!!!!! NOTORIOUS BUSINESS STAY AWAY !!!!!! A group of 4 CMU graduate students from China were making arrangements for apartment rental from E S Management. It was a 3 bedroom apartment monthly rental is $1,795. E S Management asked to make a deposit of $5,885.00 in order to move forward and process the paperwork. Bank wire payment was made on the same day. The 4 students did not sign off the agreement, did not sign off the application form. E S Management never confirmed the rent, never return signed application to the 4 tudents. Within 2 days the 4 students they asked to cancel the rental. E S Management refused to refund. The offered $3,000 refund or lower monthly rental for $100 which is not acceptable. I looked around, I found more than 30 'STAY AWAY' terrible review from Better Business Bureau, Yelp, CitySearh, City-data, Merchantcircle, etc. I had to spend money and hire an attorney. I did file my formal complaint to the Better Business Bureau Pittsburgh. http://www.bbb.org/pittsburgh/, PROGRAMS&SERVICES, File a Complaint, search for E S Management. read more

I am not sure why the other reviews are hidden on here because they are 100 percent accurate. I lived in one of their apartments about 8 years ago and I am very disappointed that this business still exists. I just hope students see this before they decide to move into one of their apartments. I lived with 2 other girls. We rarely had people over at our apartment and when we did have "parties" they usually consisted of 5 people hanging around watching movies. -We were told things would be fixed before we moved in. That did not happen. Our kitchen cabinet handles took 8 months to get installed. -Our front door to our apartment had a huge window on it. We were told he would put something over it so that people could not see in; that never happened. -The windows were awful. Cold air poured in and our heating bills were atrocious. -Our apartment got broken into at one point. All of my valuables got stolen. There were no signs of forced entry and the police said a lot of times landlords don't change the locks. The worst part was that we (like the other reviewers) were charged hundreds of dollars in "damage." Damage that was there when we moved in. We left the place spotless and in great condition. Luckily my roommate was friends with a lawyer and he got the charges removed, but we never got our security deposit back. I just don't understand how a company can be so callous to students. We are often in debt from school and then you refuse to give security deposits back and subsequently prey on the fact that we don't have money by charging us for bogus "damages?" Awful experience. read more

Rented from this place a few years back. They will absolutely keep all of your security deposit when you move out, and charge you extra for damage and cleaning fees. The earlier reviews are all in line with my experience - our apartment had little damage (general wear and tear from two years of living) and we cleaned thoroughly before moving out. We were charged the entire $1,300+ deposit plus another $100 on top of that for cleaning fees. Rather than fight we simply paid. Rent at your own peril, and certainly expect to not get any of that deposit back. As for maintenance, we had a small animal running through the attic (we could hear the thing scurrying above our heads at night) so we called the ES to fix the issue. Their idea of a fix was to cut holes in the wall, put "candies" (thats a real quote) in the wall for the animals to eat, and then paint over the holes with a different color paint. Some time later. the noises stopped - either the candies were in fact poison or the animals moved away (the jury is still out on that, my roommate and I still debate this point). read more

My roommates and I were nice tenants. We paid the rent on time and and in full, never had loud parties, and kept everything in working order. ES Management, on the other hand, is a literal nightmare of a rental company. DO NOT RENT FROM THEM. My biggest complaint is that our ceiling collapsed in about 5 different places while we lived there. ES did nothing for a few weeks and then finally repaired it, in sections and at their leisure. Other maintenance problems were also ignored and now they're trying to charge us for them. You might think they seem like a legit place to rent from as the apartments seem clean and fresh and up to code, but trust me, it's all a giant patch job. RUN AWAY FROM THEM AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. read more

DO NOT RENT!!! Awful business and they will keep all of your security deposit and then some, no matter what!

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT RENT FROM ES MANAGEMENT!! My daughter and her friend rented an apartment in Shadyside while going to college at CMU. Their apartment had constant leaks which were never cared for properly. Upon moving out the apartment was immaculately cleaned!! I know because I did it myself..everything from the baseboards, to scrubbing down every appliance, every drawer and every cabinet! The apartment was cleaner upon move out than move in. I took pictures of it all to document. My daughter and her roommate were excellent tenants who cared for this property. They were denied most of their security deposit back!! For ridiculous things like paint (which is clearly normal wear and tear and should be expected upon vacating. We later found out that ES management regularly keeps security deposits from college students totally abusing these students. Please look elsewhere.... My daughter graduated a few years ago and we just didn't have access to all the reviews that you do as prospective tenants. RENT ELSEWHERE!!!!!!!! read more

My three roommates and I moved into an old and outdated basement apartment at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. We were told that all the walls had just been repainted and new carpet installed so we took precautions to keep the apartment in excellent condition. We went the whole year without damaging anything in the apartment or staining the carpet. We cleaned the apartment regularly while we lived there and spent two days cleaning vigorously before we moved out. About a month after moving out, we were notified that in addition to not receiving our security deposit, we were being charged an additional $650 for cleaning fees. Total this was equivalent to around $3000! They charged us to clean and repaint all the walls as well as to re-clean nearly every aspect of the apartment. We were four responsible and tidy college students who spent an entire year taking very good care of an apartment that was not in a good condition to begin with and this company took advantage of us. Unless you can afford to take them to court when they try to scam you after you move out, I would highly recommend staying away from this company. read more

STAY AWAY!!! My roommate and I rented from ES for two years. We are both professional students in Pharmacy school and never once had a party or any gathering of more than 3 people in those two years. We didn't have too many problems during our tenancy. HOWEVER, we were blown away when we got a letter after we moved out saying that not only were we not getting any of our security deposit back, but that we also owed an additional $600 for damages. We spent an entire day cleaning the apartment before leaving and the claims made were absurd. Claims of severe smoke/fire damage, when neither my roommate or I smoked/used candles/etc.. When we tried to dispute these claims in a productive and professional manner we were treated with disrespect saying that we showed "blatant disregard" for the property which was absolutely not true. ES management takes advantage of naive college students who don't know any better and I'm sorry to say that I was one of them. Unfortunately, paying the final balance is less costly and less of a hassle than taking them to court would be, but they deserve to be shut down for how they treat their past tenants. read more

DO NOT RENT FROM E.S. MANAGEMENT...or if you do, do so at your own risk. They were terrible landlords: --slow with repairs, that is, if they responded to repair requests --slow/hesitant to help when there were infestations in their building (I almost called the Dept. of Health) --little warning--if any--before showing up (veryyyy sneaky people) --rude --they let some nasty creep sublet a room in an apartment without the full consent of the tenants --expensive: my apartment was quite small for the price, not to mention a steep water bill every quarter and no utilities covered, no fresh paint or carpet when I moved in but I had to pay for new stuff when I moved out!! Say "good-bye" to your security deposit, because you won't be getting it back. --they are greedy and will make false claims about you to get money from you; will come into your apartment to work on something, move your stuff and try to charge you for having to move your stuff --"luxury apartments" is false advertising, trust me. I hope this warning helps you and your friends out (spread the word!). Had I known how evil E.S. Management was before moving in, I would have saved myself the time, frustration, and money by finding another place. Good luck with your housing search, and Go Steelers! read more

I am the parent of a University of Pittsburgh student who rented a two bedroom apartment at 3615 Dawson Street for three years. I gave E.S. Management a two-star rating because the experienced was real "mixed bag." If you decide to rent from ES Management, know that you will likely not get your security deposit refunded when you move out, even if you leave the apartment in immaculate condition. If you don't leave the apartment in immaculate condition, you will likely be billed for additional damages that exceed your security deposit.. The big plus to this property was that it was in relatively good shape when we rented it -- much better than other rental properties we inspected in South Oakland. It wasn't a fire trap and the wiring and electrical were up to code. Appliances were generally sound (except for the leaky refrigerator, which was not fixed despite many calls placed over the three years. The walls were in good condition, although not perfect. There were chips and water marks on the walls. If you do rent with ES Management, be sure to commit the 20+ page lease agreement to your memory, as you will need to be an expert about the terms, including: -- Changing the furnace filter every month. Our daughter has asthma so the filter was changed only quarterly. We were charged $175 to get the unit cleaned and it was noted on their form that our filter was "filthy". When she moved into the apartment, the first thing we did was a filter check. The filter looked as if it had not been changed in years. -- Paying the rent for the entire last month that you will be in the apartment, even though the lease requires that you move out by the 25th of the month. You pay for the last week of the lease, when they are supposedly cleaning the apartment. -- Hiring their chosen carpet cleaning company to clean the carpeting when you move out. You are not allowed to rent a steam cleaner and clean the carpet yourself. If you do not do this or do not clean the carpet, you will be charged $250. We did arrange for a carpet cleaning and the cleaning company charged us $75. -- Paying to repaint the entire apartment, even though the walls weren't freshly painted when she moved in. -- Only one monthly rent check will be accepted for each for each unit. If you plan to have roommates, this is a pain in the ass. -- Clogged drains and other plumbing issues are your responsibility and you are expected to use one of their approved plumbing services. We cleaned the apartment for two days and returned it in better condition than when it was leased to us. Of the $1,195 security department provided to ES Management, exactly $130 was refunded. Some of the walls had what looked like water marks on them. There were no floods in the apartment or leaks from appliances, so the origin of these marks was a mystery. My daughter called ES Management to report these marks. The company did nothing to repair them, and we were charged for them at move out. If you decide to rent from ES Management, be sure to: -- Keep a copy of the move in form that you complete. -- Make note of everything that is not immaculate when you move in, including the area under the appliances, light fixtures, wall chips, water marks. -- Insist that an ES Management rep do a walk through with you when you move out to note any damages that you will be charged for. Be sure to have a copy of your move-in report when you do this. -- Keep a record of all calls you make to ES management to report repair needs. -- Take photos when you move out, especially of the furnace. -- Call ES Management and ask about the particular furnace filter that they recommend. If you buy your own filters, they will say you did not change the filter while you were in the apartment. read more

I lived at 3600 Dawson for two years. I had no issues for the first year and a half of living there. Maintenance would always come the day we called or the day after, and the apartment was much nicer than other places in Oakland. As soon as we told ES Management we were not renewing for the following year, our living conditions became terrible. Our ceiling collapsed in the kitchen. We would call multiple times a week and they would say they "patched it" but then the next time it snowed/rained, the problem would come back. Then our furnace broke and we were without heat for a week (One of the days it was -10 degrees!!) They did not come fix the problem until one of our parents called and threatened to call the department of health. And of course, we got charged for the "furnace being filthy" from our security deposit. We moved out after graduation, but came back in July to move the remaining things out of our apartment and the entire apartment was flooded, ruining the floor/walls/cabinets. I was supposed to have our carpets cleaned that day, so I called ES and explained that this was not possible and they told me not to worry about it. A couple days later I asked for us to have a document in writing stating we did not need to have our carpet cleaned due to those circumstances and they refused. This made us have to get the carpets cleaned after we moved out and having to pay ES to let them into the apartment. The house was immaculate when we left, but they did manage to charge us $200 for each nail hole in the wall and for the house to be repainted. All but one hole was there from previous tenants, and the house was definitely not painted before we moved in. Overall, I would NOT recommend renting from ES management ( they are now changing their name to Kerpec Management so beware!!) read more