This is a page dedicated to protecting people who rent in Ithaca from horrible landlords. These landlords sell apartments often to people with low income for more than the place is worth, and fail to keep their places up to what is required by the state of New York.

Landlords that have a bad reputation

• Know of one? Click the "Edit" icon and add them!

How to deal with bad property Managers For anyone caught with a bad property manager, here is a bit of advice:

• Always get every promise by them in writing (email works well here), and keep a copy of anything you send them or sent from them.
• Take dated photographs of the residence when you move in, even if they promised to fix something. Report any and all damages, when you move in on the move-in inspection forms.
• Read your rental contract carefully, make sure you agree with everything listed and that all ambiguity is clarified.
  • Check to see what they are supposed to repair given the contract.
  • Of course, keep a copy of this contract too.
• If they violate lease terms, take this up with them immediately. If they do not attempt to resolve the issue, report them to the authorities, and make as much noise as possible for as long as possible.
• If they do not own the property, find out who the owner is, and talk to him/her as well.
• If you are a student, remember that the Cornell legal aid office is located in the law school on the ground floor level, which you may wish to use in dealing with bad landlords.
• If the property is unlivable, or your complaints go unaddressed, it may be possible to break the lease (note this is usually only the case in somewhat extreme circumstances). It is probably unwise to break the lease until you have gotten some legal advice.

Howard James, goes by the name SMITTY, rents a house at 117 Pennsylvania Ave. I have lived in the house almost 11 years. The place is literally falling apart!!! The kitchen cabinets rotted through due to a leak he did not fix for over a year. You have to tie the cupboards to keep them closed. When he did come to fix them after approx. 4 years, he merely propped them up on cynder blocks. The roof has been literally falling apart for years: huge chunks in the yard, on patio furniture and to the point that nasty brown liquid is leaking throught the bedroom ceilings upstairs and on the roofed front porch. The stairs going upstairs are literally caving in. When you flush the toilet you smell what you just flushed coming through the pipes. The backyard water sprocket has constantly leaked for over 4 years. The back deck is UNSAFE! The wood is so rotted if you attempt to walk on it you will probably fall through (our gas grill did)!

HOLLALARY PROPERTIES LLC, DRE ALARY- Scamming students and taking their deposits for things that are her obligation. Lots of hidden fees and fines, and lots of illegal lease clauses. If you're looking at one of their properties, just keep looking. We weren't even allowed to be in the apartment for almost a full month that we paid for, and she offered no prorated month (in spite of the fact that she said she would do that in her lease). Very dishonest people. You're better off dealing with almost anyone else. After 10 years in Ithaca, no one was so unethical or illegal in their conduct. This company is a scam.

ITHACA ESTATES REALTY--We had been tenants at Springwood Townhouses for 3 years (2014-2017) and recently moved to another city. However during the time we lived here is was a very disappointing and disheartening experience. There were multiple issues regarding the proprietor and his failure to be honest and forthright. While living here we were very good tenants (payment of rent always on time or early, no known complaints from neighboring tenants about us, etc.) and we had issues with: (1) Unlawful entry into ourf apartment without notice; (2) Untimely notice of water bills sometimes being provided 2 bills at one time due to lazy accounting; (3) General unwillingness to meet tenant needs in a timely fashion , We have a family member very allergic to bee venom and the landlord failed to respond to requests for assistance when carpenter wasps invaded the apartment building and the insects were within our light fixtures and walls; (4) Inadequate Snow/Ice Removal efforts—if a storm happened on a Friday tenants were expected to simply fend for themselves resulting in an elderly woman falling multiple times and my wife needing to go to the emergency room from an injury due to a fall; (5) the Landlord frequency let his 3 dogs roam freely about the property even though these animals have repeatedly attacked people resulting in falling, bites to tenant pets, small children being menaced; and alleged bites to people; (6) Failures to improve apartment conditions—the pipes would freeze every winter and when complaints came the Landlord simply provided a single, cheap electric space heater to, “thaw the pipes”; (7) Harassment of tenants and guests for “unexplained parking violations”—we received a tow warning because of an exhaust pipe droop from a bracket becoming loose and the landlord stated that it was, “an obviously abandoned car” when the car was appropriately registered and the bracket had been missing for less than 24 hours;(8) Inconsistently enforcement of lease expectations and would target individuals who had apparently some how attained his ire; (9) No notice to tenants regarding the application of poison to the common lawns or the building for extermination purposes—our dog became very ill and required emergency medical treatment; (10) Exceptionally unclean apartment at possession with mold growing on the toilet seats and in the bowl; (11) Failures to provide adequate end of lease documentation—upon move out we were not allowed a walk through with management and never received a check out damage form indicating what was amiss and only a half-assed non detailed list of alleged damages to our apartment totaling approximately $1,100 dollars for smoke damage, apartment cleaning and carpet deodorant— upon leaving the apartment was cleaned professionally (at our cost) and receipts were provided; (12) Ignoring of all written attempts at communication to discuss the issues presented above and requests for written explanations for the deductions from our security deposit.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT BY DON EDWARDS- DO NOT RENT WITH DON AND MARIE EDWARDS! Don is incredibly disrespectful and unprofessional. They will do anything to get your money. I was trying to rent a studio with Don, but he kept sending me contracts with wrong values for me to sign. Here is a sample of the kinds of stuff you will have to deal with:(Taken from the last email sent to me after I asked him to fix an extra $200 fee he was charging me for a pet I told him I am not taking with me to Ithaca- It's good to keep in mind that pet deposits have not been legal in Ithaca since 2019)

"NO MORE !! You either sign the lease and initial the two pages that I am sending with this email, or you can look for housing elsewhere. ALSO-----I need the signed lease tonight. I need the PayPal payment by Sunday."

(Then he goes ahead and sends me the wrong contract with the extra $200 fee again.) I called him right after to ask if he could fix the contract he sent wrong 3 times, and he yells at me, "WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO IS SEND ME THE $1500 NOW IF YOU WANT THE STUDIO!" I told him, "Unfortunately, I can't send you the money if the contract is not right," and he answered, "IF YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE, I WOULDN'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH YOUR BULLSHIT" and hung up on me. I called him back again- he told me I could look for housing elsewhere and that he wouldn't deal with my bullshit.

I repeat, DO NOT MAKE DEALS WITH DON AND MARIE EDWARDS.

They are not trustworthy, and YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEM WITH THEM IN THE FUTURE.

HUGE RED FLAG!