Mpb Properties

10/16/09

do not rent here

by elouise

I rented from mpb properties (mike burnham) at burnham towers for one year. I was never able to get in touch with the elusive mike burnham after I moved in. I lived on the fifth floor, and the elevator broke right after I moved in and was never fixed. I left the place immaculate when I moved out, but was only refunded half my security deposit. This place is a total scam!!! beware.

• Cons: stole my security deposit

09/19/09

Bad management, bedbugs,no heat, no security deposit refund

by BADAPARTMENT

I lived at Burnham Arms on Congress St for several years. Like other reviewers here I too never received my security deposit back. My apartment was in immaculate condition due to upgrades I did out of my OWN pocket. “Michael Burnham” was impossible to contact. Throughout the several years I lived there I never once saw or spoke with him, despite several attempts to contact him in reference to my security deposit.

There were issues with bedbug's throughout the building. I complained several times to management and was told that “there have been no other complaints”. I never really understood who was actually officially employed as management as several of the life-long residents acted as if they had authority – telling me I couldn’t park in the parking lot, complaining about me using more then one washer. (And yes, the laundry room does close at 6pm – I worked weekdays and didn’t get home until 6:30pm – too bad for me!) It was also ridiculously expensive to do a load of laundry – cheaper to load it in you car and bring it to the laundry mat.

The building was poorly managed, the hallway carpets and walls badly in need of restoration, not to mention the ancient and creepy hall lights that flicker on and off. I had issues with theft, mail and packages being stolen and on several occasions had someone come into my apartment when I wasn’t home.

It started to become obvious that whoever owned the building was willing to rent to anyone. I overheard conversations involving drugactivity; there was constant loitering in front of the building (the building is located directly next to a bar called GENOS – a bar that attracts an ‘’eccentric’’ crowd, if you will.)

It was an overall horrible experience. If I could make some suggestions it would be that Mike Burnham start working on his bad reputation of not refunding security deposits. He owns several low-income buildings and if you do the math – 300 + apartments per building at $850 - $900 a month, he should have enough money, class and empathy to refund security deposits to the people who haven’t had the luxury of inheriting several estates. A lot of us who lived in the building were elderly and living off supplemental income, our livelihood depended on getting back the deposit in which we entrusted to him. It is not coincidence that so many people have had this same issue and highly unlikely that they all left their apartments with $800 + damage.

On a positive note I would like to give credit where credit is due – Lenny, who works building maintenance was often very helpful. Thank God for him or the building would have gone completely unsupervised and our tenant related problems would be forwarded to the mysterious ‘’Michael Burnham’s’’ answering machine. (We all know what help that is!)

• Cons: 633 Congress St Portland, ME - The Way Life Should NOT Be

08/06/09

Safe, Affordable Housing in the city

by JennyE

My husband and I lived for 2 years in an apartment that MPB Properties Owned/Managed. The building was clean, secure and quiet. We were very fortunate to find a place to call home that was affordable AND walking distance to both of our jobs. We loved our apartment, it was quiet, bright and had some great architectural details that really made it special. We would still be living there today, but we were very fortunate to be able to purchase our own home. I can tell you that we got our full security deposit returned to us in a very short amount of time. My husband and I found that Mike and his employees were always a phone call away and treated us very well. Thank you!

• Pros: Secure, quiet, clean, affordable
• Cons: None