The resident, site and point of contact folks at premium properties for my apartment on Hillegass were incredibly professional and supportive. That building wasn't always managed by premium properties, and once they took over a couple of years ago, it positively improved the experience of the building. All requests were taken seriously, and were taken care of promptly. Overall, they were quick to respond and were especially accommodating. I lived at my place for 12 years and just turned in my keys. They had managed the property for the last 3 or so years and no complaints. Loved my time there, and especially with all the amazing improvements they made. Highly recommend their properties. read more

Our property manager Lhea was by far one of the best parts of staying at 1530 Henry for the past 3 years. She was always available, very knowledgeable when we needed help, and quick to respond. Will miss having Lhea around for the next few years in Berkeley! read more

I previously rated this maangement company highly but near the end of our two years things really deteriorated. Our sliding glass door was broken for two months (major safety concern!!!) and then when it finally was fixed--when we left this unit the cost of a "broken" sliding glass door was taken out of our security deposite. I could go on----but ill just leave with saying maybe double triple check about histories of mold in your unit with premium before living there? Honestly, though, stay away from this company if possible. read more

I've lived on 1530 Henry St for 3 years. I LOVED the apartment and the location. The maintenance was quick and nice. What really made the place stand out was the property manager, Lhea. She is the best and was so incredibly helpful. Lhea became our guardian angel for the time that we lived there & are so so so grateful to her! read more

Listing for 514 N St. Oakland - 3bd 1.5bth Strap in because Premium Properties are an absolute circus and I have never seen this level of unprofessionalism and bizarre logic in the rental market in my 25+ years of living in the bay. I was advertised a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath through Zillow, and mind you, this place was in a wonderful location and I was VERY excited to view it. I scheduled an appointment to view the property and was greeted by other people interested in the unit. Totally fine, open house, right? Well, we almost immediately discovered that they were looking at a 6 bedroom unit and I was looking at a 3 bedroom. Phew! There was a sudden sigh of relief that we weren't competing for the same unit. We compare our Zillow listings and they both specifically state a 3 bd and 6 bd with different price points. Again, great! Skip forward and a family of 4 shows up, presumably for the 6 bedroom. After the leasing agent shows up late (not a good look) and we all corral ourselves in front of the unit like cattle, we were presented with what could only be compared to a time share presentation. She explains that the unit is the same unit (both 3 and 6bd), and that depending on who wanted it the most, it could be either a 3...or 6 bedroom unit. But...how you may ask? Well, they would have their contractor come in and literally bolt off 3 of the bedrooms to make it a 3 bedroom apartment, where you wouldn't have access to 3 empty rooms. This unit is 3 stories. Oh...and the .5 bathroom they advertised in my 3bd 1.5 bath listing is on the 3rd floor where 2/6 bedrooms would more than likely be locked off. That's 2 stories where (I have no idea) if I could pick the bedrooms to be locked off? Just to make myself clear, if it were a 3 bedroom unit, they would block access to 3 of the 6 bedrooms. WHAT IS HAPPENING??? To add to that, at our timeshare presentation, they gave us pamphlets with QR codes where we'd have to give them a "refundable" holding fee of $1500 upfront for, and I quote, "to make sure we're serious." If you're still reading, I know this sounds like I'm making it up but I promise I'm not. I never go to the internet to complain about anything but I happened to have lost the unit I looked at 3 hours before this one because I had to see if this one too good to be true, and it certainly was. It wasn't just falsely advertised, it was manipulative. I'm ok losing the other space, but this is just rotten business. The best part was the short term friends that I made as we looked at this place, even as competitors. We would look back and forth at each other like "is she really THAT confident in the BS she's spitting in our faces?" But my last point is; why wouldn't they just keep it as a 6 bedroom? It's more income. Why lock off doors to prospective tenants? And if this idea of locking off bedrooms was real, what's the longevity for that tenant having a home that has 3 extra bedrooms? It's more money. According to Zillow, this place was built in the 90s, so there goes rent control. None of this added up and frankly, there were too many red flags they weren't hiding. So, I guess good on them for being blunt. I'm so sorry for this long rant but geez, what a colossal waste of time. I highly advise anyone working with this group to be cautious and ask as many questions as possible. The bay area is really competitive but this was way over the line. Be prepared. read more

horrible experience while attempting to apply for a unit . Would not recommend , rude and unprofessional especially dealing with Salvador Quiroz through the screening process . save your time and money , look else where ! read more

Premium properties has been a great landlord to work with. Specially Natalie, Ana and Juliana are great. They are reasonable, always willing to help and expedite any service requests. As a first time renter, I 100% recommend them. read more

Avoid at all costs. Maintenance is shady (had a broken window for a year, painted without primering, etc), cannot reach people when needed, will give you the runaround when you ask for reasonable requests. Allowed strangers into my unit without notice i.e. for a cleaning service I opted out of, they never even told me what date it would be happening. No notice that people would be using power tools for maintenance while I was working from home. They even insisted I leave by noon on my last day even though I was paid through the month. The owner Sam Sorokin called his employees "stupid people" ("What are we going to do with these stupid people" he said to me personally). At one point I had a plumbing emergency on a Friday heading into a holiday weekend and the after hours emergency line was shut off. I had to turn off all water and figure out how to fix it myself. They fought against reimbursing me for a $60 part for weeks -- I wasn't even trying to charge labor for work I ended up doing myself. Just a house call from a plumber would have cost them more than that! When I left they communicated specific times that they would be showing my unit, but their people never showed up. At one point they asked me how showings were going, I was like hey, I was out of town, you never asked me to, and I have no idea why *you* didn't show it. read more

My contact has mostly been with the property manager Julianna and I only have positive things to say. She is responsive, warm, professional, accommodating and has made the whole experience of renting and switching units easy and painless. She's the best. read more

Julianna is the best building manager! She has been helpful and supportive since day 1. Specially as we settled into berkeley as students. Even before moving in she was proactive in solving all queries. She goes out of her way to resolve service requests at the earliest. read more

Very difficult to work with. From the screening process through till termination, nothing was communicated clearly and took repeated attempts to get in touch. Premium intentionally keeps utilities costs vague and most residents at my building were surprised by additional fees--that when explicitly asked during contract signing, were supposedly already covered under the shared bill arrangement. Our resident group chat is full of frustrations with management. read more

My building manager for Premium Properties has been Julianna. She has made the experience in the building truly exceptional. She is always accessible and responds promptly to any inquiries. Whenever an issue arises, she acts quickly to resolve it. I truly appreciate her hard work and dedication--it is always easy to communicate with her. read more

I've seen all the other reviews with the staff responding to make light of the issues. Totally on brand for Premium. Current resident in a building Premium took over after I'd been here about 18 months. It's been a sh*t show. Residents have a WhatsApp group where we compare the different stories they tell us. About to have our third on site building manager in a year. Their office staff turnover is really high. Strongly advise you to rent elsewhere. read more

Ana and Natalie were great at helping me find a studio. Got showing, application, and rental offer all in one day :)

Unfortunately, my first experience with "Premium" Properties was a disappointment. I booked a view on a Wednesday, but couldn't make it because of some Bart delays, so I contacted them and Juliana offered me the 1:45pm slot on Sunday. After I agreed with the time, she replied " Perfect!". This was over the Memorial day weekend, so I changed my travel plans so I could be there at 1:45pm to see the unit. I arrived earlier and by 1:30pm I called their number to let them know I was there already. Nobody showed up, so I emailed, called and texted, only to get a super late response telling me that the open house was at "3:45pm"!! Angry and dissapointed, I yet confirmed that Id walk around and come back at 3:45pm, to once again waste my time, as NOBODY called me, or showed up to let me in and see the unit. Not even a call to say that someone was late, or couldnt come. Complete disregard and disrespect for people's personal time. I value communication, and the fact they couldnt even bother communicating with a potential renter, speaks loudly about how they operate after you sign the lease. Managing companies, these days only function as " rent collectors" nothing more. Sad. read more

I'm leasing at Hillegass and so far my experience has been great. They've been super responsive and they have great customer service. The process of renting the apartment was efficient and quick. There weren't any hiccups or delays. read more

I was a resident at an Oakland Premium Properties building for 1 year. They had just taken over this building when I applied. I should've known from the beginning that it would be a mistake. When I applied for residency they charged an application fee and they immediately want a deposit. They put so much pressure on you to move forward with them by saying that you are in competition with other interested renters. Now I understand that the housing market is competitive but they bully you knowing that you may struggle to find another good housing option. This was my situation and so my rent was ~$1950 for a 1 bedroom unit + utilities costing $150 + a monthly pet fee of $100 for a pet that stayed at my apartment very little. And with the pet, they would threaten that if they caught you on the camera bringing a pet into your unit and you didn't add the pet fee to your rent there would be greater consequences. During my one year in my unit there were necessary electrical repairs being made to the complex due to the building being old. These repairs lasted the duration of my time there. Granted there were many units in the complex but to this day the new electrical still short circuits. As for other little charges that racked up, they charged $3/wash and $4/dry and the machines were constantly breaking. You had to pay for parking in the garage which was another $150/month and eventually they provided storage for residents that would cost $25/month. At the end of my lease, my unit was very clean. I had filled in any holes in the walls per the instructions from management and yet $825 was removed from my $3000 security deposit for minor painting, base board touch ups, and toilet drain fix. ALL feel very much like normal wear and tear and NOT my responsibility. Additionally I had extensive documentation including my lease agreement stating that I would not be liable for these kinds of things. I did not receive any communication of what would need to be fixed and that it would be my responsibility to pay and unfortunately I had already moved out so now I cannot fight them. In fact, I emailed them wanting clarification and they will not email me back. So I would recommend that residents set up their move out inspection with enough time to request the line items of what would need to get fixed and dispute if you feel and there is no evidence that it would be your responsibility. Premium Properties was nickling and diming every resident trying to squeeze out any money possible all while barely keeping up with maintenance. I would NOT recommend you rent from Premium Properties. read more

2 of our bedrooms have been without power for over a month after a "routine inspection" of our circuit board. I've filed multiple maintenance requests and have just been told to not use energy-draining appliances such as hair dryers in those rooms-- even though I do not use any such appliances. I've unplugged everything and the overhead light still doesn't turn on, and my most recent service requests have gone unanswered. Additionally, my unit had another roommate move in a month ago (had a couple hangups but was overall pretty easy, so that's positive) but we have not been able to get a key for that roommate. When I emailed Premium Properties, they said it was my responsibility to get my new roommate a key. When I told them that Berkeley building control laws prevent locksmiths from making the gate key and that Premium Properties has to issue it, I never received a response. I called the office within business hours multiple times afterwards and still have not heard back. PP took over management of our building partway through our lease, and almost immediately began raising rent. They were kind enough to postpone their original proposed rent increase when I explained the financial situation of our unit's residents (all of us are students and not everyone gets outside aid), but after a few months reinstated it. They've made it quite clear that they will continue raising rent as much and as often as they legally can. read more

As this was the second property management I was going to work with in Berkeley I was really hoping for a better one than the first, so for starters I my expectations were EXTREMELY LOW. Unfortunately Premium Properties has only reaffirmed my belief in the incompetence of Berkeley property management. We did a roommate replacement lease, I was moving in with a friend who already had a lease started on the property and was looking to take over her roommate's lease who was moving out. Did not think it was going to be to difficult but unfortunately Premium Properties was in the process of selling that property to another management company. This constantly delayed and stalled the process, I had to consistantly initate all communication through every single step of the process. They wouldn't even respond to my emails quickly, I would have to call them and ask about what I was trying to get from the email. On top of that sometimes no one would answer the phone, I'd call various people in the office at that point just to get ahold of someone. One time the person who picked up verbatim said to me "Wow that's weird she didn't pick up the phone I see her in her office right now." I found that to be wildly unprofessonal and irrtating. These are the landlords profiting off of me! It took over 3 months of back and forth emails and lots of phone calls to them to get questions answered and to affirm I was going to have housing in the upcoming year. On top of that, I was informed that the new property management was going to honor the old leases. Given that information and the fact that our deposit was going to significantly increase due to having a pet (which it totally understand), I paid Premium Properties the pet deposit. Fast forward to recent news of my co-signer and the old roommate, who is not on the lease anymore, saying that they refunded the pet deposit to the person who I replaced. I paid a Pet Deposit (unecessarily at that) and then find out they refunded not even to me. This is disorganization and incompetence at its finest. Wildly unprofessional, would never recommend to anyone. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE I WARN YOU! 0/5 stars is not an option so you get 1/5. read more

**BEWARE! BEWARE! BEWARE! - I Would Not Rent from Premium Properties!** I have had such a terrible experience with Premium Properties, and I want to warn others before they fall into the same trap! Here are the main issues I encountered, along with important details about a significant lawsuit against them: There is absolutely nothing "premium" about their properties nor their customer service nor their staff. The extremely misleading name only adds to the frustration of dealing with this management company. Premium Properties took over managing my apartment building, and literally, after they did, everything went downhill. Their poor management practices and lack of care became immediately apparent, which led to a decline in the quality of living. Premium Properties also tried to force me to vacate my apartment BEFORE my lease ended because they wanted to move a new tenant in early. Despite my lease not being up, I was subjected to hostile interactions and had an unauthorized entry by the senior property manager Jeffery (Jeff). This behavior is completely unacceptable and unprofessional, breaching tenant rights and lease agreements. While they were somewhat responsive to my SINGLE maintenance request during my stay, the overall interaction with the management was minimal and unhelpful. Like many others, I faced issues with my security deposit. They are notorious for withholding deposits unjustly. This issue was significant enough to literally result in a class action lawsuit against them, Walsh vs. Premium Property Management Inc. (Case No. RG20072409). Upon accessing their court records, I see this case was filed in the Alameda County Superior Court on August 26, 2020. As of December 15, 2023, the parties arrived at an agreement in principle to settle the matter on a class-wide basis. They expect to have a finalized Class Action Settlement Agreement fully executed by July 17, 2024. Once the settlement is finalized, I will update this review to include the settlement amount. If this settlement doesn't highlights the numerous tenant grievances severe enough to require legal intervention to resolve, I don't know what will. As a law student, I can say that their leases are not normal. Premium Properties are unwilling to work with clients and have very broad clauses in their leases that strip away all your rights. These clauses are unethical at best, illegal at worst. The last two weeks I stayed there were hell. I received a 24-hour notice nearly every single day until my lease expired because they wanted to fix and update my apartment building for the next tenant. They did this on my time and left a complete mess every time maintenance entered, which was nearly everyday. This should not have happened; they could have waited until I moved out. Both the management company and the maintenance people were extremely hostile and wanted me out when I literally had no place to go. They insisted I follow their lease, EVEN THOUGH I had signed a DIFFERENT lease with the PREVIOUS manager, meaning LEGALLY I am bound to that one. If they wanted me to comply with their lease, they should have asked me to sign the new one. The worst part is, they think they're legally in the right, and when you stand up for yourself, they always hit you with, "why are you being hostile toward us?" Maybe it's because they are legally in the wrong, and I can't seem to get that through their heads. I cannot express enough how little I care about the feelings of their staff, which they seemed to want me to prioritize; all I care about is the law. My relationship, and every tenants relationship, starts and ends with the lease, simple; nothing more, nothing less. This is probably why their lease is so extensive, so convoluted, and filled with clauses designed to strip away tenant rights. In summary, I strongly urge prospective renters to avoid Premium Properties. While many other companies in the area have their problems; do yourself a favor and stay far away from Premium Properties! I'm curious what they'll reply, as they seem to completely minimize rightful complaints and gaslight you, as you can see on other reviews. read more

The leasing process was so slow, unresponsive, and unprofessional that, even though I was looking for a rental and ready to sign, I wouldn't have been able to! Maybe they wouldn't have so many vacancies right now if they actually read their emails or picked up the phone. Here are several instances of their gross lack of professionalism: - The short term lease "promotions" currently available for students returning to campus during COVID aren't even to the renter's benefit. The promotion is for their own benefit and they are labeling it as a deal for marketing only. A promotion is supposed to be something that benefits the customer. I asked if there were longer lease terms available since I want to avoid the hassle of moving again in 5 months, and they said no, due to the "promotion," there are only 5 or 7 month lease terms available. You read that right: 5 or 7 month, not 6 month, not any length between 1 to 5 months. Their terms only to get the most money out of students as possible. They refuse to offer longer leases because they anticipate jacking up the rents in August due to the vaccine and they refuse to offer shorter leases because they know they can force students into a semester-long lease. - Their staff was beyond difficult to contact. I was looking for a rental 1.5 months in advance and had to email, call, and text the contact info on their website multiple times to get a first response. After that, I tried scheduling virtual tours and asked basic questions about the unit such as: what is the rent of units #A and #B, how much do utilities typically cost, and am I able to sign for a move-in a month out. Well, the leasing agent forgot about our tour even though we scheduled it 2 days before and I emailed with confirmation at their request. I called 10 minutes before we were supposed to tour and they said they forgot, cancelled because they were busy (Huh?? We scheduled this in advance!), and moved it to another date. The date that they picked arrives, and they forget again. I have to call right before we are scheduled to virtual tour and they are busy again, and we end up having the tour THREE HOURS late after a multiple day delay due to their own organizational problems. - Their staff displayed unprofessional conduct through and through. If the previous example wasn't enough, they were unresponsive, unhelpful, and unfriendly in more instances. I specifically asked for the rent for certain units that were listed as available on their website and on their social media. A week later when we finally do the virtual tour, they tell me that they actually do not know the rent yet. Why are they posting units with rent numbers and availability if they don't even know the rent? They said they'd get back to me when the numbers were finalized, which never happened. They never got back to me. I always had to call, email, AND text for any acknowledgment of my interest and at the end I gave up and decided to look through another leasing company. Believe it or not, these all happened over the span of only two weeks. I can't imagine what it's like trying to communicate them over a long lease period. I was looking to sign ASAP when I contacted them and I sure dodged a bullet. My friends in the area say similarly awful things about their leasing experience through Premium and I wish I'd listened to them earlier to save myself the trouble. read more

I just signed an offer to rent at this building and had a great experience. I was helped out by Ana Smith, one of the leasing agents at the building. She has been extremely helpful and great with communication. She answered all my questions and helped me out with everything in a timely manner. Wonderful experience signing here. Thanks! read more

Jeff showed me a property in SF. He was on-time, friendly, and thorough. Place was honestly a hidden gem with potential. I ended up not proceeding, but was impressed with Jeff's communication, flexibility, and due diligence. read more

Definitely don't rent commercial office space from this company. A/C out 2 years. No heat except a space heater for 2 years. I was relocated to a different, much smaller office in August due to repairs and it has taken til November to be able to move back in. They want me to move my own furniture. Internet service disappeared. They sold my parking spot to someone else. And despite the lease saying I can leave and break the lease if repairs are not completed in 72 DAYS, I am still being told I need to give 90 days notice. Their terms are unethical and illegal, from the sources I have consulted with. It's been a nightmare. And they keep raising the rent while not providing basic services. I wish I had stopped paying rent as I was instructed to do from legal advice. I had hoped they would be willing to work with me since I've given them such a huge amount of money without complaints. All I wanted to do was move at the end of the month after 4 MONTHS in a sub-standard office that didn't meet my needs. Read the lease carefully and expect the worst. At the beginning of my tenancy, things were OK but the last year has been awful with a complete turnover of building management. They are not willing to take any amount of responsibility. read more

We had a very good experience with them. They were very flexible with our move out and all of our repairs were handled within 1-3 days, all it took was a single email each time. I would definitely rent with them again. They were also very accommodating when we asked to change to a month-to month schedule. read more

When looking at apartments me and my partner were a bit hesitant seeing the avg rating here on Yelp. Knowing that you have to take that score with a grain of salt, we looked into it. After reading through the reviews though, we didn't have a reason to be concerned. Of course things go wrong but it seems bad reviews have mostly had a consistent trend of not working with management to solve issues with the apartment. I've lived in apartments for over a decade now, in Manhattan, in SF, in East Bay. I've seen a building manager literally use duct tape to fix a leaking pipe. I've lived on the 6th floor of a walk-up infested with rodents where you had to know certain stairs to hop over cause they'd slip out from under you. I've also had phenomenal landlords in amazing apartment complexes. I've lived in a building that literally caught fire and nearly burnt down and the on-site management carried people and their pets outside to safety. Point is I've seen the full spectrum. We've lived at the apartment complex just off of telegraph Ave in Berkeley for several months now. We've placed multiple service requests ranging from a buzzing ceiling fan to a request for external window cleaning. They've always promptly replied and followed through. The building / apartment is great, manager is responsive and gives multiple heads up when they'll be out of office, so far so good! Things are always going to go wrong when you live in an apartment. If you have management that will read and take action on your requests, respectful neighbors, nice location, you have a pretty f***ing good deal in my opinion. :) read more

We live in an old building, but I am so surprised at what a great job they do with keeping the building clean! The manager is friendly and the units are big. The management company has a fairly easy portal and management system for bills, rent and maintenance issues. I will definitely rent again from this company. read more

What a horrible customer experience. While we did enjoy our apartment for over a year, we needed to move during the pandemic and they made it an absolute nightmare. Anna was rude, unresponsive and completely not helpful. She gave us incorrect information about breaking our lease and continually ignored us until we contacted her boss Sam. Once we got put in touch with another agent, Scott, we were able to move forward, but wow was it badly handled until then. Definitely don't recommend renting with PP. read more

I know property management companies generally have less ratings on these types of sites given negative experiences being most highlighted so I wanted to share my experiences. This is not to detract from others, but to speak my truth. I stayed at a Premium Property location for over 6 years. Coming in, seeing these reviews, I had some wariness but also graded on a curve knowing these review issues. I came in reading the leasing agreement, knew what was in my rights and what was not, and looked to engage with a spirit of problem solving and partnership. here's what i saw- -Less than 24 hour response times for maintenance issues, and quick fixes with caring, intelligent people like Oscar or Souki -Online portal for handling most things from payment to maintenance -Yearly safety checks in terms of heating, wiring, fire escape, and beyond -Creative approaches of site management including planting, bike racks, etc from Eric -Willingness to work with us on leasing flexibility through covid, and even creating a 'covid fund' for the community to contribute (through rent reductions) so struggling tenants could have help - I saw Ana work through all of this and even suggest putting in inflatable pool at dead of summer for children in spirit of problem solving -Spirit of partnership on maintenance all the way through the end from Jeff. Our exit included support on hauling and painting (given covid), and fair (even generous?) return of security deposit here's things i've seen elsewhere that i didn't see at Premium- -having to pay for a full year with pre-paid checks -+72 hours for maintenance responses -analog/slow approaches to payment -draconian dings on security deposit return At every step, I saw this group trying. I wanted to honor that by writing this note. I am writing this after my exit from the space, I have nothing to gain from this. My gratitude. read more

I moved out of my office with PP over two years ago. They kept my deposit and didn't explain why. I didn't fight it cause I was just glad to be out of there. Then two days ago I get an email from the bookkeeper saying that I owe them over $2700, and they are having a "sale" of sorts and offering 20% off if I pay in the next two weeks. No details at all about what I owe them, no invoice. Just an email that seriously resembles spam. It looked like a form email. No details at all about me, the fact that I've been out of there for over two years, or what the random number has to do with my former office. I bet they sent these emails out to a ton of people hoping someone pays up. There is no way I owe them any money. This seems like an unethical practice at best. read more

Hmm. As is often the case with property companies in college towns, I feel like the reviews for Premium have more to do with the types of people renting than the company itself. Many of Premium's properties appear to be student rentals near Berkeley's campus. When you're renting cheap places to kids who haven't rented before and are accustomed to living in daddy's mansion in SoCal, you're just going to have dissatisfied, entitled customers no matter what you do. You get what you pay for, and many of Premium's properties are in the "budget" class. However, unlike certain other companies that rhyme with...garage(?), they are definitely not slumlords. We live in a unit in Oakland with mostly other young professionals. It is bare-bones, but the price is definitely right for the area and we have never had an issue with maintenance, cleanliness of common areas, etc. Our on-site manager, Curtis, is friendly and helpful, and all of our interactions with Premium have been great. They waived our late fee when we messed up our auto-pay one month, and they were super accommodating about extending our lease for just a few months when we found out we had to move shortly after our 1-year lease was up. As we are approaching our move-out date, they have been very clear and prompt about communicating the move-out process. Let's face it: you just can't be that picky about housing in Bay Area if you're working on a budget. As far as I can tell, Premium is operating ethically and responsibly, providing reasonably-priced options in the East Bay. That alone is more than enough for me after the hell I have been through with other landlords in the area. read more

We stayed at a premium properties property for 2 years. New apartment with good interiors. Everything was good in the beginning until later when the issues started flowing in - bathroom tap leakage, pathetic and tiny dishwasher that would dirty the dishes rather than clean and frequent false fire alarms (in the middle of the day or night). It doesn't end there, be ready to be robbed on your security deposit. I hired a professional to clean the house before handover and I was charged $600 from my deposit for a supposed "deep cle Sam- please do not make false claims, I'm sure you have my email Id, I will be happy to see the pictures you are talking about. read more

My experience with Premium has been fairly OK so far. To start off with the bad, my leasing agent suggested that I head to his home to pick up keys from his wife on my move-in date. He did, however, offer to help on his day off and has been somewhat courteous otherwise so I've regarded this as a "blip" in the radar. There are times where I'll reach out and he doesn't respond but he is generally fine for the most part. The maintenance director, from my experience, is an asshole. As a business owner myself, I understand that there's many many tasks to deal with on a daily basis and that sometimes things slip under the rug. Nonetheless, I still always try to accommodate for my clients as best as I can, even on a bad day. I don't ask for much (as this is a college town with high turnover after all) from a customer service perspective but damn does it take more energy to be an asshole than not. My apartment was originally dirty as sin since said maintenance director (per my leasing agent) forgot to hire a cleaner. When I mean dirty, I mean darker than walking outside with your bare feet type of dirty. There was popcorn, pubic hair, and other nasty crumbs all over the floor. It took two weeks of lackluster communication for a cleaner to be hired and the resulting job was still fairly piss poor in that I still had to go over the closet, kitchen, and bathroom again. (That is, unless you want to tell me face to face that your feet should be soot black walking around barefoot in your own house.) I brought this up and was simply told that the issue would be forwarded to the cleaning company with no further resolution aside from a rent credit. There were also multiple occasions during this time period where I was informed that a cleaner would come over (read: they didn't) and the maintenance director wouldn't update me so that I wouldn't have to wait at home (unless you want to leave your things unattended). There are a few other incidents of which I won't divulge into for privacy reasons but he is extremely unpleasant to deal with, dragged his feet on a few of my maintenance requests, and ignored several emails when I reached out with followups. (In other words, I was trying to make his life easier for a possible issue and didn't want to waste resources but he opted to ignore everything.) Now, on to the good... the ladies at the office have been super helpful and one of them in particular is the best. I ran into an issue during my move-in week where apparently other tenants and I were unaware that the internet line wasn't actually active. In my case, I thought this was covered as part of Premium helping to setup utilities and I almost had to live without internet for a week (despite needing it for my professional life). The lady explained this wasn't the case but diligently worked and found a Sonic technician about a week early (i.e. went without internet for two or three days) to reactivate the modem in my unit. PG&E also dealt with a blip where my building wasn't billed for utilities but this particular lady sent out an email informing residents of the issues and to not worry. Management has also been helpful with a few issues; for instance, other residents lazily leaving unbroken down boxes in the trash and sent out a notice. (I wasn't the person who complained but I found it to be a nice touch.) I also find that my property is nicely maintained and a professional does come over every few days to make sure everything is up to par. The maintenance man has always been super friendly and courteous. For the times where I needed help, he came out (when the maintenance request as assigned) and fixed everything up nicely. If I was the owner of Premium then I would certainly fire the current maintenance director and promote this man to the position he deserves. read more

Interesting how the manager reads your review and yet all the problems still remain. As for not notifying them of maintenance issues, I put in services requests, is that not notification? And yes the complex didn't have washer and dryers for decades, so great for installing them, but it would be nice if the cold water actually worked and tenants didn't have to wash EVERYTHING on hot. read more

These people are not responsible, very hard to contact, and they don't care about their jobs at all. They try to take every single dollar from the deposit when residents move out. One star is a compliment. Speak as a Berkeley student, I am disappointed to see these terrible leasing agents around campus. Just move away from campus. Additional ten minutes of commute won't kill you. You deserve better options. read more

Lived in Premium Properties unit (Hillegass and Parker) for 3 years. I remember when I first signed the lease I was pretty scared because of all the bad reviews but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We had a newer unit on the third floor, the apartment had amazing natural light and floor to ceiling windows and was the envy of all my friends. Dealing with maintenance whenever the blinds would break, etc. was fairly straightforward, you submit a request online and they come within 2 weeks. The property managers themselves are a hit or miss. Some of them are really clueless and misread/overlook details in emails, which was super frustrating, and some of them are great to work with. We had a miscommunication my second year living there, when two of my roommates were moving out, they put our whole apartment up for rent when we had stated that only two of us were moving out. Then when I called to clarify the situation they yelled at me and said that our wording was ambiguous and it was our fault. I only wish they had emailed us back to confirm that we were all moving out before suddenly putting our unit up for rent (and we didn't even know it was until we checked the website because we never got any replies to our email or notifications until weeks later). Then this could have been avoided. On the flip side when I was actually moving out, one of the other property managers did a really good job facilitating communication between the new tenants and me and my roommates to help us negotiate furniture that we could leave behind/sell to the new tenants. They were prompt at replying and a pleasure to work with. The 2 resident managers I had while I was there were also great to work with and friendly, no complaints there. Also while I was living at the apartment they got new dryers and washing machines which was a plus. A tip for people moving in, make sure to take pictures of everything when you first move in and keep them for when you eventually move out. For example, we had removed a light fixture in the kitchen when we first moved in because it was extremely dirty and made the kitchen dark, but we forgot to put it back when we moved out so were charged for it. I did have the pictures from the kitchen though so I remembered that it was there when we got the itemized charges. Also, you can sublease your unit but only between the months of June-August I believe and you have to fill out relevant paperwork. My roommates did this for two summers. Just make sure you follow all the rules and you won't have any problems. Overall, a good 3 years with Premium Properties. read more

We have been with Premium since 2016 and are very satisfied.Their rentals are reasonably priced and they have several locations to choose from. They are easy to get a hold of and with their online maintenance request it is easy to get things fixed in the apt. Jeff is especially helpful and professional in making sure repairs are done and that the building is maintained. Thanks Premium! read more

WOW! After living here in 2009, I've just received a message from Sam in July of 2013. Hey Sam, the only miscommunications were from your company saying one thing written and verbally then doing the complete opposite. Sam probably does not remember me. If he did, he would remember trying to keep my deposit, or moving me three separate times after saying he would not, repeatedly. Again, had to get my lawyer involved and he finally backed off. Avoid this business and Sam's douchebaggery! read more

Hotmess express! I was completely transparent prior to my application, a week later (after unanswered emails and a general lag in the process) finally get told I need to provide financials for a rent that I'm not paying for a lease that I wasn't doing. So to rent a $3000 a month apartment I need to make $13,000 a month. Ana was extremely unpleasant on the phone. Pride themselves on their "policies" even if they lack logic. So they run specials but require you to qualify for a completely different amount but aren't upfront about it, and then rip you a new one when you express frustration. Ana was so angry that I didn't accept her explanation that she didn't even get to hear that I had come up with a way to meet their unjustified crazy demands. Well here is the review you told me I to go ahead and write Ana. I feel like I dodged a bullet, Ana is a bully, disrespectful, dictator that has no tact and could care less about the nature of this business, people's lives and homes. I can only imagine how they treat their tenants. read more

Jeff Strause who heads maintenance at Premium Properties has been responsive to my concerns and requests for improvements. Premium installed new flooring when I signed my lease and later replaced additional carpet in response to my concern of mold and otherwise poor condition. I've appreciated his availability and willingness to hear out my concerns. read more