Final hours for rental firm?
Manhattan Apartments struggles in downturn, but a merger may help the teetering brokerage November 02, 2009 07:00AM By Candace Taylor
Manhattan Apartments founder Jerry Weinstein
A few months ago, Michele Colen found the apartment she had been searching for: a newly renovated, no-fee Upper East Side studio in a building that welcomed Leo, her golden retriever-dachshund mix.
That day, she swiped her debit card twice: once for the security deposit, and once for the first month's rent, plus a $50 credit check fee. Her bank statement showed that the funds had left her account, so she was baffled when, a month after moving in, she received a statement from her landlord showing an outstanding balance.
It turned out the $1,500 security deposit check that Manhattan Apartments Inc. -- her real estate firm, also known as MAI -- had written to the landlord on her behalf had bounced.
She contacted MAI, demanding to know what happened to her money. By the end of September, the check still had not been replaced, and she sued the company in small claims court.
She also filed a complaint with the Department of State.
"I thought I took every precaution, and then they screwed me," said Colen, whose case goes to trial this month.
Colen is not alone in her frustration with Manhattan Apartments, a troubled firm that The Real Deal has learned is likely on the brink of a merger.
In the past year, the firm has repeatedly bounced checks to landlords, renters and agents, while falling behind on payments to vendors. In September, the New York Times sued MAI, claiming it's owed more than $66,500 for online advertising. MAI's accounting firm, Resnick Druckman Group, is suing for $82,640 in unpaid fees. (The Real Deal is also owed money for advertising payments.)
There's been tumult behind the scenes as well. MAI's beloved founder, Jerry Weinstein, has ceded much of his control to local landowner Leonard Franzblau, an investor he brought in several years ago to infuse the company with cash.
In turn, Franzblau has hired the owners of boutique brokerage A.C. Lawrence & Co. Real Estate to help manage MAI. In exclusive interviews, both parties told The Real Deal that A.C. Lawrence is in talks to merge with or acquire MAI, a move that would alter the landscape of New York's rental brokerage scene.
Certainly, brokerages throughout the city have run short on cash as the real estate slump has barreled into Manhattan. But MAI, founded in 1984, is one of the city's oldest and most established rental firms. At its peak, the company had some 250 agents.
"Manhattan Apartments has been a pioneer in this industry for over 20 years," said Antonio del Rosario, president of the sales division at A.C. Lawrence.
With some 5,000 rental listings, many of them on the lower end of the price spectrum, MAI should have been well-positioned to ride out the downturn, especially as sales stalled this winter and renters looked for cheaper apartments.
So what went wrong?
Weinstein attributed the company's cash-flow problems primarily to the economic slowdown. But insiders allege that MAI's problems run deeper, from sloppy bookkeeping and high overhead to the improper use of clients' and agents' money to pay the company's mounting bills.
"When business was good, it was easy to spend money before you got it," said one former employee, who asked not to be named. "When business got bad, they couldn't replace it."
Weinstein said he is committed to saving his company, but time may be running out. "How their license has not been revoked, I don't get," said Colen.
Negotiations begin
Once-proud Manhattan Apartments -- in 2007, the firm ranked No. 2 on The Real Deal's list of the city's biggest rental brokerages -- is now a shadow of its former self.
"The profits are less, for sure," Weinstein said, during an interview in the firm's fourth-floor office near Times Square.
The company now has 110 agents, and has laid off around 30 support staff members since 2007, he said.
In July, The Real Deal reported that MAI had bounced checks to clients and agents and has been late on payments to vendors. Weinstein acknowledged as much, and said he's working out payment plans with his creditors.
"We're not doing as much business as we did before, so we have to slow down the amount of money to be paid," he said.
In the past year, many of the company's longtime managers and top earners have left. Those departing include longtime rental director Bridget Smalley as well as top agents like Evan Schwartz, Normund Shakner and Andrew Goldsmith.
Many say they left because their checks bounced. According to one former agent: "About 60 percent of the commission checks were returned for insufficient funds."
Weinstein said all of the bounced checks have now been replaced, but The Real Deal spoke to at least one former employee who claimed to be owed back pay.
Some time ago, Weinstein recognized that his company needed capital, and brought in Franzblau, who owns supermarkets and other properties in the New York area. Franzblau -- who directed all questions to Weinstein -- reportedly put in about $3 million, and financed the company's move from its longtime home at 225 West 57th Street to its current office at 729 Seventh Avenue, between 48th and 49th streets.
Franzblau, who now has a majority stake in the company, hired A.C. Lawrence this summer as a consultant to organize MAI's finances and cut costs.
"[Franzblau] has asked us to come in on his behalf to help him assess the situation here," said A.C. Lawrence founder Larry Friedman, who now has a desk at MAI.
Friedman and A.C. Lawrence cofounder Anthony DeGrotta began working out of MAI's office in July, and have focused much of their attention on revamping the company's accounting infrastructure to prevent bounced checks. "We're looking at some of the systems and seeing what we can do to help, to change things around," Friedman said.
The two companies are currently entirely separate entities and do not share listings, but the A.C. Lawrence partners said a merger or acquisition of Manhattan Apartments is likely, though the terms of the deal have not yet been finalized.
"We are moving closer to the negotiating table," added del Rosario.
Cultlike following
It's impossible to make sense of all of this without meeting Weinstein.
On a recent Thursday afternoon, the affable 60-something moved from desk to desk in his company's headquarters, slapping agents on the back and rattling off the number of years they've been with the company. (Agent Fay Curtis, 17 years; listings manager Trey Parker, 10 years.)
Even his detractors agree that Weinstein inspires almost cultlike devotion in his agents. "He is amazing in terms of relationships," said one former agent. "If you meet the guy, you'll fall in love with him."
That's part of what helped Weinstein build one of the most successful rental companies in the city.
Born and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Weinstein was a high school health teacher and nighttime maitre d' at the Russian Tea Room when he decided to give real estate a try. In 1982, he joined Upper East Side-based Gardner Realty and showed himself to be a natural salesman, becoming the top rental agent for 17 of the 18 months he worked there.
At the time, most real estate companies focused on specific neighborhoods, but Weinstein realized that clients wanted to search throughout New York.
"People asked me for listings all over the city, but I couldn't accommodate them because we were on the Upper East Side," he said.
When he founded Manhattan Apartments two years later, his goal was to offer rental listings "from Inwood down to Battery Park City."
Of course, that was no easy feat. To get listings, he cold-called landlords. "Whenever I would call, they would say, 'We don't need you,'" he recalled.
He got his big break when the Spencer Arms Hotel at 140 West 69th Street was converted into rental apartments. The previous agent had leased 23 apartments in five months; Weinstein rented three times that many in six weeks.
"I worked day and night," he recalled. "I wanted this opportunity to be something I wouldn't miss. At 10 at night, I was showing apartments."
By the time he finished leasing out that project, he had started hiring, and the business grew from there.
For years, Weinstein had little direct competition: Citi Habitats, now the city's largest rental company, didn't come along for another 10 years.
"There was never really a place that just specialized and focused on rental business," said one former MAI agent. "That gave [Weinstein] a huge advantage for a long time."
Weinstein built up an extensive network of landlord contacts and a healthy database of listings. There are some buildings where MAI has leased each apartment 10 times over, he said, estimating that his company has done some 100,000 rentals since its founding. All those listings, along with some 3,000 keys the company has on hand for agents' use in showing apartments, made it easy for young agents to get started.
"It's a great place for people starting out in the business," said Smalley, who worked there for 23 years before moving last spring to Best Apartments.
There were tough times during the recession of the early 1990s, when Weinstein went from 50 agents to three, but the company rebounded when the market recovered. At the height of the boom, MAI was doing close to 50 deals a day, Weinstein recalled.
"We couldn't even accommodate the number of people that would come in," he said. "My daughter used to say, 'Why don't you line them up outside?'"
Tough times
In the fall of 2008, the downturn slammed into New York, spelling trouble for every real estate firm in the city. Suddenly vacancies were up, rents were down and landlords, rather than tenants, were paying commissions.
On a $1,000-per-month apartment, a firm would once have made a commission of 15 percent, or around $1,800, Weinstein said. Now, that same transaction would likely yield only $800.
The change in the climate exposed chinks in MAI's armor. Despite Weinstein's skills as a salesman, the company had never been particularly well-run, insiders say.
"Jerry's a really nice man," one former agent said, "but the last thing anyone would accuse him of being is a smart businessman."
Weinstein acknowledged that he prefers to focus on the creative side of the business.
"I think of myself more as an artist," he said. "Writing and designing the Web site, designing the offices. But most important, the 'art' of dealing with people and envisioning the way an office should look and function is what I do at MAI."
Sources said that the firm's overhead was always high, due in part to Weinstein's generous nature, and that salaries for staff and managers were outrageous.
"He's got $2 million worth of staff overhead, and every other company in the city probably has $500,000 to $1 million," one former agent said.
Though Weinstein did reduce staff when the firm moved, the rent for the new Times Square office is higher than at the previous space, where the company had been for 13 years. Weinstein declined to reveal the firm's rent, but some estimate that it's around $40,000 a month.
The company's bookkeeping has been even more egregious.
Lower-end rental apartments in Manhattan -- which MAI focuses on -- go very quickly.
But as MAI grew, it didn't develop accounting systems efficient enough to keep track of so many rapid-fire deals. To expedite transactions, MAI and some other rental companies ask customers to pay the brokerage, rather than the landlord. That way, a client like Colen can swipe a debit card rather than getting a certified check from the bank. Then, MAI can issue a check for rent and security to the landlord, Friedman explained.
Until recently, the firm did this even though the renter's payment likely hadn't yet cleared. When times were flush, there was always enough money to make up the difference, but when the volume of deals slowed, checks started bouncing, Friedman said.
As the economy worsened, the problem was exacerbated by the fact that landlords increasingly wanted certified checks from MAI.
"We couldn't get the money fast enough to pay all those checks," Weinstein said.
Friedman said he and DeGrotta have implemented systems to prevent the company from writing checks until the corresponding deposits have cleared. One fix is encouraging renters to write certified checks directly to the landlords rather than going through MAI, though it means slowing down the deal.
The company's accounting missteps may run deeper than a few bounced checks, however.
Multiple sources say that checks may have bounced because the funds were being improperly used to pay MAI's bills and debt.
"They collect as many deposits as they can, and use them to pay for their business," said one source.
This kind of commingling is illegal, explained attorney Debra Guzov, who is not involved with MAI. When renters give brokers money for their first month's rent and especially a security deposit -- which is legally required to be kept in a separate, interest-bearing account -- the funds must be used for their intended purpose.
"The broker is supposed to pass it on to the landlord," she said. "They can't float that money. It's not their money."
Colen, an accountant, said she believes something like this happened to her.
"I'm missing $1,550," she said bitterly. "Maybe [Weinstein] bought something for himself."
Similarly, agents believe their commissions were delayed because the firm was using them to pay its expenses.
"My feeling is they were using the cash the agents brought in … for themselves," said one former agent, who said he waited three or four months for some commission checks.
Guzov said many brokerages pay agents their commissions at predetermined intervals, such as every two weeks, but it's illegal to delay a payment any longer than the predetermined time frame after the firm receives it.
Weinstein denied that improper commingling occurred, saying that accounts for commissions and landlord/tenant funds are kept separate.
He said the reason agents' checks have been late is because OPs, commissions paid by landlords, take longer to arrive than those paid by renters.
Colen's complaint is currently being investigated by the Department of State, a process that usually takes four to six weeks, an agency spokesperson said.
Giving up control
Weinstein said it hasn't been easy giving up some of his control over the company. "It's hard because I'm giving up the independence I had," he said.
But, he said, bringing in Franzblau and A.C. Lawrence was necessary.
"We needed more-effective management in the financial and systems area," he said. "What we weren't getting before, we're getting now."
It's not entirely clear what Weinstein's role in a merger would be, but he said he's hoping it might give him more time to focus on the creative side. And he hopes the potential partnership will lead to bigger things, such as the acquisition of other companies.
"I think we're laying the seeds for potential growth," he said.
But some say irreparable damage may have already been done.
Manhattan Apartments is "not a player anymore," said one veteran industry source, who asked not to be named.
With the departure of so many top-earning agents, millions of dollars in annual revenue has disappeared. "Jerry's probably got half a dozen producers," said one source. "He used to have three dozen producers."
Meanwhile, the landlord relationships Weinstein worked hard to build are disintegrating, sources said, with some owners refusing to accept checks from MAI, or even do business with the company at all.
A spokesperson for Colen's landlord, BLDG Management, declined to comment.
Under these circumstances, a merger or acquisition could be the ticket MAI needs for a fresh start. Still, the deal may fall through if it appears Manhattan Apartments is more of a liability than an asset.
"We don't want to get in bed with someone who's sick," del Rosario said. "We're getting them healthy, and then we'll get in bed if it's the right move."
No matter what happens, however, Weinstein said he's not yet ready to give up on the company he built.
"This business is like my baby," he said. '"Whatever it takes, no matter what, we stay and fight and survive."
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Comments
Anonymous
It is unfortunate that manhattan apartments dug a hole for themselves by using client funds and delaying their agents commission checks for their own expenses. Everyone including the president should register for a course on Morals, Values and Integrity.
Comment #1 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
To write that "for years, Weinstein had little direct competition" is just plain false. When Manhattan Apts opened shop, the market was dominated by J.I. Sopher and Feathered Nest. Both companies controlled on-site operations for new rental buildings and had multiple offices with many times the number of agents in Weinstein's office. He was a little pisher when he started, depending on agents who'd cut commissions to the quick to take deals away from those who actually showed apartments to customers. His taking over the rentals at 140 West 69 showed that he was willing to deal with owners who'd keep out potential renters based on everything from occupation to skin color. As I've never been one to kick one when he's down I don't wish Jerry anything but the best and hope he emerges well from his present dilemma. Just call it like it was....NOT like you'd like it to have been.
Comment #2 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
Hopefully they will learn from their mistakes. All the best.
Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
Hmmm....110 agents? I just counted less than 50 in total on their website as they have repeated many of the names on the sales and rental side to make it look like they have more.
Comment #4 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
1/1 Its so easy for a lot of people to say negative things about other people or even a company thats been around for 26 years... tell me what individual or any company out there that didn't do something stupid 2 survive... Im sure there's been once or twice in your life that u used ur credit card monthly payment to pay 4 ur food or just your rent 2 get by till things got better???
Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
2/2 just 9 banks closed there doors last week..look @ lehman brothers, merrill & thousands of others as well as individuals that closed there doors or in bankruptcies.............. give me a break??? talking sh... its easy to do.. times r hard & things r going to happen.. One thing i could say & many people could agree w me is Mr Weinste, is not a thief or a greedy individual.. I think bad things happen to him bc the guy is tooooo nice, a giver & over paid people that worked w him through the years... He was paying people w/ out a college degree over $80k to $100k plus & now most of those people can even make $20k & they r mad & took it all personal when they got laid off...
Comment #6 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
3/3 @ the end of the day many rental real estate firms in manhattan have built there offices through MAI information or there structure system that they stole... remember life is short & eventually u have 2 look @ yourself in the mirror 4 all the bad sh.. u have talked or done 2 others... i'm sure Michele Colen will eventually get her $$ as well as others whoever MAI owes $$ 2... don't ever wish bad 2 others bc it will eventually will come back & bite u in ass.. might have 2 add 1 more thing, most real estate brokers that work in the city don't even live in the city BC they can't even afford the city since they live pay check 2 paycheck... pammmm
Comment #7 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
in your 2/2, your saying Manhattan apartments paid SALARY of 80k-100k???? or the agents earned 80k in commission, or really 160k and mgt took 50%.... YOU BANKRUPT JOKE
Comment #8 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
There are too many anouminous sources for this to be a legitamite article
Comment #9 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
What a shame the way people try to bury each other from behind the scenes. What goes around comes around, bad Karma,bad business, etc. I've been with MAI full, and now part time, and can say that they have always treated me as a professional, and have NEVER not paid me, nor have they ever bounced a check on me. I wish them the best, and know they will survive...Best to you Jerry !!!
Comment #10 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
thought I took every precaution, and then they screwed me," said Colen, whose case goes to trial this month. Colen is not alone in her frustration with Manhattan Apartments, a troubled firm that The Real Deal has learned is likely on the brink of a merger.
Comment #11 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Dimas H. Lizardo
The fact is that the economy has hit the real estate market hard all around. What most people don't realize is that most of the other firms are owned by NRT, (CitiHabitats, Corcoran, Coldwell Banker, etc.), and C21 is a HUGE franchise. The local offices are being helped out by their parent company or their Franchisor. Manhattan Apartments is independently owned, and will continue to make money by itself. What I don't understand is why the article did not mention the top producers who STAYED here! The people who left couldn't carry the water buckets for the producers who remained. Give me a break!
Comment #12 Posted By: Dimas H. Lizardo 11/02/09
Anonymous
The problem is Mai owes the real deal money just the same as so many others.It gave them fuel to add to the fire. They know they are never getting paid so they wrote this as there payment plain and simple. They are still bouncing checks and for ac lawrence to try and play hero like there systems have put an end to it is comical.. Eventually someone was going to talk and this client was pissed off and did...
Comment #13 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
Those who live in glasses shouldn't throw stones--ML is bouncing checks FYI!!
Comment #14 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
FB
I think this article is well done... She statesEveryone loves jerry and it is portrayed in this article she is just stating that the place was mismanaged do to his generosity and that the staff that he had was incompetent and vastly overpaid. Those facts along with him being a fickle and confused con artist along with him being easily manipulated ran the place into the ground. I have never worked there but those I know who have always spoke highly of there time there but felt they needed to move on to bigger and better things. Now it seems he is desperate and doing what he can to stay a float legal or not. Seems sad. Feel sorry for him all of that work to be left with nothing and a bad reputation for 25 years its a shame... FB
Comment #15 Posted By: FB 11/02/09
Anonymous
How to create negative spin ... write an article quoting former employees and mystery "insiders". Here are the majority of sources quoted: "one former employee, who asked not to be named" "According to one former agent" "said one former agent" (used twice) "But insiders allege ..." "said one former MAI agent." "But some say ..." "said one veteran industry source, who asked not to be named." "said one source" (used twice) Wow. Is it me? Isn't there like a "Duh" factor in seeing people who quit a firm slam it? This happens twice a year. Former agents and managers get together and start a torpedo campaign against MAI. I don't know how they rope The Real Deal into it.
Comment #16 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
There is a lot of rope a dope here and distracting defenses being used. What about focusing on the issues raised in the article? Are they all false? What would c21 have to do with this article and why are they being mentioned here? This article is about a company with admitted problems with the few that are hanging on trying to mention someone else as the problem when in reality the problem is the way the company was and is being run.
Comment #17 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
The timing of Manhattan Apartments move was unfortunate. They signed the leases right before the stock market tanked last fall. If they are paying $40,000 a month they paying over current market rates.
Comment #18 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
Doesnt sound as bad as stealing money from friends, family and trusted landlords as the article reports?
Comment #19 Posted By: Anonymous 11/02/09
Anonymous
I worked at Manhattan Apts for 3 years and all I can say is that Jerry is a real mensch - a gentleman and a leader. Knowing Jerry's tenacity he will come back even stronger. GO JERRY, GO!!
Comment #20 Posted By: Anonymous 11/03/09
Anonymous
How can anyone say C21 isn't at least partly behind these articles? It's absurd. The only former MAI agents EVER mentioned by name are ones who work there now. These articles never mention specific agents who moved on to Halstead, Corcoran, Elliman and Bond. The last of these smear articles was filled with links to the C21 website. Not Halstead. Not Corcoran. Not Elliman. Not Bond. Coincidence? Duh.
Comment #21 Posted By: Anonymous 11/03/09
Anonymous
Bridget Smalley works at c21?
Comment #22 Posted By: Anonymous 11/03/09
Anonymous
Who cares about any of this? DOS and the Attorney Generals Office will sort it all out in time.
Comment #23 Posted By: Anonymous 11/03/09
Anonymous
The DOS and the Attorney Generals Office , will do nothing.
Comment #24 Posted By: Anonymous 11/03/09
Anonymous
Bridget Smalley works at Best Apartments for those who are intrested.
Comment #25 Posted By: Anonymous 11/03/09
Anonymous
why would she leave?
Comment #26 Posted By: Anonymous 11/03/09
Anonymous
Has Best Apartments cleaned up their act yet or are they still a watered down/sleazier version of Manhattan Apartments?
Comment #27 Posted By: Anonymous 11/03/09
Anonymous
Best apartments aparently invented "bait and switch"
Comment #28 Posted By: Anonymous 11/03/09
Anonymous
Why did AC Lawrence get called in to 'oversee' Manhattan Apartments. What track record of success does AC Lawrence have?
Comment #29 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
I'm an agent here at MAI. AC Lawrence saved our a--. The investor hired because he knows their track record of being the only firm who was in the black while every firm was closing down, laying off, downsizing or bouncing checks.
Comment #30 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
Best apartments took the worst out of Manhattan Apartments. At least Jerry had integrity.
Comment #31 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
There hasn't been any bounced checks since July because AC Lawrence started working then. I get my commission paid. More paperwork but at least I get paid.
Comment #32 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
Best Apartments and Century 21 are the worst rental firms in the city. They did the same to me and to my friends as that woman who is suing Manhattan Apartments. They all should lose their licenses.
Comment #33 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
It seems that this woman suing MAI just likes to go to court and have battles. Before A.C. Lawrence came and solved the bounce problems, MAI did deal with bounces appropriately. Any customer who had a bounced check was re-issued one immediately. Whatever happened, I'm sure MAI wasn't ignoring her situation.
Comment #34 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
no more comments please
Comment #35 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
no more comments please. WHY NOT ? Says who?
Comment #36 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
Last I checked bouncing a check is fraud you cant just bounce checks and then say dont worry we will re-issue another check
Comment #37 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
Bouncing a check is not fraud. Writing a check you know will bounce is fraud.
Comment #38 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
to bounce all those checks, manh apts must have known they would bounce, not an accident, that's fraud
Comment #39 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
Bouncing checks is so 80's. Jerry means well otherwise he could've started a ponzi scheme and made more money. Doesn't excuse his behaviour though. He is learning now the he is partnering with with good business people. This investor is amazing though to just drop $3M. He knows it will make him alot of money. He's no fool.
Comment #40 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
New York. Up to three months in jail, or up to $500, or up to double the amount of the drawer's gain from the commission of the offense; this is the criminal penalty for bouncing a check which you say is so 80's. The civil penalty: Face value of check, plus two times amount of check up to $750. Again so 80's!
Comment #41 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
§175.1 Commingling money of principal A real estate broker shall not commingle the money or other property of his principal with his own and shall at all times maintain a separate, special bank account to be used exclusively for the deposit of said monies and which deposit shall be made as promptly as practicable. Said monies shall not be placed in any depository, fund or investment other than a federally insured bank account. Accrued interest, if any, shall not be retained by, or for the benefit of, the broker except to the extent that it is applied to, and deducted from, earned commission, with the consent of all parties.
Comment #42 Posted By: Anonymous 11/04/09
Anonymous
So 80's is right. Bouncing checks should result into loss of license and a fine of $50,000 minimum. For any individual or real estate firm. They should go to jail but that's just me.
Comment #43 Posted By: Anonymous 11/05/09
Anonymous
Jerry is a great guy and yes his company got sick but who isn't in this market? He will get better and beat this market. He always does. Now he has the right business people around him. All the best to him.
Comment #44 Posted By: Anonymous 11/05/09
Anonymous
Are you people dillsuional we are still boucning checks! I am an agent at mai and my clients checks bounced this week! Its the same old story around here nothing as changes at all.
Comment #45 Posted By: Anonymous 11/05/09
Anonymous
#45 are you getting paid?
Comment #46 Posted By: Anonymous 11/05/09
Anonymous
I am getting paid but what good is it when your clients rent and security checks bounce and for them to say that no checks have bounced since july that is an all out lie! As I know many agents whom have had there checks bounce since july... Luckily none of mine have but at this rate its only inevitable.
Comment #47 Posted By: Anonymous 11/05/09
Anonymous
So why do you stay? They must owe you a lot of money so you feel you have to hang around to collect it?
Comment #48 Posted By: Anonymous 11/05/09
Anonymous
Stop complaining and leave already! There is no such thing as a perfect company, so just go!!! It won't be as easy as you think at another firm, you have to prove yourself, start from the bottom. Good Luck! PS ML is bouncing checks and a lot of other firms -Corc, Elli, Sotheb are in real trouble, it's a sign of the times.
Comment #49 Posted By: Anonymous 11/08/09
Audrey N
I worked for Jerry 15 years ago and he is a great guy. He grew too fast rentals allover manhattan and then he branched into sales which is where I came in. Jerry means no malkice the bookeeping dept the accountants are responsible. He probably didnt know he bouced those checks. He probably didn't even writte them so where is hte accounting dept that he hired and merged with. Keeping books is not Jerry's forte. Jerry is an expert w the big picture. He created a beautiful environment yioung energetic and successful. We are all having our bad time in Real Esstate right now. I am working 26 hours a day just to keep up. Don't give up Jerry your the best LOL AudreyN I recently became a broker and opened my own small firm and its a struggle. I will keep it small until the market recovers so that I can keep track. I am surprised that they are blaming Jerry-blame the accounting dept for sloppiness
Comment #50 Posted By: Audrey N 11/09/09
T.M
C21, Best Apartments, Manhattan Apartments are all the same they are a bunch of low end insignificant bottom feeder companies. Each one of them has a leader shadier than the next! At least the 2 running c21 and best apartments are competent sleaze, unlike the one at Manhattan Apartments who has no clue! Its ironic the company that the other 2 wanna-bees try to be is more profitable than its original truly pathetic!
Comment #51 Posted By: T.M 11/09/09
Anonymous
#50 is soo wrong. JW ran the accounting department and no dollar was spent without him approving it. This poster must be a shil for the firm.
Comment #52 Posted By: Anonymous 11/09/09
Barbara
I also wanted to add that I fell off my chair laughing that Jerry likes to "focus on the creative side." Now THAT'S funny. I guess the creative side would be putting up pictures of apartments that were already rented or sold, as a way of drawing in customers, then making the agents scrounge for "leads" from whatever calls came in in response. Jerry, PLEASE site down and retire. If for nothing more, just the absolute shame you've brought to yourself from your poor business sense and overall lack of decency.
Comment #53 Posted By: Barbara 11/09/09
Barbara
Last comment I promise -- They certainly didn't blow all of their money on office supplies for brokers. If you needed a pen or a post-it-note, or even a piece of paper, you were told to "go to Staples." That's what you got for splitting your commission 50/50 at MAI. Unbelievable.
Comment #54 Posted By: Barbara 11/09/09
Anonymous
Seems like someone has sour grapes! waaaahhh you must have been one of the few who got canned from mai... He was probably paying you an astronomical amount to do nothing. Sales has always been a joke at mai funny how you tried to imply that it was once viable....IT HAS NEVER BEEN VIABLE! You had tons of monster producers in the rental department instead of calling us hooligans and thieves maybe you should have taught them how to do sales because now all of us are at halstead elliman cit or corcoran.. What a fool...
Comment #55 Posted By: Anonymous 11/09/09
Anonymous
Waaaah - #57 you're an idiot. The post you replied to was obvioulsy written by an agent b/c the staff had keys to the supply closet...no need to go to staples.
Comment #56 Posted By: Anonymous 11/10/09
Anonymous
I'm calling all thier listings...survival of the fittest!
Comment #57 Posted By: Anonymous 11/11/09
Kylie
Let me add this, one of the WORST things about MAI was how they would stall and stall on paying brokers. Often the checks were distributed LATE Friday afternoon. If you wanted or needed your money earlier than that, forget it. Also, you'd have to endure the NASTY attitude of the Business Manager, Neil Fuchs (Jerry's nephew). He's another reason why the financial situation over there has become as bad as it has. MAI is a PERFECT EXAMPLE of how NOT to run a company!
Comment #58 Posted By: Kylie 11/12/09
Tyler
#59 you're wasting your time calling their listings. They have no exclusives -- all of the ones they list are Broker owned.
Comment #59 Posted By: Tyler 11/12/09
Stephen L.
Hurry up and go out of business already! Just one less dirtbage company on the NYC real estate scene.
Comment #60 Posted By: Stephen L. 11/13/09
Anonymous
Century 21 is the shadiest firm in the city. None of the agents know what they are doing. I called them for a rental and it was handled so badly. I spoke with the manager to get my money back and he was the sleaziest broker on the planet. They should lose their license.
Comment #61 Posted By: Anonymous 11/13/09
Anonymous
I agree with #66. Century 21 is the worst. I went to an open house in Queens for a $350,000 co-op and the woman was so rude. She could not stand the questions I was asking because she could not answer them (like what the co-op board requirements are). Do they even train their agents?
Comment #62 Posted By: Anonymous 11/13/09
Anonymous
Manhattan apartments has hustled agents and clients for years. The chickens eventually come home to roost. They are getting just what they deserve. They built their company on a "training program" based on slave labor. Like any cult, they sucked new agents in with promises of glory. Thousands have left the industry disenchanted through the exits at Manhattan Apartments, while the "producers" profited from their trainees' footwork. Manhattan Apartments has epitomized all the negative feelings the consumer has for NYC rental brokers. Because of them and companies like them everyone in the industry is painted with the same brush. And that brush has not exactly been dipped flattering colors.
Comment #63 Posted By: Anonymous 11/14/09
Anonymous
Is everyone happy who is writing on here without posting your names? Did you all get paid last week by the smiling low life who says he is your best friend Uncle Jerry? Keep renting at MAI so you can put more money in his pocket and he can not pay you some more. Sounds like a good plan.
Comment #64 Posted By: Anonymous 11/14/09
Anonymous
Manhattan Apartments never had a sales department. They've always been a shady rental firm. They came into my home one time pitching me for a listing and it was the worst I have ever experienced. Pushy and trashy. Just like any rental firm.
Comment #65 Posted By: Anonymous 11/15/09