We rented for 2 years from Croman, a 2BR in Gramercy, E18th St. Nice apartment, completely renovated, nice appliances. A bit overpriced for the market, but we were new to NY so we didn't realise this until we had already signed a contract. Though they say they are no-fee apartments, they do work with brokers but instead of paying the broker, you end up paying higher rent and I suppose the brokers get a % from that from Croman directly. Especially watch out for a broker called Billy, he asks way higher rental prices then you should pay, so negotiate him down. We didn't really have trouble with Croman during our rental period, we had to call a few times when repairs needed to be done and we ended up just putting all communications in writing, sent registered mail to avoid conflict later on. We did have trouble with their accounting department which managed to loose one of our checks and we had to threaten with our lawyer before they sorted it out. The real trouble, however, didn't occur until we wanted our rent deposit back. They never disputed we would get it back but somehow managed to postpone giving it to us for 6 weeks. We called them many times, filed a complaint with the Attorney General of NY State and the Better Bussiness Bureau and finally they gave us back our deposit. No reason given for the delay. Only after we went there in person did they give us the check and only after I remained in their office and made it clear that I knew my rights, did they also write out a check for the interest on the deposit which they legally have to pay out to their (ex)-renters. My advise: put everything in writing and send it registered mail. Know your rights and insist on them, threaten with a lawyer if all else fails and file a complaint with the Better Bussiness Bureau even if the matter gets resolved eventually. They will look into businesses who receive a number of complaints. After all, the rent deposit and its interest are yours, not Cromans.
Pros: nice apartments, mostly newly renovated
Cons: pricey, difficult to get rent deposit back
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