Michael Davis

Michael’s Oakland properties are gems. Michael studied Architecture at U.C. Berkeley and he restored this grand historical building (13^th Ave/​Cedar Croft mansion). Cedar Croft was once owned by the 1^st President of Wells Fargo in the late 1880’s.
As a landlord, Michael is too nice! Be thoughtful and make your own judgment. The negatives reviews seem to be haters. The building and apartments are beautiful, some with original stained glass, plaster walls and spacious balconies. Lovely hardwood throughout and laundry on site. The gardens are lush with palm trees, fragrant brugmansia and there is even a pond. The location is Oakland and the crime issues are not the landlord’s fault. Give this guy a break! Most tenants LOVE this apartment building.

Truly negative stars for this man. I moved out a month and a half ago and still have not received my deposit back. Will NOT respond to my calls, texts or letter. I moved three blocks away from him house and I’m not the verge of stopping by to demand my money back. What a nightmare of a landlord. WOW

The vacant unit he is currently showing (#5) does not have working hot water in the kitchen. My unit, which is being advertised as available for rent this month, has 3 gas leaks in the stove and heater unit, black mold in the window frames and walls, leaky plumbing and as-​of-​yet unresolved termite infestation. I am highly doubtful, based on my experience with this property owner, that these issues will be addressed before the next tenant moves in. Be very careful about signing over your hard earned money to this person! He puts on a good act during open houses — laying paving stones, planting decorative rosemary in the walkway — but it is exactly that. An ACT. Once he has your money in hand, the act dissolves.

Michael came off at first as being a very cool laid back dude.
However, once i moved into his units and got to know the neighbors i started to realize that he was a shady character.
The walls in his one level units in emeryville are extremely thin… you can hear everything your neighbors are up to.
He doesnt take very good care of the grounds.
And he doesnt respond to phone calls.
I was a very reliable, responsible, timely paying tenant.
I moved out 23 days ago, and he has not returned one of my emails or phone calls regarding my deposit refund. I suspect I will have to contact my lawyer and be sure he pays me my entire deposit at this point.
Please beware of this landlord…

Michael has a couple of properties. I live in one of his units on 63^rd St. There are 10 units in all here.
Michael’s lack of responsiveness is pretty astounding. I have called him 10 times about a problem and never gotten a call back. My neighbors in other units have had similar if not worse issues. Broken heaters that Michael tries to convince them (once they finally get ahold of him) are actually working fine. I have a friend who just moved into another unit — she has been without heat for a month and counting. Toilets that leak for 6 months before being fixed. My next door neighbor had his unit broken into and Michael tried to convince him that he had not really been burglarized.
The apartments are really cute, but Michael is such a non responsive land lord, and when he does respond, he will talk your ear off about how the problem is not really a problem or how it is not his fault instead of just fixing what needs to be fixed. The faucet in my bathroom has been leaking for over a year. I gave up on trying to get him to fix it.
The only time you can reliably count on hearing from him is if there is a problem with your rent check, and even then it can take a while. One month my check was lost and mid month he came knocking on my door at 10pm to ask me where the rent was.
He has supposedly lost my number several times and does not communicate via email. His partner Kelly is equally poor at communicating and returning phone calls.
When it comes to moving out, do not count on getting your deposit back. I know several people who have lived in these apartments over the years and I do not know a single person who has gotten their whole deposit back (actually, I know one person, but he had to take Michael to court). He did not return my deposit in the time specified by rental code. He charged for issues that existed prior to my move in. I moved a light from behind the sink to over the sink. He charged me for moving it back, but never had the work done. I filled the few nail holes I had made, touched up all the paint, scrubbed the place from floor to ceiling, and left it in better condition than when I arrived, and I still did not receive all my deposit back. And, I had to fight him to get the part back that he did return.
If you are thinking about moving into one of his units keep in mind that when something breaks, it could take a month or more to get it fixed. Michael Davis is the flakiest landlord I have ever rented from. And the walls are very thin — you will hear your neighbor coughing and talking on the phone. You will not get all of your deposit back when you move out. If there are tenants who are a nuisance, do not expect Michael to do anything about them. When I rented from him, the rent was very fair and the space was charming, but there was a price to pay. Ask for references from previous tenants. When I moved in I ignored the warnings of the tenants who were moving out at the time (almost all of the units had vacated just before I moved in). Renter beware.