Tenant Reviews for 540 W BRIAR PL

STAY AWAY from any and all properties managed by ICM. They do not respect Illinois and Chicago laws that require them to perform maintenance requests in a timely fashion. The (one would logically conclude) undocumented workers that ICM employs enter tenant apartments without any notice and without even announcing their presence! They are adept at tricking prospective tenants at renting apartments that are not available and/or not the actual apartment that they will be moving into. Upon move in, the apartment will be disgustingly filthy. We tried to get out of the lease, but they refused. We moved into an apartment we didn't agree to and several outstanding repair and maintenance issues remain ignored as of this writing six months later. We have endured the apartment smelling of fecses for several weeks before a pipe was repaired. The bathroom is covered in black mold as the hot water is never able to be fully turned off. The kitchen sink should have been discarded several years ago and all of the scrubbing in the world cannot remove the algae. The employees are rude, hostile, ignorant and stupid people who will brazenly argue with and demean tenants when they are contacted. STAY AWAY from these people.

I could go on and on about the problems I've had with ICM...holes in ceilings, leaky toilets, rats, ants, rude management....the complaints are endless. Save yourself a huge headache, don't listen to the obvious leasing office agents with their "THANK YOU ICM" comments, just google them. You'll see for yourself the slumlords that they really are. Oh, and if you check out the better business beureau at www.bbb.org, they're listed under "Inner City Management Properties", not ICM Properties. Check out their stellar rating for yourself.

ICM has done a great job managing this building. ICM has kept both janitors plus they have two people working in the on-site office. Building is very clean, snow is never on the ground, and I see lots of smiles from management. I have been in the building for seven years and I plan on staying for seven more. THANK YOU ICM PROPERTIES!!

Man are these apartments HUGE! My girlfriend and I got a 2 bed w/ a ton of closets and big living room & dining room. <br><br>When we had issues with the unit the people that work for ICM really came through. They replaced our broken window in a few days and were so nice about it. Also they fixed our toilet the same day it broke. The only thing I don't like about the building is parking around here is really tough<br><br>ICM has done alright by me.

I disgree with you. I love the new management company. They are friendly and always wiiling to help. Icm is a great company and really easy to work with

The apartment I have is pretty decently sized for a studio, although there are both larger and smaller studios in this same building. The bathroom is teeny (no room for shelves or much of anything. No mildew problems in mine, but be careful. Other apartments in the building have had trouble with leaks (like pieces of ceiling caving in), and brown splotches on the ceiling and blistering paint. paint... yeah... this is an old building and what would have been nice crown moulding is a bit obscured by layer upon layer of paint. The kitchen is all right, but the fridge sticks out blocking half the sink so it is awkward doing dishes. In my apartment the hardwood floor looks good, but other apartments have tons of scuffs on the floors.<br> The building is horseshoe shaped, so how sunny the apartment is depends on where in the horseshoe it is. The larger studios have the best south-facing windows, but they are next to the sometimes squeaky elevators, so it is a tradeoff. The side apartments have worse light, but you get a sort of Rear Window effect, which is usually pretty boring, but sometimes quite interesting.<br> Noise is interesting in this building. The walls are good and thick, but the doors are thin. So if you in the back of your apartment you never your neighbors, if you are in the hallway you can hear everything. I've heard my neighbors above me once in 12 months, but apparently if you live below someone who tromps around in high heels on the hardwood floor it can get noisy.<br> Maintenance: When I first moved in the fridge didn't work and it took 2 1/2 weeks to get a new one. My sink also leaked and instead of fixing it right away they waited until the fridge came in. One of the maintenance guys is really friendly, but the other has trouble sometimes with even saying "hello". However I once left my apartment unlocked because I couldn't find my keys and came home to find it locked. (good in a way I guess since nobody broke in, but bad since somebody -either management or maintenance- was checking my door) The surly maintenance guy will let you in after hours for $25. He started saying hello to me after I paid him the fee. Insectwise, I've seen waterbugs in the lobby, and my cat killed a roach once. The fire escapes have lots of spiderwebs on the outside, but are okay inside. The elevators run fine (only been out of service once), but they are over 6 months overdue for inspections.<br> The lobby is absolutely gorgeous. Full of comfy chairs and couches. However, the management doesn't want people using it. When I first moved in, the trashcan by the elevator had an ashtray, so some people assumed that smoking was allowed. In the winter people actually started hanging out in the lobby, some of them smoking cigarettes and some people complained. Management then sent out a letter to the tenants banning smoking. That's reasonable, but they also put in the letter the fine print from the lease about the lobby being off limits for "congregation, recreation, and play". There is no A/C in the lobby so it gets stuffy/sweltering in the summer, but come winter it will be interesting to see if reading a book in the lobby constitutes forbidden "recreation".<br> The main thing driving me (and others) out of this building is the horrible treatment one gets from the leasing office. The management changed over to ICM Properties shortly before I moved in, and at first I thought everyone was making up stories about the "ladies" in the rental office. Heck, they even had a cute little doggie in the office. On second thought, dogs aren't allowed in this building... perhaps they *were* hypocrites right off the bat. When my lease came due I learned their true nature. They offered me 11 months, and I called thinking perhaps it was an error, but they were extremely rude and said it was all they offered. From their tone of voice I had apparently committed some offense to the queen by calling them. Yet I've got a friend in the building who just resigned his and it was for 12 months. Of course his rent also went up $70 a month when the new management took over. So there you go. And you know, I really didn't take being lied to well. They didn't even bother to have a decent excuse. If they had been a little nicer I would have stayed (the rent increase for me wasn't all that much - hmm... maybe I was overcharged from the get-go), but attitude counts in this world, and so I'm speaking out with my pocketbook. <br> I'm on a quest now to find a better place and I don't doubt I can do it. It's kinda silly to pay more for a lobby you can't use. I only hope this beautiful old building gets sold to a different management company. Maybe if enough people move out it will.

The building is nice and apartments are affordable but the new management is trying to up the price and with this the people are changing. Management is very rude and has even at one point posted a sign on their door "By Appointment Only." If something breaks, the maintenance man will fix it, but will probably yell at you or at least give you dirty looks.

I have lived here for just over 6 months and have had a fairly good experience overall. The lobby is beautiful, although the halls are a bit dated (think the Shining). The units are spacious with nice hardwood, although they have added some ugly linoleum. There is a nice big laundry room, and you can usually always get a washer/dryer, (which are $1.00 and $0.75 respectively). I do wish they'd vacuum the elevators more often, but hey, there are two. Last week I saw my first bug, which I thought, was a roach. Turns out it's a water bug and the exterminator came with poison the next day. The only other maintenance issue I had was when I (accidentally) flushed a bottle of perfume down the toilet. After several unsuccessful attempts on my own, I called maintenance and it was unclogged by the time I got home. Management and Maintenance are nice, and there is a great (cheap) dry cleaner in the building. Overall, it's a pretty good place to live.<br><br>To comment on the drug dealers mentioned in the previous review, they're gone. CPD broke down their door and arrested them (I witnessed first hand, living only two doors down the hall.) Other than that, I haven't heard a peep out of any neighbors.

ICM Properties Inc. recently purchased this property and their business practices can only be characterized by such phrases as: disrespectful, unethical and felonious. If you’re the type of individual who doesn’t mind being treated like a dog by your landlord, you should love this building. They will invade your privacy, arrogantly conduct themselves in the most unprofessional manner imaginable and use every means to intimidate you into paying your rent. If you’re a person with even an ounce of self-respect, don’t consider doing business with this company. Also please take note that they have started to lease apartments in the building to the most undesirable types of persons and it is not unusual to see persons resembling drug dealers and thugs present in the hallways and lobby. The noise level in the building has skyrocketed and the facilities are already showing signs of the abuse. It is unfortunate, because the previous owners maintained the building in good condition and were quite friendly.

This building is superbly cared-for, and has an attentive staff. I had a spacious studio with hardwood floors and great natural light. Located in a vital Lakeview neighborhood, near the lake, shops, restaurants, and Boys´ Town. Lakeview can be hit-or-miss, but this is one of the great bargains!