This company does not even deserve 1 star, but there wasn't an option to leave 0 stars. They have the worst customer service I have ever dealt with. They send late fees for no reason with no explanation and one day I tried calling to ask why and representative who answered picked up the phone while laughing and asked me what I wanted. They have also charged me 6 different times for late fees for no reason and my building manager has had to call them to get it dropped. There is no reason for that even to happen in the first place. Lastly, what company in 2015 doesn't let you pay through your own bank? I bank with chase (like millions of other ppl around Chicago) There is no way I would ever set up direct billing with AUM because I would be charged for all sorts of random things. The worst part about it is you want to make an individual payment to them they charge you a $7.50 fee because it has to be be done on their website or mailed by check. They also don't accept credit cards over the phone! I'm sorry, but what is that shit?? Are we living in 1992? I am not renewing my lease for the simple fact that I will not pay such an awful company such as AUM a penny more. read more

A middleman between you, a tenant, and an energy company that does a favor to the property that you rent in but assesses a $5 admin fee from the paying tenant. Called them trying to get an explanation as to why I have to pay the fee but they declined to explain. They simply suck! read more

AUM - Utilities Near Me

They have since changed their name to "RealPage Utility Management (RPUM)". My apartment complex's property management firm uses RPUM for water, sewer and trash. The complex doesn't have individual water meters for units. Complex requires you to accept "RealPage Utility Management" billing for these services or move out prior to next lease term. They use a pro-rated system to come up with monthly charges for tenants based on the number of "Official Tenants" per residence. So, an apartment with two people pays more than an apartment with one person. However, there is no transparency. Tenants do not get to see actual utility bills. Makes me think some pockets lined on Property mgmt's and RPUM's part. Plus in talking to other tenants there doesn't seems to be much difference in the utility billing charged between 1, 2 and 3 person occupied apartments. Regarding Payment and billing - Avg ~$50/mnth * Monthly Payment late by one day - 18% charge. My understanding you are allowed only one waiver during your living at the apartment. So even if you are a tenant for 5 years, only one waiver. * Pay by Credit Card - $5 convenience fee * Auto-pay: Requires direct withdrawal from a bank account. read more

To the laundry list of things to check while renting an apartment, add one more - "Check the name of the utility provider'...If the answer is "American Utility Management (AUM)' just run-away from that property.... AUM is a big SCAM. Beware! Their bills will never reach on time and there's a hefty late fine too. Having falling prey to that tactic, I had opened an online account at aum-inc.com just to monitor my bills. For the last two months, just a day after a new bill has been posted (and 15 days prior to payment due date) I mailed the check. To my horror, both the times, the checks were posted 4 days after the due date and a late fine of $7.5 was charged. I tried calling their customer service centers but they are the worst of the lot. They treat you like they are doing us a great favor in managing utility. They are impolite, rude and bang the phone down if you try to reason with them. Anyways, I have decided to move from this property and this was the last time I dealt with AUM. To top it all, they charge a "Convenience Fee" of $7.50 if you pay online. I quote a fellow Yelper --- "Not so convenient anymore". Yelpers, do not rent a property where utility is managed by AUM. read more

Awful, greedy company. $8 to process an online payment of about $15 - you have got to be kidding me. It's $2 cheaper than the late fee!! The only way to avoid this is to physically mail a check (which even 3 or 4 days is not enough time). Whoever runs this company has to resemble a used car salesman running a pyramid scheme. I sincerely hope this company somehow goes under. read more

I never thought that I would care about how supplied my electric, however I do! Renters beware! Never rent from a building that uses AUM for electric. First of all, the direct deposit here is ridiculous causing us to have to send a check in the mail monthly... in the year 2014. In October, our bill was $44 and November it was $79. I called and asked how it jumped so much and they said it is accurate and we must be using more electricity. I said we have a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom and we have not been using more electricity. In fact, I started working much more and am gone less so we are using less. She asked about Christmas lights. I said yes, we have 2 strands of lights that we put up after Thanksgiving. She said that the two strands of Christmas lights that we had up for 3 days may be the reason our bill is so high. Wait???? 2 STRANDS of christmas lights over a 3 day period COSTS $35??? Needless to say, we are moving out of our building, AUM being 1 of the reasons, read more

The company is a scam without a shadow of a doubt. The property using them is likely in the same category. If you contact them you will get nowhere on explanation of the charges and rate hikes. They do not want to provide anything in writing and do not answer questions over the phone. Two months to set up a direct deposit? Are you kidding me? And since you don't expect this kind of BS they are trying to hit you with a late fee in the mean time. They are rude and incompetent, but what else can they be if they are ripping you off and getting away with it? I saw a class action against this company, looking into starting another one in Nor Cal. If you have done any research on them please feel free to PM me on yelp! read more

Signed up for automatic bill pay, but they won't charge my card. Received a "noncompliance notice" from my apartment complex saying that I have an outstanding balance. Seems like they are running a scam trying to get people to pay online where they charge a huge fee. I'll end up taking off a star when I review my current apartment simply because they use AUM. read more

The single worst company I have ever had to deal with, period. You want to pay your bill online? Sorry, you will be assessed a fee (which is continually being hiked). You want to bay your bill by phone, hope you like an added fee and waiting for a very long time on hold. You can pay by mail, but even when they received my payment several days before it was due, I was charged a $20 non-compliance fee, which they would not refund, because three years earlier I made a late payment, and used my ONE chance to waive the fee... This is not a business to deal with. If you have to opportunity to avoid them, take it at all costs. read more

A greedy company that profits out of squeezing the weak, plain and simple. My apartment complex in West Saint Paul, MN recently decided to start charging their tenants for water, sewer and trash, which was bad enough, but then they chose these scumbags to handle the billing. It was shocking to discover that they require fees to process payments (particularly vile is the $7.99 "convenience fee" for the online option). That's $95.88 per year. To make matters worse, if you choose auto-pay, they only have one date available: the 20th of the month. If you're on a fixed income and your check comes in after that date, you're out of luck and are stuck. If any company is ripe for a class-action lawsuit, they're it. As others have pointed out, if you're looking to rent steer away from any properties the use AUM. read more

This company, now called Real Page, is the absolute worst! All the reviews here state fact. They rip you off, are overpriced, charge almost $8 fee for online payments, add to the already high rental prices out there for ridiculous services that the apartment complex should already have in the lease. Also, their customer service is rude and unhelpful. I despise this company. read more

Noticed everyone mentioning the convenience fee regarding online payments. Best way to avoid this is to continue getting paper bills and pay your bill through your online banking bill pay function. Easy way to avoid the payment fee without going through the trouble of mailing a check. My issue with them is that they are charging me $8.50 a month for "gas" when the gas is handled by a completely different company (Nicor) I called to inquire and the customer rep simply said that that's a fee they charged everyone. So you are telling me you charge for a service that you are not providing me at all? Is that not illegal? read more

Mind you - they've renamed the service to RealPage Utility Management, so it isn't AUM anymore, still the same! 7.99$ per payment!!!

Cyber Security professional here, living in a property that uses AUM - informing customers do not use the autopay feature and store your bank account information on their website. If you read the fine print associated with doing it they hold no liability if a security breach occurs and your banking account/routing numbers are compromised and there is actual theft from your account. read more

If I could give this vile, putrid excuse for a "business" a negative rating I would. They are thieves, plain and simple. Their billing process is engineered to generate outrageous fees for garbage, gas, and other services. Their online payment system is singular in its euphemistic "convenience fee." I've called several times to request an explanation for their always-stunningly high bills and it's blandly outlined to me that they charge for the building -- not for the tenant. That means the shared washers and dryers are essentially being double-charged. Frankly, nothing would make me happier than to see a meteor strike this Chaucerian fraud and wipe them cleanly from the face of the earth. They are a blight. The give nothing of value to society. They are criminals and deserve the highest measure of contempt we can give them. I hope their employees are personally embarrassed to disclose their employer. Shame. Nothing but shame, exploitation, and blind greed. A god-forsaken pile of trash even a rat would turn its nose at. read more

I used to pay $10-$30/mont with previous utility provider which was Yes Utility Management. Now I pay more than $100/month, no explaination given other than "maybe it was colder / warmer than your previous period"... I am pretty sure we all overpay. Very opaque company. Avoid at all cost. For my next appartment I will first ask who is the utility company. If this is AUM I will look somewhere else, period! I'm trying to find people to file a lawsuit. read more

Be weary of these people - chances are you don't have a choice but to deal with these folks but be weary. First they conveniently do not send me a bill for 2 months - given this is a new building we were told that the bills might be "late" - then they decided to charge $9/month as late fee and if you try to pay them by credit card there is an additional $7 "convenience fee". Shameful. read more

If your rental community requires to use AUM, do not rent from them. Go anywhere else. They are literally that terrible. Punch in 'AUM sucks' on Google. There are numerous web pages of complaints against these guys. Worst company ever. EVER. Adds high service charge for credit card payment. Takes over 2 months to register for direct deposit. I closed my bank and told them to cancel my direct deposit. They didn't and the check didn't go through. They charged me $30 for the bounced check, a $10 late fee and told me it was my fault. My apartment complex requires this utility management and I am leaving for this reason. They do not deserve 1 yelp star. read more

Such a horrible company and bad customer service. One customer care even hang up my phone when I wasn't even finish asking my question. I set up for auto pay and did over the phone with customer care but when I wanted to cancel they were speaking with a attitude of they are not allowed to cancel any auto pay? Worst experience..how I wish there is a negative star option! read more

This business has been unclaimed since the company is embarrassed by their own shady dealings. I should have known and done due diligence on AUM prior to my apartment move in. These guys are straight up crooks and are even worse than my local gangsters. They arbitrarily tack on rates and are the kings when it comes to miscellaneous and hidden fees. They send me a bill late and charge ME a late fee for their lateness. Please send me a message if anyone is ready to file a class action lawsuit against AUM. Plus, $7.99 fee to pay you your f#$king money? You guys don't even have customer service and non-existing SG&A costs. F U Michael Miller and executives of AUM! read more

I moved to a new apartment which has AUM, and signed up for auto pay after I received the first statement. The first line of the confirmation email says: "Thank you for signing up for AUM Auto-Pay service. With Auto-Pay, we will automatically deduct your monthly charges directly from your bank account - no more checks to deal with or late fees to worry about. Your AUM monthly charges will be deducted from the bank account listed below:" After my account numbers, the next couple of lines read as follows: "We will continue to mail or email you a monthly statement even if your charges are being paid with Auto-Pay. Please review your next AUM statement to determine if Auto-Pay has been applied to your current charges. If Auto-Pay has been applied to your charges, you will see the following confirmation on your statement: "You are currently set up for Auto-Pay service." If you do not yet see this confirmation, please continue to mail your payment or pay online." On my account home page, it reports my balance and there's a bright green "Active" written next to autopay enrollment. Based on this, I waited for the money to be deducted from my account since the very first line in the email said "no checks to worry about, no late fees". When no money was deducted by the due date from my account, I called AUM. They informed me that despite the above language, the first statement is to be paid by check, and subsequent statements will be deducted via autopay. I informed them that I am happy to pay by check but they need to make their communication clearer. They were rude and said it was my opinion and they are not going to make any changes. Everything is "crystal clear" apparently, which it is clearly not when you have opposing ideas in the first line and in the body of the email! Also - I would be charged a late fee even though the check would be postmarked before the due date (it has to reach them by the due date, which is a Sunday). If you go to pay online, there is a $7.99 online convenience fee. For my bill amount of $22, this is more than 33% of the transaction! TOTAL SCAM! Credit cards charge businesses about 3% in transaction fee, which is completely reasonable, but a flat rate of $7.99 is thievery. Very disappointed in this awful organization. read more

Last month, when I payed my bill online, I somehow got signed up for direct payments from my checking account (something I have never done and never EVER do). On 6/10, the direct payment was approved to be withdrawn from my account, but only on 6/16 did I get my first notification (via mail) that I had signed up for direct payments. Because the payment was scheduled to be withdrawn on 6/20, I called AUM immediately to resolve the issue. I asked if I could cancel the direct payments, and the representative told me (yes, I quote), "If you cancel the direct payments online, money WILL NOT be withdrawn on 6/20". I verified this twice with her: If I cancel the direct payment online, absolutely NO money will be withdrawn from my account. Much to everyone's surprise, the money came out of the account on 6/20, and I was forced to pay an overdraft fee to my bank of $35...half my bill. I tried to call again, to resolve the issue. I told the representatives that there had been a mistake (one was named Trayna or Shayna), and they continued to avoid my question and to talk about some useless nonsense about how ironic it is that the first representative told me that no money would be withdrawn when that's not how it works - oh it's just so ironic and funny, huh? I mean having other people pay out of their pockets for your mistake. (don't you just want to slap someone at this point?) When I asked to speak to a manager, I was told that he/she was on the phone and I could leave a message (that phone must be glued to his/her ear or I must have impeccable timing). One of the representatives hung up on my husband when he demanded to know when we could expect a return phone call. The customer service is completely incompetent, and have absolutely no idea what they're doing. I'm surprised if they even know an apple from a banana, because they were no help, were completely insensitive, and absolutely ignorant. Yelp really needs a negative star option because this company belongs in the sewer. They don't deserve any stars and their customer service representatives do not deserve the $7 online fee for managing the account. THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING! read more

Terribly inconvenient company. Paper bill comes long after the billing period has ended and therefore close to the due date. Late fee is $10 and online convenience fee is $7.99. My issue stems from the fact that if you are away from home when the bill finally arrives you have no choice but to pay one of these fees. You can't pay over the phone while traveling, online is a fee, and if I'm not at my apt to receive the bill I can't send the check with the statement (which states to return that portion of the statement with your payment). read more

Totally worthless institution. Company does not allow payment by phone or debit card. Now I have to write checks (which I haven't done in about a decade), buy stamps and envelopes (again a decade) and then mail and wait and risk lost mail. read more

You won't believe it that this company managed their businese like this! I recently transferred to a new unit in the same apartment building. Our building management has a rule that only after you have your gas/electric account under your name, then you can move in. I received my first month bill with utility recovery fee which is around $12 for gas (keep in mind that I already have a gas account with national grid), and the second month bill charges $120 for gas recovery fee and utitility fee which is even absurd. I called them and was told they were all the punishment fee for the gas account. So I emailed them with the gas bills. Three businese days later, I found out the charge is for the electric, not for the gas! And I already had an electric account. You see what they were doing! They made mistakes all over the place and wasted your time to ask you to prove you're innocent or they just keep charging you with horredous fee! It made so speachless that they could be that much careless. read more

AUM are thieves! - $7.99 to pay online (WHO does that these days?!) on top of a $70 gas bill for a tiny apartment, during a month of RECORD WARM temperatures. Can you say "class action lawsuit" coming soon? Never rent at any apartment complex that uses AUM! read more

AVOID AVOID AVOID!!! Like all the other reviewers. This company has TERRIBLE service and they make you feel like everything is your fault. If you are looking at getting into an Essex property: http://www.essexapartmenthomes.com/ Make sure you ask if they use AUM for their utility billing and let them know you saw how terrible the reviews are on Yelp. Do not trust anything the leasing office tells you because its not true with AUM. read more

I love my apartment building and had been warned about AUM but there was no other option when I signed my lease. Everything everyone has posted is true - very limited turnaround time for payment before late fees apply ( I traveled for work which made this hard - but I also did not trust them enough to give them my credit card info for automatic payment). There is a real lack of transparency about variation in charges from month to month. I am in the process of subletting my apartment due to a work change and finally attempted to set up automatic payment so my person would not have the same hassle - but forget it! Their website times out and no one picks up when I call. Ridiculous! Their fees do not seem to be linked at all to my actual usage since I travel so much for work. I would not have signed my lease had I appreciated what this experience would be like - buyer beware. read more

This company is very greedy. I have sent many messages to people NOT TO RENT to places that use this company. First, I think it is crazy for a $11 bill to be charged $7.99 in order to pay the bill online. Second, I was renting an apartment and moved apartments. They said the apartment reported one date of my move to another apartment but when I changed utilities, I chose a different date so they charged a electric recovery cost of $8.00 for the days that was the difference. Ok, fine. NOW they charged $20 for a utility recovery cost. BECAUSE THEY HAD TO go for the money regarding the difference of days. Don't forget that I was still paying utilities in my old apartment. The uneducated person who was "assisting" me was snotty and disrespectful. I am turning it over to the property to deal with or I will leave the property - this company is terrible! read more

$20 late fees Unable to change ABP date Charged fee for making payment when not on ABP Anti consumer read more

Had a problem with double billing with the utility bills. Called AUM to complain and they said it wasn't their fault. It was a small amount of money, so I let it slide. read more

This company is a SCAM. I would highly suggest checking with your potential future landlord to see if they contract AUM for their utilities and if they do RUN. I live at a complex that uses them and just like the other complaint on yelp, it took them 2 months to send me a bill. When I called they quickly removed the fee but I have to date (10 months later) have only received 2 bills and they are usually within a day or 2 of the due date. I have complained on and on about this and nothing is done. Today I was served a termination of tenancy notice from my complex due to a past due amount and sure enough, there was a bill in the mailbox. Now please keep in mind, I have ALWAYS paid my bills on time and have STELLAR credit and have even been subjected to these additional fees just to get it paid. How is this company still and business. Tomorrow I am planning on being at my leasing office 1st thing and I am going to express my EXTREME dissatisfaction with the notice and AUM. Fortunately I have documented conversations, the many that I've had with AUM and I will not take this "lying down". AUM is involved with a class action suit as well as a very large amount of BBB complaints. Please if anyone has had a similar experience, contact me. This can not be legal and I know now I am not the only one that has experienced this. read more

If I could, I too, would give AUM zero stars. I'm single. I just moved from home so I didn't know too much about the inner workings. Found out real quick. First time me Yelping a utility company to see all these negative reviews. I called AUM when I first moved in only to find out, you can't pay over the phone. No problem! I'll just opt into the bill pay service with my bank. Problem solved. Besides the $4.95 maintenance fee (for what? Lawd only knows), NOW I'm getting a fee for storm water??? Umm wtf is this?? So I call and there's basically a fee to keep storm water at bay . My issue is this shared water shit! I'm a single. I don't use much water. I'm in a building with families of 22 (I'm exaggerating but not by much). Why do I have to pay for their water and HOPE that they'd be responsible? If they have a disposable income they don't care about economics or saving a penny. This setup is bullshit but I was leaving my parents house and saw this nice apt. Didn't know anything about these companies. Didn't know to ask "do you use AUM?". Didn't even know this company existed. I figured I'd be paying for cooking gas- not utilities you expect ppl w/ a whole house pays; water, sewer, trash, and now storm water smh. read more

They charge nonsense fees and billed me for the time I wasn't even there in the apartment before the lease. Than telnet tell me I used 23 $ worth of gas in one day - the day I moved in..which is as possible as me going to Mars today. Completely rubbish customer service. read more

Terrible company. Worst customer service i've ever experienced. I wish my apartment building did not force me to go through this company to get my utility service. Absolutely stay away from them if you can. read more

AUM (American Utility Management) is criminal usury disguised as third party billing. This practice is not even allowed inside the state of California. But through a loophole in state law, property management companies may go outside the state to employ this kind of unethical billing scam. They have 118 unresolved complaints that they list with the BBB as "resolved". They are not. (But they have managed to weasel an A+ Rating through lies and misrepresentation.) AUM has a class action suit against them pending out of Florida that I encourage everyone to join. These people should not even be allowed a rating. But since they are, Yelp should consider going to minus stars...because these crooks should be given a Minus 5. Karma will have its say. And I predict that someday soon the AG will get a dose of conscience and prosecute scumbags like this... and perhaps the management companies that use them. A consummation devoutly to be wished. read more

Not sure where to begin but this is the biggest scam to date, Bernie Matolff would be proud! Charging renters for gas that also includes " common areas" violates the Illinois Renters Rights Act". I was told by one there customer service people that we the renters pay for heat in hallways and lobbies...against the law. They are the rudest group of people, an insult to dedicated customer service reps. Also, the building has HUD Tenants which " no fee's can be added on that would normally be included in rent" so, one of two things, they are violating federal law or the HUD tenants are not being charged. So who pays there share? Guess....also, what about discrimination? Because that's what it would be. I would strongly encourage you to read the blogs about AUM especially if you live in Chicago. The Property Management has ignored the mass amount of tenants that have complaint as the bills are double of what was told when this plan was put in place. The massive amount of turnover should be an indication of how wrong this program is. Eventually they will "weed out" all the tenants that are unhappy and line there pockets with massive amounts of income. Handling fee's , late fee's , rudest customer service EVER, an industry I actually work I. Don't look to the BBB for help, they have a five star rating which apparently you can get as a paid member. Attorney General in unbiased as well as every online avenue you can find. Aumsuck.blogspot.com, aumsucks.freeforums.net/, HUD, Renters Rights. AVOID ANY BUILDING USING AUM. Scam...scam....scam!!!! It a shame that one star is the lowest score you can give. In addition, I have asked on several occasions a for a breakdown of what I am actually paying for and how it is calculated. I was told that would not be provided as it is confidential...how is that possible if I am being billed? I told the I am there customer and I am entitled to know what I am paying for, I was told " no, our contract is with PPM not you" .....it's like being stuck up in an alley, give me your money or else we will evict you....I have a letter to prove it. read more

Actually AUM deserves demerits not stars. They are criminal and it makes me wonder if the property owners are getting a kickback. My apartment complex recently brought them in, we were only told they'd bill for water. When the bills started they were also charging for sewer, trash, and pest control. The sewer is the highest of the total bill and we never paid sewer prior to this company. I live in a small 1 bedroom, no washer unit, I work and the only person living in my apartment like the other tenants. My monthly bill is 60 something every month. Its not like I live in a home. I agree that no one should rent from apt complexes that use AUM. I will be looking into the whole sewer charges with the Marietta County Gvmt in Georgia because I know that AUM are scammers. Also, I called to ask if there was a cap on charges because every month the fee was going up, and they said no. That has got to be a crock. My building only has one bedrooms in it, how can there be no cap. I truly am pissed and will see what I can do to file complaints against them. I blame the the LLC, trinity property based out of California for bringing them on board. All greedy crooks. read more

Giving 1 star because there is no option of giving none. They have been overcharging for water, trash and sewer. Called up to get an explanation of bill, "This is what you need to pay if you want to stay" is the answer I got. The customer service is not at all co-operative. They never have a concrete answer for your questions. They have the shared billing service so never know where to keep a check in-case you get a bill on the higher side. read more

All other reviews below are accurate. If AUM is mentioned by your management company, run far away from signing a lease with that company! Will price gouge the heck out of you with their gas, admin, and internet payment charges. Scary. read more