Dowling Properties - Davis, California

Harley M.

ZERO STARS is my true rating for Dowling Properties. Just like most property management companies in Davis, Dowling is run by a bunch of con artists and cheapskates. Where do I begin?

They tried to charge us $25/month on their online portal than our lease stated. When we pointed it out, they took no accountability.

They have contracts with “vendors” aka their friends’ and families’ companies to do unnecessary yard work and construction every week. Love those 7am lawn mowers right outside my window!

They refuse to make even the bare minimum repairs to keep our house safe and structurally sound. The house is 60 years old, and it shows.

I have bonked my head so hard on the old AC unit they left in the window that I had to go to the ER. I have slashed my arm open several times on wood board with nails that are hanging off of the totally janky fence.

If you ask for any repairs, expect an attitude. They treat you like you’re an inconvenience to them rather than their source of income. Complete scum bags!

Brad S.

I have rented an apartment from Dowling for the last two years and recently moved out. They were friendly, helpful, and their repair person always responded to things quickly. I'm not usually one to have positive feelings towards landlords/property management companies, but this one seemed to earnestly aim to treat us well. An example - The washer or dryer broke 2-3 times while we lived there (as expected. Those machines served 4 units with lots of students in each.), and each time they were fixed or replaced quickly, often the day after we notified them. We will be getting our deposit back soon, and my interactions with them so far have led me to believe they won't be taking advantage of us in what we get back. The primary people with have interacted with at Dowling are Eric Ferch for most communication and Kelly for maintenance.

Reese M.

Solid experience with them over the past 2 years. Eric has been awesome to work with, has been our main point of contact to fix anything needed, always is there the same day!

Summer C.

I'm a renter in a house through Dowling currently and so far have had only positive experiences with them. They are always really quick with responding to us through phone and email. They always are very helpful with maintenance issues as well. Everyone I've interacted with at the office in person or over the phone has been very personable and helpful. Would definitely recommend them as one of the better property managements in Davis.

Andrew R.

I was disappointed in my experience as a renter with Dowling Properties. Renting directly from the property owner was great. However, once Dowling Properties entered the picture, it all went to hell.

The cost of rent went up dramatically in order to pay Dowling Properties' fees, yet I received no benefit from them whatsoever. All of their correspondence with me was unprofessional and lacking attention to detail. They told me my rent was overdue when in fact it had already been paid on time and sent me an email intended for my next door neighbor. The email chain included the email addresses of all the tenants with late payments.

After I had the unit thoroughly cleaned, they charged me extensively for cleaning fees and carpet shampooing after I moved out. Note that the carpets were stained and smelled of urine when I originally moved in and the place was not clean at that time. I brought it up to a cleaner standard than it was initially. They took nearly all of my deposit. After I've lived there for multiple years with normal wear and tear, they charged me for painting and other basic expenses. I maintained the property, always paid my rent on time and they tried to nickel and dime me for things that should be paid for by the property owner. I cannot believe they won't replace the carpets when they were old and dirty when I originally moved in.

Abdullah A. T.

I would give a zero if I can. Terrible people, scam me and my college mates. The floor literally split open because of their poor maintenance and they didn't do anything. "Lost" our records to not give back the deposit. Trash company. Also rat infestation everywhere!

diego G.

Personal feeling about Dan Dowling and his disgusting character aside, my 2 year lease with this company is the most regretable discision of my college career. 2 years of sewage leakage, terrible maintance of property, and abusive and sexist remarks from Dan directed to my house mates encompasses my experience with Dowling Properties. Do not recommend signing a lease with office.

Vivian D.

This review is based on my experience with Dowling Properties in a certain 4 bedroom 1 bathroom townhouse located off a street that rhymes with Hickamore Mane.

I’ll be completely truthful and say that we WERE released from this lease and were given a FULL refund for our experience. Also, I’ll fully disclose that we were at some fault, because we did not (would not be allowed) to view the house before moving in.

However… I don’t really understand how, at the condition that the house was in, Dowling Properties cleared the property for move in? When my group moved our stuff in to the house, we discovered a HORRIBLE mold problem under the sink. See pictures below if you want to look at something gross. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the bottom panel, both sides of the cabinet, and the entire back wall of the sink was rotten and molded. The back walls of the cabinets on either side of the sink were even affected. Like, you could SMELL the mold when you walked into the house. And, you really get hit with a wall of smell when you walk into the kitchen. So I’m REALLY confused on how Dowling Properties missed all of this during their “move out inspection?”

Not only did they miss the HUGE, UNLIVABLE, LAW VIOLATING (Civil Code Secs. 1929, 1941) MOLD INFESTATION UNDER THE SINK, they also missed:

-a backyard gate that didn’t close nor lock, only stayed slightly open
-a backyard sliding door that had no lock NOR could slide open without being lifted
-a street facing bedroom window with no lock
-HUGE piles of dead leaves in the backyard
-ages old carpet that probably was the source of the living room mold
^^^ all the above are violations of california law that requires HABITABLE CONDITIONS ^^^
-messy, rushed caulking job on the bathtub that 100% would have caused another mold problem, if not for the one that was already there but had been covered up by Dowling
-sink faucet that leaked at the handles, which caused a leak, which was also poorly sealed up with caulk
--also several holes to the exterior wall of the house, which was a source of another mold problem in a bedroom closet.

I will say that when we notified Dowling Properties, they got to the repairs within two, three days. They included a few upgrades like new blinds and new sink faucets, but I think that was about it. In total, it took them one week to do repairs on everything, including the mold.

The repair to the mold, as the contractor said when I personally spoke to him, was to remove the affected wood, spray Coppergreen (a preventative, NOT a treatment,) and replace with new painted wood. The proper, professional procedure is to remove affected areas, TREAT, purify air for at least a few days, and replace, all with proper setup to prevent spreading of the spores. The contractor only ran a fan and left a window open. No other precautions were taken to prevent spore spreading.

We moved in but didn’t actually stay at the house until the end of the second week, which was when we paid for a professional to test the house for mold. The results came up with four different types of mold, two of them TOXIC, in three separate areas of the house. So basically, Dowling Properties let us move into a mold infested house because they “didn’t know” about these problems. They “didn’t know” that there was a mold problem because the tenants didn’t tell them, they “didn’t know” that the contractor’s method of treating the mold is NOT the correct nor proper way to treat mold, they “didn’t know” the extent of the condition of the house. Well, I would think that if you managed 50-60 properties, it’d be more of a reason for your company to be very thorough with management, no?

Dan’s attitude throughout the entire situation was very apologetic and he was polite through ~most~ of our interactions. However, it really felt like Dowling Properties covered these things up and hoped that we wouldn’t notice.

EDIT: To put the cherry on the top, Dowling tried to stick us with the $155 utilities bill from the previous tenants after we'd only been able to stay at the unit for two nights.