Del Forno Real Estate

The worst landlord I’ve ever had and I’ve had many. It started when from the first day I moved into a filthy apartment. There was mold on one of the walls and the only way that I could get them to do anything about it was by not paying rent and after 14 days I was served with a court date although I had already reached out the individual managing my property and said that I would pay as soon as the mold remediation was completed. They told me that a $ 500 pet deposit would be refunded, but it wasn’t. They also took $ 400 off of my security deposit for «cleaning and repair of holes and minor damage» which was not warranted. This was the worst experience I’ve had with renting so far.

STAY AWAY FROM THESE SLUMLORDS! Horrible service, bad roach filled apartments, ONE super for ALL of their buildings, and horrible management. They tried to rip us off on our security deposit and had the nerve to threaten suing us!
If I could give negative stars, I would. You have been warned!!!

I really wish Unilocal had zero or negative stars. The management is HORRID. Do not rent from these people!!! I’ve only lived in my apartment for 2 months and I already am experiencing water leaks and broken central air for more than a week. I’m really scared for the winter months living under these people. During the hottest days of this summer, our AC broke leaving it to be 87 in our apartment. We called and called and they kept saying they had to call the owner to see if that’s something they or we had to fix. Where is this owner?! In Maui!!! It’s been a week and we had to replace the filter ourselves. When they finally called back they tried to blame it on us for the unit breaking down. Needless to say, I honestly think they never showed up to fix it even though they said they came.
Even when we 1^st moved in, they said it was clean and looked great. No one ever cleaned from the tenants before us. It was disgusting. There were holes in the walls, paint chipping, smelly rotten fridge. Light bulbs out etc. We pay way too much rent to go through this.
I’m going to look into tenant laws because this the worst management company ever.
It really sucks because our realtor was actually good but it’s not worth living here anymore.

Agent in Jersey City named Delores is very unprofessional. She called the night before to confirm appointment to show apartment and the following day was a no call no show. Very unprofessional and a complete waste of time.

When I first moved to Jersey City many years I used Del Forno — great service etc. However when I moved from a brownstone they had sold and said they would help me move — not one returned phone call, ditto with my next move — once again I called to get more info on a listing and guess what — two days later — nothing. As others have said — paying a broker fee is a pain but if the service warrants it … in this case I guess they are making so much money they dont need the revenue.

TAKE HEED TO THE BAD REVIEWS!
There is a reason why so many reviewers say the staff is unprofessional and rude. The office manager is the worst. Their buildings in Jersey City are horribly managed and their rent accounting is awful. After 2 years living under this slumlord, I had enough and moved out. I even had to SUE THEM in order to get my security deposit back. Crooks!

I had a great experience working with Dawn at DelForno. She responded promptly to my initial message, and she was flexible enough in her schedule to show my roommate and I several places in downtown Jersey City on very short notice. Once we found the right place (luckily with no broker fee) the application was quick, transparent and painless. Dunno if it’s just me or Manhattan, but renting in the city was not this easy for me last time around.
Anyway, I haven’t had much exposure to the maintenance/​propoerty management team (they haven’t responded to my email in over a week — I’m only two weeks in), but I would recommend Dawn to a friend.

DO NOT REPEAT DO NOT LEASE AN APARTMENT FROM DEL FORNO REAL ESTATE
I leased an apartment for approximately 4 years. The professional level of service I’d expected from the real estate company was unsatisfactory to say the least. They were very responsive when I initially moved in, but within months the honey moon was over.
Maintenance: The building had a total of 20 units, but we were only supplied with 4 large garbage bins for the ENTIRE BUILDING. As a result there was always excessive amounts of garbage over flowing. It smelled horribly and attracted rodents. I contacted Del Forno multiple times expressing concern and nothing happened. After many months of complaints from myself and the neighbors Del Forno finally added extra bins.
Superintendent: One of the selling points the brokers mentioned was the benefit of having a on-​site superintendent. What they failed to share was he worked as super for the building part time with very limited hours of operation. As such, the garbage that overflowed was never bagged an transferred to an alternate space until trash day. He was only available to respond after 6:00 p.m. or limited availability on the weekend. He was super nice, but his limited schedule was a major inconvenience.
Tenant Safety: Del Forno rented a unit to a couple who were very peculiar. They never worked, always inebriated, loitered in the hallway and were very disruptive with late night to early morning physical fights & arguments. I had to phone the police on more then one occasion after not receiving any response from the real estate company. Del Forno displayed blatant disregard for the safety of their tenants.
Non-​Renew Lease: After almost a year of dealing with the headache of the new neighbors I decided it was best I move out. As noted in my lease I provided a 30 day notice to Del Forno. I moved out and 6 weeks later after consistently following up with the company, I received a refund for my security deposit. Unfortunately, 4 weeks later I received an eviction notice for failure to pay rent! WHAT? They erroneously filed a judgement and required me to show up in court. After speaking to someone there on more than one occasion to resolve the issue, I was later advised to disregard the court documents. Huh?! I requested documentation from Del Forn stating the prior eviction notice was filed in error
I had an issue with a loud neighbor who was constantly disruptive and I thought it would be best contact management and transfer ownership to them. Unfortunately, Del Forno’s team failed to return my calls and emails.

Great experience with DelForno. Dolores helped me from start to finish and still checks in on me now that I’m moved in. They also just rolled out an online resident portal. Great to not have to deal with sketchy landlords and the other BS that so often comes with renting in a larger city. Overall, I was moved in much quicker than I thought I’d be with no hassle.

I’ve been in my apartment for five years and the prospect of looking for anew place made me anxious, to say the least. Jesse Toledano at Del Forno helped make that process pretty painless.
I called Jesse about a listing on Craigslist, and was surprised to learn that the apartment a) actually existed, and b) had not «just been rented.» My wife and I made an appointment to see the place. Jesse was accommodating and worked around our schedules. I went up to see the apartment, but my wife was running late. Jesse said we could text him when she got there, and he came back to let us back in so she could have a look, as well.
Jesse helped us negotiate a two-​year lease up front and was also worked around our schedules for the lease signing.
It hurts to pay a broker’s fee, but it is what it is in this rental market. Jesse was both professional and personable, and helped us get a great apartment in Jersey City at market rate.

THIS COMPANY IS HORRIBLE!!! I currently have the «pleasure» of living in a building that they manage. It has only been three months and it is already been one of the worst experiences ever. I should have listened to the warning signs when they were rude BEFORE I even signed the lease. They are BY FAR the worst management company I have ever had to deal with. Everyone there is unbelievably rude and snobby. When you walk into the office, they all act like they are annoyed by the mere sight of you. They are also completely unresponsive to calls and emails. The only way to ever get a response is to physically walk into the office and confront them in person. And even then, its generally, «I don’t know. I’m waiting on an answer from the owner.» Yet the owner never seems to respond. They’ll take your money every month yet hide behind the veil of not being the landlord every chance they get.
The building itself is run down. There is trash and debris all over the back patio constantly. They carry the garbage through the hallway and don’t bother cleaning the carpets after the bags leak all over so the hall constantly smells like garbage. When we originally signed our lease, we were told that we were allowed to have a pet but it had to be approved by the landlord. I have been trying to get a straight answer as to the units pet policy (what would be allowed/​not allowed) for almost two months now. I have a prescription for an emotional support pet, which I finally gave them after my first attempts to get an answer were ignored. That was over 10 days ago and I still can’t get a response. All I’ve heard for months now is «I’m waiting to hear back from the owner.»
Avoid this company at all costs! Do yourself a huge favor and find a private listing or go with a legit building. I would give them minus stars if I could. I can’t wait until my lease is up and I can get the finally get out of this place!

If I could give this place a negative rating, I would. This «company» employs some of the most unprofessional, unorganized individuals I have ever encountered. After numerous months of back-​to-​back problems that went unaddressed and unanswered, we decided we needed to get out. Their properties are poorly kept, barely managed, and never followed up on. Our issues ranged from: gas leaks, broken smoke detectors, (no) hot water, leaking faucets, no water pressure, broken heat, broken AC, mice, insects, structural issues, nails sticking out of the floorboards, leaking refrigerator, etc. We were actually able to terminate our lease early due to their neglect as property managers.
Save yourself a HUGE headache and use a different company to find an apartment.

Del Forno Real Estate helped me find a place way back in 1998 when I lived in Jersey City. Dante del Forno was my realtor. I will admit, the building I moved into (at the time) was a bit skanky. HOWEVER, it was also $ 595 a month. Those guys helped me find an affordable place at a time when rents were going through the roof. Then, they rent-​controlled it. So my rent rarely went up. I moved just before ⁹⁄₁₁ and my apartment was listed for $ 900! I think it’s now $ 1295/​mo., so I should’ve kept my name on the lease. They also took the time to fix up the façade of the building so it wound up looking much better for the new tenant and those who were already living there. I’m surprised that so many people have had negative experiences with these guys. They’re hilarious and will hook it up for you in a bind. #Justsayin

Del Forno are completely rude and unprofessional. We gave notice that we are moving out of our apartment next month, and our lease states (and the agency said) they would give us 24 hours notice to show the apartment. Great. Except we are getting absolutely NO notice and random knocks on the door. Who knows how many people they are letting in when we aren’t home. On top of which, I asked if they could preferably only show the apartment during the evening on weekdays since I have a dog who can get pretty grumpy with strangers and they refused. Hopefully I don’t get sued for a stranger getting a dog bite when they come barging into my apartment unannounced.
HORRIBLE. Don’t bother, we will never use them again.

I lived in a Del Forno managed building for just over a year and I had a number of horrible experiences. I should’ve known it was shady from the beginning, once I discovered that the Del Forno (Dante) who collected a broker fee from us was actually the building owner (Paul)‘s son. Shady. Here are some of the highlights of my time there:
–During the winter, I had no heat or hot water on 5 separate occasions. One Friday evening I came home to a freezing apartment and was still able to get someone on the phone at their office. I was assured that someone would come by before 8 pm to figure out what the problem was. At 8:30 I called again and was told he’d be there by 9 pm. The next morning a guy just started knocking on my door, unannounced. They never bothered to tell me no one was coming that night and I sat in the cold waiting for hours.
–The carbon monoxide alarm in the hallway went off in the middle of the night on two separate occasions and Del Forno never bothered fixing the detector or looking into there being a carbon monoxide issue. Isn’t that illegal???
–There was no hallway light for 2 weeks and it was pitch black going up and down the stairs. I asked 4 times to have it replaced, and my neighbor did multiple times as well. They don’t care about their tenants so they’re very slow to respond to any sort of issue in one of their poorly maintained buildings.
–They told me to mail my rent checks to their Millburn office, which seemed dumb when I could just walk it over to their Jersey City office. They closed the Millburn office without informing any of the tenants, then left me a nasty voicemail saying my rent was past due and I was going to be charged a late fee. When my property manager and I finally figured out why they hadn’t received my rent check, I asked to take the fee I was going to have to pay my bank to stop my original check out of the rent. I was told that would be considered not paying my full rent and they refused to reimburse me or meet me halfway for their mistake.
–My lease stated that after a year the lease went month to month, however I was required to give 60 days notice (technically isn’t that a two-​month to two-​month lease?). They said they would «let it slide» that I gave 57 or 58 days notice. Oh thanks. Despite being told I could refuse to have the apartment shown with less than 24 hours notice, they were very rude every time I said no when they gave me same day notice, often 1 or 2 hours. I repeatedly told them I’d appreciate the 24 hours notice and that I would likely not consent with any less. I was hung up on by them, talked to like I was such a horrible person — all when I was within my rights as a tenant. After a year of them not providing heat, hot water, lights, or a functioning carbon monoxide detector! Once, after saying they couldn’t view the apartment that day, I walked outside to find them waiting in a car outside the building for me to leave. Wouldn’t be surprised if they went in despite me saying no, I’m sure they didn’t even plan or repainting the apartment considering they said it was available for the day after I moved out.
The only time they ever cleaned the floors in the building was after I gave notice I was moving out. Guess they wanted to look good for the next sucker. Seriously, spare yourself. There’s no possible way you will have a good experience. The buildings may have cute old charm, but they are a sleazy family company.

When we started looking for apartments we fell in love with one and our Del Forno rep seemed wonderful. She helped us put everything together and move in on our schedule. But everything went down-​hill from there. They told us there were no rodent or bug issues in the apartment, which was a total lie. Our apartment is hugely infested with both mice and cockroaches. After over six emails and two visits they are still no help! I have done more than the «exterminators» they have brought in.
They never reply to your emails and when you go in person to get help they blow you off and just pass you to the next person.

My first review for DelForno was filtered out, so I’m re-​posting. I don’t want anyone to go through what we endured with them…
Looking for apartments in Jersey City, we were counseled by a friend to go with Del Forno, as they were supposed to have the best selection of nice real estate in the area. I don’t mind paying a broker fee if the quality of the real estate is appreciably better when you do.
But, the employees at Del Forno just seemed like an incompetent mess — disorganized, non-​communicative (with other brokers and us, their clients), and rude. We consistently felt as if our broker was not actually looking out for us – we had to place new calls to ask about apartments we saw on their website that fit our parameters, even though we had a promise that they’d keep a look out for us! I mean, isn’t the goal of the broker to rent apartments to people? And don’t they make money by actually working on behalf of potential tenants?
Lastly, one particular broker made some inappropriate comments on our tour of apartments — not that we needed another indication to dump these people. Our recommendation: go with another real estate agency (or through Craigslist) to find a place in JC.

After weeks of arguing and a distinct lack of return phone calls on their end, I finally got my money back. It was a headache I didn’t need and didn’t deserve after being a good tenant.

Avoid these crooks like the plague!!! I was renting a apt they managed. when the owner decided to sell my apt, i told them they could only show it when i was home, and i would like a 24 notice before. which is more than fair on my part because my lease stated it could not be show while i was currently on a lease. and Nj law states that a 24 notice MUST be given. Well one day i wasnt feeling too good and decided to go home early. i walk into my building and head up the stairs to my apt, thats when i saw my front door wide open, and the delforno sales agent standing in my living room with the couple looking to buy it. needless to say i ripped her a new one and promptly kidded them out of my house, but honestly i should have called the cops to report a break in in my apt. I was never contacted 24hrs prior nor did i even have to let them show it even if they did contact me 24hrs prior. ive talked to several people that have dealt with delforno and everyone of them had a similar horror story. some Far worse than mine. This will be you if you rent or buy from these Scumbags!
Believe me they arent even worth 1 star but i have to rate, too bad there isnt negative star rating