My biggest complaint about Ramshaw is that you have to give them a four months notice if you are going to resign your lease or they will immediately start showing your place. Each year I have not known that early, my plans are always sort of up in the air. It's been stressful each year trying to make my plans while knowing my place might be pulled out from under me. It's ridiculous. read more

Roaches in all properties. Horrible service, does not care for tenants and is reluctant to provide services

Pathetic that this company is considered one of the better options in C-U. Poor quality, service, exorbitant pricing...typical landlord. read more

Renters beware. This is a headache from start to finish. The apartment was horrendously dirty. when we moved in. The sink leaked from day one and maintenance has claimed they fixed it twice when it was never fixed because it still leaks now if not worse than before. Anytime you need to get a hold of anyone higher up at Ramshaw you get put on hold for a long time. From day, one there was an awful odor coming from the wall that they have no interest in inspecting. Our patio door doesn't open or close and they claimed to have fixed that as well. Upon arrival, I was met with a dirty used condom and a heroin needle on the stairs, I talked to a neighbor and he said that it's been like that for months. I've rented other places from Ramshaw and they are all the same, however, the one at 312 West Springfield is the worst. It's quite obvious that nobody in the office has ever stepped foot on this property or they would know why I am unhappy. My advice to anyone looking at renting through Ramshaw, spend the extra money and don't do this to yourself. I've tried every possible to get out of my contract and there's no chance. SAVE YOURSELF AND RUN. I've talked to KYA specifically on the phone and she claims that things will get done and be cleaned it still hasn't happened and I've lived here for over a month now. And if you already went through Ramshaw, I hope you're good at fixing their things for them because that's the only way it's getting done. read more

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I have lived in a unit managed by this leasing company for five years and would like to forewarn anyone considering living in one of their residences that they will NOT take any action about lease violations from neighboring units. They will send a 'reminder email' to the building of the policy (no smoking, be mindful of loud music, etc) and recommend calling the police, claiming they can't do anything further unless a police report is filed. The police will only come by to investigate a noise violation if you're lucky, and will otherwise recommend you take it up with the landlord because they don't want to bother with the paperwork. This will just continue in circles until you move out one day, so I would just recommend that you never move into a Ramshaw building to begin with. read more

Very attentive to issues and assisted as we got out of a bad situation Thank you to everyone who helped read more

Ramshaw - slum lords all dressed up! Don't, don't, don't get in bed with these people. They are professional pimps. I only lived in my unit for six months (thank the Heavens, a sublet). I cleaned my apartment twice to avoid any drama with these people, as the tone of them was not good from Day 1. They still hit me for paint and cleaning to the tune of $300 from my security deposit. I am almost 60 years of age and a homeowner for the past 25 years. I'm a very fair person. I expected to pay for a blind, the end. Will I file a dispute - no - for what? Why would a pimp refund their victims? Take advantage of people is what pimps do, go to church on Sunday, pray repentance, then repeat silent, vicious acts Monday - Saturday upon innocent people I won't even go into great detail over the worn carpeting and water bill of over $300 that they refuse to comp due to a broken toilet. TERRIBLE and HORRIBLE!!! read more

After months of living with german cockroaches we have a new type of cockroach in the apartment. Ramshaw continues to neglect the building and has stopped replying to my requests to spray. read more

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I moved into the property at 202 W Columbia St. I never imagined you could even have a bad experience with a real estate company. I always pay on time and these people are the worst. I was living here and they started showing the apartment 6 months before the lease was up. They went into my apartment during COVID. Then rented the apartment to someone else for the following year without letting me know first. I guess I still have 5 months to look for an apartment because my lease doesn't expire until then. read more

This has to be one of the strangest and saddest business experiences I have had in my recent life. The fact is that this business simply does not return phone calls. Every single time I have called this place, I have gotten voicemail or on occasion, a person who offers to transfer me to someone's voicemail. But up until this point, I have never received a return phone call from them. I first called this place early last year (2020) in February or March because I needed an apartment. However, nearly a year later, these people still have yet to speak a single word to me by their own initiative. I've called them repeatedly throughout last year and this one, but still have heard not one word from them. They work so hard placing ads all over the internet, but when it comes time to actually get the customer, they have nothing to say. How does a business exist if they don't value their customers? What kind of place blows off the very people that allow them to exist? I can only imagine what I would be going through if I lived in one of their buildings and they were this unresponsive to maintenance needs. I would warn you to use extreme caution before signing any lease with these people, but if my experience is consistent, I won't have to because you'll never get in touch with them either. read more

These people are crooks. If you like being jacked around & ripped off, then go with Ramshaw Realty. They kicked me out of my apartment when the lease was up. (I had always paid the rent on time.) It was a business decision & it's in the lease that they can refuse to renew the lease. So I paid them another $25 "application fee" for another apartment. (They already know my credit score & background after having paid the application fee to get the first apartment.) They offered 2 other apartments that were unacceptable to me. I waited at the first apt. but nobody showed up. They lied & claimed they did show up but that I was not there! Then they turned me down for no good reason! Also, it took 5 weeks to receive my deposit & they deducted $170 for cleaning fees. Ramshaw should be investigated for deceptive practices. read more

Everything negative that people say about Ramshaw is the absolute truth. I've been renting from Ramshaw for almost a year now and it's been nothing but complaints. the staff is the worst. They are insanely rude and don't care to help. maintenance can't seem to get an ac to properly work without breaking down every 2 week. I cannot express this enough. DO NOT RENT FROM RAMSHAW. STAY AWAY read more

Recently left the Stratford Building in downtown Urbana after a very happy tenure there. Excellent maintenance, fast resolution to any problems, and I received my entire deposit back....yes, you have to clean your apartment and adhere to the terms of the lease (make sure you read and understand ANY lease or sublease you sign) and do things like clean the carpet before you leave...but that is true of and to be expected in any decent rental. Stephanie, Meredith, and others I have dealt with at Ramshaw have been helpful and responsive when rare issues came up, and I would rent from them again in a second if the need ever arises. HIGHLY recommended, reputable company; thank you Ramshaw....missing my gorgeous apartment. :-) read more

If you are thinking about renting from this company, "DONT". They are going to deduct 500$ from you when you move out in the name of property damage. They expect there will be no wears and tears even if you live at the apartment for 3 years!!!! Don't expect to get any return from the security deposit. I would suggest don't give them this money, rather give it to some charity. read more

One star is too generous for this company. I'd live in a box before I'd rent from them again. Unless they are your last option because not a single other leasing company in town has a place, never, ever, ever use them. And if you do, get everything in writing ahead of time, especially when it comes to move-in/move-out issues. Take pictures of the entire place before you move your things in. They give you little room on their own intake form, so be prepared to include a Word document or something and bring it in by hand and document who you give it to----note the most minor of issues. We paid a $720 security deposit. I knew we'd get hit for a set of blinds and some cleaning - which, by the way, it's not worth cleaning your apartment on the way out. Our place was spotless....certainly cleaner than when we moved in (kind enough to leave us a dead cockroach in one of the closets) - and we still got hit for cleaning charges. The people who lived in our place before us had been there for several years and so had painted some of the rooms different colors. Ramshaw asked us if we'd like them re-painted. We said no because we liked the colors....and hey....saves Ramshaw some time and money. And for a company that's quick to fist tenants in any way they can, that's a good deal for them. Our lease was signed with a note on there, initialed by both me and my girlfriend, and the Ramshaw associate who walked us through the lease - that said the prior tenants painted the place and that we were okay with it remaining as is. What we did not do, however, was get in writing the fact that even though we saved them money and time by not re-painting it, that we would not be charged or responsible for bringing it back to it's original plain white color. So for this oversight on our part, and lack of full disclosure from Ramshaw's associate, they saw fit to charge us over $560 for painting. Our initial refund was $99. Upon arguing my point, Ramshaw was generous enough to give us another $250. How nice of them. Their argument was that this was more than fair since the company they hired to do the work had to put on two coats of paint. Maybe they should look into different laborers. That'd take too much time and effort, though. College painters could have done this for a fraction of the price. So they kept over half our deposit. Two tenants in our complex who'd been there for over 10 years, told us to expect this, and that they'd seen plenty of others get shafted like this. And how lucky for Ramshaw that Champaign is a college town, so when tenants move out they leave the state and don't or can't fight the battle and thus just eat the gruel that Ramshaw serves them upon exit. Lesson learned on our part. It was pointless to keep arguing with deaf ears, so we walked with the $349. I can't say this enough.....never.....use.....this....company. They're known locally for being one of the worst. That came to me from business owners and the general public alike. read more

My experience with Ramshaw is really bad. The appliances int he house were old and under-maintained and hence my electricity bill always came twice of what people around were paying. You can forget about the deposit, you're not going to get anything back. We were charged for things like toilet being blocked and apparently had to be broken open (300$?!), but it was infact in perfect condition when we handed the apartment back. They take advantage of the fact that once you move out, if you're no longer in the city, you can't come back to disprove their ridiculous claims. I would avoid this company unless I wanted to burn a hole in my pocket again. read more

I have been leasing from this company for the past 5 years - mostly because I do not like to move and the convenience of the location outweighs the annoyance of them starting to contact me in January about renewing my lease that ends in August - as well as sending consistent notices about the showings that do not take place 90% of the time. This year I decided not to renew the lease. What happened today was appalling though: I was working from home as I heard a knock and a key starting to turn in my door. I asked "How can I help you" to get an answer that there is a showing, and I should have gotten a notice. I responded that I did get a notice, but for the next day - a virtual tour, at 2pm - not a group of 5 people standing outside me door. The agent stated that it's in my lease agreement that they can show the apartment without notice during the last 60 days of the lease period. I said - can I at least call Ramshaw to verify that someone is supposed to be coming - just because they have a key, I do not feel comfortable letting a whole group of people in - especially in the middle of the work day (I might get a call at any moment to interpret confidential patient information on video). She said I wouldn't be able to confirm it with anyone, but she can show me where it says in my lease that Ramshaw can show my apartment without notice during the last 60 days. I called - and yes, no one knew anything. Luckily, the group left, but what kind of a nightmare is this?! I did see it in the lease, but never imagined it to be real that someone would not have a common courtesy to at least send a quick text or an email letting me know they are coming? I could have been in the middle of ANYTHING upon their arrival - this is incredibly unnerving and inconsiderate. I did not want to be rude, but I felt very unsafe. read more

I had to have the apartment professional cleaned when I moved in (it was filthy) and again when I moved out (per the lease) and they still did not return the deposit in full. They charged us for cleaning, even though we cleaned it. They charged us for problems with the dishwasher, that they probably caused on one of the several maintenance visits from the damn thing not working properly. And so on. I offered to walk through the apartment when I moved out a few weeks before the end of the lease, so that we could be made aware of any problems and fix them. They refused. Now I know why - they don't want to give you an all-clear. They want your deposit money and they will go to any lengths to get it. There were various other problems - I had to call maintenance out more times than for any other apartment I have ever had. There's a pool but it was never functional. There aren't enough dumpsters (they are frequently full halfway through the week). The exterior door has a lock, but the door usually did not latch, rendering the lock useless. And so on, and so on. WILL NOT RENT FROM RAMSHAW AGAIN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. read more

I have lived at the Castle on Locust location (1007 S Locust) for three years. I was very happy with the previous landlord who was always very responsive with any questions or problems. Unfortunately, Ramshaw took over management of the building this fall. Since then I've had horrible internet quality, various billing issues, unannounced showings of my apartment, and now an unaddressed maintenance issue. Yesterday morning (a Saturday), my roommate and I came home after a month out of town to find that our AC would not function. We called the after-hours answering service and were told twice that we would be contacted later that day. No one contacted us. I called back this morning (Sunday) and was told they will not send out a maintenance worker until the next business day because broken AC is not listed as a valid weekend maintenance emergency. With a **95 degree high** both yesterday and today, I am curious if the owners of Ramshaw would be comfortable waiting two days to address the problem if the AC was not working at their own home. read more

If I could rate zero stars, I would. Ramshaw is one of the worst companies I have ever had the misfortune of doing business with. They are completely unprofessional in their communication, and lack any sort of personal touch whatsoever. They purchased a property that we were happily renting from another company, made some very minor "improvements" (I'm being very generous when I say this) to the outside of the building, and used that as justification for raising our rent by $100 per month. Nothing was done to the inside of the unit in the way of improvements. In addition, we were expected to pay $40 per month PER PET, even though we previously paid a pet deposit with the old company. Absolute highway robbery. Needless to say we did not renew our lease and couldn't wait to leave. Upon moving out, we received a little over half our deposit back, and we were charged for things that our original contract (with the old company) did not require us to do or to pay for, even though we had never signed anything with Ramshaw. We were also charged substantial cleaning fees, far beyond what was reasonable for things we had already cleaned. We were even charged for microwave cleaning, when there wasn't a microwave in the property - clearly they can just make up whatever they want and expect you to pay it. It wasn't worth fighting the charges, if only so I don't ever have to do myself the disfavor of speaking to these people again. In summary, you'd be wise to avoid renting from Ramshaw at all costs, because it's certainly going to cost you in the end. read more

Honestly, Ramshaw is just so unorganized and unprofessional. Be sure to keep a hard copy record of all of your payments (apartment and parking), as well as a list of all of your maintenance requests throughout the year. Simply horrible at keeping track of your balance throughout the entire year. They charged us our rent twice in the same rent a few times, could be bad for overdraft fees. We always seemed to have an outstanding balance even though all four tenants paid our monthly rent. They never knew how to answer our complaints. Never sent updates on our balances via email, it was just a surprise when you logged into your Ramshaw account. They were good about replacing things in the apartment through maintenance requests, just so unprofessional for a slightly large reality company on a large college campus. Be cautious! read more

They built and managed the condo complex where I unfortunately bought a unit. They left us broke, with maintenance issues, and monies unaccounted for. I wish I had remembered before I bought that this is the company we rented an apartment from on campus for our daughter in the early 2000s that hadn't been cleaned when we got there. It was a Saturday & no one would answer our call so we spent 8 hours cleaning it. Then they wanted to keep the damage deposit when she moved out. Do not recommend in any way/ read more

Very unprofessional staff. Takes multiple days for them to contact you back about any problem you may be having with your apartment. Make sure you have copies of your lease and get anything in writing that you can. Please save yourself time as well as money and not lease with these individuals. Giving them one star is too generous. The only good thing that I may add is that their maintenance workers are efficient. read more

If I could give them a lower rating, I would. Upon moving into our apartment, we found it to be absolutely filthy and the A/C unit to be broken. So we spent all day cleaning a disgusting apartment in 90-degree temperatures. It took about a week for them to fix the A/C the first time and now in the second week of being here the A/C has gone out two more times. I am currently writing this review in my 90-degree apartment. read more

Terrible experience. You get what you pay for. Various issues I had include: Thermostat being stuck at 80+ degrees. Roach infestation Building stinks Laundry machine usually doesn't work Appliances randomly breaking Maintainance routinely ignores requests read more

Lousy maintenance and they will lie to keep your security deposit. I got accused of holes in the wall even though I never hung a thing. Slum lords read more

I lived in one of their older apartment buildings that needed some attention. When I left, I worked hard to leave it in better condition that I found it. My fiancé thought it was overkill. They charged me $230 for cleaning expenses. read more

I wish I could give them zero stars. This is the WORST realty company! They refused to clean the carpets or any other part of the apartment when we first moved in. We never caused any damage to the property. Things seemed to fall apart on their own shortly after we moved in. They do not fix anything within a reasonable amount of time, no matter how serious. Several times a year, the heat and air conditioning stop working. They waited weeks to come and fix the heat in the winter and just as long to come fix the air conditioner in the summer, leaving us freezing / overheated, even when the temperature got dangerous. We ended up having to go to a hotel for a couple of weeks about twice a year each year that we rented from them. They allow their property to become unlivable and expect tenants to just deal with it until they feel like getting around to fixing things. Not to mention that since the air and heat keep malfunctioning/not working, they clearly are relying on quick, cheap fixes which only temporarily solve the problem, instead of actually repairing it properly. We have had to submit many maintenance requests over the past couple of years, because everything is falling apart. No matter what the issue, they either do not come fix things at all, or they take their time to get around to it. I had to wait nearly a year for a simple yet crucial repair in the past, and there are things they never came to fix, even after submitting multiple requests and talking to their staff many times. There is no average wait time for maintenance, as we have waited weeks for some things and 10+ months for others. Another thing to be aware of is that they show the apartment that you live in to new tenants beginning 6 months before the end of your year long lease. That means that for 6 months, (half of your time living there) you have strangers and people from the company popping in to look at your apartment whenever they feel like it. They usually give no prior notice that they are coming, and on the rare occasion that they do send an email, it is always less than 24 hours before they are planning to show up. If they decide not to come, they do not notify you at all. And half of the time, they enter without knocking. When they do knock, they do so as they are opening the door, giving you no time to answer the door. This is the sole reason that we have resigned with them in the past-to regain some privacy and peace! After 3 months of having unexpected strangers walking in on you 3 or 4 times a week, you become desperate for privacy. This company is truly as bad as it gets! They have no concern for the well-being or safety of their tenants, and do not care to keep their properties decent enough to live in. We have always paid our bills on time and we are quiet, respectful people. It is terrible to be taken advantage of by this company. read more

Do not lease through this company. They do not walk through the lease with you what so ever to discuss important details. Throughout my 8 months of living here it's been terrible. Plumbing in the basement is awful and was never fixed when a request was put in. We recently had an issue with our air conditioning unit not working properly, we put in three maintenance requests before it was even looked at. THEN we got charged a 96 dollar overage on our rent at the beginning of the month because of us turning the air so low.....even though the air was not working properly. The leasing agent we have is completely rude and unprofessional, only after one of my roommates left a bad review did she feel the need to contact me about the issue. Which even after she still rarely responded to my emails or calls and when she did she was rude and sounded as if I was a very inconvenient issue she had to deal with.....OH and going back to the details of the lease, make sure the amount of time you want to live here is correct because we were informed of a year and then later on I was reading in to the lease for another issue with them and found out it was a year and six months.....don't lease with them, save yourself some patience, time, and money. read more

Have you ever heard the maxim "if it ain't broke don't fix it?" This real estate company has not. If they feel the slightest need to investigate your apartment for repairs, you can be sure they will be pounding on your door at 8 am, completely unannounced. And if you are not there? Your place will be trampled with muddy shoes. read more

Because of Ramshaw's poor maintenance of the property, including the parking lot area, a tree branch fell on my car and totaled it. The tree was obviously dying and Ramshaw "had no idea." I called them and told them my car insurance said it is their responsibility and the man had the audacity to say, "Well how do we know you didn't climb into the tree and break the branch yourself." He also wanted to know if I had reported the dying tree to them previously. I said, "Sir, I am not an arborist, I don't think I am responsible to report that. I don't know what property manager was not paying attention but obviously they weren't. I never had too many problems with Ramshaw, but I would say that is because my roommates and I don't complain about much. I'm sure there are things we should call about however we deal with it.. But now I will get every minor complaint in writing and follow up with them until the problem is fixed. This is ridiculous. I only regret signing with them again for next year but at this point it is too late. read more

One of the worst agencies to rent with, I wish I could give this no stars. Not only are they rude and unprofessional, but their buildings are not worth the price they are. The building I currently live in was given to us in horrible condition. Upon first moving in, the carpet smelled and was stained. There were cigarette burns in the furniture, the appliances are old and outdated, yet on their tours they state that they've renovated the entire building. There's a layer of dust that covers almost everything, which doesn't go away with any amount of cleaning. We clean every Sunday from top to bottom, and still looks and feels disgusting. I've gone so far as to scrub my bedroom walls because its so unsanitary. My roommates and I have had to call maintenance to fix just about everything (dish washer, toilet, ceiling fans (called for this 3 times), light fixtures, windows, and the front door). There's bugs everywhere. I have to move every piece of furniture out of the room every month to clean it out or the amount of bugs gets horrible. One night in October I was locked out of my bedroom and emailed Ramshaw to have someone come out and unlock it. I agreed to pay the $80 and after one email saying they would send someone out, I never heard back from them nor did anyone show up. If I had been locked out of my actual apartment, I don't know how long I would have had to wait. They don't respect the space when they do showings. They barge in after one knock, unlock locked bedroom doors, even after informing them someone was sleeping. Absolutely no respect for their tenants, and they had the nerve to up their rent. read more

Terrible service. We had multiple issues with things breaking in our apartment and not getting fixed even after calling and setting up times for someone to come out. We had a bedroom ceiling leak that was SUPPOSEDLY fixed, but then leaked again. We had a door that didn't lock properly because the frame was installed wrong and our air conditioner was installed wrong and was never fully addressed either. A lot of times, they would come in and not even fix what was broken and say they couldn't do it - and, worst of all, this was all without any follow-up. In addition, they screwed us over at the end of our lease and made us pay charges for things that were not taken care of for us upon move-in. We had to pay a carpet cleaning fee even though we had to clean the carpets ourselves when we moved in because they were in horrible condition. With Ramshaw, there is a lot of dancing around issues without the problem ever getting solved. Even though the staff is usually pretty nice on the phone, the actual service aspect is terrible. I would never choose Ramshaw again and would never recommend them to anyone else. read more