Chicago Property Services, Inc.

The condo association for my building also had problems for Chicago Properties and we recently switched to another management company. They do some things well like handling of the financials and their handyman and mantenance team is really great but when you need them the most to handle something like a burst pipe or snow removal they fall down in a big way. They don't have property managers assigned to buildings which is a big flaw in their business model and you can't call them over the phone to report a problem. You have to use their website. Once the problem is logged in the website they are supposed to respond in a day or 2 but sometimes weeks would go by before the condo association would hear from them. Often we would have to call CPS and email the president to get any kind of action. The support team would not always apologize for not calling us back and some would get angry with us for contacting the boss to complain after they ignored us for 3-4 weeks sometimes. We ended up having to self manage several projects that we would expect a property management company to take care of because we could not count on them at all when it really mattered or we had a serious problem. Their advice on condo management and handling of tricky resident matter disputes was very average as well and hard to get. You had to request it through a website and could rarely get a person to talk to you person to person on the phone. Pros: Financials accurate, Maintenance and Handmen excellent Cons: Customer service approach, staff attitudes more

It's unfortunate that I have to give at least one star, b/c with this company, I would prefer to give none. I should have gone to the B. B. B. after the problems Chicago Property Services caused our association in the winter of '07-'08. CPS had a snow removal contract with our small 7 unit condo association that they rarely fulfilled. On 4 different occasions I shoveled our lot, decks, and walkways myself b/c the CPS contractor did not show up. After shoveling, I would send an email to CPS asking where they were, and would receive a BS excuse why they didn't show and a ""promise"" that it wouldn't happen again. Sometimes I wouldn't have time to do CPS's job, so the snow would get compacted from cars rolling over it, creating an icy tundra for all our neighbors to navigate.\r \r Don't use CPS. There are plenty of better ""management specialists"" out there...we hired a personal contractor to clear our snow this year and he hasn't missed a flake!\r \r If CPS can't handle a snow removal contract for a 7 unit building, imagine how they will ""manage"" your association... Pros: Most of the people i talked to on the phone were pleasant Cons: The company did not fulfill the contracted obligations more