**This is a long review as I want others debating to use Hawkins Poe to be well informed of how horrendous this "family owned" company is.**
My husband and I used Hawkins Poe as a property management company for our condo over the last 9 years and were truly appalled at the process to terminate our agreement with them because the Property Manager, Becky (Fircrest office), was incapable of providing quality service, fair treatment, and a clean unit upon previous tenant move out. The reason we chose to use a property management company was to be hands off with the leasing process, repairs, inspections, and everything else that goes along with renting a unit to others. What seemed to be a novel idea quickly turned into a nightmare that I will highlight below along with pictures.
Our previous tenants moved out effective 4/30/2021 and I picked up the spare key from the leasing office on 5/7/2021 from Becky. She provided the move out inspection that reflected, "Overall, the unit looks very nice. The tenants left almost spotless. The oven needs to be cleaned, the wall in the living room needs to be cleaned or checked for water damage." Based on that assessment, I was under the impression we would be able to start working with contractors to upgrade the unit soon. I went to the condo on 5/9/2021 and had a multitude of questions and shared additional pictures that were not captured in the original inspection. When I asked why there were not photos of the interior of the fridge, washer dryer, carpet stains in the master, detailed notes on blue tape in the master etc, Becky responded that, "I checked everything even if there was not a picture." "I apologize for missing the bleach in this room." "I believe I just missed this and didn't realize what it was.." This was literally her job to provide clear and accurate documentation. Had we been out of state and unavailable to see the unit in person, Hawkins Poe would have returned our unit to us in a terrible condition and pretended like they did a fantastic high quality job.
Additionally, I asked about the professional carpet cleaning receipt and the overall lack of cleanliness that did not align with the notice the tenants received about the required move out cleaning. I would have expected the move out check list to mirror that and have enough pictures to leave little to the imagination. I am truly appalled at the amount of emails I had to send requesting status updates and follow ups for things that were missed. Nonetheless, Becky said that she would schedule a cleaner and handyman to finalize everything which seemed like we were on the correct path forward.
On 5/11, Becky went back and took additional photos and shared an updated inspection within our owner portal. I question why this wasn't thorough in the first place and why it took me doing her job to get this revised.
On 5/28/2021, I sent the picture of the filthy moldy walls and dirty oven to Becky questioning when these items would be done so we could move forward with this process to close out. I expected to see a response back by 6/2/2021 at the latest due to the holiday weekend, but I did not get one so I reached out. Becky's response to me is that she communicated to my husband and told me to, "take care."
On 6/2/2021, I emailed the owners, Frank and Teresa Hawkins, a very detailed note including the numerous threads and pictures. I received a response a few hours later that said, "We appreciate your detailed perspective of events. We will reply once we have had the opportunity to review. We appreciate your being a valued client and look forward to continuing our professional relationship." I was expecting to receive a follow up note with the minimum an apology for our experience and the amount of time I had to spend doing Becky's job in terms of inspecting the quality, sending pictures of the unit, and dozens of emails to understand why things were not done in a timely manner. I sent Frank a note on 6/14/2021 reflecting that I was still waiting to hear a response and NEVER got one. Clearly his statement about us being valued clients was false and their company cares most about money and no part of it is about holding his team to a high bar to provide quality service.
The final straw for me was recognizing the unfair racial treatment I experienced. I am a black female (who met Becky in person) and on multiple occasions, Becky decided to only email my white husband a response despite me being the primary point of contact. She then found it appropriate to email me separately stating that she informed my husband and told me to, "take care." I would highly encourage this company to establish training on unconscious bias and best practices to reflect racial inclusiveness.
Best wishes to Frank, Teresa, and Becky. I sincerely hope they look at their internal policies and procedures to do a massive overhaul to provide an equitable high quality level of service in this competitive housing environment. read more