HollandResidential

The Frank Estate in Portland OR looks nice on the outside, but don't let the looks deceive you. When you're considering a move, check out a company's BBB rating. Holland Residential has an F rating. That's "F" as in Frank Estate. I will elaborate on each point in turn: 1st -- Portland has no rent control laws so landlords are free to charge whatever they want. 2nd -- Holland Residential manages the Frank Estate & is concerned about internal appearances only & has no loyalty for long-term renters. 3rd -- Getting repairs done on the outside of buildings is like pulling teeth; one should not have to fight to have safety issues addressed. 1st -- When Holland Residential took over management, rent increases began to double & then treble. Last summer, a neighbor told me his monthly rent increased $650/month. Yes, you read that correctly. Mine increased $200/month. Holland gives out "dog" baskets each month to owners with well-behaved dogs. It's the law to pick up after your dog. Why doesn't Holland take that money & put it into repairs? 2nd -- Two years ago, Holland Residential sent out letters to 41 tenants [I was one of them]. The letter said that they had to renovate these apartments. Note that Holland had been renovating as tenants left; now all of a sudden, 41 families had to either a) leave the property, or b) find another apartment on the property. One tenant had been in her apartment for 15 years; there was a couple in their 80's that received a letter; it was going to take them months to move out, so they'd be paying rent on two units. When a company sends a letter to evacuate for renovation purposes, they have to give you 2 months notice, which Holland did. Holland would not pay any moving costs if you moved to another apt on the property. UPDATE: Holland is planning another round of renovations, which "could take years" I was told. If Holland sent notices to 41 families in the past to leave, do you think they'll hesitate to do it again? Another neighbor told me that the pipes that run under the property are very old. There was a burst pipe last year that created a small sinkhole. Rather than ask tenants to leave to renovate the interior, the better business investment would be to repair the pipes and the foundation of this property. What good does it do to have an up-to-date kitchen if the foundation falls out from under the building? They're apparently replacing all the appliances. Mine work fine; why replace? 3rd -- As one of the 41 tenants asked to move, I found another unit [of course it was more expensive than what I was paying because it was renovated]. I was not yet ready to leave permanently. There was a step of the concrete stairs that lead to my unit that was very uneven. I asked Holland Residential to repair it. I had already fallen on it twice because of the unevenness, and that was in May/June when there was no rain. It rains about 10 months out of the year here, and stairs become slippery; add leaves that fall on the stairs, you have an accident waiting to happen. Holland refused to repair the step. In fact, the manager at the time came to look at the step [I made sure to cc: the Corporate Office on my communiques]. The manager looked at the step & said -- oh yes, we have these all over the property! Still, he would not repair it. So I did the research & called Building Departments in Portland. I found out how much a step could slope [in inches] before it had to be fixed. I was shuttled from department to department though because the buildings on this property are so old that apparently it's difficult to enforce the building code. Either that, or no one wanted to tangle with Holland Residential. I reported my findings to Holland. They still refused to repair the steps. There was also a huge crack in the step from the driveway that led to the apt below mine. It was easy to catch a heel in that crack. Holland would not repair that either. My total research time exceeded 20 hours, this included emails & telephone calls to various Building Depts in Portland. When Holland told me again that they would not repair the step, this was my response: I will let the neighbors know that Holland cares more about greed than they do the safety of their residents. The step & the crack were repaired within a month after this last communique to Corporate. One should not have to pull teeth to have safety issues addressed. ALSO, there are deep cracks in the driveway through the property; and even though for 3 years in a row now the driveway has been re-tarred, the cracks -- some very large -- continue to appear.