Forward Management Inc

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Wow, professional, helpful, great people who genuinely know that your people! I personal recommend KEN at west side office. Thank you Ken, amazing job and our family is so happy!

Forward Management is one of the most unprofessional management companies that I have worked with specifically (Tom). Their business practices are inconsistent and they are not consistent with their communication. The property manager we worked with was disrespectful and kept reminding us that they manage over 500 properties. I suppose that was their way of communicating we don't care about your maintenance issues or the errors we make on our end because we are too busy. Swan Creek was moderately maintained however they failed to advertise if you use the garage storage units everything you are storing will be filled with mildew. We had multiple items damaged due to storing our items in the garage. I will never do any type of business with them again and if you can avoid renting from them please do so.

Tom has to be the worst landlord that I have encountered. I live in Highlands Ridge, and there was a situation where another tenant refused to keep her dog on a leash, and the dog would jump on me each time I went outside. I e-mailed Tom several times about it. He was at first very uncooperative, even after I gave details as to which person the dog belonged to. It took many frustrating e-mails for him to do anything about it. This went on over months. I feel that a person's safety should be an immediate concern, but that's just me.

I also received another e-mail from Tom a few weeks ago stating that my husband and I had never been charged for having a cat, and we have been living in these apartments for over a year. He e-mailed a copy of our pet clause that clearly showed our signatures and request to be charged since the day that we moved in. He asked for a solution. How about not asking us for a solution (aka our money) and doing your job right? How about that, Tom?

I rented from Forward Management for about 4 years, and I have zero complaints. I most recently spent 2 years at Woodland Fields, which was a great experience. Very responsive management and maintenance, friendly neighbors. Tami is a total rock star - she was super helpful, great to work with, and takes her job seriously. I'm shocked there's any negative reviews of Forward Management - I haven't ever had an issue. Highly recommend them.



And despite what other people have stated in some reviews, I got every dollar of my security back. FMI is GREAT.

I live in Woodland Fields on the lower west side of Madison managed by Forward Management and our property manager is Tami Tetzlaff. Woodland Field apartments are so serene. My 3rd floor apartment has vaulted ceilings, fans, recessed molding, in-unit washer and dryer, great appliances, central heating and air, underground parking, and a terrific view. The sound proofing is amazing. The staff keeps the place clean and up to date. If you are looking for a safe, lovely, and great place to live, I would highly recommend Woodland Fields.

Tom the person responding to these reviews is a very unprofessional businessman. He seems to me to be the kind of guy that will say what it takes and has zero respect for people. I will also add that with this many bad reviews on the comapny there must be some truth to them.

Very bad experience with this company. We had drug dealers busted next door from us. Makes you question what kind of back ground check the do. Management is unprofessional and deceitful. Run, stay away from this company. I wish I read these reviews before we moved in.

I would have to to say, be extra careful or simply go somewhere else; before signing anything go to this page http://www.tenantresourcecenter.org/security_deposits_in_madison and read/know your rights very well, you can easily dispute any charges, you can also cheaply drag them to court without a lawyer.



Make sure you are strict when signing the check-in form, they have a check-out instructions - copied and pasted here http://pasteguru.com/9518 - which they will not show to you till you are moving out; read it before sending the check-in form back as it will help you properly inspect the unit.



They stress that you DON'T NEED to be at the apartment during the check-out inspection, guess why? a reputable place would encourage the tenant to be there to avoid issues.



I was dealing with a person named Tami Rietz who was just lying her way through situations, make sure any communication is in writing/email.

http://www.rentfmi.com/agent/Tami-Rietz

I have been a renter for 6 years, and spent 1 year renting from Forward Management. My husband and I are young professionals who made the mistake to choose FM. I could not have had a worse experience. From the beginning we had a difficult time getting responses from the company, and they showed very little follow through. I could deal with that because we never really had too many issues, but the move out was what blew my mind. We were charged for things that simply were not true. We had 4 adults helping us move out, and scrubbed everything. We are very clean people to begin with, but left the apartment in very nice condition. I thought it had to be a mistake, and tried contacting the company. We were charged for painting over dust that was on the wall, and for not washing the dishwasher. How would one wash the dishwasher? We were charged outrageous amounts of money for cleaning the toilet and sink, when I bleached and scrubbed them myself. It was fraudulent. They would not respond after numerous responses, so we contacted a lawyer. The lawyer said they have heard negative things about this company, but unfortunately it will cost much more to pursue than the $300 in fines. Finally we heard back from the company, after leaving a message that stated we may take legal action. A manager at FM proceeded to tell us that he personally inspected our apartment, and it was the “dirtiest apartment he has ever been in”. I could not believe it. I can call it nothing but fraud. We requested pictures twice, which shockingly, never made it to us. It became such a headache that we paid the fine, so we would never have to deal with them again. We wrote a long letter to the company expressing our anger and disappointment, and they responded by refunding us $50 of the fine. So, if it was so dirty, than why are they choosing to refund a random $50? Should have that never been charged in the first place? My best advice is to choose a more reputable, respectful management company, who you can trust. I would also advise to read the reviews, unfortunately we read them all too late.

If I could give zero stars I would.

Forward management is a slumlord company, trying to monopolize the rental market in the Madison area so renters here have no choice but to live under their insane landlords. My work takes me around the country…a few years here, a few years there…and I can say that this is the WORST company to rent from. They will enter your apartment without any warning whatsoever. My unit had two bathrooms…but we could not use the master bath because every time you’d flush the toilet, it would spurt up through the bathtub drain (disgusting). We put in two maintenance requests a month, and it NEVER got fixed. When we would try to call the maintenance line direct, we’d get hung up on. They do not enforce any rules. Our patio was black and charred because the people below us constantly grilled on their balcony…and guess who’s security deposit wasn’t refunded because of that? Yup, mine! Pets are allowed, which is great, but they do not enforce the leashing rules or the rules telling tenants to pick up after their dogs outside. It’s always great being lunged at in the elevator by a dog that’s unleashed, then going to your car and nearly stepping in a big pile of feces. They try to take carpet cleaning out of your security deposit, which is against the law in Wisconsin. They try to keep every penny, even if you leave the place immaculate (I have to move around a lot, so I had very little furniture in there, and not a thing on the walls, yet was charged for painting…seriously?!) When you try asking anything of your landlords, you basically get laughed at in the face. The staff they hire to clean the common areas of the building are extremely unprofessional, and bring their screaming kids to work with them. It’s just a nightmare. Whatever you do, please take your money elsewhere!

I am currently living in an apartment from FMI. I will say that when there have been problems they have stepped up and fixed the issues. I have not had to fight to get work done.

The building I am in is brand new, and while very nice to there were some problems with the completed work. My check in sheet took up almost 2 sides of the page. There is one door that has only one hinge. There was a spot that was patched after the wall was painted and it never got repainted. There are places where the drywall is cracking and the finish work is shoddy and obviously ignored. All in all it looks like it was done quickly and poorly.

There seemed to be very little cleaning done prior to moving in. I only knew the true carpet color because of a spill I cleaned up and then noticed was much cleaner than the rest of the carpet. The one bathroom has gobs of silicone stuck to the wall due to the shower install. We cannot remove it because it will tear off the paint. The painting throughout the apartment is sub par work, with many spots so thin you can see the primer on the dry wall.

On of the biggest problems is getting FMI to follow through on the rules set forth in the lease. People let their dogs run without leashes. They take them out right in front of the building, even thought the lease states they are not to. Many people do not clean up after their dogs, a clear violation of the lease. This leave plenty of messes for people to step in when walking around at night. There are even times when messes are left on sidewalks. There are gas and charcoal grills on balconies and porches in violation of city law, and they are used regularly by some tenants. Management sent out a warning to people about storing stuff in front of their parking space saying they would remove any said items if they were there after a specific date. Well the date came and went with no action by FMI. They seem to be all bark and no bite when it comes to enforcing their own lease. The lease is a contract entered into by both parties. If the tenant is expected to live up to the rules set forth in the lease then FMI should be expected to enforce the rules set forth in the lease. THIS IS NOT DONE. It seems if you want to do whatever you want you can do so as long as it does not cost FMI money. They truly sound like they care when you talk to them about problems you know are in the lease as not allowed, but their actions prove that they truly do not care. Were I to stop paying my rent I am sure I would get a legal notice about my responsibility to pay form my home. Funny how that concern is not shown for all of the rules and regulations in the lease.

Should anyone ever get bit by a dog not on a leash I would say the person that was bit would be able to hold FMI partially responsible for the incident since they do not enforce their own rules.

For the most part the apartment is nice and repairs are done, but FMI needs to take more interest in the day to day workings of their buildings.

I'm not saying Forward doesn't have its issues (it does). But, any time I've had an issue with our apartment, it has been dealt with just fine. No, it's not immediate. But, they are a large company just trying to do the best they can for the people they serve.

I wish I had read the reviews before I moved into one of FMI's properties. I moved to this property because I was not happy with TR McKenzie and their fuzzy accounting (Alex McKenzie). Yes, I moved into a brand new building, but it's been nothing but a giant headache since.



Even though it is a brand new building, in which 30% of the units aren't even completed, it has problems. Dogs are allowed- great, however, make some rules for the tennants to follow in regards to barking dogs- I don't have a dog- I don't want to listen to yours. The sound proofing is absolutely horrible- I can hear multiple dogs barking elsewhere in the building, in my unit. I can hear everything the person below me and above me does in their apartment, every step the person above me makes.



Met a dog owner who decided to take his dog for a walk down in the basement. I was getting out of my jeep, walking towards the stairs- here stands this person, in the basement, letting his dog urinate on the wall. I asked him what he was doing- said that it was too cold to take his dog outside, so he used the basement. What a joke. I sent management an email on this too, and yet no reply.



The finish quality of these supposed "condo-style" units is horrible. The walls are cut and sliced up, patched poorly, something that I'm sure I'll get blamed for in the end, when I move out. Good thing I haven't filled out the check in form yet. From reading the reviews, I'm sure I'll have to document every speckle/bump/lump/mark on the walls in order to not get charged for it when I move out.



Worst of all is the fact that my apartment, that I moved into on January 3, 2012, has MOLD in the bedroom. It appears that the window was "forced" into the window frame, popped it apart and has allowed ice/water/snow to leak into the frame and out onto the window ledge. I've placed several calls to the "management team", who has never once returned any calls to me. I was talking to the person who lives above me, in the hall the other day, who told me his window has been broken since day 1, when he moved in, and he has a bunch of mold growing on his window ledge, wall, and caulking. He said that he's spoken to Ericka, property manager, but they keep feeding him a line that the window is "on order". I'm glad i'm not in his unit. Has FMI ever heard that MOLD is a health hazzard? I wonder what the city of Fitchburg would say if they knew that FMI was ignoring a mold issue in at least two different units? From what I've read, it sounds like standard operating procedure... Since i've been complaining about it for a month and a half, I'm giving them one more week- if they don't reply back, I'm going to call the department of health and human services and have them come out and take a look- maybe they will throw a fine or two on FMI. I have documented proof (cell phone bill, showing call times down to the second) for every time that I've called FMI. I also have copies of emails I've sent FMI as well and gotten no response on.



I'm not sure if the property manager has any experience with a rental property. It's evident by the fact that calls/emails have been ignored and not replied back to in a timely fashion.



Yeah, it's my own fault that I didn't read the reviews online, but I'm putting this review up so that prospective renters can read this and think their decision through properly.



Check around before you decide to rent from FMI- there are MANY better choices out there. I'll keep this review updated as to my mold situation, when FMI decides to do something...

If you've already signed a lease with these guys - I'm sorry

If you haven't signed a lease with them, please don't before you read on...

Most of the negative comments I've read here (and at other feedback sites) does match up with my experience to date with FMI.

In summary:

a) Read the lease closely - you are agreeing to show your apartment as many times as THEY want... They will refer you to your obligations under the lease if you don't agree to show, and will basically force you to show it. Not cool. What ever happened to having "model apts"? If you don't believe me, ask for them to show you an apartment - I guarantee they will take you to one that is currently occupied by a poor soul who really isn't excited to show it... their focus is on occupancy, not respecting your privacy.

b) Maintenance is lousy. Once you're in, they won't respond to requests. There were maintenance items outstanding from the previous occupant, and after several months, they still haven't fixed them!!! When I called them out on it three weeks ago, the response was "I'm not sure what happened - the work order was put in... I will check with the maintenance team and get back to you"... Still no response, but showings certainly continue... amazing how that works.

c) Don't expect to see your security deposit back. Do the apartments look nice to you? That's because they use the proceeds of previous occupants to replace carpets and paint them again. They will find every possible way to keep your money so they can use it to do the maintenance they didn't want to pay for themselves. For FMI, you security deposit = bonus income. If you don't believe me, ask them for the documentation they send out for check out procedures - really. Forget to do so, and you will see what I mean...

d) If you are just moving in, and do get a copy of their check out form, go through the apartment and mark every little scratch, speckle of dust, etc - take pictures if at all possible, then send them in as "exceptions". Best way to protect yourself when they claim the "damages" were done during your stay. Tell them up-front you will not be paying for fixes or cleaning charges for those items. If you have even the slightest doubt as to whether you should add it to your move-in checklist - don't think about it twice! Jot it down. If you own a dog, they will certainly try to keep the security deposit claiming there is urine - it's their way to replace the carpet (or just keep the money for something else)... why do you think dogs are so "welcome"? Dogs = Sure Cash.

e) Ask them if it's ok for you to take a walk throught he premises on your own. They will only take you through the hallways and areas that look somewhat clean.



I hope you take my advice and steer clear from FMI. Why am I writing this? I've rented 5 apartments in my lifetime - both in and out of Wisconsin, and these guys are by far the worst schemers I've had to put up with... I feel it's my civic duty to do my best to expose their antics. Ultimately, you will have to make a decision as to whether their up-front "charm" is authentic or not... I encourage you to ask around and do your homework BEFORE signing the lease.

Stay away from this company! All they care about is themselves. This is by far the worst management company I have ever dealt with. Their customer service is the poorest of all. Despite being a loyal-paying tenant for two years, they have been nothing but unreasonable, inconsiderate, and downright rude throughout my entire tenancy. They lie on their checkout forms saying you left your apartment dirty and charge you for it! They have ignored my requests to be notified before sending anyone to my apartment and I had to fight with them to get my repairs done. They have unprofessional maintenence and cleaning services who bring their preschool kids to work with them. They don't even answer their phone professionally by identifying themselves. They advertise their rental property as"Luxury Apartments" when in reality the walls are paper thin, there's no central air or heating, the stair rails are all rusted out, and the hallways are hot and stink like garbage. My whole experience with them has been horrible and I'm glad to now be renting from a company who truly demonstrates they value me as a rentor.

The most terrible altitude to their tenants I've ever seen before. They did not care about anything once they got your money, but they did not feel sorry about it. Rather, they felt angry about us, which we thought should be the opposite. I won't give it any star. Keep away from them, as far as possible.

I don't know how this company has gotten anything more than one star. They do take your money whenever they get a chance. I moved out of there over 5 months ago and I'm still getting bills from them claiming things were not cleaned right. They charged me over $400 for painting...painting. Like the painting that needs to be done before every new tenant moves in. I would never recommend them to anyone! STAY AWAY! I would give anything to get back that year and money that I spent living there! They would enter my apartment without any notice. I would be with the maintenance staff when they would just go into my neighbors garages. Who does that!?! Just no good!

They totally suck! They are liers and crooks, who'll go after your money. Everyone gets different rent, and they don't help you with anything. Then when you move, they will blame you for what wasn't done, even if it's their fault. When I moved in, the apt was dirty. They are beyond horrible and need negative ratings!

I had a great experience renting with Forward Management, Inc. There staff was always helpful and courteous. All my maintenance concerns were taken care of within a few days after I reported them. The apartments are very nice, and are priced very competitively. I only experienced minor problems during my stay, but the management staff always did their best to help out. Many on the problems were beyond the control of the management company. I would highly recommend Forward Management, Inc.

This management company is by far the worst company I have ever dealt with. I wish that I would have looked for reviews prior to moving in. As far as management being helpful, that has been unheard of since I have moved in. On numerous occasions we have called regarding neighbors up at all hours of the night. They said it would be taken care of. The last time I called, the records were looked up for complaints and they only documented that I called once. Talk about blowing people off. Must not fit into their schedules. Very disappointed and sleep deprived.