Baker and Associates Property Management

Just got off the phone with rep from Baker Rentals. Listing on Craigslist clearly indicated pets were okay. Drove about 25 miles to «check» location prior to setting up an appointment to see the inside of the rental. Phone rep told me that they had plenty of interest so people without pets would be given priority over people with pets. I explained that the ad indicated pets were okay and she said «that was a boo-​boo» on behalf of whoever wrote the ad and they «never» indicate dogs are okay «woof» in their ads. So, I suggested that maybe the ad writer needed a bit more supervision and she said, «maybe you do» and hung up on me. Now I hate to be petty, but you’re asking folks interested in your ad to drive by the property to make sure the location is suitable. And when they do go out of their way to follow instructions and then call to set up an appt. to see the inside you get this. Really crummy! Really phony customer service!

We rented a home in Fountaingrove through Baker and Associates. They are by FAR one of the most professional property management companies I have ever worked with as a tenant. Michelle is amazing! She responds immediately to any concerns and gets back to you in a timely manner. She is personable and forthcoming.
Unfortunately, we had to move and I am still waiting for repairs requested 4months ago to be completed with the new management company. I wish I was still with Baker and Associates!
My only complaint, when you move out they expect you to pay for professional carpet cleaning and professional deep cleaning of the home. We wiped down all the baseboards and had our cleaning lady clean everything… still not up to standards. So, be prepared to shell out some money moving out. Other than that, the were TOP NOTCH!

Absolutely terrible company until recently I would have rated them at least average however, my recent experience was so disturbing that I will avoid them at all costs. I have been renting a home from Baker for 1 ½ years now have never been late with a payment and have had no complaints. I received a rental increase letter from them informing me rent would increasing starting Aug 1^st which I had no problem with I mistakenly thought that the rent would be the same for the August month with the increase due at the end of the month so I wrote a check for the amount I usually do and dropped it in the mail. I get a phone call two days later with someone asking my name 5hen immediately in a condicending tone makes a remark on the rent being late and they were charging me a fee and that I owe $ 75 right away. I brush off the comment and when i asked for clarification on when the rent actually went up although i had obviously already gathered this information from the phone call i still would like more information. I got the same attitude with an added your confused and we it would be rediculous for someone to think that rent would increase for the following month. Despite the fact that I would never talk to anyone this way I certainly will not be treated that way and I immediately asked to speak with a manager. I was instantaneously greater with a so your disputing your rent increase to which I replied the same as before as seeking clarification then I get a condicending tone and word for word narration of my contract. Needless to say I put things very stright about harassment and if they simply had some decency, simply stating that they believe there is a mistake and they did not receive the full rental amount I would have written a check right there and drove it down to there agency. I’m not going to say beware because it’s honestly pointless and the words Hubris does not even come close to describing the filth that boils in their contentious cesspool. Make up your own minds however after that conversation I almost feel like moving out just to be rid of them from my daily life.

I absolutely love Baker and Associates Property Management Group. When asked to vacate a place I had rented for over 8 years for renovation, I was to say the least a bit dismayed, my reason, I had just returned to work after being out on disability. I wanted to stay within my neighborhood for I had established frendships, but was having a hard time finding a place due to my recent return to work. I was up front and very honest with the staff at Baker and Associates and I believe in my heart, thats why I got the beautiful place in which I live, and got to keep my neighborhood. I’ve needed a few things checked out and this staff gave me immediate attention. I’ve lived in my place for a little over a year now. I would recommend Baker and Associates to any one wanting a Property Management Group. They are on top of taking very good care of the property’s they manage along with their tenents. ;;)

would give them if possible… no regard for disabled renters … we had to pay out of pocket for new carpet and painting several years ago left apartment clean but t
hey said it was’t DEEP cleaned … had been there for 28 years and said apartment had to be in a condition to turn it over to the next tenent. They need to put efforts into making the complex not look run down which has gotten to be in the last two years … terrible business practice

Don’t rent from them they discriminate big.

We have had an overall good experience with Baker and Associates. They are professional, efficient and very nice. Carol is very helpful.

Do not rent from these people. They do not return phone calls or emails even when I’ve had dead animals in my yard, which are probably dying from the rat poison they’ve put out for the rats living in our walls. After 2 and a half years of being a perfect tenant, they are nickel and diming me for my security deposit when I left it cleaner than it was when I moved in! They said there were frozen «bubbles» from cleaning product in the freezer, are u freaking kidding me? All my neighbors have also had issues with them, and from the other reviews clearly we’re not the only ones. They will be nice as can be at move-​in, but seriously beware! I’ve lived in numerous apartments, in SF and Santa Rosa and never had such a bad experience as I’ve had with them. My mother was shocked at the way i was treated during my move out walk-​through. I don’t normally Unilocal!but feel it’s my duty to warn others. I am reporting them to the BBB and the health department. I will also likely be suing them for my security deposit. Luckily my best friend is an attorney and is going to represent me free of charge.

I am a landlord using Baker & Assoc. to manage my rental home. They came highly recommended from other landlords and so far so good. We are very happy with their ability to screen quality tenants and place them when needed. It seems that some of the less than stellar reviews are coming from tenants who did not meet Baker’s requirements. As the landlord I am happy to have them looking for people with good rental history, while I understand this is not a guarantee someone will take care of my home, it’s a good indication that they’ve taken care of previous properties.
As a parent of a Sonoma State grad, I know there are landlords out there willing to rent to 5+ individuals and usually the rent is high and maintenance of the home is low. Those landlords don’t tend to use a firm like Baker to qualify their tenants so that’s a good way for people to gain some rental history — as long as they pay on time and leave the unit as good if not better than it looked when they moved in. My son did that and has no problem moving into to new places when needed — and he’s not from Sonoma County.

If you’re not originally from Sonoma County, don’t bother trying to get a place from them! They discriminate to non-​Sonoma County residents, no matter how much you make or if your parents with outstanding credit ratings are co-​signing with you. Your money isn’t any good to them, only the place you were born.
My mom and I were flabbergasted that these people are in charge of property. No wonder the places they have available are always available; because no one qualifies apparently! Doesn’t help that I’ve seen better looking websites than theirs on Geocities.

I was a tenant of baker’s for almost 2 years. I’m self employed & found it difficult to find a rental through most property managers due to their income verification requirements. Baker allowed me to use my bank statements, which show my true income. Not my tax records that show minimal income due to writing off everything possible. I moved into my home which was fairly priced & had very little problems. What issues I did have, I called them & they resolved them quickly. When I moved in there was some junk that was left by the owner & I was told to just put it in a corner of the garage. This is why I gave them 4, not 5 stars. The only reason I left was the owner decided to sell my house. Sadly baker hasn’t had any other listings that fit my needs but I keep checking back because I enjoyed renting from them.

I used to rent an apartment that was run by Baker and Associates. The unit we rented had a fireplace, and we were charged an extra $ 45/​month for this feature. After a while it was clear that many of the units in the complex weren’t renting (the place right next door to us had been vacant for more than 6 months), so it turns out they reduced the rent for all the units being rented… except for the current tenants. I sent an email to Baker and Associates saying that we had been renting for 2 years or so in that complex and would like to pay the same rent as the new people moving in are being charged. Nope, wouldn’t have anything to do with it.
On top of that the carpet in the apartment was so old and crusty when we moved in (even though it had been cleaned) that I was surprised it wasn’t replaced. When we moved out they still charged us the carpet cleaning fee when they had absolutely no business keeping that 20+year old disgusting carpet. This company is CHEAP! I recently went back and saw a friend who still lives there – this property has gone to hell, frankly. The really nice courtyard looks haggard, the place just looks run-​down and seedy – enough that my friend is now moving out after living there for over 10 years. Don’t rent a place managed by these people. They are all about the bottom line and spending the least amount of money possible and not caring about tenants – just their money.

Horrible. Took multiple phone calls to make an appointment to see the house. When we got there the agent?, manager?, man who answered the door didn’t tell us a thing about the place. In fact all he said was «look around».
We actually liked the house, but when we asked for an application he told us he was «surprised they were still taking them, about a hundred people have already applied for this house»
Why on God’s earth would you continue to show houses after receiving ample applications? Do you just like wasting peoples time?
Dont let Baker waste your time.

Even though my 3 friends and I make over $ 10,000/month they wouldn’t even take our application for a 4 bedroom $ 1700/​month house because we are young (24 years old) and don’t have enough rental history for them. They are also horrible about calling back, I had to call multiple times before I ever got ahold of someone and they never returned any voicemails. Also all of their employees kept giving us different information over the phone and in person. I would give zero stars if I could.

They are rude and shady. Don’t rent through them.

I have contracted with Baker and Associates to manage my rental property in Santa Rosa for 5 years. In that time, I had virtually a 0% vacancy rate, and they handled each maintenance problem efficiently and cost effectively. They always chose reliable renters and the turn-​over was quite low (long term renters), so the property management service couldn’t have been that bad for the renters.
I own three other properties in another state, and I have never been happy with that property manager. So I can state, with experience, that Baker and Associates did a great job.

Horrible beyond belief. These people have no business being in business. I have been living in a Baker & assoc property for over a year and have made my almost $ 3K/​month payment early every month. In exchange, during the few times we’ve had to call with help with broken appliances or similar issues, they either haven’t called us back or we’ve had to call 2 to 3 times — or get the owners involved — to get help. Their staff are rude and dismissive, and wholly unhelpful. My experience with Baker & associates has been utterly horrible and I would never rent through them again nor use them as a property management company, nor let anyone I care about do same.

Would give a 0 if possible.
We applied for an apartment with Baker and Associates on a Wednesday and were told that we would receive a call by Friday regarding the application. They did not call.
When I called on Monday, the person who answered the phone told me that the woman who normally processes applications was out and that she could see our application on her desk «with a note on it that says you’d like to move forward with the apartment.» She then assured me that they would begin the process (evidently NOTHING had been done up until that point) and that we would receive a phone call by Tuesday evening. Again, they did not call. In fact, I did not communicate with them again until Wednesday, when I called them in order to withdraw my application.
The application process was so unorganized I would never apply with them again. I certainly would not hire them to manage my own property. It seems that if their process for finding tenants is unorganized, it would not be easy to get help from them in the event that something went wrong with the property.

I had enjoyed living in my apartment for nearly two years, until the property was transferred to Baker & Associates. With draconian new rules, usually instituted without notification, all of the tenants I spoke with became confused as to how things were being run. The final straw was when the new live-​in property manager and his wife drunkenly chastised my roomate’s girlfriend for entering the premises. It got bad enough that we immediately started looking for a new apartment, and moved away within three months. Good riddance.

My experience with them was terrible, as well. They do NOT have the owner’s best interests at heart and don’t pay good attention to the property. They are supposed to represent the owner’s interests and behave in a way that benefits the owner. They don’t come close.
How do I know? I was one of their tenants at one point.
What do I know? I started and ran a very successful rental business in San Francisco on Union Street.