Hey thanks a bunch for the info...i am in a stage of signing the lease with the management...good to know before hand...thanks for sharing again...

Thank you for posting this. One of my good friends is friends with Jim Gray and was trying to convince me to rent from Irvin Properties. I am just moving to Minneapolis and feel quite naive about it all. I am so glad I read this so I know not only not to rent from them, but about my rights as a tenant :D Thank you! Maybe if you have time you could recommend me some apartments?

Hey no problem...sorry to hear about your landlord problems.

My understanding is that landlords have to provide, in writing, a 24-hour notice that they'll be entering your place to do maintenance. This is a law that's so commonly broken that the local municipals have actually set a standard penalty...I think you are entitled to $80 for every entry. Look into it tho.

i just read this after i signed the lease.....im screwed arent i?

I am currently a tennant of an apartment rented out by Jim Gray and Irving Properties. For those who read this, I say this: obviously things are being blown WAY out of proportion!!!! "Jason" is obviously a spoiled brat who can't deal with life. He apparently feels the need to act like an asshole to people who don't even deserve it. Irving Properties has never been anything but great to us. So I say do your own research and don't take the word of some guy with a chip on his shoulder and a giant stick up his ass!

Thanks for sharing--but no need to get personal here. It's sad that you interpret a tenant's access to legal rights and recourses as the actions of a spoiled brat...

Hi, I just saw an apartment owned by Irving Properties at 300, 8th St. SE, Minneapolis.

That apartment looks good as does the building. Doesnt look very old as such. The rent is also pretty good. All in all, I think I might sign the lease.

Is it a bad idea to consider this landlord at all?

No, nothing is blown out of proportion. My husband and I rented 3 apartments from them and they dicked us out of a bunch of money...we had mice (bad), broken water pipes, missing cupboards in the kitchen, you name it. They never, ever came to fix anything. They suck. I'be told a million people not to rent from them.

My brother lives there and still has no heat! What about the Cold Weather rules!

I did sub work in one of their properties on 1st ave. s., it's been almost a year now, and no payment has been sent. I now have representation. We'll see how this ends up.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope you are able to resolve the situation. I'm sorry--but not surprised--to hear you had to resort to getting representation.

Avoid these guys at all cost! Had TONS of problems which were never addressed. Heat, mice, bats, squirrels, non-working outlets, broken screen doors, you name it... call after call, email after email and they did nothing about it. The worst.

Jim and his property company have never but nothing but helpful, fair, and honest with us. We just moved to another propertie of theirs because we added a roommate. I would tell anyone moving to minneapolis to rent from irving properties.

It sounds like there have been a variety of experiences with Irving.

I currently live in one of their properties...been here a few years. I haven't had any problems with them. When things need fixing, I e-mail and call them. They have someone fix it. They've been good about getting rid noisy tenants in the building too.

I live in one of their properties currently. While the property management is courteous, the building is very poorly maintained. Dishwasher, kitchen faucet, and a handful of broken electrical and lighting fixtures were never repaired upon request. Have occasionally notice rodent and insect problems (not at my own fault, I keep the place clean), but I deal with them myself. Also have seen a used drug pipe in the hallway, which I threw away. Parking lot has potholes 6 ft wide and over 1 ft deep.

I'll report back after I move out to see if I get my deposit back. I would consider the place dangerous for children to live. Sad to see though many children live in the complex.

I just moved out and will not be renting from them again.

My experience is not as bad as some, but we had a terrible super in the building who was always high on something and caused more noise than any of the other tenants. Eventually even they let him go.

I lived there 2 years and was 2 weeks late in notifying them that I was not renewing, so they kept all of my deposit of course. (Which as far as I can tell is their legal right.) Of course, they waited the full 21 day limit to notify me, which I didn't receive until about the 24th, so there wasn't much room for discussion, nor could I occupy the apartment for the month I had just paid rent for because the month was nearly over. I would've loved to have taken the keys back and done just that because I know for a fact (from other tenants) that they started renovating almost the day after I moved out.

In the letter they sent me notifying they were keeping the deposit they stated they were using it for the extra months rent, which I thought was something that had to be mutually agreed upon. Of course, it seems the natural conclusion since the security deposit was for the same amount, but I still found it to be presumptuous considering they had all of the sudden decided to follow the exact terms of their contract.

Even with giving them a 6-wk notice they couldn't manage to keep record of the fact that I had notified them that I wasn't renewing my lease. I called several times to arrange a walkthrough and each time they said they were surprised and that I wasn't on the list for moving out. Not surprisingly, when moving day came, they could not find anybody to walk through the apartment with me, so they told me to leave my keys and forwarding address in the refrigerator and then claimed I didn't leave my forwarding address.

It seems to me that they give themselves a lot of leeway when it comes to the law, but they will take money from their tenants every chance they can get.

While I was living there I had mice problems and a squirrel also chewed through the screen of my kitchen window and tore the whole screen off. It took me 2 weeks to get it replaced.

Right now they are raising the rent sky-high on lease renewals. That is not why I moved out, but if I had known the rate was going up so much there is no way I would have renewed. They did not give me 60 days notice of the rent increase, so my question is, how was I to know whether I was willing to renew or not?

I think they are raising the rent to get people out of there so they can renovate and convert the place, but this is just speculation on my part.

I recommend that people choose a different company because there are definitely better ones out there. Why take the risk?

i have also had many issues with iriving properties. i have lived in one of their buildings for almost a year and cannot wait to move out!!

i'm a very quiet person and rarely complain because i realize things could be much worse, but this place was awful. from the outside the building and even the unit are cute, but living here is far from it.

to name a few complaints: the apartment was freezing in the winter, a poorly patched hole in the hardwood floor that was to be fixed before i moved in was never fixed, a lot of the tenants are very loud late at night, and on more than one occasion i found a man sleeping in the entry way late at night.

my most recent issue has involved my notice to not renew my lease with them. i left them a message stating that i would not renew, but that was over the weekend and they are not open on the weekend (also a big frustration considering they are a pretty large company). i was then called and told to send an e-mail stating my choice to not renew but i did not allow for the asked 58 day notice and that i might have to pay for another month, but that decision would be made by jim. i sent the e-mail exactly 58 days before the end of my lease and waited to hear back from them to make sure that i would not have to pay another month's rent. i called, left voice messages, and sent another e-mail and not until over three weeks after notifying that i would not renew was i told that i wouldn't have to pay another month's rent. i'm going to wait until i get my deposit back to believe them.

just don't rent from them. i'm sure there are people that have had positive experiences while living with them, but you don't want to risk the chance of having to deal with these idiots.

thank you, jason, for opening up your frustrations with the company for others to learn and expose their experiences.

Current resident here. First of all, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume the few positive comments are from folks living in the one or two decent buildings they charge higher rent on. They certainly don't give two shakes for our complex, especially for being in a very rentable neighborhood...

Seriously, I've never experienced, or been told by other residents who speak English, that repairs are EVER done appropriately. In our case, repairs have just been ignored. Some of you mentioned similar BS problems that I share.

1. HORRIBLE "heat paid" scam. Heat paid = When it's 10-below, you should be able to turn up the thermostat for relative comfort. Period. Our thermostat has been set at 90 in a small apartment with a max achievable temp this fall of about 70, right now it's 60. If I move the thermostat to 50, no change, same tepid heat. Either the thermostat is busted or just installed for looks.

They say if there's "some heat," there's heat. Guess what, that doesn't work. After adding a space heater, WE pay for electric heat in a bogus "heat-paid" apt.

2.Plexiglass windows in here. Really? Even the "Family Ties" vintage windows elsewhere are too expensive to replace? I have a commemorative Twins cup from the Dome that's thicker than the kitchen window.

3. Someone mentioned having a bad building super? None of the tenants I've spoken too know our super's last name, apt #, phone, email, nothin'. In case of emergency on weekends/holidays, we leave a voicemail/email at Irvings main office, then on Monday might get a call back.

4. Due to #3, spent a weekend with no power. Main fuse or line was destroyed somehow on Friday. They "fixed it" via tinkering in walls, leaving a complete mess in the box on Monday eve, and told us "NEVER touch it." Note: Working fuses should be in the "ON" position, half of ours only work on the "In-between."

5. Still can't get UPS or deliveries. Front buzzer-box was broken on move-in, several phone/email requests to fix. Nothing. Same with the stove 3/4 out of order, numerous dead electrical outlets, curtain rods, and light fixtures.

6. Before signing lease, we were shown an empty unit w/ no appliances and told, word-for-word, "EVERYTHING in here will be replaced with new appliances." And the guy joked, "you'd better never call me because everything will be new." This EXACT tactic, empty apt for viewing, informing of "all new everything," was used on two others who recently moved in...

WELL, unless the front door is a time machine, appliances from 1991 ARE NOT NEW. There was stagnant, burned-on grease lining the stove - it's so beat-up that the knobs have no numbers legible after decades of wear. The new fridge came with name emblem worn completely off.

7. I've never lived anyplace where safety rails need to be replaced on a monthly basis, or sit for months before being fixed. Not so safe.

Myself, and other tenants agree; they're nice and great and convincing for the first WEEK. Then, you're invisible to them unless your rent's late...