Excellent landlord and person. We rented a small home for over 6 years from Maria Rutenburg. She never hiked up the rent. She was completely responsive to our needs and gave us lots of notice if she needed anything. When our appliances wore out or malfunctioned, she sent sent services or replacements without hesitation. Thank you Maria Rutenburg. read more

Saw a posting on Craigslist for one of their properties in Redwood City (2711 Blenheim Ave.). Inquired to see if it was still available and when I could see it. The property manager, Maria Rutenberg, stated that it was rented but offered me an application for another upcoming unit ... but that I would not be able to view it before submitting the application. I emailed her and inquired as to why I could not see it before submitting an application. Her reply "... this is how they rent now." Maybe in some cases yes, but definitely not all scenarios. Ironic thing is, in her posting (for the unit I was inquiring about and that she replied it was rented), it states on there "... showing any day please text me as to when you are coming." Huh?! I could have SEEN that one, but not an upcoming unit? Yeah, OK ... that makes no sense at all. This is just a factual review of my experience with this person. Yours maybe be better ... as it seems there are lots of happy reviewers that have posted positive reviews about her. I suppose if you've had success going on blind dates, this scenario would probably work out in your favor. But then again ... read more

I have been trying to reach Peninsula Company many times to inquire about a property but no one ever picks up the phone or answers their emails. It seems like the voicemail box is full as well. read more

Maria was the best landlord I have ever had. She was responsive through the viewing process and through my 9 month lease term. The only issue I had was a slow to flush toilet, and instead of merely fixing the issue, she went ahead and replaced the whole thing, even though it was only my second week of residence. I am now 1 week out of her property and I already have my security deposit back, only less $85 for cleaning which she offered me to do on my own (I just didn't have time. If a job hasn't taken me out of state, I would have been pleased to keep renting from her! read more

Maria was amazing and the best landlord I've had. She was very understanding and patient with our needs. She's amazing and the unit was very well taken care of as well! Very reasonable and listens to everyone's needs! read more

Maria was a very good landlord. She responses so fast and fix any problem arises in a timely manner. She is an easy going and nice lady. Now that I am moving I would like to thank you Maria for the nice experience I had renting your apartment. read more

Maria is NOT a good landlord, I rented from her and first she didn't want to show me all the properties I wanted to see and then kept asking what kind of "people" I'm gonna have at my place. She also was taking under her breathe about sister who is was with me and is "trans" she kept using "him/he" when we told her that Tiffany prefers she!! I caught her driving by and I find it harassing.. now I'm leave Why she might have behaved this way.. if you're a person of color or trans I'd be concern renting from "Her" read more

I rented a room in 602 Heller St. from 2016 to 2017 from Maria. Maria completely lied in her ad about when the house was built (1950 vs. 2008). It's why she will only rent site unseen. read more

Maria is an excellent landlord. She is incredibly responsive to our needs often sending repairmen or taking care of the issue immediately. She is a very kind, understanding person and I enjoyed having her as my landlord. read more

I'm writing this review as a property owner who has used Maria's services to manage a single unit. I couldn't be happier! Having her manage my property for me has not only saved me a lot of time, it once saved my vacation. Maria has been in this business long enough to know exactly what she's doing. She knows property owners want to maintain their property for the benefit of good tenants, but without any unnecessary expense. She also knows how to keep tenants happy and to attract and retain good ones. When you hire on a property manager, you're also hiring on their own professional network of handymen, plumbers, electricians, etc. This can save you time and money. When my tenants have had problems, they get on the phone to Maria, and she in turn already has a handyman in her "speed dial" who can take care of it immediately. If the expense is below a pre-set threshold, I don't even need to get involved-- it just shows up on the spreadsheet at the end of the month that it was an item that was handled. Maria's use of good judgment and having her network at-the-ready actually saved my vacation on one occasion; we were in Maui taking a tour of hidden waterfalls, far, FAR away from any cell reception when the upstairs shower started leaking through the ceiling in the downstairs kitchen. If I didn't have Maria at the helm back home, I would have had to try to find a plumber or handyman from a distance, and this would have been after my tenants got torqued off that they weren't able to reach me for hours and hours. Instead, what happened was it got handled after just a few quick phone calls, and my vacation was saved. Maria paid for herself many times over in that one incident. Speaking of which, her fees are very reasonable, especially relative to what some of the larger management companies are charging for lesser services. She's an excellent value! Peace of mind, efficient handling of your property, and reasonable rates. I can't recommend her enough! read more

Extremely poor service, unprofessional, and downright rude. I strongly recommend you do not come into business with this company.

Maria with Peninsula Company is the best landlord I have ever had, ever. She is attentive, resourceful, friendly and professional. She is seemingly on call 24/7, flexible and refreshingly accommodating. One night I was having trouble logging on to the apartment building wireless network, so I asked her if anything was the matter. She immediately responded that she was unaware of any internet issues, but that she would contact the other tenants to see if they were experiencing any problems. Once she heard back from a few of them, she decided to upgrade the building's wireless service without hesitation. The problems stopped, and the secure wireless internet connection was still free of charge to tenants. The on-location manager, Shelley, is also very amiable. It's so rare to find such a nicely run, pet friendly, stand up rental company. Renting from Peninsula Company was a real pleasure. read more

I rented a unit from 2010 to 2011 that Maria managed. Maria responds promptly to emails and voice/text messages, typically within 1 day. She made sure to contact me days in advance when she needed to drop by with a plumber to investigate a possible water leak. Early on, I notified her of a problem with the water heater, and she promptly called a repairman and was on site when the repairs were done. When I gave my move-out notice, she quickly began searching for a new renter, placed them and was able to refund me part of the 30-day notice rent. read more

I've refinanced with Maria 3 times now. Yeah, so I jumped the gun once, should have waited, but nevermind that now. She's great. She responds in minutes, she takes care of all the minutiae, she's nice and funny and friendly and working at all hours of the day. This last loan was a pia - the banks have finally figured out they should consider who they're lending money to...and have redoubled their bureaucracy! Her perseverance got me a stellar rate, despite a mountain of obstacles that the bank was putting up along with that rate. Lender wanted tons of paperwork - from insurance, employers, banks... every time some document needed amending, and instead of just telling me about it and waiting some more, Maria called the insurance, the bank, HR, over and over until she got what was needed from them. Would (and have) recommend her to anyone for any service. read more

Caveat Emptor, "Buyer Beware" Maria Rutenburg in my experience, is dishonest. She was a property manager at a location in Redwood City I rented. She was fired mid July, 2012 and kept my Aug. rent as her payment for her service from that property owner. I was stuck in the middle of dispute between property Owner & Manager. I believe that Maria's actions were highly unethical & basically stealing!! (She finally did return my rent money, after 6 months and many unpleasant phone calls.) I thought I had paid my rent, but received an eviction notice in Aug. Maria was even nice enough to testify at eviction hearing, and that is when I found out she did not pay my August rent and kept it as payment for services rendered. Maria's testimony is in court records to check! I have an Eviction on my record because of Maria Rutenburg!! The Damage has been done. I can't rent any place easily & it will cost me more to rent because of Maria! Don't work with this individual or you will be sorry you did! Eric S. read more

I rented the 602 Heller St Apartment. Its a great place to live . Maria is very helpful and the house is well maintained. Its a great choice for single persons , close to Cal train , safeway and Target. Also the neighborhood is very nice. I would like to give a special mention to Maria . She is very prompt in her responses. When I rented the house I did not had the chance to look it personally as I was flying from NY. But Maria made the move really very easy and I enjoyed my 10 month stay at the Apartment . Everything in the apartment works perfect !!. read more

Very responsive. Great landlord and housing experience. Positive management style.

I rented a studio apartment in redwood city from Maria. I had no problems with the place, and she was very responsive the few times I needed to contact her. When I finally needed to move out, she found a replacement for me immediately, and let me out of my contract early so I didn't have to keep paying rent after I was moved out . I also received my deposit refund very quickly. I would definitely rent from Maria again. read more

Our growing family used Maria for a refinance on our house and she comes highly recommended. I was looking around for an honest broker and contacted her after seeing her reviews. It was very difficult to find someone trustworthy after seeing all the mortgage broker hawks out there. I am pleased to say that we have finally found someone I would trust to take care of ALL our real estate needs, not just a refinance. Maria is exactly what everyone says NICE and TRUSTWORTHY!! Finally someone who offers customer service and has integrity, is fast, is professional, intelligent and always responsive. Maria helped us close our refinance just before delivering our first born baby girl and pushed to have the loan closed just before her birth to ensure we could start our family with peace of mind. She saved us more than $400.00 per month on our home loan and got us a refund for using her services. She was so honest and generous that she took a cut in the commission to ensure we got the loan as promised and consciously knew we would have more expenses with the new addition to our family. She also made sure the check was not just in the mail but she personally dropped if off in our mailbox so we had some cash in hand for the baby. The best part of using Maria was she made us smile and that is just good old fashioned business that you have to love. I would contact Maria for any real estate transaction in the future and I think you should too! read more

Rented from the Peninsula Company sight unseen because I was moving across the country and didn't have time to visit. It turned out to be the perfect place at the perfect time, loved the location in Redwood City, and Maria and Shelley were very helpful and responsive whenever something came up. No problems getting the security deposit back, no funny business or hidden charges. Shelley managing the property was really wonderful too - I miss her! read more

I needed to find an apartment quickly for my relatives moving across the country. Maria went above and beyond, not only screening various apartments and finding the perfect place for my picky and demanding cousin, but also made phone calls to local elementally school so my little niece can meet with her teacher during spring break, which really alleviated her fears. Thanks Maria!!! read more

We rented from Peninsula Company sight-unseen when moving to Redwood City from 400 miles away. We were relieved to find someone who was willing to work with our situation, which included not only the distance, but also a single month lease (we had a more permanent housing plan already set up, for which there were unanticipated setbacks). Maria and Shelley were both incredibly professional and responsive - and the location of our apartment was not only convenient to my new job, but also across the street from a delicious Mexican market. Also, the apartment we rented was a really good deal, and included a security gate, and gated parking. Our security deposit was returned very quickly, with no unanticipated charges, and we would be happy to work with the Peninsula Company again. read more

I am a landlord and Peninsula Company has been managing a number of my properties in the last 4 years. The properties are profitable, tenants are happy, and I know that all problems and issues that do come up from time to time when you own rental properties are taken care of very fast, using common sense and having my best interest in mind. I do not know of any other management company out there that does things more efficiently. Great communications and availability too. read more

I rented from Peninsula Co. from mid 2007 to early 2009. I would pay double rent to go back. Maria was the best landlord I have had since I started renting in 1995. **She responded immediately to every email I sent over 2 years and was always accessible by cell/landline (even the week she got married, literally until the day of her wedding) **Cut me slack when rent was late **Turned blind eye to unauthorized improvements--only smiled and shook her head in the coolest way you can possibly imagine **She did things that landlords just don't do, like replacing lightbulbs inside unit , adjusting sprinklers, moving garbage **Came in middle of 2008 rainstorm and raging floods to pile sandbags in waist-high water **Discreet. Didn't knock on doors without emailing or calling, approach tenants to chat, or engage in any conversation about other tenants. Tenants who weren't hanging around wouldn't know she even came. **Notified me of a rent increase months in advance and exchanged long emails about rental market, inflation, and basically her entire financial situation--all for about $100, and my unit was below market **Sense of home/community. I guess this was a lot of little things that added up, but it really made a difference. Usually I didn't contact her beyond writing checks, but somehow she made it feel like home, and I know that other tenants felt the same way. There were never any issues, just peace of mind. **One ex-tenant called back to rent another unit, in another location. Whatever she had. Forget Craigslist! Everything else is like flying coach after having a Gulfstream jet. Maria provides the service of a billion-dollar management company, devoted to your apartment. ** OK, here's one negative thing. I spent 2 years telling my friends about how awesome my landlord was and how unworthy I was to be living there. No good landlord stories. read more

Maria was really great. I hope all property management companies works like hers does. She's super responsive, mostly by email which is great for us Silicon Valley people. She was very reasonable about doing things around the house, never gave us a hard time about anything and very importantly, let us treat the house as if it were ours. I will miss everything about the house, especially Maria! read more

Reliable property manager. I refer my clients to Maria and I hear only the best reviews. Everybody has been very happy.

I've rented a studio from Peninsula Company for half a year - great management, very responsive and attentive. The apartment complex is very clean and well-maintained. Maria responds to phone calls really well and always tries to help. I would rent from her again in a heartbeat! read more