Anyone at the Bentley apartments since Landmarque took over?

Posting this late because I just got off the phone with a guy from our church who lives at the Bentley, and he's been venting at me for about 40 minutes. I figured I'd ask here before I give him any advice, since I don't live there and don't want to hand out bad information.

From what I gathered, ever since Landmarque took over management there's been a pile of changes. Some of it is the rent: he mentioned renewal numbers and some new fees, but he didn't have the paperwork in front of him, so I'm not going to repeat figures I can't back up. Some of it is maintenance, with requests apparently getting answered differently than they used to. And then there's the resident portal. Apparently everything now runs through a new one, and he said paying rent and submitting work orders has been, in his words, "an adventure." 🙄

I know every management switch comes with growing pains. New company, new software, new rules, and the first couple months are always rough. I've seen the same thing with school district vendors, and don't get me started on the road crews who swear a lane closure is "two weeks" and then it's October. So I'm trying to be fair here. It could all be a transition hiccup that settles down.

But if you're a current resident, or you were one when the switch happened, I'd like to hear how it's actually going for you:

- Has your rent or renewal terms changed, and did they give you decent notice?
- Are maintenance requests getting handled, and how fast?
- Is the portal working, or is it one of those where you pay and then wonder if it went through?
- Has anybody gotten a straight answer from the office when something goes wrong?

If you've had a good experience I'd honestly like to hear that too, because I don't want this to turn into a pile-on based on one guy's rough week. Facts and your own experience only, please, and nothing you couldn't say to someone's face.

I'll pass along whatever people share, and if there's a better place for him to go, like the resident portal's support line or whoever handles tenant questions, I'll point him there.

Just my two cents

I dont live at the Bentley so I cant speak to Landmarque specifically, but I went through a management switch at a place I rented off Kavanaugh a few years back and the portal part sounds painfully familiar. First two months nobody could tell if rent had posted, and I got a late notice for a payment I had already made. What saved me was screenshotting every confirmation page and emailing the office instead of calling, because then theres a date and a paper trail. Phone calls just disappear.

Same for maintenance. Put the request in the portal AND send a short email saying "submitted this on Tuesday the 10th," so he can show he asked if it drags on.

And if he has a renewal letter, I'd go through the fees line by line and ask them to explain anything he doesnt recognize, in writing. Sometimes things get explained or adjusted just because somebody actually asked, definately worth a try.

Hope it settles down for him. Nothing worse than a rent portal that makes you nervous every month.

Thanks Megan, this is the most useful thing in the thread so far. The screenshot-everything and email-instead-of-calling advice is exactly what I was hoping somebody would say. From what he told me, he's been doing nearly all of it by phone, so by your logic he's got zero record of any of it. 😬

I'm going to text him this morning and tell him to start a folder. Screenshot the payment confirmation, email the office the same day with the date in the subject line, and do the same for every work order. I like the "submitted this on Tuesday the 10th" line too. It's the same idea as keeping the notice about a lane closure, because when the crew says "two weeks" and it turns into October, you want the original date in writing. 😄

The line-by-line fee idea is a good one too. He wasn't sure what some of those new charges were, and I'd bet he never asked because he was too annoyed to read past the total. Asking nicely in writing costs nothing.

Still hoping a few current Bentley residents chime in, good or bad. One person's rough month doesn't tell us much either way.

Just my two cents