Darden Property Management

More like property MIS-management! Total nightmare. Do not trust them with your home. Just awful! Horrible service! They don't care about your property. They will nickle and dime you to death and won't bother to call your warranty service either. Asked them to provide me with invoices for work that was done to my house and they told me they didn't have enough employees to get to it and I'd have to wait 2-3 months. Outright criminal. Patrick Darden should be run out of town! #slumlord more

Worst real estate company. They call to harass you to renew as of January, and will take strangers into your place without notice whether you're in there or not. Zero regard for tenants. more

Hilarious to read the one in five thing about answering phone calls, because that is exactly what they do. Must be a company policy. I wrote a really long review here before and it didn't go through, so I'll just say it is even worse than it sounds and give my advice. Put it in writing! They won't even begin to respond to a repair request, on a house at least, unless it is something that could damage the house, e.g. leaking water, or you threaten to sue. I had no airconditioner for almost a month, in August and September. Called to complain and was put on hold for thirty minutes, then hung up on. If you need a repair immediately send a letter stating what needs to fixed, mentioning their contractual obligation in the lease to repair and maintain, and intent to withold rent and sue (this is required by statute before you can actually sue). Then when they put a band aid on the problem instead of fixing it, you have to send another letter stating it didn't meet contractual standard of maintenance. Good luck; too bad no one reads this unitl they have already signed a lease and have had problems. Oh and as far as the others writing positive reviews, there's no possible way these people have had any dealings with Darden as a leasee. What a joke. Those exact reviews, word for word, can be found on several websites. As much as I hate this company, even I didn't take time to do that. Total BS. more

I am convinced that the positive reviews for this company are written from friends and family. I lived in Tallahassee for years and just recently moved back to pursue a Master?s degree. I never had a problem with a rental property or property management company until I decided to rent from Darden. The office only answers about 1 out of every 5 phone calls. Even when you do get someone on the phone and explain the problem they just say that they will pass it along to Patrick Darden who is ?out of office? and will never contact you back with a response. The office acts like their only job is to show houses, sign leases, cash checks and threaten with evictions. They take no responsibility in fixing problems. If you do need something fixed you will have to call and email repeatedly for weeks. The property I am in should have never been rented out in the condition it is in. The properties are not inspected in any way before they are rented. I moved into a house with a contaminated pool, running toilets, broken dryer, leaking air conditioning ducts, leaking refrigerator and now recently discovered the pool is leaking as well as the patio roof. After speaking to Patrick face to face about the problems I have been dealing with, he simply responded with ?can you just leave us alone?? This experience has been the biggest stress and waste of money I have ever had. I met with a lawyer and was able to have some of the problems taken care of. I am infuriated with the fact that this company is still in business and they continue to steal money from students. My lease is not over but after reading the other real comments I know I will have a hard time getting any of it back. Don?t bother making appointments to view any properties with this company. No house is worth the stress you will endure throughout the entire duration of your lease. P.S. If you are in a similar situation to mine, Tallahassee has a program where you can pay rent directly to the court. If you withhold rent from Darden they will only evict you. Talk to a lawyer, some have free consultations, explore your options but most importantly try to inform as many people as you can about your experience with Darden hopefully you will prevent others from getting stuck in the same situation. more

These are very good people to work with. They provide excellent communication and effective management. That's why I refer them to people I know. more

They do a great job taking care of the tenants, the rental property and my concerns. I have had all good results with them and recommend them to friends often. more

We inherited a home a few months ago and it was a very difficult time for many reasons. We called Darden Property Management to manage the property and they have been wonderful problems solvers. We have been very satisfied with their efforts and relieved as well. more

Excellent at keeping my rental property profitable for me. They take care of the tenants when the place is occupied, and do everything they can to get it rented out when vacant. Very good management as far as I am concerned. more

Darden is a great company to work with! Great with communication, which is so important and a huge reason why I highly recommend them! more

I am currently renting a home managed by Darden and it is great! Very clean when I moved in, and I have not had any major problems. The people at Darden are also very nice to me, and respond whenever I call or email them. Very professional all around, and I am very happy! more

If you want your security deposit, do not rent from Darden. Not only have they charged me for a broken oven handle (the oven was already old and worn down), but they charged me $50 for electricity for carpet cleaning (the carpets were stained when I moved in!!) after I paid a $170 ""Hassle-free cleaning fee"". They also showed the apartment numerous times without giving me any notice whatsoever. They rarely answer the phone at their office and when the mail key they provided failed to work, I had to drive across town to have them hand me another non-working key. I finally ended up waiting around for the mail carrier, and thankfully she got me the correct key. This company was a complete nightmare to work with; the staff was neither polite nor informative and it's obvious that they continually demonstrate little respect for their tenants. more

The reviews here are absolutely accurate: Darden is a slum lord company run by apathetic college kids and apparently criminally negligent thugs. I'd add more to the review but I think the other reviewers have covered it quite well. more

Hmmmmm, where do you begin with a company run by a crook who could care less how his tenants get treated. No one answers the phone or if they do they are not interested in what you have to say. Half the people up there don't know what the heck they are doing or talking about. I think he found some day labor to run the phones. Patrick Darden should be investigated. I don't think half the stuff he does is legal and I have looked up the BBB reports! Before you sign a lease, do your research, there is alot of info out there about this guy! more

I'm not sure who is writing the negative reviews, but I have lived in two different places with Darden and have had a better experience with them than any other company in Tallahassee. I had an awful time with another landlord when one of my friends referred me to Darden. Even though they are a big property management company, their employees are helpful and courteous and always manage to get things taken care of quickly if you have a maintenance problem. They were willing to work with me when I fell behind on my rent until I could catch up. They explained the lease and yes, they send renewal leases early but that was explained to me when I signed up. Being a big student community, they let me know up front how they market my property if I don't renew. It's a little bit of a hassle, but they always call ahead of time. The maintenance people they use are safe! I have NEVER been worried about them coming in when I am not home. I have told several friends about them and they have rented from them too. I like the fact that I can get access to an actual person when I call! They don't hide from customers like other customers! I will definitely spread the word about how great these people are. more

Worst experience I have ever had renting from a property management company. Before you sign that twelve month lease, realize that you will have to renew it again in six months. That's right, you will be committing to 18 months. When I moved in the carpet was dirty and the walls stained. I was told that cleaning them would have to come out of my own pocket even though the lease states that it is the previous tenant's responsibility. Suffice it to say that Darden's service is abysmal. I have waited a month trying to get simple things fixed around the house. If you don't repeatedly call and complain (and hope someone answers), nothing will ever get done. Not to mention their service contractors are not qualified to fix most problems. Don't forget that they also have the keys to your house and can and will inspect it on short notice, without a set time of day, even if you are not there. Kind of scary. Don't expect to get your security deposit back when you move out either. They will come up with something to take it away from you. Forget about paying your rent on their website as well. Unless you enjoy paying convenience fees ($27 on $800 rent). Heed my advice and stay away from these people. They are crooks. Property owners: expect your properties to get trashed when Darden doesn't take care of little things like small water leaks, broken appliances, and their renters' rights. more

where do I begin? They are unresponsive, threatening, charge fees for services not rendered, late-fees when nothing was late, try to keep security deposit for no reason, give out copies of your keys to too many people (I counted 10 different service workers who all had keys to my apartment in one month). They're rude, indifferent, insulting, no follow-thru. I would not recommend renting from them under any circumstance ever. It's just not worth it. No respect for privacy and no respect for their renters. Very disappointing. As far as parents' looking for housing for their students: This company has just acquired about 1000+ new properties and does not have the manpower to devote to the properties or tenants. They give copies of keys to several different contracting agencies who have many employees. I'm guessing that these contractors don't have criminal checks done on their employees. Yet, these people have access to your kids. I have come home to find these ""workers"" in my rental and next time I will call the police and file charges. Pros: nothing positive Cons: everything more