AppFolio, Inc

Review: Id like to prevent other companies from signing up for Appfolio, a property management software program that promises a lot of things they cant deliver. But, we at Denver Metro Realty couldnt or didnt know that until after we signed a years contract agreement, pay outrageous set up fees, and believe their promises to make our lives much easier than with the other company we had, Propertyware. Appfolio vetted us, Denver metro Realty for about two years. We went back and forth about what they had to offer that our current program did not. However, our current program worked with us on a month to month agreement giving us the option to leave if we were not happy. Appfolio convinced us that they had a better product but we couldnt try it or see for ourselves without signing a one year contract. Now I see why, if youre not happy, youre stuck and they know it. AND the fact that they are in California and a software product I would have to go to California to sue them. Losing more money. Their set up fees are high than other programs, and thought their workers are friendly, good natured, people that I really liked dealing with, they failed to satisfy our needs. We knew this was not the software for us after two months of calls, technical support conferences, and etc. we had Owners were complaining they werent getting the same services as the prior program as promised. We found that the software was not as user friendly and time saving as they promised and let them know that. They promised smoother collections of rent yet we were seeing that tenant payments were taking two or three days longer to clear the bank than the prior software program. Making our team work harder and spend more time on phones trying to fix issues or putting out fires (complaints) than gaining the much needed time they promised to market for more business.Our team finally voted to take the loss and go back to Propertyware, our prior software program. Last week I sent an email informing them, in writing, that weDesired Settlement: Denver Metro Realty Executives, LLC wants out of the contract with no penalty or buy-out fee for a product that does not meet our needs.

Business

Response:

[redacted] -

Review: When I signed up for Appfolio I was told by J[redacted] many things and shown how the software would work. After spending over 50 hours of my time getting quickbooks data and many others things imported to their system I am finding out many things I was promised and sold on are simply not true. I was told that ACH payments to my clients/owners was part of their software, Today I found out that it's not. I was told there are no fee's to receive online payments from clients, Later I found out after signing up that there are fee's charged to tenants if they pay with a credit card but not with a bank account. Which is not what I was told. I also found out that I am charged $5 for taking application fee payments which is not what I was told. Many other features do not work as described such as importing my lease etc.Desired Settlement: I would like the features to work as described or I would like compensation. If they cannot make the features work like they sold them to me as, I would like 2 free months of the software and I am now being promised ACH is coming to their system. When it does I want to ensure it will be included with the monthly costs when it does come and find out exactly when it will be available. This bait and switch selling is totally unacceptable.

Business

Response:

Please see below for the communication with the customer setting out a resolution to their complaint.

Review: I was sold an online website payment service from Appfolio that never transpired. They knew our business structure and still sold me an impossible service to implement. Appfolio took their money and I requested to cancel this service because they cannot deliver it to our company. I requested to get reimbursed for the monies we paid upfront for the service that was not implemented and/or completed to begin to work. At that time, Appfolio stated that they will not reimburse us. Bad business practice on their part. Now, I requested to cancel all my services with them due to this. I made a claim with my bank and now with Revdex.com.Desired Settlement: We would like a refund of the upfront cost for this service that they new was unable to be provided the way we originally spoke about.

Business

Response:

Review: I run a very small property management business and signed up for Appfolio after years of constant sales calls and marketing efforts by their sales staff. If you are reading this complaint, perhaps you've received these marketing efforts as well. I finally caved and believed that their software was the next step for my business. I did not get a live trial of their software, nor did I get a reasonable amount of time to evaluate to determine if it would be a fit for me. Instead, they required me to pay a large up-front sum to start services and enter a one year contract. Shortly after signing on, I began to realize their software was rather limiting and perhaps not the time saving product I was led to believe. A few examples are that the choices for recurring items are quite limiting, the software provides for very little automation, thus you will be entering data far more than you might expect. Other software on the market is far more powerful without requiring the high cost and commitment this software company requires. Furthermore, the hidden catch was that I would need to input all of my data from my previous software into their system by filling out an excel type spreadsheet with the data from every tenant, owner, property, and account. This was super, super tedious and not something I anticipated working the way that it did. They called this the data migration or implementation phase. I have never used their product, I have made many attempts to get the company to stop billing me. I have correspondence with them in writing discussing my cancellation and without responding to me, they charged my card against my authorization $1650 on Nov 1 (on top of the original upfront fees I have paid them for nothing to date). I simply want to go my separate way and not pay for a product that is not being used and is not desired. Please consider, if the product were truly good, they would not require the trapping of clients into long-term agreements.Desired Settlement: Originally, I simply requested that they cease billing me and leave me alone. Now, I would like Appfolio to refund all monies they have collected from me to this point (I have NEVER used their product in any way, never even signed into it once). I feel this is fair due to the stress of being billed a lot of money for nothing, very poor handling and non-response to my cancellation requests, and for charging me on a credit card after I revoked my authorization to do so in writing.

Business

Response:

Thank you for your message. I have confirmed that we will be refunding all charges within 7 days, and will cancel your subscription with AppFolio.

Review: I am a tenant and my land lord uses Appfolio to process rent payments. On 7-8-2015 I began going through the payment system to pay the rent that was due. I was on "Step 3" of the credit card processing web form when I realized that I needed to process it with an E-check rather than a credit card to avoid the service fee. I clicked "Cancel" and returned to the payment page to process an e-check payment. On 8-10 my e-check was rejected due to insufficient funds even though there was more than enough money in the account to clear the check. After speaking with my bank to determine the reason the check did not clear I was informed that a company from California placed a hold for the entire account balance on 7-8-2015. After further research I come to find out that this company that held the money in the account was Appfolio. So, in summary they were unable to process a payment because they were already holding the money for a transaction that never occurred (EG: I did not receive a confirmation email with a transaction id authorizing payment from a credit card.) I am unable to contact the company directly about this issue, I called every number listed on the website and was told "I can't do anything about it, I do not know who to contact. But if you would like to blow off some steam I can listen."Desired Settlement: Please research and resolve this problem with your website, OR if you must place a hold to verify the credit card why not hold $0.01 until the transaction is complete?

Business

Response:

PLEASE NOTE: this response is from A[redacted] Cottle, Compliance Manager - not A[redacted]. I wasn't able to change the email address. Please direct any further responses to me at [redacted]@appfolio.com. Thank you!Dear Revdex.com of the Tri-Counties,In investigating Mr. C[redacted]s complaint, we have reviewed our systems and established the following: On July 8 at approximately 4:35pm, R[redacted]’ (an occupant in Mr. C[redacted]s unit) credit/debit card was used to pay rent? using Mr. C[redacted]s email address to access his tenant portal. The transaction was submitted but the card declined and therefore no payment was made. 2 hours later at around 6:40pm, an attempt was made to pay the same rent charge via ACH/e-check. This payment rejected due to non-sufficient funds – the rejection was reported to the property manager through the ACH system on July 10. A second ACH/e-check payment was made on July 10 and as far as we can tell, this payment appears to be a good payment.Please see attached for screenshots of the declined credit card payment and ACH/e-check payment which was returned for non-sufficient funds. No funds are pre-authorized or held by AppFolio at any point during the rent payment process. Here, the credit/debit card payment was ?submitted by Mr. C[redacted]/Ms. C[redacted], but was declined by their bank. The ACH/e-check payment was then attempted, and returned for non-sufficient funds, but this had nothing to do with AppFolio, or the prior declined debit/credit card payment. As stated previously, AppFolio does not hold any funds in the rent payment process. We apologize that Mr. C[redacted] was not able to reach AppFolio to his satisfaction. AppFolio’s customers are property managers, and not tenants. When a tenant calls our customer success line, they are instructed to call their property management company directly – the property manager can escalate to AppFolio if necessary. Please let me know if you have any further questions.Kind regards,A[redacted]--

Review: Be warned about this company & their service. We decided to cancel our contract even before our scheduled “live” date because of issues with the software.

Many features of the software emphasized by Appfolio’s marketing staff are non-existent or exaggerated.

I was assured by Appfolio sales staff that ‘all’ of the reports were customizable. However, most of the reports don’t permit alteration of any kind. The “Customize” tab on the Reports’ page doesn’t do anything. Under the Help topics, Customize Reports, the “View How to Run, Customize & Save Reports“ was a dead link and didn’t do anything. Help is not helpful at all. Something as simple as creating a custom tenant statement is impossible to do. If you can’t use the boilerplate tenant statement, you’re out of luck.

Appfolio’s reporting function is very limited and does not provide elementary features.

I tried to construct some simple tenant letters, without much success. The software’s letter creator isn’t very good.

Appfolio sales staff mentioned at the outset that ACH payments to Owners could not presently be handled the same way that we were doing now (seamlessly with our current software) but that there was a work-around. Specifically, I was told that Appfolio would provide ACH data to my local bank and it would be set up. I’ve since been told that the work-around involves separately subscribing to ACH services through our local bank, and I’ve learned our bank will impose an additional cost to us of a minimum $40.00 per month plus transaction fees. (I’ve since been told by another local Appfolio subscriber that Appfolio has told them since January 2015 that ACH owner payment was imminent. It’s now December 2015 and it’s not complete yet. I let Appfolio know that I am willing to absorb the $400.00 implementation fee and the numerous hours of my time completing the spreadsheets and move on amicably. While I won’t say that Appfolio sales staff blatantly lied or crossed the line into fraud, I do believe that the product was purposely oversold and that features of the software were grossly exaggerated.Desired Settlement: Since I canceled prior to my scheduled ‘live’ date, and never actually used the service, I believe a refund of the annual fee of $2,160.00 paid in advance is extremely fair & reasonable. Appfolio disagrees, and has refused to refund any portion of the annual fee.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. C[redacted],

Review: I attempted to rent a house in Irving. The Realtor utilized this company for background rental history. The information they provided is inaccurate. I have tried to call them and request they re-verify their information. I have faxed to them CERTIFIED documents from the courthouse to prove their information is inaccurate. And still they want me to FAX to them MY DOB, SSN, PHONE NUMBER, & COPY of DL. None of this information is necessary once I faxed to them certified proof their information is inaccurate, not to mention no fax line is secure. As an IT Tech, I know how insecure data lines actually are unless sent encrypted. Faxes are not encrypted.They sent me a letter requesting additional information at the address I was supposedly evicted from!! By doing that, they invalidated their own report.This company's business practices need to be evaluated as well as their software. How many other people have they slandered with it, as they have me? As that is what this is - slander. Reporting I was evicted from where I have been residing for over 3 years, and have a judgment when I do not. This needs to be corrected immediately.Desired Settlement: Their report needs to be corrected immediately.

Business

Response:

AppFolio provides web-based

property management software that allows property managers to market and manage

their business. AppFolio’s software includes the ability for property managers

to run screening reports on prospective tenants. Ms. Barrow’s screening report was

pulled on 3/7/2014 in relation to a rental application with EPMS HomeSource Inc. DBA ELLIS HomeSource for a

property located at [redacted] Blvd Coppell, TX 75019. At the time, one

eviction record was returned with a judgment amount of $825 for a property

located at [redacted] #1018, Irving TX 75063.

The

criminal and eviction data for our tenant screening reports is electronically

pulled from hundreds of national, state and county court records across the United

States. As is stated on our reports, the reporting of criminal and eviction records

is based upon limited identification information and varies according to restrictions

placed on reporting by the different court jurisdictions. While AppFolio has

applied industry best practices in the attempt to accurately match and report

the information, we clearly state on the reports that we cannot guarantee that

the record match(es) definitively belong to the applicant.

AppFolio

has a number of tools and resources available to assist property managers and

consumers in validating any information that may seem inaccurate or outdated on

a report:

1.

AppFolio has a Consumer Relations department, available to

assist consumers and property managers in disputing or validating information

on a screening report.

2.

AppFolio recommends to property managers that they

cross-check against the applicant supplied information to verify the data prior

to making acceptance or denial decisions based on the data provided.

As a result of Ms. Barrow’s

contact, AppFolio was able to verify that although the eviction in question does

belong to her, it was dismissed on 2/18/13 and we were able to update her

report. In order to provide Ms. Barrow with a copy of this updated report,

AppFolio does require proof of identification, which Ms. Barrow has been

unwilling to provide. AppFolio requires this step in order to ensure that we

are not sharing any confidential or personal information with anyone but the

consumer in question. Upon receipt of a valid driver’s license or

government-issued ID, AppFolio will be happy to provide the updated report to

Ms. Barrow.

Please let us know if there is

anything else we can do to assist you with this matter.

Business

Response:

Please see our previous response for additional context. We are happy to provide the updated report to Ms Barrow upon receipt of a valid driver's license or government-issued ID -- this step is required to ensure we are not sharing confidential or personal information with anyone but the consumer in question. Unfortunately Ms. Barrow has declined to provide this proof of identification.

Consumer

Response:

Review: 10049800

I am rejecting this response because:

I never asked, nor do I want a copy of the report!! Are you serious? On top of slandering my name you also refuse to admit your fault in this matter? Hopefully the CA AG won't let you slide.

Review: I was in a desperate need of a affordable housing after going thru a Chronic illness while caring for my elderly father after he past away I applied for a unit with Four Seasons Property Management, Inc. I was declined due to a low credit score from medical bills and my In-depth Criminal history I was concerned at that moment that I wanted to explain the hardship and was downsizing to allow due to I have never been denied housing I have stable 4 year employment as a Account Executive. The leasing agent very rudely embarrassed me in front of other home seekers by saying I had 21 different criminal cases Grand larceny and mentioned a few more. I was outraged that I was labeled a criminal since I pride myself as a African American Male that was able to overcome the influence of criminal activity and develop a non-profit organization helping other A.A. Males to health care, also several bushiness in Charlotte to now being labeled with Assault and Batter, Poss SCH3 Drugs,a host of criminal activity I was embarrassed so I asked for a copy and saw that AppFolio never mention my name or connected with any association it was a entirely different person on my report I asked the leasing agent did this play a major part to why I didn't get approved she stated yes I replied clearly this is wrong it has the persons name names state reside in a different birthday. AppFolio was called they stated it happens all the time, I advised you are aware you are intentionally causing damage that has hurt a persons lively hood and you have not corrected the problem I told them there was damages and I wanted it corrected immediately I was advised they have up to 30 days to correct and if I would send my social security card my drivers license and my signature they would possibly change it! I advised and replied you will see me in court due to this needs to be stopped now!AppFolio destroyed my name and idenity with careless misuse of a trusted Tenant Screening Report knowing i've never been arrested of a crime.Desired Settlement: How can you resolve the affect this reporting company has damaged my possibilities of housing while my entire world is upside down and homeless after a week of waiting to move in a unit after needing a expedited response to move out of a unfit condition of a newly leased property that landlord refunded all expenses to find another property.

Business

Response:

Review: This company does background and credit checks for property management companies, such as apartment rental agencies. When I filled out an application for an apartment rental, Appfolio reported the criminal record of a convict with the same first and last name as mine, but with a different address, different state, different middle name, and different birthdate. These discrepancies apparently did not matter to them; they filed the report with the apartment management company anyway. When I called to find out what happened, I was told by Appfolio that it was because I had the same first and last name as a convict, and that was enough.In order to file a dispute with Appfolio, I must include a copy of my driver's license, social security number, birth date, and phone number. I feel that this is way too much personal information to be giving a company which already did not seem to care enough that there was already enough information to see that we were not the same people.Desired Settlement: This company needs a negative rating from the Revdex.com. I have filed a dispute with Appfolio per their instructions as of May 24, 2013. What happens next depends on how they respond to my complaint. They also need to send me a letter of apology, and they need to send one to the apartment rental agency with whom I applied. They also need to dig a little deeper than just first and last names. I feel sorry for all the John Smith's out there that they have falsely accused.

Business

Response:

May 28, 2013

Thank you for contacting AppFolio regarding Consumer, ID 9556532.

We apologize if the consumer is upset. I'm actually the Consumer Relations Manager who is directly handling the consumer's dispute.

Please note that we take situations like Mr. Arnold's, where false positives appear on tenant screening reports, very seriously. We

requested the consumer's identification information in order to verify and to protect his identity while we resolve his situation.

We have filed a dispute on his behalf with the court data providers, and as noted in our written communication with the consumer,

will contact him immediately once we receive the results of the dispute.

We look forward to resolving his dispute to his complete satisfaction.

Please contact me directly if you have questions or if I can be of further assistance.

AppFolio Consumer Relations Manager

###-###-####

Consumer

Response:

Review: 9556532

I am rejecting this response because:

They admitted in their letter to me that they were appealing the finding with their "court data providers", on the grounds that our middle names, addresses, and physical descriptions do not match, and that the other guy is currently incarcerated!! If that is the case, why can they not IMMEDIATELY send a new report to the apartment managers stating such. If they have, I have no knowledge of it. They said that the "court data providers" have 30 days to "research the information and get back to us." 30 days is unacceptable--it did not take nearly that long to issue the first report, and the discrepancies in our identities could have been seen BEFORE they sent the background check to the apartment management.

Review: We where sold a product that is not what was sold or shown in the demonstration, after 3 months of working on it. The Manager C[redacted] felt it was not his problem and would not transfer the conversation to anyone after him. His response was I will send you the contract and you can do with it what you want.Desired Settlement: All we have asked for was to end our services, he refused. Now our hourly rate is $150 per hour or a full refund of the setup and 1st quarter service is expected to be returned on top of the contract to be ended.

Consumer

Response:

Review: 9903227

I am rejecting this response because:

[redacted], was the person who help load the data into the system. Appfolio sent us a schedule of phone conferences to become more familiar with the product and services. [redacted] attended the first few and said the phone conferences did not provide any practical training for the product. I did not join in, because it did not train us. Our data was fully loaded by the end on November, as we started to use to system in December we spent most of the month trying to get help and it was not until the end of December that we got direction on the online sessions that should have been explained much prior.

The complaint is the service does not provide the functions sold to us. In January when we started being able to use the software, the person who help pull everything over could not get us the functions that we expected at the point of sale. By the end of January it was obvious the software was not as complete as the sales presentation gave. The implementation person asked a specialist to call and we did not connect. We continued to work with the implementation person and could not get any further. She then had the original sales person call us and she then transferred us to her Manager. He refused to connect us to anyone else and never sent the contract over that he said he would.

The agreement at the point of sale is a 12 month agreement if the product sold is the product delivered. Appfolio has not been able to provide the services sold and are in breech on the agreement. As such we are not required to continued the term of the agreement. When this started we had been charge $400 as a setup fee and the first quarter bill of $600. Since a second quarter has been billed and a new $600 charge. The new total is $1600. We understand the setup process had expenses and would be willing to loose the $400 that was the charge for the initial setup. The service has not been what was sold and the two quarter bills for a service that does not function as we need has not been used and will not be used. There is no loss to Appfolio. No services have been started or used, any services Appfolio started from the beginning what their process.

We have received an excess of generic we would love to help you emails, but when it comes down to it, the help is not available, the service is not where it needs to be and the software is a poor property management software. The attitude of Appfolio shows they know they can not deliver the services properly and are trying to hold a strong arm to force their services to learn how to deal with the lack there of. We would like to end this peacefully. Our hourly rate is $150 and if an attorney is hired their fee will be much more.

Regards,