Fred A. Smith Company

Would give ZERO stars if I could. This maintenance company does not care AT ALL about their tenants. A leaking boiler caused me to sustain gas poisoning and they will not reply to me at all regarding the situation. Not only do they not have the proper alarms in the building, they won't acknowledge their part in almost killing me. They will reply to other tenants then as soon as I'm CC'd, completely ghost the conversation. They also have allowed a mice infestation to run rampant in the building for MONTHS and after finally acknowledging such, scheduled the extermination for a date 3 weeks later, meaning we will have to deal with mice for nearly an additional month. I've had terrible leasing companies before but this one almost killing me and refusing to do anything about it to guarantee my safety going forward takes the cake. EDIT REGARDING THEIR REPLY: The event in question was from October, which should be common sense considering this review was originally posted two months ago. They are replying to a SECOND event in March, that they also are avoiding answering my emails. They have not given any restitution for the October incident nor have replaced or checked on our carbon monoxide alarms. Don't believe a thing they say!

I'd give them a 0 if I could. This is the most trifling rental company I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. I moved into my unit on 7/1/19 and informed them of MULTIPLE problems with my unit in the first week. I have had TWO inspections by DCRA (both of which fined them over $12,000 for violations). Things from broken windows and AC units to a roach infestation in my unit, the hallway and the garbage cans outside of the building! I advised ANYONE having to deal with them (and if you haven't moved in with them DONT!!!!!!) contact DCRA (you can go right to their site and request an inspection even if you do not get any assistance in paying your rent, like myself.). Note, it may take a few as they seem to NOT care about even getting thousands of dollars in fines. However, you do have options other than sitting around and waiting for an ANSWER for a MONTH from them to FIX their property's issues (meanwhile wanting full rent the whole time!). The washing machine here has been broken for 3 months (to this date) and hasn't even been checked by them (despite me reminding them at the beginning of the month that nothing has been done). They also know they are wrong as, instead of fixing the problems with their unit and building, they offered me the chance to leave my lease. I honestly would've taken the escape if I hadn't spent so much time, money and energy moving into this unit (which isn't the problem, it's the management, or lack there of). If you can, avoid them like a plague. If you are already dealing with their foolishness, call DCRA as your first step. Then use that to go to court. Good luck in dealing with their special brand of mismanagement! They are lazy, refuse to do ANY of their job (even after thousands in fines!) and lie about everything (make sure you do EVERYTHING by e-mail, don't talk to ANYONE! You'll need the proof of their lies!)

This leasing company has been wonderful to me and my roommates. As college students who have been surrounded by horror stories about predatory landlords, we have been lucky with Fred A. Smith. The rent is fair, all charges are transparent, and they have consistently addressed our maintenance requests as their responsibility. Would recommend!