Touchstone Properties

Touchstone Properties managed our 4-​plex rental property for about a year. We’ve been extraordinarily pleased with their services. Their staff have been nice to us, well mannered and punctual. The cost of their services was reasonable and met our expectations. Ami Adini, Owner.

By far the worst business, let alone realtors, I have ever encountered. Very disorganised– don’t expect to receive a response to your emails or text or calls for at least two days, and even then, no real information. After two weeks of dealing with them it becomes apparent that every time you send them information they do not look at it. They just request more to string you along. Meanwhile they increase the listing price during the process of a lease application without being transparent about it. Wasted a lot of time dealing with this business and only ever received rudeness. Avoid at all costs. And Kevin, before you respond to this bad review, think about whether your time might be more wisely spent tending to your customers needs in order to prevent such feedback.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the apartment I wanted because I have a small dog. Having said that, when I e-​mailed TP about the apartment, Kelly responded immediately. We exchanged several e-​mails (setting up an apartment viewing etc.).She e-​mailed me back immediately after every correspondence and even refunded my application fee after I realized that I didn’t qualify due to my pet (they hadn’t run a credit check yet). After over a month of apartment scouting, I can easily say that Kelly is one of the best apartment management employees I’ve ever worked with. I don’t even write Unilocal reviews but I was really happy to finally hear back in a timely manner. Other places take days and sometimes a week to respond…

If I could give negative stars I would it is the absolute worst property management company I’ve ever dealt with they couldn’t careless about the residents we are treated as income for the property owner. I entered a maintenance request 2 weeks ago and have not heard back I had to call back and ask what the status was and was told they are behind on their request because they manage 94 properties… excuse me that has nothing to do with my request. Their follow up and follow through is preposterous! They charge a late fee $ 50 for being 1 day late but they can’t give me some sort of rent credit for living 10 plus days with a leaky hot water faucet and we are in a drought and it’s affecting my gas. I am completely pissed that they would act as if I’m being unreasonable to ask.

Applied for a job with them and received an application that was asking for very personal information. There’s alot scam out the so I called to confirm the email came from a legitimate source. A man name Kevin answered, and he greeted me with a extremely rude tone. I asked why the application was so personal, he started screaming at me and hung up the phone. Glad I called. I can see why this management company has so many bad reviews. I suggest they close up shop and call a day. If they treat their employees this way, I cant imagine how awful they must be to their tenants!

I never had an issue with this management company– I pretty much laid low for the 2+ years i lived at my place, though– so I guess there’s no real reason for me to have experienced anything bad.
+ * When you need repairs, you write them an email and they respond literally right away
+ * You can pay your rent online (WOAH do I miss this)
— * Their prices in the east side of LA (Echo Park, Silver Lake, etc) are super expensive (but who’s aren’t, really?)

I was formerly a tenant of a property managed by this company. They charged for everything when we moved in effort to keep as much of your deposit as possible. Meanwhile they neglected to mention that someone had PASSED away in my apartment. The neighbors were always loud into all hours of the morning, one neighbor was so disgusting their apartment was infested with roaches and they were traveling through the walls. All tenants were charged for fumigating. The apartment next to ours had a pipe leaking through the floor, it took management two months to address it so the damage to the wood floors underneath became permanent. Another neighbor always propped the gate open since he didn’t want to reach for his keys that resulted in all the rent checks being stolen and everyone’s Christmas presents. They refused to deduct the $ 30 check stop fee and insinuated that if we didn’t want to pay a check stop fee then we should make sure the building was secure at all times. Then I saw on the news that they just leave lock boxes with the apartment keys in them and put the codes on Craigslist. As a result, some crooks pretended to be Touchstone Property employees and asked tenants to write the checks to cash to «obtain the keys» immediately. Now these poor people are out a deposit and have no place to live. Now that I own rental properties, I would never ask them to manage my properties ever.

This is a corrupt business! Do not rent from them unless you are willing to potentially part with your entire security deposit. The move out process was a nightmare. I originally asked Jordan if they could please contact me to discuss any potential deductions from our deposit (approximately $ 1500, no small change), and she stated they couldn’t, that they would send an itemized form if anything needed to be taken out. I have dealt with crooked landlords before and am familiar with dishonest tactics.
Jordan also indicated to us that as long as we cleaned well, we wouldn’t be charged for cleaning. My husband, his Mom, and I spent an ENTIRE 8 hour day cleaning the place from top to bottom, I mean taking out all the drawers and shelves in the fridge and washing, ceiling fans, stove, microwave, entire bathroom, floors, etc and they still charged us the ENTIRE cleaning fee. So dishonest and not right!
They also charged us $ 100 for a broken mirror, that was broken upon move in! Blatant business misconduct. Luckily I had pictures of the broken mirror and sent to them. .They later refunded the $ 100, but the principal of a business should be honesty and doing right by clients, of which they did not. It was a pain in the butt to have to track down the pics and go back and forth over email, etc
They also charged us $ 200 for re-​paining upon move-​out and we had done ZERO damage to the walls. I spoke with the owner upon move-​in, and she stated that as long as we didn’t hang anything heavy on the walls, we would not be charged upon move out. Talking with Bessie (the manager) over the phone was a nightmare. She indicated our lease stipulated that the tenants are responsible for REPAINTING THE WALLS upon move out! All we did was put in small nails to hang pictures, normal wear and tear. I asked Bessie on the phone if she could please point out to me where in the lease this was stipulated and she told me I had to read it and find it myself. Very poor customer service.
When I initially called and talked to Jordan about the charges (who had been cordial to us in the past) she just put me on hold without even telling me she was going to transfer me to a manager, again, poor customer service.
Although our cats did damage the carpet (which they charged us over $ 500 to replace just in one bedroom) he itemized form on which they stipulated everything we had done was full of false claims like stating that we had repainted some walls, trim etc. Totally false as well as the broken mirror and cleaning charges. Bessie did say we could send pics of us cleaning, etc but after they refunded the mirror, she wrote saying they would not refund anything else, so that was very discouraging b/​c we had other pics to send.
Over all, I honestly would not ever do business with this company again and am so frustrated about our financial loss. I hope they and their employees as well as the dishonest and manipulative owner of our unit (that’s a whole other story), consider deeply their business practices and moral obligation to clients. I get my piece of mind knowing that Karma will do it’s work. However, if I can help another unsuspecting client from potentially being ripped off, well that would be a good thing. Consumer beware!

A favor, you’re a management company, several notices to the above tenant should’ve went out on the company’s behalf. Every other apartment complex I left had rules in place in regards to noise & were very firm & enforcing.
Yes you sent a technician out twice & the technician ASSUMED that it was my remote but it never was my remote. No technician has ever tested the remote that I have. Per Jordan, you guys had no more clickers & why should I have to replace the batteries on your remote, the management company needs to replace the batteries. And why would you threaten to charge me for the technician to come out. That’s absurd. As a tenant, I handled it the way I was supposed to handle it by informing the company of the issue. My boyfriend cleaned both sensors on the garage with a paper towel & guess what Kevin? That was the issue with the garage door not my remote, smh, lol. The sensors were dirty.
Termite treatment, should’ve been treated as soon as possible. If a company can’t perform the treatment till another month, why not go with a different company that will get the job done quicker instead having your tenant living in a unit with termites. Common sense, you’d desire the same treatment from a management company if you were a tenant.
Do a little more research on how to manage properties & provide the best customer service possible for your tenants. Take a look at other property management companies that have great reviews.
I hope the second half of my stay is smooth as well. I cooperate very well, ask Jordan to see the emails, as a company you need to work harder to ensure your tenants are having a smooth stay.

Oh God, stay away. They will take almost all of your deposit when you leave if you are not careful.

I have nothing but great things to say about Touchstone Properties as a property owner. They were prompt in responding to any correspondence, worked diligently to list and market my property for rent, and did a great job managing the property once rented. For the few maintenance issues we had with our property, Touchstone promptly addressed them to our and our tenants’ complete satisfaction. Should I ever have another rental property in Los Angeles, I would certainly call Kevin and work with the Touchstone team again.

As a resident of Los Angeles for over 2 years now and a tenant of a number of apartment, Touchstone Properties has by far exceeded any and all expectations I could ever have of a leasing company. As expected there were a number of miscellaneous repair requests, issues, problems or general concerns over the course of my lease however, this leasing company was extremely helpful and speedy with any issues I might have had. They are quick to resolve and assist with all problems any tenant might have and I am sad to leave my adorable complex on Formosa however work calls and it’s time to move closer to my new job. If you are looking for an adorable place to call home in Los Angeles and are wanting to find the perfect leasing company to cater to any and all of your needs look no further! Touchstone Properties is where it’s at and they have made the past year of living in Los Angeles a breeze!
Thank you!

These clowns ask for a full color photocopy of an ID to view a property.
Here’s the email from Jordan Ross. «Sure Jordan, do you want my social security as well?» Stay clear.
— — — — — — — — —
Thank you for your interest in our vacancy on 1015 N. Croft Ave #4. In order for us to give you viewing instructions, you will need to email us a color copy of your ID or Driver’s License. You can scan it and email it or if you have a smart phone, you can take a picture of your ID or DL and email it to us. Once I receive this information, I will respond with viewing instructions.
Thank you,
Jordan
Touchstone Properties, Inc.
611 S. Catalina Ave., Suite 414 * Los Angeles, CA
90 005 * tel (213) 389‑8605 * fax (213) 232‑7711 *

If I could give negative stars I would. DO NOT MOVE INTO ANY BUILDINGS MANAGED BY THESE CROOKS. I moved from NYC to LA and I thought New York landlords were bad… these people take the cake. I lived there for 1.5 years. Not only did my oven explode and was not fixed, the washer/​dryer (yes 1 each for 12 apartments) in the building ruined my clothes and was not fixed, sewage leaked all over my car and into the garage. My apartment was infested by ants and when I moved out they took half my security deposit for no reason. They want to charge me to repaint the walls, when I never painted them any color or damaged them in any way. Luckily I took lots of pictures and video when I moved out because I expected this and will see them in court. Also the people are not helpful, are not the brightest people in the world and will waste your time by missing appointments with you and will never make any exceptions for anyone. They are cold hearted, evil, thief’s. DO NOT MOVE HERE, they took the security deposit of my neighbors for the same BS reasons. You will regret this building I promise you.

I’d rather play golf with Satan than deal with these people again, and I don’t play golf. They are all fun and games and your very best friend UNTIL YOU SIGN THE LEASE. After that, their uselessness and horrific attitude prevails. They charge you for every time you breathe air in their space, and they will try and get you to do their job for them, and also charge you for doing their job. I cannot overstate the nightmare that I had with these people. I am very relieved to have moved out and to not have to call their office and get berated by Laura any longer. So good times all the way around. BEWARE and try and find a box to sleep in or something.

*Beware — Not Tenant Friendly.
As you can see from their website, this property management company is geared specifically for the property owners. They pass along every, and I mean ‘every’, charge, tax, fee that they possibly can. They even write into the lease that the tenant is financially responsible for what any other landlord would call basic maintenance. They charge you for the paint on the bloody walls! On top of all that, their customer service and response time is horrible. It takes days or even weeks to get simple repairs made.
Word to the wise — before you move in — triple check the lease, triple check any previous damage to the apt, and negotiate a lower rent to cover all their hidden fees and charges.

We had used a number of management companies before Touchstone, believe me, changing management companies is no easy task. But Touchstone has proved honest, straightforward and quick to correct the concerns of both owner and renter. The reports are reliable, They have kept the property up to city codes and our standards while maintaining good relations with our better tenants. When there are problems, they are level headed and quick to respond to evictions when needed and preparing and renting a vacancy. We have stayed with Touchstone now for years.