - Mar of this year, my ceiling started leaking. They sent above-mentioned maintenance person TWICE and the ceiling was still leaking. They tried to send him a THIRD time and I told them I was going to report them to DBI and petition the rent board if they didn't get it permanently fixed. They sent a different person and he showed me pictures of how easy it was to determine where the leak was because dirt streaked around the leak area. It was fixed Mar 13 and the leak began Feb 1.

Dave and Sarah basically just gaslit me. Here's what Sarah wrote when I escalated the leak on Mar 4 after it still wasn't fixed when it began Feb 1:
"Everything was fixed. You informed us of a leak still following the fix on Feb 29. Today is March 4th. "

I have emails and videos of the leak starting on Feb 1 and how it was still dripping when I wrote to Sarah Mar 4. I asked Dave if I could paint the ceiling myself after the repair and he reported me to Sarah for not complying w/ my lease. LOL. If the maintenance person actually showed up, I would have no problem letting Marshall & Co do the cosmetic repair! If I can do it myself and do a better job, why would I want to extend an already 2+ month issue to a 3rd month?!

- Today, one of my packages went missing and I asked Dave if he could see in the video who grabbed it AND DAVE SAID THE VIDEO FROM THE SECURITY CAMERA DOESN'T SAVE! I called him out on his BS because the mailboxes got broken into a few months ago and Dave had sent a message saying he sent the video to the police! So which is it?

- Other more minor issues:
- Paint used in kitchen and doors just peel off w/ a fingernail scratch
- Nothing in the bathroom was screwed down - the towel rack fell when I placed my towel on it 1st day I moved in, the spout was unscrewed w/ a large gap between the wall and spout, toilet started leaking during flushes because the bolts weren't bolted down
- There was only one smoke/CO2 detector and it wasn't even on, I tested it a month after I moved in and screwed it back in and that's when it turned on. It also fell on me because there were no screw anchors and it was basically hanging on to strips of paint.
- A neighbor was asking me about my oven, apparently it already wasn't working and the previous resident already reported and NOTHING WAS DONE ABOUT IT
- Marshall was moving to a new payment system at the beginning of my lease and Sarah was clueless setting it up and once again gaslighting me that I was the one doing something wrong (please note I have actually implemented these types of systems)

The only positive about Dave and Sarah is that they are responsive. They are useless in anything else. Do not do not rent from them if you have other options.

Juliet E.

Love this company! Sarah gets things done! She actually answers when you call (a first for apartment management in my experience) and she sends workers to fix things that really FIX things instead of just tinkering and leaving it for the next guy. Thanks Sarah!!

Theo

I feel really bad for any homeowner who is using this company. I have reached out to view a home that is for rent a total of six times now with zero response it has been listed for rent for 94 days. I guess now we know why homeowners if you’re using this company I would Reconsider

Amelia J.

I've been renting from Marshall & Co for over 7+ years. They are always responsive and attend to all maintenace needs in a timely manner. I higly recommend renting from this company.

Jay W.

I am a tenant in a unit in SF that is currently managed by Marshall & Co Property Management (acting as Landlord on behalf of true owner of APT). I don't normally write reviews, but felt compelled to do so in this case. In my 7 years of renting in San Francisco, CA, I have never met a landlord (Sarah J.) who was more responsive, understanding, and helpful than Sarah.

Whether there was something even as minor as the trash bin being filled up (by other move out tenants on move out day) prior to the weekly service, a cabinet drawer not shutting smoothly, etc., I always received A+ service from Sarah. Not 20 minutes after my emails were sent, I would get a response from Sarah responding to my concerns, and addressing items needed to be fixed ASAP. We would bring things up, and would have a handyman dispatched the next day at our convenience to fix.

We currently have a unique move out experience that we needed to coordinate with Sarah. Sarah was very professional, responsive, and helpful throughout the whole process.

So.........doing my second review ever of a company on google (first one was to complain about a company): I am blown away at how easy they were to deal with signing up the lease, how comfortable/easy Sarah made the tenant experience, and how well their company operates.

To that, a big 5 stars for Marshall & Co and 5 Stars to Sarah for our A+ experience!

- Jay

Lisa R.

I really like Marshall. I’ve been a tenant in one of the complexes he manages. He’s knowledgeable, he follows the law and he tries to be very fair.
Amie is our property manager and Chris is our resident manager. Both of them are very conscientious and willing to do the ‘most’ rather than the least. In fact, repairs happen within hours of notification, not days or weeks.
I had a fruit fly problem, so Chris bought me some traps. He didn’t expect me to buy them because he wanted to make sure I had the right thing. When I thanked him, he told me this way he is sure I’m doing what will eliminate the problem so it doesn’t become an entire complex problem.
The owner of our complex deserves a humanitarian award. We have a heated pool 6 months out of the year and I’m guessing he’s the reason why Chris is able to be so good. He gives Chris the freedom to do a good job. Our owner is not cheap!
Amie is a miracle worker when it comes to dealing with difficult people. She’s professional, kind, a good listener, fair and friendly.
What’s not to like?!?

Erik A.

Serious lack of internal communication is the core value that Marshall & Co must have painted above the doorway in the back office.

For a company who is sole job is property management, it would only make sense that you retain enough workforce to not only sell and get tenants, but update their listings. While looking for a new place to live, there were multiple properties managed by Marshall & Co that we liked. They were listed as available. When called and asked, they affirmed the listing availabilities... That is until you get higher up the chain of command and find out it has actually been off the market for a week.

That coupled with unanswered calls and emails pushed me away from any property they were listing. If you are a landlord looking for tenants through the use of property management companies, look elsewhere. Marshall & Co properties has some internal work that needs to be ironed out before they manage properties.

I do not like leaving negative reviews as I believe in redemption. That being said, there are many other property management companies in the area that are decent if not extraordinary.

Bridgett P.

I don't like the way I was discriminated against for being a person with disabilities and also a person with medical emergencies I was toyed with played along even though they knew they had forced another tenant into the apartment so they would not have to give it to me but in the meantime they were sure to try to give me an application which stated I owed $40 instead of the $30 that I had previously paid I was belittled and treated like not normal and told any old reason they are even still stuck on their the old policy of running People's Credit when the law has just changed as of February 2024 you can no longer use credit against someone to rent to them so they Nick picked on every other reason to discriminate against me and they've done it more than one time to not only myself but other people in the homeless community in San Rafael I would not refer them to anyone else they've left my life more devastated for all they know I could have had a mental breakdown and been in the hospital fighting for my life just behind them giving me the runaround taking all my pregnant documents as if they were going to really process my tendency approval form it was just a run around sending me to go get documents when they had no intent on written to me cuz I'm black I'm more than hurt and I filed court papers on Friday to show my disposition