Sylvan Homes

Sylvan Homes has been the worst landlord I've ever dealt with. Initially, they locked me into an 18-month lease, only to present me with renewal documents about three months before the lease ended, raising the rent despite a slight decline in local rates. A week later, they unexpectedly terminated the lease early, demanding that I vacate the property within 30 days. Despite numerous attempts to reach them through calls and emails, I received no response, was consistently placed on hold, or promised a callback from a senior representative that never came. With only 20 days left and no solution in sight, the stress of having to move so suddenly, through no fault of my own, is overwhelming. Additionally, they sent around 30 vendors to my home to address city code violations but failed to follow through on any actual repairs, merely collecting estimates. How many estimates are necessary before action is taken? Due to these issues, I am now working with a local news channel to expose the horrendous service provided by this company.

If I could give zero stars I would. I’ll give them a star for the neighborhood they chose. My family and I have been living in a Sylvan Home since December 2022. Since then we have experienced several issues with them. For starters Sylvan contractors left wood pieces with rusty nails hanging out of them laying in my backyard after repairing a burst pipe. My five year old, while playing, cut herself on the rusty nails and Sylvan refused to take accountability for the hazardous materials left in my backyard even though they sent someone to pick up the boards and nails. Maintenance calls go unanswered for months. So far I have gone months without a working sink in my bathroom, weeks with a leaking water heater (it leaked for so long it warped and molded the hardwood floors). The maintenance guys came to my home a month after I put in the repair request to fix the floors at 10pm on a weekday. It’s so terrible I cannot make this stuff up! I’ve gone 2 months without a working oven and now that my oven has finally been replaced… the old broken one has been left in my living room for weeks. I even reported a gas leak once and it took Sylvan for 5 days for someone yo come to the house to check it out. For all of these issues I created online maintenance requests RIGHT AWAY! But it takes them FOREVER to do anything about it, if they do anything at all. Sylvan is all about getting tenants’ money and the house you get falls apart right before your eyes. They are completely unorganized and will never give you the contact information of anyone in charge. Customer service is as far as you will get. But make sure u pay your rent on time because the tenant is expected to move in a timely manner even though they move on snail time.

Mold still on on windows, we never received a pool key, shower molded, cracked, back yard flooded — look at the dates — I opened them and they closed them on the same day on most request. They closed many of these without completing the work - look through and see, I repeated myself many times. The people that are working from home are extremely disrespectful and do not care!

I made more service request today, just fix the issues!

Believe every bad review here. I have had one bad issue after another. I call and email and no reaches out ever. Got the keys on the 19th with no AC due to maintenance taping up AC wires they shouldn't have instead of hiring a professional. When the professional comes out, he says my house was a massive fire hazard because it wasn't up to code. The house supposedly went through inspection and pasted days before. Since that inspection, the inspector and/or maintenance left every light on in the house and all the basement doors open, so all the air was going outside, wasting my electricity that has been in my name two days prior. It took over a week to get the AC fixed and the house was over 80 degrees the entire time. I was told by 2 different people that I will have a credit towards August rent, and now 2 different people are saying they have no idea what I'm talking about. All this company does is lie and take your money. They do not care about you as a tenant. I would have never signed the lease if I realized I would have been treated this way. I should have listened to the reviews.

Our A/C went out 2 days ago and when we filed to get it fixed through the renters portal we heard nothing back. When we called the contact number we said it would be forwarded and someone should get back to us during normal business hours (Monday, two days away). We have been experiencing outside temperatures over 110 degrees for 2 months. The indoor temperature of the house since the A/C has been out is above 90 degrees. We have 2 kids and my wife ended up going to a hotel with them so they can cool off. This is our second issue with them ( first was clogged pipes that left us living in sewage water for 3 days) and nothing seems to be an emergency.

I mean they are the worst - unsure where to start -

- in a HOA - 7 months later I have yet to receive the pool or clubhouse key

- when we got the keys no appliances

- they do not fix any repairs

- when we received the keys, no one met us there to do a walkthrough, so nothing was completed that we mentioned to the company before signing the lease, they stated someone would go out to repair and clean house - NOTHING

- we received a letter from HOA stating our dues were past due with a 3rd notice.

- i have maybe 5 months left here and i am gone - to protect my credit

- customer service is horrible

- ceiling leaking, they sent someone and told them to paint over it / leak is back

- i put in over 15 w/o's since Jan.

- moved in no electricity in the kitchen and a few of the bedrooms

I will come back and upload pictures with another review.

Horrible company. They are super quick to be on you if there is a code violation, but they won't fix a clogged toilet for 6 months. Imagine the bathroom next to your bedroom not working for 6 months. it would overflow and make the whole house stink. Not to mention it's been clogged since we moved in. We have to use the guest bathroom this whole time. I opened about 10 tickets, but they will just close them out. Sometimes they will send some cheap contractor to "Look" at it but nothing would happen after that. I have all the pictures and documentation of all service requests that i opened. These WallStreet landlords are horrible. Working on a news segment with the local channel to spread more awareness. Please DO NOT rent or these guys. If someone else is having issues with this guy's, please message me. I would love to cover your story as well.

DON'T MOVE WITH THEM! So many problems with my fiancé place. Water leaks, pest infestation, and flooding. The house smells like mildew and mold. People who have had mold problems know the smell. She has been sick and followed all of the proper steps to get things fixed and they ignore your requests. She went against the reviews to give them a chance, but you should believe every one of them.

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I observed their “flip” skills after my neighbor sold the neighborhood out to this company. Just one example: couldn’t bother to take the tags ( from the store) off the deck railings and now I get to have drama central next door. The rent is excessive-They are a perfect example of the greed decay plaguing this country . It’s absolutely heartbreaking

First of all I secured this place in Feb2023 just moved in April27,2023 they constantly lie about the things that will be fixed it’s very nice to the eyes but it’s definitely a nightmare this house is worse than living in the projects in New York I had no stove burners they claimed they were going to provide them and didn’t I had to purchase on my own the two bedroom windows doesn’t stay up ( remind you since February they’ve been telling me the windows will be replace or the vendor backed out now the window is cracked all the way across the middle and it doesn’t close all the way) I have NO Access to the mailbox or even know which mailbox belongs to me no key no nothing, a/c runs on 70-71 doesn’t get cool in the daytime but freezes our A** off at night (they said it needs a compressor ( it has to be sent off to corporate for approval it’s been over a week haven’t heard a thing) a few of my wall outlets has no power, it’s been a water bubble I. The ceiling below the master bathroom that’s been reported since feb 2023 all they did was put a poke a whole in it and called it fixed just good enough for section 8 to pass it I have all my emails and text messages from feb 2023 addressing these issues and concerns and this morning I noticed a foul smell from the patio went outside and looked all I see is water running and toliet tissue (Sewer issues ) I haven’t been her a full month yet and that’s just some of the issues this is ridiculous also the after hour maintenance is a joke it was hot in my house 2 weekends ago it was 80-83 degrees I had to go purchase fans to cool down my bedrooms and my back patio door has no window coverings when they actually own several homes in my neighborhood and I views plenty of sylvan homes that was for rent and those said homes had some kind of vertical window coverings I was told by Sherise several times not to purchase the blinds or stove elements because the company would and guess what the company DIDN’T now that statement has been retracted and sylvan homes said they will not give me window covering for patio because that’s cosmetic well that’s the least they could’ve done considering all the hassle to me finally moving in and still living in misery this place cost 1560.00 a month which Is absolutely ridiculous for this hell hole I see court in my future (tried uploading sewer video too long)

The home that I stay in I get rental assistance and I got an eviction notice because of a past due balance, meanwhile I should be paid up! I guess about 3 checks have got lost in the mail but I have been in constant contact with sylvan about and my case worker is issuing new checks and they are being sent out that is 2 for rent and 1 for the utilities, none of this is my fault, and they are refusing to give me a renewal which I understand they don’t have to, but my point is in reality no one is taking the time to see what happened, they just kick you out, I have a small son and can not find another place, if I can’t get a renewal because of back payment, then this is unfair as to my checks have always been sent out early so everything should be there, I would like to get a renewal and this is stress I do not need, it’s like they just don’t care and won’t with you, meanwhile I been with out a fridge for a week now and I had to throw out a ton of food, but that’s ok right? Someone needs to help me out on the renewal my checks are currently being reissued.

Don’t plan on ever seeing your deposit again!

They came into the home when we weren’t there and started removing our stuff a few days after we moved in. He told the neighbor we were squatters. When he realized his mistake he threw our stuff back in the house on a pile on the floor. My husband’s suits, dry cleaning- everything. Smashed my husband’s Stetson hats. Incredible! When I called the company they said they didn’t do it. They lied. I called the local police and he took my neighbors ring doorbell recording. The officer agreed that it looked like someone from Sylvan had ransacked the house. They refused to accept responsibility. Their vendor took the key out of the Rently box that he had used to access the home. The office rep said they would change the locks but they never did. I never felt safe in the home. This is just the beginning. They are crooks! And shouldn’t be in business!

A few days after we moved in one of their reps came into our home and started removing all of our stuff. He told the neighbor we were squatters. When he realized his mistake he threw everything into piles in the middle of the floor, everything- my husband’s suits, his Stetson hat - all just piled in a heap on the floor. He must have had thoughts of keeping my husband’s hat because the headband was switched. When we called the company about it they said it wasn’t anyone from their company and I should call the police and turn it into my renters insurance. They use Rently boxes to hold the keys. The intruder got in using the key from that box. The app keeps records of everyone who accessed the key. I asked her to check the records and let me and the police know who it was. NEVER. HEARD. A. WORD. They said they would change the locks but they didn’t so I have no way of knowing who has the key to my home. Even the police officer agreed that it was someone from Sylvan. The neighbor had a Ring recording of his visit with the intruder. I was never allowed to speak to anyone from their company again. After you sign up you never get to speak to a person again. Just emails and apps.

Don’t plan on ever seeing your deposit or getting anything fixed. They need to have their license to operate revoked!

Was inquiring about a property so tried contacting them just to get more information. No matter what my question was, all I received back was an automated system message, over and over again, as the response. Finally got ahold of someone on the phone after a long process thru their system and she basically told me that they pick first come first serve on applications but then said they picked the best fit... so pretty much contradicting herself. Then I asked if she could just tell me if there's any applications submitted yet for the property and she said she could not give me that information. So I said "I'd like to know if there are any yet and how many so I don't waste my money on an application if there's no point" and she still insisted on telling me she wasn't going to give me the information. Just another company trying to rip ppl off. And the property is listed much lower than the average market rate right now so I'm sure they'll raise the price like the other complaint said, once they see how much you make. Sad these companies are only out to steal ppls money.

Wish I could give 0 stars. Absolutely terrible. Here are the reasons why you should never lease with them, no matter how good the deal sounds:1.) You cannot get in touch with ANYONE there unless you spend hours redialing. This includes emergencies - their "emergency" line is simply an after hours message service that makes a service ticket, which you already can do, in your resident portal. No calls out, no messages sent to anyone. They will be received (or not) when SH opens on Mondays. So say you have a roof leak where water is pouring like a shower head through your ceiling fan: *** to be you, they'll call you next business day! Water main break? Next business day! Broken window? Again, won't be seen or addressed until next business day. 2.) Their voicemail is constantly full, and if you manage to be able to leave one, they do not call back. 3.) If you ask for a supervisor or manager or anyone above the *** you finally manage to reach, you get transferred STRAIGHT to a voicemail for some dude that won't call you back either. You will never speak to anyone higher than the ***. For these reasons alone, it's not worth it. Literally no one cares about you as a renter or customer there, NO ONE. You could have a broken door and they will simply have someone come take pictures of it and leave because the work order has to be approved... no urgency whatsoever. Too bad your backyard is now full of waste from a backed up sump pump, or your AC is out during the 100F summer, or you have no hot water, they don't care. I don't care how nice that house is that you're looking at, or how low their rent is, or how great the location is - DON'T. DO. IT. It is not worth it. I loved this house from the moment I saw it, and it was perfect for what we needed, but now that I know I will never get a person to come out during a true emergency, I am very worried and wish I could get out of this lease immediately. Please, don't rent with Sylvan Homes.

I didn't want to believe that all of these horrible reviews could be true but this company is even worse than I thought. I just want to share our experience so that the same does not happen to anyone else. My husband and I were displaced due to a fire at the end of January and are currently living in a hotel with our two dogs. The repairs were anticipated to take more than a month so we began looking for a new place to live. We were so excited when we stumbled on a "Sylvan Home" that seemed perfect for us and reached out immediately to begin the viewing and application process. First of all, I'm ASTOUNDED that its so difficult to get in touch with someone even from the get go... their response to texts, e-mails, and phone calls is sporadic at best. When I finally got someone on the phone (***) he brushed me off when I tried to explain our situation (multiple times). My questions were also ignored most of the time. Communication is not the only issue with this company. There is also a big problem with FALSE ADVERTISING. The property we were interested in was listed on 3+ websites for $1450 per month. When we started the process to lease it, we were told that it was $1570. When I asked *** to confirm the monthly rent he said he would reach out to his "marketing *** and get back to me - he never did, despite multiple inquiries and I didn't hear from again until they sent me the Holding Agreement. At which time I asked AGAIN about the rent and have not received a response (over 24 hours ago), yet they are expecting us to go to *** And send them the "holding fee." I don't trust a company that refuses to acknowledge my questions but is willing to take my money. We have rented from multiple agencies in the past and have never experienced such poor customer service. There are even more details I could add but I'm running out of characters. Needless to say, we are still stuck in the hotel searching for a rental. Thanks Sylvan Homes.

Sylvan homes is unfair and unprofessional. I started renting from them in April 2022. Maintenance request went unanswered or took weeks and weeks to get someone out. Somethings like the water filling up in the bathtubs still was not fixed even after they was serviced. Had to pay to get the air conditioner serviced out of my pocket and never received anytime of reimbursement or credit. You can never get anyone on the phone that actually could help, just transferred to voicemails, in which i was told these departments dont make outbound phone calls, so why would you have me leave a meaningless message. Last but certainly not least i applied for emergency rental assistance through my county, and Sylvan homes also applied on my behalf. The whole time the process was going on I was sending updates by email to Sylvan homes, calling and never being to speak with anyone in their eviction or rental assistance departments always just a voicemail. Responses from emails took days to get a response if they even responded. I got approved for the *** and a check for the amount of *** was disbursed to Sylvan Homes on 10/31/2022. Sylvan homes had access to the information through the portal just like i did. The *** was to cover the arrears and 2 future months payment which is November 2022 and December 2022. On November *** my house was being set outside and the maintenance men was telling people they could have anything that they want. Im a single parent of 3 children and when I arrived home all my major items was gone. People had came and was allowed to take stuff from my children that i had worked hard for. Now me and my kids have no place to stay with almost all our belongings gone. No matter how many calls i made to Sylvan homes waited until I got approved and the money disbursed to them to then evict me in such a horrible way. This is unfair and should not have happened.

I have had an open maintenance request since Wednesday morning (8/3) for my A/C unit not working at all. I was told on Thursday that a vendor had been scheduled between 8-5 on Friday (8/5). Friday came and then I was told I had to WAIT for the vendor to be approved, which doesnt account for the time for the vendor to be scheduled to come to my house. I was supposed to receive a call back on Friday afternoon, I never did. My AC has been out since Tuesday night. Its been well over 90 degrees everyday in Chesapeake with heat indexes well over 100 and to have no means for resolution yet is unacceptable. I called a vendor Friday evening since I did NOT receive a call back from Sylvan Homes like that was stated to me. The vendor came out Saturday and diagnosed my A/C problem which a part has to be ordered. If I hadnt done this Id still be waiting on Sylvan Homes to help. All the reviews you see from other people are true, this company is terrible at helping their tenants. I moved in back at tue end of May and put in a maintenance request to remove the rently lockbox at that time, its now August and no one has still come to pick that up. I had an emergent electrical issue that I put in a maintenance request for and It wasnt until a week later someone from Sylvan Homes called me about it, which I had callled a vendor and got done myself. Your company says you dont reimburse if we dont use your selected vendors, but when using a Sylvan vendor actually a possibility when you dont return calls or dont bother helping with maintenance requests. So yes I went a paid for this A/C vendor to get my A/C fixed because waiting any longer would put my family in peril. And I am sending Sylvan Homes the *** and if I dont get reimbursed, Ill just hold it out of the rent or we can go to small claims court. There is no reason for this company to be this bad at customer service. Everything you have read is true about Sylvan Homes like they really need to put under review.

Me and my husband have done everything your company has ask of us from beginning to end and have paid deposit along with rent upfront and our rental property is still not livable. This is the last thing we were expecting to have to deal with as we are preparing for our first child but now we are having to constantly try to track down people from your company just to communicate which shouldn't be as I stated in my emails. My next step will be legal action because at this rate me and my and soon to be newborn is will not be able to live in this property.First *** We moved in April 29th and had multiple things not done prior to us getting the keys. It will be a week tomorrow and we have still been unable to stay in the home due to these issues! As a new resident with your company this is very unacceptable given the fact we had to pay rent for *** prior to moving in just to have all these issues starting our lease with the company. The work orders were place on April 29th and I didnt hear from anyone until Tuesday *** 3rd from a guy name *** who said he was with the company to process our work order. He stated someone would be in touch to schedule when they will come out and I have yet to hear from anyone! Second *** Good Afternoon, We moved in April 29th and had multiple things not done prior to us getting the keys. It will be a week tomorrow and we have still been unable to stay in the home due to these issues! As a new resident with your company this is very unacceptable given the fact we had to pay rent for *** prior to moving in just to have all these issues starting our lease with the company. The work orders were place on April 29th and I didnt hear from anyone until Tuesday *** 3rd from a guy name *** who said he was with the company to process our work order. He stated someone would be in touch to schedule when they will come out and I have yet to hear from anyone!

This leak has been going on for a year. Wake up kitchen and basement flooded randomly. My kids stay sick took them to the doctor and they have fungus and mold induced rashes and my twin has asthma now and is on a nebulizer. I’ve reported things on day three, week 1 being broken and they told me I had to fix it. Finally the city deemed the house uninhabitable and they still won’t respond! I’ve had two miscarriages I. This home and I’m sure it’s due to mold and whatever else in in here.

I’ve applied for a home with Sylvan Homes. I was very excited & happy about finally finding a nice home for my family. I do have a HCV for County that covers my total amount of rent, which the home accepts. After seeing so many reviews about SafeRent making constant denials for prospective tenants at many rental companies even with no evictions, good rental history etc. I’m very much concerned about my application now bc if my family receives HCV for the full amount of rent how could I get scored or denied for a rental of everything is in good standing.

-Concerned Mom 🙏🏽

I was to move into the property 9/29/23. Paid the rent, deposits and pro rated amount.

Arrived on 9/29 (Friday) after 5 pm. The lockbox was damaged and back window broken, air conditioner would not click on.

The moving company ended up taking my belongings and stored over night. I and my sister dogs went to a hotel.

5 days later Sylvan got someone out to the property.

I submitted my hotel receipts and 2 moving costs fir reimbursement. The amount I was asking for was $1800 - I ended paying over $5,000 to get into this property.

45 days layers, still no reimbursement and they are threatening eviction. They need to put the $1800 towards my rents.

Now I can't even get a return [protected]@

Terrible customer service

This company is a joke and a complete scam. Read all the reviews! Do not start any service with them . Do not sign any lease with them. The customer service is horrible. They hang up repeatedly, they do not assist with issues, and they charge you outrageous amounts for no apparent reason. I was charge $75 for a service and when I asked for proof, they hung up. I emailed and they still were unable to provide proof for why they charged me this amount. Needless to say, when the lease is up, they will receive everything except the amount they charged me and I have documentation for any court proceedings should they want to take it there.

Save yourself the headache and the inconvenience. In addition, they can barely keep employees so this should tell me you everything they need to know. Going “out of business” should be their next step.

We have moved out of our home june 5th. We never received an email about our security deposit. It has been 2 months and still nothing. I have called multiple times but no calls back. Only people continuously saying we will resolve the issue and call you back. We have had so many problems with this company. Including almost getting evicted for them saying we receive a free month and then never receiving that promise.

They withheld a large portion of security deposit and have not sent the rest of the money. Prior to moving out of our home, Sylvan sent us a move out checklist detailing the steps they wanted us to take to clean the house upon vacating. Included in this document were examples of things that qualify as normal wear and tear, and things that are considered negligence or abuse and would incur charges against our deposit. One specific item in the "normal wear and tear" category was holes in the wall from hanging things. It even cited an example where a landlord tried to withhold a tenants deposit over holes in the wall, which resulted in that tenant suing the landlord, and a judge ruling that holes from hanging things was normal wear and tear and did not warrant additional charges. This document was signed by myself and a representative of Sylvan. When we moved out and received our determination, we were being charged $175 for paint touch ups. Included in the determination were pictures taken by a representative of Sylvan, showing pictures of marks on the wall where I had patched the holes with spackle. It should be noted that nowhere in the move out list was there any mention of not filling in holes. When I raised this concern with Sylvan, I was told that it would be reviewed by management. Over a month later, there has been no contact from Sylvan. We also have not received ANY money back from them. Our initial contact regarding the deposit was made on January 11, I emailed them about the charge the same day, and received their response the following day, and never heard from them again until I followed urlp a month later. On Feb 9th I contacted them inquiring about the status of our refund, and was told that it had been sent out and they would look into it. I still have not heard anything back from them. Additionally, when I was told that the check had been issued, the Sylvan rep told me the dollar amount of the check, which had not had the paint charge removed.

Our lease with Sylvan Homes ended on 7/31, in which it stated that we would go directly to a month-by-month lease, with charges, if the lease were not signed. Before our time was up to sign the lease, we received an email about terminating the lease, stating that we must move out in less than 60 days. I took a screenshot of our lease and included it in an email reply that we had not been given 60 days written notice on any termination, and the information about us not signing the lease and going directly to a month-by-month lease as is stated clearly in the lease we signed. On the rare occasion that we receive a response, we have been told multiple reasons as to why our lease was terminated- none of which match. We have yet to get anyone to explain why their end of the lease was not upheld, giving us a 60 day notice. We only need this house for less than 6 more months. We have emailed as many email addresses as we can find, countless numbers of times and have documentation of each email. We have called daily, multiple times a day, only to be put on hold, or the phone never gets answered, or if we actually have the chance to leave a message, nobody has returned the call. One person told us that we needed to escalate it to management, which we agree and would prefer, but again, cannot get in contact with anybody at all over any form of communication. This has gone on for more than three weeks. I cannot imagine a company with paying customers not even be able to speak to the people they pay each month, much less imagine kicking out paying customers that only need less than six months more, for a renovation. I cannot imagine any well-run business allowing a customer to make over three weeks worth of calls, messages, and emails and never respond. We are willing to do whatever is needed, but cannot even discuss this matter with a person that can make a decision or uphold a lease. Given the complaints on this board and more, I am in shock of how they are in business.

Sylvan Homes purchased a home in which my wife and I were already tenants, from the individual with whom we originally signed a lease. We were informed of the sale by our former landlord and cooperated with home inspections, which were poorly executed. Multiple attempts were made to violate our legal right to 48-hour notice prior to having someone enter our home, and communication from Sylvan Homes was nonexistent.Following the Sept. acquisition, no one from Sylvan reached out to us in any way. With great effort and much delay, we obtained information on paying rent via wire transfer. Payments have been submitted prior to the last day of the month, and accepted on the receiving end in each instance. Following our first rental payment, with no prior notice, an agent of Sylvan Homes posted an eviction on our door for nonpayment of rent. They were difficult to reach to resolve this, and alarmingly judgmental and dismissive of our concern. Initial response was "You have not paid your rent, and must pay the full amount plus late fee or face eviction," ignoring evidence of payment. They did not acknowledge receipt of payment until one day before the expiration of the stated two week eviction window. This has since occurred every month, with the only distinction being we have not received another eviction notice, perhaps because we proactively reach out to tell them we have paid. Said emails are always met with claims to the contrary before the payment is later acknowledged.We notified them a month ago of an unresolved and major maintenance issue which the previous landlord was informed of and failed to resolve, and they have not yet resolved it. There is a pine branch touching the powerline to the house, and power blinks almost daily.They now want to void our lease without cause and force us into a new lease with higher rent, and threatened to charge a higher month-to-month rent if we don't. We sent back our active lease (through 2/28/22), and they have not replied.