Morton G. Thalhimer, Inc.

This review does not apply to the entire company, as I do not believe in using a specific case to make generalization about a group. I do believe, however, that the experience we've had dealing with certain individual employees at the company does in some way demonstrate the business practices and culture at Thalhimer. I subleased one of their apartments in Richmond, VA while attending [redacted], and had the unfortunate circumstance of being the last person to remain for an additional 4 months in school while my friends (who were also roommates) graduated and found international students on [redacted] to take over their lease. I would not have the money to pay the entire rent by myself, and I had no choice but trust my friends. The guys from [redacted]s subleased from my friends and were initially OK, but the situation became worse and worse. They missed several rent payments, and eventually skipped out on the last two payments altogether. They also left no forwarding addresses and no way for me to reach them.
One of the Thalhimer agents/property managers - Joey (Joseph) S[redacted] - sent me a letter demanding payments for missed rent and all damages on the property, which the two international students trashed before they left (I graduated in May and went home while the lease continued, and they stayed until July). Legally, I just learned that I am liable for all rents and damages done on the property, now that my roommates are no-where to be found. I have no money, thousands on student loan, and still unemployed. I called Mr. S[redacted] and emailed him several times to explain my situation to ask for a compromise or additional information on the roommates, and each time he treated me with cold condescension, complete disrespect, and little to no regards of me as a person. I was always courteous to him and wanted to take responsibility, even though I can't be morally held to the actions of others. Yet, Mr. S[redacted] never so much as offered a sense of empathy to my situation, regardless of whether or not he has any power to negotiate. This experience makes me doubt the quality and character of any Thalhimer agents in the future, and I would not recommend this person or company to anyone I know.
When I pointed out that on the Lease Addendum, the two [redacted] students signed for each other as guarantors and asked the question of validity and process of approval, Mr. S[redacted] defended the company's practice of: "All tenants and co-signers who sign leases with us have been through an application and approval process." What kind of process allows two students to guarantee each other, where they have no jobs, no security, and no forwarding addresses? This lack of transparency is unethical.
While legally, every tenant is "jointly and severally liable" for the entire rent and other costs on the apartment, Thalhimer only loosely enforces this law. In fact, I was never even sent a copy of the original lease, only the Lease Addendum when I began my sublease. Every month I sent in a separate check for my own portion of the rent, and they always accepted. Had it not been for my deadbeat roommates who pays late, I would never have been informed that we are being treated as 1 entity. While yes, I have been careless and foolish for not knowning what I was signing, or even doing any research. I was a college student, [redacted]. But to really prevent this kind of situation happening, shouldn't Thalhimer make sure each tenant or sublessor know their responsibilities? They forget that while we are college students once, we eventually grow up to be adults. These kinds of experience has negatively affected my perspective on Thalhimer, if not on its employees in Richmond, VA, forever.

I must say, I am extremely satisfied with this company. After having a terrible experience with previous real estate companies, I was a bit reluctant to rent with anyone else. I reside at the and I have had a wonderful experience so far. The property manager here is extremely kind and informative about everything and returns all phone calls within the hour. Every complaint that I have reported to her has been handled immediately and I have been given follow up phone calls to ensure that everything is running smoothly. I would highly recommend this company to anyone who wants a wonderful renting experience!