Continental properties company, inc. (apartment developer, owner & operator; retail developer) Reviews

Management needs to get a clue and work on making the company the great place they claim it is.

Continental operates several apartment communities that I have both lived and worked at. From my experience as both a resident who benefits from their management as well as an employee I can say that their flexibility, sincere attention to detail for residents, and their proactive nature has played a huge role in making their residents and employees feel supported during Covid-19 pandemic. Their action plans to find options for residents as well as their continued communication for their onsite staff on options and strategies put them at a performance above the competitors who were reacting rather than trailblazing! I am glad to be a resident for this company!

Poor Interviewing Experience.
Very Disappointed. At first I was excited to receive a call from this company to interview for an available position. However, I was shocked to hear the lack of information that was provided from the interviewer. I had to ask questions that the interviewer should've naturally told me. If I wouldn't have asked questions, I would've left the interview clueless. Also, the interviewer ignored any follow-up attempts, regarding the status of the available position. She ignored both my follow-up email and phone call.

Great place to live. Nice apartments, gated community. Dog friendly, even large dogs! Beautiful pool, Barbeque area & basic gym. It is located close to just about anything you would need as well as Bonita Beach.

Springs and its parent company Continental is absolutely not interested in helping people, or providing a transparent service. They will squeeze people out of their money in any way they can, then turn it over to collectors so they can "absolve" themselves from any responsibility. They have set up their policies and procedures to ensure that nothing can be disputed or the opportunity to do so just slips through the cracks. I know of one of their properties that got devastated by a natural disaster and here was their exact actions:
Charge rent while the complex is unlivable.
Charge fees for damages incurred during that disaster.
Raise everyone's rent by at least double and up to triple.
Sell the complex once they gathered all that money or done the paperwork to sell it to a collector.

It. Is. Disgusting.

Very poor interview process. I applied for an entry level Land Planner job and was asked to do a total of 7 interviews over the course of 3.5 weeks (they are not upfront about this either, you find out about the next interview if they decide you make it to the next round)

Not only is the interview process excessive for an entry level position, it is also extremely redundant as I was asked the same questions by all interviewers and met with the same ones on multiple occasions. The whole process just seemed very on the surface and I never felt like I was being seriously considered even after going through all the ridiculous steps to this interview process.

If you are a young professional looking to start your career, I do not recommend giving Continental your time, their abuse of time and resources through the interviewing process is disrespectful to the interviewees and it makes me question the functionality and treatment of employees within the company.

I started with Continental back in 2018 and quit in 2020. When I first started there was absolutely no training. They hook you up with a "buddy" who is in a different state, with different laws. Makes no sense and simply does not work. Tracy Norton manager at the time was "bouncing" between properties, but was never actually where she said she was. So at that time it was me and my leasing agent running a property by ourselves. Fast forward - Tracy Norton starts to take on the properties in the Chicago area like they are all her own - they were not yet. Micromanaging is an under statement best! I have never met a "leader" who is so condensing, mean to residents AND employees, backstabbing, gossipy - me and I am sure most of the Chicago market could go on. There is not one original person left in the Chicago market - that should speak for itself. It's a joke if you reach out to HR. Once I started to play nice and brown nose, oh all the sudden I am part of the team again. This company's goal is to continue growing - yet they forget about their current employees needs. Like I said - if you want to be a part of a cult - Continental is for you! It's kind of sad, as the residents suffer the most from all of this craziness. There's a reason Tracy Norton "stepped down" aka got demoted. If you are new to the industry, I would recommend going to a company who knows what they are doing, so they can help you grow in your career.

I would like to report a story about the Springs of Live Oak. Last month I recently had a friend of mine visit for a few minutes. She has needed a service dog all her life the day she came over, as she was walking about of my apartment the employers at Springs of Live Oak saw her and her service animal. A few days later I get a violation on my door stating that I was being charged 100 dollars for a pet violation. I called them and told that the animal is her support dog, and she has a disability that requires her to have the dog with her at all times. They told me that they will not take the violation away even though I had my friend provide them with the proper documentation stating that the animal is her support. The property manager was very rude,as she has had multiple complaints about her. She continued stating that I have to let them know ahead of time before my friend and her support animal come onto the property. Also that she has to pay a 50 fee for DNA testing just in case her animal goes potty on the property. The second reason why they stated that the violation wouldn't go away is that she is not a tenant and doesn't afford the same rights as a tenant. The third reason was that once a violation is taken off they cannot remove it. I have went back and forth with them about this situation and they continue to charge me for it. I finally just told my friend not to come over, they made her feel very unwelcome and they made her feel like she has something wrong with her and can't accommodate her in their public residence. I am currently in the process of talking to a lawyer about this unlawful violation that they are charging me for.

Awful awful rental company. This is in regards to springs At Oswego in IL. But also this horrible rental company.

Pros: beautiful property & modern apartments. Maintenance staff is super friendly & efficent. Grounds are clean and pool is nice. Property was well maintained.

Cons:
Safety: we lived in an upper level apartment. The top level is loft style. Beware if you have younger children or animals-the railing is wide open and kids could easily climb and fall. Our beloved cat walked up on it in the middle of the night and fell. We rushed him to the hospital and he ended up shattering his leg. The leg ended up having to be amputated with a $2000 bill.

Apartment rental is extremely pricey. Additional fees such as required trash valet is a bit much. But make sure you follow the strict rules about what kind of trash can be taken to trash valet. You get a small black trash can and you can t add additional bags
next to it.

Also, beware of moving out fees. They basically require you pay for their cleaning service. Some charges were warranted: cats had ripped up corners of carpets. We accidentally left dryer lint in the dryer and they charged 25 bucks to clean it. (Just an example)

The biggest crime is their unwillingness to work with their clients. My partner lost his job due to the pandemic. Due to the laws initiated, we were able to make small payments on our rent without being evicted (I am a special education teacher & cannot afford an 1800 rent on a teachers salary on my own). Will Shew wouldnt work with us. We no longer could afford rent, so we ended up leaving at the end of our term. We stayed open & communicative. No deal could ever be made and they sent us to collections. I am 100% convinced that if laws weren t in place, we would be homeless and on the streets.

Horrible company who has no empathy for this pandemic. They claim to care for their residents, but when the help is really needed, they are nowhere to help.

I wish I could be more positive, but if you re looking for a company who actually cares for their residents, I beg you to look elsewhere. Just a corporate scheme trying to get every last cent during a global pandemic.

They should be ashamed of themselves for what they re trying to get away with.

Poor handling of their tenants. Use tenants electric on their apt when there is trouble