As Board President of the condo association that Bret W posted about on 7/21/16, I have seen the communications between her and Abaris and must clarify several of the points. Overall, Abaris has been responsive in addressing residents' problems. Sometimes problems are complex and cannot be fixed at drive thru speed. Abaris tries to communicate in a timely manner with residents during the repair process. They also analyze situations and offer alternatives based on their extensive experience. They are human but try to do their best for our community. The property is about 50 years old so there is much more to address in terms of maintenance and repair than there is in a newer community. We had a management company for many years that did not have the resources needed to guide the Board on a path forward to address the issues that we were experiencing. That is why we hired Abaris in June 2015. Abaris took management of our community a month earlier than expected. Matter of fact, Abaris responded to a couple of emergencies and urgent matters before the contract began. The Board and affected residents greatly appreciated Abaris hitting the ground running. Now to address Bret W's comments: * Regarding the leaking outdoor spigot at Bret W's building, the Abaris plumber was the only plumber who actually fixed the problem. In our community, valves for many of the outdoor spigots are located inside units, and management must gain access to those units. Given the resident's schedule in that unit, it took a while to accomplish that. That spigot has been fixed and has not leaked for some time. * Regarding the leaks in Bret W's unit, unfortunately, she experienced leaks from several sources, including various plumbing fixtures and appliances in the unit directly above her unit. The plumber would fix one problem, and another problem would surface. Drywall repairs were delayed until it was certain that the leak problems had been completely repaired. Bret W told Abaris that because of her job, she could only be home at very limited times during the day. Abaris appropriately gave her the contact information for the plumber and drywall contractor and told her it would be best for her to make the arrangements directly with them. I call that efficient! And further, the plumber and drywall contractor came to her home outside normal business hours at no extra cost to the association! * Regarding the leak in the entry way of her building, the only damage to the brick wall is water staining. The wall was dry when I checked it today. A contractor repaired the damage to the drywall ceiling on the lower level. A dripping condensate drain spout outside the building will be extended so it drains away from the building. The air conditioner compressors for the 4 units in her building are above the entry way, and in summer, there are condensate leaks from some of the air conditioning units. Abaris works to find the problem unit and notify the unit owner so they can take care of repair. At the Board's direction, Abaris has engaged an engineering firm to conduct an assessment of all of the systems in the community, including the brick walls, roofs, etc. so that the Board can prioritize the work to be done. The engineering firm will present these results to the Board in the fall. * Regarding the leak that surfaced in May, my understanding is that this leak has been intermittent. The Abaris plumber checked the plumbing and appliances in the unit directly above Bret W's unit and found nothing leaking there. He checked the a/c units and found the problem to be with her a/c unit. However, her a/c contractor reported finding no problem with her unit. Abaris is sending its plumber back to open up more drywall to try to find the source of the leak so that it can be repaired before drywall repairs are done in her unit. Water migrates, and it can be very tricky to identify the source of a problem. read more

Somebody looking in the phonebook to find a property management company would likely call Abaris Realty's phone# first - alphabetically Abaris is the first in the business. The community manager is the employee of the Common Ownership Community and is (theoretically) subservient to its elected Board of Directors . However, once the BoD's undergone a few election cycles, the hired manager becomes the de facto alpha . A BoD populated by novice owners will naturally follow the lead of the one with the most seniority - the manager. It's not nefarious or even purposeful, it just sort of happens. But the decision-making structure does become manager-centric. The COC as a corporate entity is distinct from the actual owners comprising the COC. The manager is the official agent of this corporate entity - and is mistakenly presumed to act with a mandate from the actual members comprising the COC. I live in a Coop managed by Abaris's Bruce Blumberg, people here describe him as "competent though rude/snippy". I've talked to people in our neighboring COC (Regent's Square) and I've spoken w/ a Board member of one of the King Farm COCs who also have Bruce as their manager - they say the same thing: Competent but kinda rude. Earlier this year Abaris sent out letters stating that on the advice of legal counsel... community members should not email one another directly about controversial subjects - but rather send all such emails through Bruce. The reasoning is that misunderstandings are less likely to occur w/ Bruce serving as the go-between. The opposite is true - Bruce's involvement in any sort of dispute virtually guarantees a needlessly acrimonious conflict. He invariably rejects wisdom and mercy in favor of mean and stupid. Prior to the annual owner's meeting - proxy forms are sent out along with a note explaining that "proxies can be given to other owners or Abaris - bylaws limit owners to excersising no more than 3 proxies - It is not mentioned in these letters that since Abaris is not an owner, this 3 proxy limit does not apply to Bruce. It's not like the guy is all bad or doesn't have the "community's best interests" at heart, but he should be forbidden from holding any kind of voting power (even if it's just for reaching a quorum). He's spent at least $7500 of the Coop's $ on pursuing legal actions against me and my wife to have us evicted - we've defeated three separate tenant holdover actions. A failure to pay rent action was also brought against us - Abaris refused to accept our rent payments and then brought us to court for failure to pay - so we paid that one off. It has been very stressful and a bit nightmarish to be constantly threatened w/ dispossession. His most recent legal actions were bafflingly vicious - Bruce knew I was in no medical condition to handle the ordeal of an eviction on account of my undergoing spinal surgery. He could've postponed the case, but no - he went for the kill. Not very sporting IMHO. I doubt the BoD actually cosigned on that level of cruelty. The funny thing is that he and I have never had cross words - my wife and I have never once said anything unfriendly to anyone in the community. My neighbors have encouraged me to keep fighting him - one told me "he's an evil hateful man, don't let him get the best of you" A former city official said "Oh Lord I can't stand Blumberg." Its good to know that there are a few people rooting for the underdog. But if you choose Abaris for managing your COC, make sure you get someone other than Bruce - an up and coming intern or trainee would be best. The Coop would do well to find a replacement for The Blumberg. read more

I was elected to our condominium board for the first time last year and immediately faced multiple problems including building leaks, malfunctioning safety systems, unreliable HVAC systems, lack of confidence in our repair service contractors, and a lobby renovation project that was stalled and in a state of disarray, just to mention a few. Abaris had recently taken over as our property management firm and we challenged the company to address the many issues that we faced. Over the past year Abaris has come to the plate and performed better than we could have expected. In response to our concerns Abaris assigned another site manager to work with us. Since then Lorena has done an admirable job with us. Over the past year our major projects have all been completed competently, or are currently in progress. Lorena is organized, persistent and focused on getting a job done right. She understands how to work with the contractors we need to make repairs and stay ahead of our physical problems. She even helps keep us organized when we need it. Lorena is a hard worker with many years of good experience. Her performance is the principal reason we are so satisfied today with Abaris as our management company. We could not be more pleased with the commitment she has made to serving us well. Occasionally, when Lorena needed expertise to supplement hers, Abaris either had relationships with consultants that could be brought in to help us, or showed us it has the professional depth inhouse to bring to bear. As a company Abaris has demonstrated its broad experience in multiple property management areas. Of course there are times when one of us drops a ball, or miscommunication becomes a problem. At these times Abaris has been responsive to our concerns. We have resolved our problems without jeopardizing work in progress, or losing sight of what has to be done. In short, we are very pleased with what we have accomplished over the past year together. It would not have been possible without Lorena's dedication and the strong partnership between Abaris and our condominium board. read more

The past seven years has been my first experience living in a condo community, and thus with Abaris Realty as our management company. For much of this time I have also served on our community association board and thus had regular engagement with Abaris, particularly with Adam Landsman, who worked extremely closely with us to ensure that we maintain our community in the financially healthy and commercially attractive state we enjoy. Working with Adam felt like we had another member of our condo community looking out for our interests. His knowledge of state, county city and local community zoning laws, rules and regulations is exceptional, and his willingness to fight on our behalf with utility and development companies threatening to impair the quality of life in our community were only exceeded by his effectiveness. Adam's patience with a community that didn't always understand that we ourselves are responsibility for our common property, and that would frequently call or email him at all hours of the night and weekend was truly laudable. His confidence in handling all manner of situations, mundane to dramatic, meant that we unit owners didn't have to fret as much as we otherwise would have. Adam created positive relationships with the many vendors, service providers, emergency response agencies and companies that support our condo association, so that when sometime needed repair, or water pipes burst in the middle of winter, as occurred twice in recent years, the situation was met with an immediate response and all loose ends were resolved within a reasonably short period. Adam's professionalism restored my faith in management companies. I can now see that he also thinks of succession planning, as he brought on a younger employee to begin servicing our community, teaching him the ropes, so to speak. With his announcement today that he is leaving Abaris, I can see that his foresight in grooming his successor is a final gift of service that our community will benefit from in the coming years. read more

Hello, I really want to write this review because the staff at the main number at Abaris Realty, Potomac, MD, when I call for help for problems at my condos, actually do help! When I have ever called the main number the staff answers the phone quickly and professionally. They always have been courteous and helpful and connect me with the correct people. Usually, when I call I need something to be fixed with my condo as a drain overflowing or no electricity and I am stressing, they immediately connect me to the correct person or help to solve the problem. In saying this, Lawan Trent helped to solve the problems with my Condos (I own two at Westchester Park Dr. in College Park, MD). She is also very professional and tells me that she will do what can be done when I ask her to please have the plumber or contractor or whoever to come that day. She explains to me that she will call the correct people and see if this is possible especially it is an emergency case. She gives back information afterward to let us know what will be happening and when they will be able to come and fix the problem. Great communication is given to myself and to my renter. This is so important, because I feel she has the problem in hand, and I do not have to worry, she is on top of the problem as best as anyone could be. I, also, want to thank Arman Patala, Manager for the Westchester Park Condos at Abaris Realty. He, too, handles other problems with efficiency and professionalism. Many times I have talked with him over the past years that he has been with our community at Westchester Park Condos, and he does his job very well and communicates within a good time limit any problems that I have had in the past. I want to thank Abaris Realty for having such good and fine employees working for their company, Connie Cunningham, College Park, Maryland 20740; March 1, 2023 read more

Keene Mill Woods II Towed my car from my numbered reserved parking place. I am handicapped and disabled. KMW2 does not conform with ADA, they are legally required to provide reasonable accommodations under the Fair Housing Act for residents with disabilities. I tried calling and emailing them with no response for 60 days. cost me $240.00 to get my car back. Condo associations, including Keene Mill Woods II, generally cannot prohibit properly permitted, out-of-state cars from using marked handicap spaces, as federal Fair Housing and ADA laws often supersede private association rules. While Keene Mill Woods II requires parking permits for assigned/unassigned spaces, disabled parking privileges (including out-of-state) allow parking in designated spots. Key details regarding this issue: Federal Protections: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Housing Act require reasonable accommodations for disabled residents, making it difficult for HOAs to ban valid handicap placards based on state origin. Virginia Rules: Virginia DMV recognizes valid disabled parking placards and plates from other states. Association Policy: Keene Mill Woods II utilizes assigned spaces for residents and permits for parking, but they cannot enforce rules that violate federal accessibility laws. If an issue arises, it is recommended to provide the HOA with documentation of the valid, out-of-state handicap placard. Note to Keene mill wood 2 please respond to my calls and email and I will show you my current handicap place card. read more

I am a new owner of a Condo located at King Farm Village II, had trouble opening the parking gate with a clicker and entering the condo building with a quite old fob. I rushed to the Abratis management office and tried to see any of the assistant managers. But I was told they were not available. I was terrified because it was a Friday. Then I was lucky that one of the assistant managers was in the office. She was Ms. Precious Agyekum, she came down to meet me and offered to help by ordering a new clicker and a new fob after I agreed to authorize to put charges under my account. Prior to doing that she suggested that I check the battery inside of the clicker. Therefore, I went to a battery store to get the battery tested. It came back that the battery was fine. And at that time Ms. Agyekum kept her offer to order the new clicker programmed and new fob and pick-up next Monday. However, a new snow storm hit the Metro area over the weekend. The office was closed and the pick-up was cancelled. Ms. Agyekum replied to me with an immediate email and offered that when the office opens I could go to her office to pick-up. Today I finally went to her office to have the new clicker and the new fob after making payment. Ms. Agyekum still offers to get the old clicker tested. I really appreciate Ms. Agyekum for her repeated efforts to help me with her professional skills and her true love to help her customers with her friendly style. I am rating her one of the best assistant managers! read more

I just wanted to communicate how tremendously helpful Margarita E. Cruz (Accounts Receivable Director) has been to us. Specifically, as Main Condo Owners since 2015, we found ourselves confused by the recent Abaris Realty notice that the Billing Office was moving to Tampa, Florida. We didn't know if we were supposed to notify our bank about this change or not, and further, we weren't quite sure if we were properly registered with ClickPay. I put these concerns in an email to the Billing Office at the end of day yesterday, and was greeted this morning (5/26) by a reply from Ms. Cruz. She answered all our questions very clearly and thoughtfully. She provided background on ClickPay and guidance on how to proceed with registering with them. And, important for our peace of mind, affirming that we didn't have to do anything in regard to communicating with our bank. (I had already tried that and failed - the robot I encountered did not understand what I was asking for). Not so Abaris and Ms Cruz. We are most appreciative of her for her friendly and thoroughly professional response to our questions. Her care for our concerns further reinforces our trust in Abaris Realty and how grateful we are for our many positive interactions with the staff over our years in Main Condo. Jim and Lois T read more

I am a homeowner in an Abaris property since 2002. As Yelp and so many social media platforms are out there now (mostly for negative posts) I felt it important to post the truth. Property Management is about dealing with problems. There are so many reviews that the truth is that 90% or more are homeowner responsibility. Abaris Realty protects the Association and all it's owners. They also provide proper education to tenants and owners on how to fix their own issue. The truth is "No" is sometimes the correct and accurate answer. Folks today rant and carry on and post terrible reviews because they didn't get help. The truth is that they received help and did not like the answer. Abaris is second to none in the industry. The group of vendors they work with are good and stand by their work. If they do not Abaris helps the Association to seek restitution. They protect the property in it's assets, collected money/investments, and safeguard the membership against residents seeking to pull "The Fast One" on less experienced Managers and Companies. There are many good management companies in the Maryland area, Abaris is second to none. If you really look at the true facts, get on your board of directors or start attending meetings and see for yourself. read more

Having worked with other management companies, operate my own management company, been a president of an HOA, I can tell you that Abaris is far and away a top notch company. Look at your condos budget and tell me if you would manage your condo for that amount of money they are paid. I have no idea how much Abaris charge their many clients but industry wide Management companies know they must keep fees low to get and keep clients. Management companies must get approval for most expenses from the boards. Boards you elect. Boards that create the budget and you approve of. My condo building has a leaking roof. I assure you the Management company can not just go out and order a new roof. Boards call the shots and I have seen incidents where the management companies have been told to stall. Or perhaps will order a temporary fix when a replacement is required. It is just too expensive to send someone out to fix a small non-emergency fix so management companies wait until they have a few complaints before ordering the repairs. This is done to save you money. Bottom line, for those of you that have given poor reviews, please recognize that it is not as simple as you may think. read more

We have worked with Shireen Ambush & her Abaris team since 2006. In my capacity as a former president of our Association's Board for five years and as a Board member for several additional years, I have had ample opportunity to observe Shireen in her capacity as a property manager. She is a trained/certified professional whose valuable advice & insight we have solicited on numerous occasions. Moreover, she can be counted on to be responsive in dealing with issues that have time constraints. Shireen, specifically, and Abaris in general, have a wide range of reliable and reasonable vendor contacts whose work we have found to be of high quality. I would be pleased to recommend Shireen & her team to any community looking for a knowlegeable professional who is comfortable in addressing a myriad of situations that communities typically have to tackle. I assure you that you will not be disappointed in the results for Shireen knows her business and can save you much time & stress in conducting the operation of your Association. Rick S. 4/2/2015 read more

Recently we dealt with an unexpected issue that pretty much made 4 of our condominium units inhabitable, for the most part. Abaris response was immediate and, Alena Proctor, along with her Team, have done an excellent job overseeing all matters related to the damage caused, including even the smallest of issues and/or concern. As a result, the mitigation process, and all other processes that are needed right now, are being coordinated extremely well and running smoothly. We are being kept abreast of everything that is going on and all steps that are to be taken to satisfactorily resolve every single issue. Alena, personally, has and continues to be very involved in all pertaining matters and has even help minimize our level of stress throughout the whole ordeal by keeping a positive attitude and being in good spirits!. I thank her immensely for all her excellent and much valued support and the steps she continues to take to ensure that we are all able to return to a renovated and safe home. A blessing indeed! Thank you, Alena, and Abaris! read more

Abaris Realty does not provide services as required by their contract, owners, or the property. The assigned property manager lacks professionalism and any sense of ethics. He expects owners to answer to him as he does as he pleases with our condominium building. He manipulates the Board to such an extent that they perform no oversight of the management services while believing everything he does is fabulous. This manager picks his Board candidates (including telling some owners for whom to vote) and trashes the candidates who will ensure oversight. He has violated city and county regulations in our association's name and when held accountable the Board attacks the owners' who report him. Owners' complaints are met with animosity and then he refuses to respond to any additional requests from those owners. I have talked with several of Abaris' vendors or former vendors who have had nothing positive to say about them. My understanding is that these issues are the norm for this company. read more

I had the unfortunate experience of speaking to one "Bruce" at Abaris Realty over the phone. I called Abaris with a real estate inquiry and never did I expect what happened next: he unleashed a verbal assault and complained. I was stunned, unable to reply. The man was either having a bad day, or worse, this is typical of him. Either way it was incredibly rude and his tone of voice was demeaning. I hear real estate is a tough line of work, and I'm sorry for those that chose it as a way of life but this is not excuse to talk to a customer like this. Abaris Realty does not list contacts on their website other than the general number so I have no way of contacting management or the owner to let them know the issue. So, instead I have chosen to put the incident here on Yelp hoping they will find it. Do not take your business to Abaris unless you don't mind being treated like dirt, and management hides behind one general number rather than sharing at least their email. read more

I am an owner of a condo unit in a bldg. w/ 67 total units & that was built in the 1950s here in Arlington, VA. I purchased my unit in 1985, live in it now (& have for 20 of those 25 years), and was on the Board of Directors for 15 of those years, so I know this building very well. With that said, Abaris Realty is THE BEST we've had here for the past 25 years. While I am not on the Board right now, I still communicate w/ the Property Mgr. on a regular basis, give my input when appropriate, interact w/ the hired contractors when necessary, and in general, am very pleased w/ the way they manage our property. Abaris Realty only took over our property 3-4 years ago, but has made improvements to building in many areas, and we are finally getting our sole elevator replaced in November. This elevator breaks down on a regular basis, i.e. almost every week, so this replacement is a Major factor and will increase the perception of our bldg., and probably increase the property value. read more

Abaris began managing our property at the start of 2019 and in the 7 months that they've been on board, they've dramatically improved our community. They are responsive, proactive and always have our association's best interests in mind. They have found ways to save us money by switching to better vendors or renegotiating contracts that our previous company let increase over the years without properly informing our Board of Directors. Lorena, Xiomara and Kwame are extremely professional and friendly, and have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to condominium laws and procedures. Lorena has done such a great job handling issues that arise with residents and finding solutions--issues that used to plague the Board with our old property management company. They're guiding us through some complex repairs and helping us get our association back to a better place organizationally and financially. Our community is finally in good hands with Abaris. read more

In January I received from the Abaris office a bill saying I was 2 months behind in payments and would have to pay late fees. I immediately called the local office as I remembered mailing the Nov check there. The advice was to wait because there had been mail issues plus the holidays. I waited. In the meantime the FL office received and cashed the Dec check. I was concerned and left a message on your answering machine asking for a call back re the Nov check . Danielle called me on Sunday night. Yes, Sunday! after excellent listening and asking for clarification when needed, and using her customer perfect, patient, calming voice, she resolved the problem and explained how I could fix the situation, which ended up being the check was lost in the mail. She took care of my concerns efficiently and competently on her own time-- a Sunday night ! she is a dedicated responsible employee of Abaris. I greatly appreciated her help!! Linda T read more