Hold onto your wallet if you're considering renting through Matchbox Realty. I wish I'd checked Yelp to see their average 1.2 rating before we rented from them. Having put two kids through college, we've dealt with five off campus rentals over the years, along with numerous apartments that my wife and I rented during college and early in our careers. We've never encountered fees and business practices like this from a landlord. Our son's rent was about $700 per month, already among the higher rates in Harrisonburg. Before moving in, each of the four roommates was charged: * $100 application fee * $362 nonrefundable maintenance fee * $60 nonrefundable key fee * $3 processing fee That's more than $1,500 in nonrefundable fees collected from the four tenants before even considering the security deposit. A nonrefundable maintenance fee of nearly $1,450 for one house before anyone moves in raises an obvious question: what is the security deposit for? The fees continued throughout the lease. Every month there was a $5 renters legal liability charge. Paying rent by credit card incurred a 4.25% convenience fee, while paying directly from a bank account still resulted in a $3 platform fee. Both fees, again, every month. Unfortunately, the move out process was even worse. Our son was the last of the four roommates to leave, so my wife and I spent about 10 hours helping him clean the house. We vacuumed every room, wiped down furniture, cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, mopped the floors, removed all trash, and filled nail and tack holes with spackle. The house was left in very good condition. Despite that, Matchbox kept the entire security deposit and then demanded an additional $450 from the four boys, threatening collections if it wasn't paid within five days. The charges included items such as replacing air filters (that was a first), replacing a couple light bulbs (we didn't recall any that were not working) a dumpster fee (the dumpster is shared by 50 units, how exactly is that determined?), carpet cleaning, and mattress cleaning. We had already cleaned the carpets and mattresses ourselves, making these charges in particular difficult to understand. From our experience, Matchbox appears to profit as much from move in and move out fees as it does from rent. That's especially disappointing given that many college students are already struggling with tuition, student loans, and living expenses. Customer service was equally frustrating. Frontline staff simply repeated company policy without addressing our concerns, and multiple attempts to contact senior leadership, including the CEO's office, went unanswered. The only employee who seemed genuinely interested in helping was someone in HR named Cara, but she no longer appears to be with the company. This was, by far, the worst rental experience our family has ever had. Based on our experience, I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere before signing a lease with Matchbox Realty. read more

Worse property management in Harrisonburg. No way to pay your rent without a convenience fee except by sending a check to Chantilly. Also terrible record on maintenance, I was left without a shower for over a week once, until I fixed it myself. Was a tenant for over 6 years with nothing but problems. Then once I bought the house they had the utilities, which were in my name, cut off. Matchbox took no responsibility for this, going as far as to outright deny it despite the utility companies telling me what happened. Matchbox's customer service, Kyle, is absolutely useless, as are the supposed management, who are clueless. This company is the epitome of what is wrong with the renting market today and exists solely for the exploitation of the JMU community. They should be ashamed of themselves. read more

I'd give this company zero stars if I could. They nickel and dime you for everything. Some of the charges are legitimate, but instead of including these charges in the rent (like trash or utilities) they come to you at various times throughout the month. And look out!..there are late fees at different times during the month too. We auto pay our sons rent and found out months later that we had late fees racking up for all the nickel and diming. Lastly, you are charged a processing fee anytime you make a payment. They will charge you for anything and everything possible, and the apartments are below average! They take advantage of student living. My guess is although my son has taken care of his unit, he will not get his deposite back based on the way this reallty operates. Highly do NOT recommend. read more

Problems with A/C, plumbing, electricity, and windows at property I rented. In all cases took days to weeks for repairs to be done. They will try to charge you for anything. Would recommend renting with a different company if able. read more

I am the parent of a college student and landlord. If I could give this company a negative star rating, I would. If you want to be fleeced for nonsensical expenses with certainty of not only losing all of your security deposit plus more, then rent from them. You have been warned. Stay away from this company at all costs !!!!!!! Worst experience ever !!!!!!!!!!! read more

Do not rent from this realty. My son rented for three years while a student and this was the worst experience. The house was not inspected before moving in, lots of damage (reported and ignored) and unable to use his kitchen the last 5 months he lived there (reported and was told multiple times it would be fixed) Now, he has received a letter stating he would not get his security deposit back and will owe additional fees. read more

DO NOT EVEN TRY!! FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO LIVE!!!!! Matchbox has officially raised my units rent without a word!!! They ignore all the maintenance requests because we exercised our tenant rights and asked they fix something they broke, so now we have a house with a broken dryer, water damage from a flood their maintenance worker caused, moldy pipes and after they've ignored us for months they up my units rent without a word. DO NOT SO BUSINESS WITH THIS SELFISH CARELESS COMPANY!!!! read more

FRAUDULENT AND DECEPTIVE Matchbox Realty is charging over 6,000 dollars for damages done by previous tenants that were never fixed. They are fraudulently sighting a provision in the lease that specifically does not apply to us. They have not dealt with us in good faith. We strongly recommend that you do not lease with them because of their deceptive and fraudulent practices. read more

HAVE A LAWYER ON SPEED DIAL. STAY AWAY, FAR AWAY. Matchbox is a scam. They will charge you for anything and everything even if your house/apartment was the way it is BEFORE you moved in. They have 0 remorse. Bad people. read more

By far the scummiest realty company you will ever interact with. Was forced to sign with matchbox after struggling to find a single semester lease. We had a leaking roof the 3 months I lived there and the 6 months I didn't. Multiple work requests were downplayed/ignored (we were told to use a cooler to catch the water pouring from the ceiling during storms.) Who knows what kind of water damage a year of rain did to that house. When your lease ends, don't expect your deposit back, expect a bill 2x your deposit for things such as lightbulbs, paint and drywall repair that didn't need done, and $800 in maid fees if you don't vacuum each cobweb. For any students or parents struggling to find housing, I promise you can find something better. You would be happier and less wronged if you spend your semesters in a cardboard box in Champions garage. It's astonishing such a slimy establishment is even legally allowed to operate, but when you cover your behind with dozens of pages of legal jargon in your leases, it's extremely difficult to ever suffer consequences for your actions. Unfortunately these warnings seldom get read or heeded, and matchbox will continue to prey on college families who are none the wiser, but this made me feel slightly better. read more

beware!!!!!!! avoid any property these crooks manage. they charge you 1700$ for intial move in and then every week you get a extra charge for overfilling the dumpster, any maintenance issue. they charged each roomate 33$ each to change out a $4 hvac filter. they have a monthly dumpster fee and charge you when its overfilled!!!! order a bigger dumpster. i call them and they hang up on me when i call them out of thier price gouging avoid this place at alllllllllllllllllllllll costs! complete crooks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

I have lived in a Matchbox owned property since college, and am now a young adult living in one of the downtown properties. In our lease, we were promised a key fob access to our building, as well as a security camera facing the front entrance for security measures. As I write this on August 30, the key fob access to the building has not worked since July 7 and the main door has been propped open, allowing anyone from the outside access. Emails to all of the people in charge have gone unanswered or answered with a "we'll see what's going on!". If you value your security, you may want to think twice. read more

If you are late with a payment they send to an attorney quickly. Fixing the late payment is impossible. We have been waiting for 6 weeks for the payment to post and thy keep charging late fees even though we have provided proof and the checks cleared. There is no way it should take 6 weeks to credit accounts and bring things current. Communication is abysmal. read more

Matchbox Realty and Management Services is an untrustworthy and deceptive leasing company. I would advise anyone who's thinking about leasing from them that you consider other options. This company continues to use fraudulent practices and take advantage of their tenants by charging them for general upkeep and damages done by previous tenants. read more

worst "management " company in town Terrible service, no customer service, Dirty buildings and not secure, The government should check this company, there is an idea!!! get away from this "company" read more

So you're charging a $300 grounds fee which should be included in the rent for someone to cut the grass and a $300 common area use fee? Get real you're trying to take advantage of college students and it's not gonna happen here. Be aware of their bogus fees before you sign up! read more

I am posting this review to WARN OTHERS to stay away from Matchbox Realty managed properties. They are one of the worst management companies. They have extremely poor response time, are not attentive to tenants and, unless you are open to an extremely unpleasant experience, stay completely away from them. They will also attempt charge you for inaccurate bogus charges, attempt to charge multiple tenants for the exact same charge, not return security deposits in part or in full and have little or not documentation for telephone conversations, repairs, tenant records, or the like. It seems that they do not take care of their employees and the employees job satisfaction is extremely low. Do NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY. read more

I left this guy "graham" emails, voicemails, etc. and it took me going into the office to see this guy. For what could've been just over an email, very unprofessional, as a businessman and I will be making sure to tell everyone I know to not use this agency. read more

I'd posted this on Google Reviews too, but wanted to make sure that it was posted here too, as I do not feel as though a 1/5 represents the employees at this company. I've had a wonderful experience with Matchbox Realty, specifically thanks to Graham Nelson. He has worked with me and my group to make sure that things in our house are all in order. I especially appreciate his understanding when it comes to issues that arise, as he is more than willing to give you a call to work things out. read more

The most extortionist, nasty, vile group of people I have ever dealt with in my entire life. Hidden fees, lack of communication, lease contracts that have missing details, and if you are late on rent (because life happens) they will wait about 2 days before threatening you with an attorney and trying to ruin your credit and your life. Stay far away from this company. I am trapped for another 9 months. Can't wait to say good riddance to these people. Every employee needs to rethink their life and find employment elsewhere if they consider themselves morally straight read more

Matchbox has gone above & beyond with renovations to our house and they are always extremely responsive and helpful!

Horrible. Trying to charge us more than the security deposit for things that we didn't do because we weren't allowed to move in until 2 weeks past our lease starting, so we couldn't fill out their damage form. read more

If no stars was an option, I'd leave that. I was with them as a renter several years ago and had such a horrible experience that I bought a home so that I wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. I recently had the misfortune of joining a property owner's association they manage and there's obviously been no improvement. They're unresponsive, disorganized, unhelpful, and borderline willfully incompetent. Avoid at all costs. read more

Parents and students of JMU beware when dealing with this realty company! If there were negative stars I would have posted that. I echo everything that was said in previous reviews. Matchbox and the owners of these houses (that are rented out to college students) are laughing all the way to the bank. First, the house that my son stayed in with his fraternity was not fit for rodents to live in, much less students. They will slap you with charges with everything from burnt out lightbulbs (yes, I am dead serious), to scratches on floors, and doorknobs (that never locked to begin with). The house was in poor condition from day one, and most likely violates several city safety codes. My biggest piece of advice is take as many pictures and videos on move in day as your phone will hold. Stay on them if they aren't fixing things, because you WILL be charged when you move out. Don't bother calling and leaving messages, they will not call you back. If you are a parent, I would pay a visit to their office in person and let them know who you are. There is a good chance you will have a run in with them at some point. read more

Beware of this company. They don't honor maintenance requests in a timely manner and have very high charges such as a water leaking issue which resulted in $300 charge in one month water bill. Charged for replacement of common area Tv and full mattress that was not even used. My son had his own tv in his room and Queen mattress. Beware. This company takes advantage of their renters and holds their credit hostage to pay for the made up charges. read more

I have never felt compelled to leave a negative review for anything, but Matchbox has gone above and beyond to earn this one. At the beginning of June, my roommates and I noticed our air conditioning was not functioning properly. My roommate put in a work order on June 15th to have it fixed. Shortly after, a technician came to check out the system. My roommate came downstairs to find the technician had gone into our bathroom and taken two of our bath towels to mop up some sort of fluid leaking from our cooling system. He then left (with the soaked towels on the floor) saying the whole unit would need to be replaced and that we would be on a "wait list" for repair. When I called Matchbox to complain about the towels and ask for a date when our AC would be fixed, I was not given an answer and told that the technician was given permission to use our towels (which is completely untrue). After weeks of calling and having to leave messages inquiring about the AC problem, I finally got through to someone who offered to bring us some box fans, a temporary fix for the issue. It is now July 6th and I have not received an answer from anyone at Matchbox (despite leaving several messages) as to when our AC will be fixed. I don't have to tell you how hot it is outside AND in our house. Don't rent from Matchbox unless you want to be ignored, disrespected, and left without air conditioning in the middle of the summer. All they care about is money. read more

As the MULTITUDE of other reviews indicate - if NO STARS was an option, I would choose that. WORST EXPERIENCE with a company that I have had in a very long time. Apparently they are the rental company for many off-campus housing students. Reading the reviews, ALL of their customers have been dissatisfied. My experience with them in the last three months has been the worst experience I've had with a company in a very long time. I have found them to charge bogus charges to a large group of residents (to charge bulk and premium fees) as well as unnecessary fees, then fees on top of fees. Overall, taking advantage of charging college students excessively. It took me multiple emails and leaving multiple messages to be able to even speak with anyone. Upon speaking with Graham, he refused to acknowledge the situation as excessive and it as taking advantage of college students. He refused to work with me on the fees or waive anything for any reason. The house/unit that my son took residency of at the beginning of the semester was poorly maintained, at best, to begin with. My son was charged for a toilet replacement for a bathroom that he does not use. He was charged for gloves to perform that work. He was charged for trash removal by maintenance (even though we pay separately for a dumpster and trash collection). He was charged for labor repairs to the exterior fence around the property (nailing a board) that he didn't damage. Because I didn't pay those bogus charges within 8 days (it overlapped the date rent is due), I was assessed a "late fee" that Matchbox refused to waive. (even though I paid my actual rent several days in advance). There is ZERO grace or exception to how they charge. This is THE WORST company to rent from. read more

Matchbox Realty is HORRIBLE!! I rented a room at a townhouse from then for my Son who was attending JMU. We rented for one year. The house was a disaster when I moved my Son in. There were two other students living there at the time. When we moved hom out in July they not only kept my security deposit but send me a bill for "damages". When I tried to call the Property Manager she never responded. I called and emailed the office several times and never received a response. I wanted to get an explanation as to why I was receiving a bill?? Shouldn't the bill have been divided in three (worst case)? The place was already in this condition when we moved in. I sent them photos but never received a response. The next thing I know, I'm receiving a letter from a Lawyer threating to sue me and take me to court if I don't pay. A few weeks later I receive a "warrant for debt" and court date. DO NOT DEAL MATCHBOX REALTY!! DO NOT RENT FROM THEM!! THEY ARE HORRIBLE, UNPROFESSIONAL, AMD BULLIES!!! From reading other posted reviews, it looks like this is their M.O. read more

Andrea manages my HOA and does great work. She is professional, knowledgable, efficient, and personable. I always appreciate her expertise. Penny assists with our Association is just the right person for the job! She handles difficult conversations with ease! read more

This is the worst management company I have ever dealt with!! At the end of the 1 yr lease, they make you sign another 1 yr lease (which is not in the original contract. So basically, they keep you locked in with only a 2 month window of time to search for a new place if you want to move out. They do not respond to calls or emails and if there is an issue, they just ignore it until you stop trying to get in touch. They like to add additional charges once you are in like renters insurance even though that was also not in the lease. If you attempt to fight it, they simply ignore emails or phone calls until you go away. Every second year they raise the rent by a huge $ number even if you have always paid rent on time or have been there for several years. They accidentally canceled my lease due to a inept property manager (Jessica Roach), and turned off my electricity and water. Guess who had to pay for the re connect fees? Not Matchbox!! No apologies from them either. I should have known from day 1 that they were going to be a problem. When you sign the lease, they state that they will be taking $250 for carpet cleaning after you move out. When I got the keys to my place the carpets had not been cleaned. Obviously Matchbox kept that money as profit instead of offering clean carpets to a new tenant. I won't even say what I found in the bathroom!! I could list several others issues with this company over the course of 5 years, but it kind of gets redundant. Just know that they should be avoided at all costs! DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY...You have been warned from a previous tenant. read more

Couldn't agree more with all the negative reviews. My boyfriend lived here last year and I don't think he received a single email response until his current security deposit fiasco. He would have to physically go into the office to speak to someone (even just to sign the LEASE). He has recently moved out and they informed him that they took the entire security deposit and he owes an additional $1000 dollars. He is being charged $700 to "repaint the entire unit." They mentioned LED lights and smoke which is bewildering to us. We are trying to fight it and they have threatened to get their attorneys involved. It's infuriating. Idk about you, but I don't know many college students who just have $1000 lying around. Definitely wouldn't recommend living here. read more

Worst agency I've ever had to deal with. No customer service, terrible land lords who do not communicate with tenants or owner. Landlord was switched on my tenants halfway through their lease and they were being charged for things that matchbox failed to communicate amongst each other. Stay far away from this company. Matchbox has gone above and beyond to earn this 1 star review. Just a bunch of thief's. read more

WARNING: MONEY GRAB MONTHS AFTER LEASE ENDS! Duke parent X 3 had terrible experience 2-3 months after move-out two years in row (VA law requires claims to be revealed in 30 days to protect tenants). Son spent days cleaning his apartment afterwards and took photos. Several months after new tenants moved in, they charged all former tenants $744 X 23 = $17, 112 on top of the security deposit of $11,500 (estimates) for fabricated charges such as carpet cleaning when there was no carpeting, or oiling the butcher block and basic maintenance like fire alarm batteries, and light bulbs. We also paid for a fabricated maid; place has never seen professional cleaning as we were given the place in a dirty and extremely inferior condition. Expected to lose security deposit because there was some clean-up and damage but not $28,500 worth. Also, unlawful to charge tenant for damage that occurs on another tenant's lease which is common practice for Matchbox. Consulted with 2 attorneys who said this was some of the worst slum lord behavior they had seen. Only course of action is small claims court. Try not to rent from them. Lots of ethical rental companies, but not this one. If you rent from them, be present for the final inspection of property so they cannot fabricate charges. read more

STAY AWAY!!! CROOKS, i've had two rental expenses with these people and both ended badly. These people are famous for never fixing anything that you call in for repairs and then when you move out they try to charge you for the things that were broken Due to no fault of your own. They not only charge you they charge you four times standard rates ensuring maximum profit. I am a real estate professional who has been renting interning over units for decades and I've never seen such blatant criminal intent as I've seen with this outfit. Plan on not getting your deposit back under any circumstances read more

If I ran my business the way this company does, I'd be out of business. My daughter was a student at JMU and the time it took to get the paperwork signed for her and the roommates as well as the exiting of the dwelling was an absolute nightmare. The biggest complaint - no one answers the phone at this place. You can leave 20 voicemails - no one will call you back. In the rarity that your reach a live person - they cannot help you because my daughters townhouse wasn't one they oversaw. They do not respond to emails timely. Do yourself a favor and look at other places - you'll be glad you did. read more

If I could give zero stars, I would. This rental company is by far the WORST company to rent from in Harrisonburg. First, they don't ever answer their phones, are hardly ever in their office, and ignore emails for days. It's nearly impossible to get a response from anyone who works there. Second, they don't follow the lease that they are legally obligated to follow. They give you an option to sublease or assign the rest of your lease to someone else in WRITING on the lease, but refuses to honor your right to do that. Lastly, they will charge you an absurd amount of money after you move out while simultaneously keeping their security deposit. They charged me $1300 to replace carpet in a 500 square foot apartment. AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS. read more

Management is very, very bad. The properties Matchbox owns are pretty nice, but management does not make up for it. I am in the process of finding a unit at Urban Exchange with my fiancé and have many complaints starting with the most recent: 1. We scheduled a viewing with a property manager at Urban and she canceled on us less than two hours before the viewing time. (not a huge deal) 2. We rescheduled the same viewing for the next week and the property manager forgot about it. We had to email her to remind her after we had already been waiting for more than 30 minutes for her to show up. 3. We viewed the apartment and loved everything about it. She said she would hold the unit for us over the weekend so we could take time to decide on it. So nice right? Wrong. The NEXT DAY we emailed her ready to sign a lease and she ALREADY gave the unit to someone else because she ONCE AGAIN FORGOT that she was going to hold the unit for us. It was the last unit available that was in our price range. This all could've been avoided if we could've just met as originally scheduled or if the property managers had any ability to communicate. 4. My fiancé and I have done everything we were asked to do to get one of the units we wanted but were shut down just because of Matchbox's inability to their job correctly. We were so excited to have locked in one of our favorite units but were crushed when we found out it was taken. I have also lived in Mountain View Heights before and once again, management was awful. From living there, I learned that they WILL charge you a massive fee in damages ($350+ per person, $1400+ for whole unit) even if you clean your apartment nearly spotless. They don't look at the move-in inspection at all. I don't want to be completely negative. The one bright spot about Matchbox is the lady at the front desk, Katherine. She is great at her job and is extremely nice and helpful. She deserves better than Matchbox. read more

I created an account on yelp just to enter a review for Matchbox. I wish I could give less than one star. I lived in a house managed by Matchbox that has been passed down since the 70s and Matchbox has created the worst experience I have had during my 4 years at JMU. Avoid them at all costs. When there is an issue and you attempt to get in touch with them they will not email you back, or answer their phones. When you show up in person they will dodge questions and avoid you. I showed up at their office and wanted to discuss an issue. They said they would set up a time for a meeting. I left and they never contacted me back. Multiple times I was charged for things that myself or my roomates did not do. They charged us without investigation or speaking to us. Multiple times they did not give us 24hr notice before entering the residence. Another yelp reviewer said they had a positive experience with the staff. This was not my experience, I thought they were very unhelpful and very accusative. One individual chose to speak over myself and my roomates when trying to resolve an issue. In addition they will randomly add rules which were not agreed upon when signing the lease. Matchbox takes advantage of college students, but unfortunately so many of us attending JMU have no choice because they own so many of the properties in Harrisonburg. read more

Only writing this now that I have received my security deposit back - they would likely withhold it and make frivolous charges because someone tells the truth about their "business". Quite literally the worst housing experience I have ever had. Convenient for them to have their low Google reviews removed when you search them. My property manager changed multiple times with no heads up - we would email and call our manager, John, and went weeks without response until Graham finally responded. Abysmal communication all around. They do not even abide by clauses in their leases when issues are brought to light. Avoid at all costs. read more

To all the HOAs using this service, please note the attitude of the person answering the phone (when it's answered), very rude, condescending, unhelpful and disrespectful. The company should understand how they make their income and inform their employees that homeowners have several options to choose for property management. read more