Like many others have stated here: they have cute, well maintained property but they are on the verge of racketeering when it comes to moving out and squeezing every $ out of every small print thing in your lease out of you. I had to pay for 6 months of parking I never used because it was hidden in the lease - no invoices or anything they just opened a tab to collect all these fees and give me the bill when I move out. They charged me $300 for cleaning and $400 for repainting - which they are not allowed to do after 3 years being at the place. In addition they charged me for a month and a half of my remaining lease even though they had a tenant replacing me right after my move. It goes on and on...I would 100% take them to small claims court but moved to Bay area and didnt want to bother. They count on grad students like me just giving up and they collect their $$$

All they care about is money - was charged $130 for an “after hours lockout fee” when I called at 7:50 am (they open at 8) asking if they could unlock my unit, the maintenance person showed up at 8:30 to let me in. Doesn’t seem after hours to me, and $130 to unlock a door is absolutely ridiculous. They don’t care about tenants the way a small business landlord does.

Lived in Franklin west apartment for 4 years and had a much better renting experience than those renting with other companies. (If you are looking for a place to rent in pgh the worst 2 landlords are Rockwell and Lobos) Renting with Franklin west means you pay a premium but the maintenance team makes resolving issues super easy and you’ll get new appliances if they break. Franklin west staff put fresh paint between tenants. My building had no pests (literally none it’s amazing). If something goes wrong it’s very easy to get a hold of the office. I suggest paying in advance so you avoid fees and make sure to cancel lease 90 days in advance.Negatives include:Lack of building upkeep external to apartment (external brickwork, windows,etc)Electric heat is not in rent and stupidly expensivePaid for parking but random people would use the spot and make it difficult to get into my spotHaving to pay in person with check not onlineCost is higher than some other rentals(also a positive since less destructive and loud students renting)Laundry in basement and no elevator for many rentals (most of shadyside is like this so not really Franklin west at fault for this)Positives:Great maintenance staff (nice, professional and well trained)Replaced toilet seats, dishwasher, etc with simple phone call requestUpdated apts availableNo mice roaches or other pests (many of other apartment complexes have these — for example lobos and Rockwell)Great locations for shadyside rentalsCandy in the main office because who doesn’t love candyNote gonna lie and say all was perfect but if I move back to Pittsburgh I’d consider renting with them again. Hope this review was informative:)

Ive rented with them for 6 years, spanning 4 different addresses. They are very easy to do business with and provide exceptional turnaround on maintenance service requests (typically within 24 hours). I feel that they have taken feedback well and implemented a fair and transparent process at renewal time. (Credit to Holly, the manager for this). I had one major in-home crisis which they quickly rectified by moving me into an equivalent apartment without much fuss. I highly recommend them!

My husband and I rented from Franklin West between 2016 - 2018. The apartment was great, very spacious, and the Franklin West management was always very responsive for the couple of issues that arose while we were there.We found that Franklin West does everything by the book and they are very transparent with you about what to expect for each process step. The application process is straight forward, their deposit requirements are clearly spelled out with the lease, and they send out a letter at the 4 month mark stating that the lease will renew unless you contact them that you want to cancel. We would definitely rent with them again if we were staying in Pittsburgh.

I would give 5 stars for the front desk lady and 0 stars for the management. I always used to have a lot of my appliances broken, they used come to fix it and in one or two weeks use two broke again because they are very old. After moved I still payed my remained 8 rents and utilities and the only thing I needed just after moving is to check if I had bills and important mails in my mail box. They said: our staff said there is nothing in your box. But I was waiting for my bills... Then in the next week I insisted again if I could have mail box checked again. The laid borrowed me the key and I found there were a tons of bills, letters and mails that had arrived before the first time I have asked to check. That means that the guy hadnt checked it at all. I was still paying for my rent properly (even I wasnt living there anymore) but they wasnt doing their job properly: they asked for one more rent payment before leaving due to the costs for advertising in some websites (this is in the case if you leave before you finish your contract) but they took so long to do that I had to do by myself. Then one month and a half later when they decided finally to publish in some webpages they found that I did by myself said that I had to take it off. I felt this unfair because the more Franklin delay to advertise the harder is to find a new tenant so we have to pay more rent. Unfortunately we had to pay 8 months plus utilities because they didnt find a new tenant until finish our contract.

Ive had multiple issues Ive the last two years with my apartment flooding, a water heater breaking, and today some drainage line was backed up causing my bathroom to flood again. On the plus side, they are usually quick on fixing things, but it would be nice if the buildings were maintained a little more proactively to prevent issues from coming up in the first place. For some reason Franklin west doesnt not want to upgrade to the 21st century and allow you to pay your rent online. You have to physically go in and drop off a check everytime. I dont recommend renting from them long term.

Please don’t live here. There are so many numerous reasons to go to another company. Late for rent during pandemic by days and they threatened legal action and even bringing a case to the magistrate if I don’t pay immediately. The list goes on and on...

Be careful on the roads if you see one of their vans driving around they drive like a******s. Almost ripped off my front bumper of my Van because it cut me off on the McKees rocks bridge without a turn signal. The name of the company and license plate was turned in to local authorities.

When I moved to pittsburgh, I found Franklin West properties to be one of the best. Very well maintained and clean. However when it comes to management they are the worst. They took advantage of lease auto-renewal and charged additional amount which was like one months rent along with a lease breakage charge. I have moved to multiple places across the country and never faced any issue like this. I will never recommend Franklin West to any of my friends at least despite of the fact that their properties are well maintained.

90 day lease autorenewals are basically a scam to get you to pay outrageous move out fees, including one month rent (even after the apartment is rented) and painting and repairs even you stay multiple years. Better to find an management company that isnt looking to steal as much of your deposit as possible after you move out.

As soon as you are ready to move out you will be extremely dissatisfied. Dont waste your time.They are crooks, and what is worse is they have no sympathy for how they charge their tenants as soon as youre ready to move past them. Long story short, they charged us 600$ commission for renting out our apartment when we left..no one told us this the multiple times we attempted to talk to them. Its as if they make it up as they go along seeing how they can get your money before you stop paying rent. Check the reviews on Yelp as well, any review past 2012 says the same. There are far better places in ShadySide, you dont need their incompetence.

Rented for ~1.5 years --- never had a single hiccup or issue with FW. Holly (the property manager) was always very friendly and helpful, and was even happy to accommodate us in some unusual circumstances (extending lease period, etc.). Recommend wholeheartedly.Re: 90-day lease renewal notice --- yes this is an unusually early deadline, but they are *very clear* about the notice period up front; its not a trick, or scam, or anything like that. In our viewing period we had people come by to view maybe once every 1-2 weeks, and FW *always* gave us at least 24 hours notice.

I live near one of their apartment buildings. One day, one of their employees accused me of using one of their, Franklin Wests, garbage bins.This man was quite rude, and when I called Franklin West to complain about him, they never called me back.Neither the employee, nor Franklin West acted in a cordial or neighborly fashion.

Worst experience ever.They make your house an open house 3 months before you move. They bring people to see the house pretty much every day, sometimes 3 times a day, including saturdays. Once me and my husband woke up with them inside our living room showing our house.Franklin West owns over 400 lots on the Shadyside. So they feel they can do whatever they want, without notifying its tenants or the city of Pittsburgh. When we first moved in, our house had no power whatsoever. We came to find out that Franklin West had made an ilegal electric connection. The City of Pittsburgh left is without power for 10 days to punish our landlord.We had the worst experience with Franklin West. If you are seeking for peace and a respectful tenant-landlord relashionship, Is stick with the smaller realtors.

Beautiful historic apartments with a lot of character.

This is not the place you want to rent from.