Soniat Realty

I have had a wonderful experience with Bonnie and everyone at Soniat Realty. Bonnie made my leasing process simple and fast - I had the keys to my new home 3 days after I signed my paperwork, which far outperforms any other property management company I have dealt with. My emails are answered incredibly promptly and professionally - every maintenance request I have submitted thus far is acknowledged in a more than reasonable amount of time. I'm so grateful to them for making my experience so wonderful!

Their skills, know-how, hands-on approach, honesty, and integrity make Soniat Realty a top-notch management company.

Mr Drew was very professional & has excellent customer service

I recently bought a beautiful brand new house, directly next to a property managed by this company. It been quite an experience. I spoke with a manager once and she was no help. NONE AT ALL. Had I known this before buying my 1st NOLA house I would have purchased elsewhere in the city. My biggest complaint is the large amounts of trash everywhere and grass that is never cut as it should be. I have tried to work with the neighbor, directly next to me to no avail. It's frustrating. We should try to be good neighbors to each other.

Very professional just wanna say thank you Lashay Turner and delerio Bailey

Look elsewhere, I have used them for a couple of years. They are always late to response and they are not proactive about property management. My tenant hasn't paid rent in months, not once did Soniat reach out to me and say anything. I have to beg and plea with them to do their job! I wouldn't recommend them for anything. It's always "let me get back to you!"

I am a landlord who has had EXCELLENT service from Soniat Realty. I dealt mostly with Andre. She is completely ethical, responsible and attentive to both the landlord and tenants. I highly RECOMMEND Soniat realty to tenants who need an apartment and landlords looking for tenants.

I've been a Soniat tenant for nine years and have have had top flight service throughout. Who else could get a cleanup crew to clear a fallen tree the day after a hurricane? Thank you, Bonnie Wattigny!

This business is horrible! Ms. Danielle is not professional. She speaks to people in a condescending manner. She doesn't fix anything and when you ask, she says that the company doesn't have the money to fix it. Ridiculous and not professional at all. I would never recommend this business to anyone looking for a house, condo etc. Black mold, the ceiling is about to fall due to when it rains, it leaks in the house and that's just the beginning.

This company is well aware of the problems and they seem to be getting over on the tenants. But, I wonder if the owners of these houses know? I am going to write reviews on every site possible. It not right and I don't want anyone to go through what I've seen her put her tenants through. This is not acceptable! It's not surprising that this company has 2 stars.

I'm a student at Loyola, I was commuting from Mississippi before the storm but I'm tired of driving that distance almost everyday so I've been looking for somewhere closer to Nola. I found a listing for an apartment that was reasonably priced near to campus. It looked nice enough in person, a little aged but good for the price. I put in an application and heard back a few weeks later from Soniat.

They wanted me to put down a security deposit before signing a lease to "hold" the apartment. This is something I've had to do before for renting so it didn't really raise any red flags in my head. They ended up delaying sending me the lease for another week until I reminded them to do so. The lease contained all kinds of crazy and predatory rules.

On their leases it states that basically any damage to the property including damage that's Soniat's fault is the responsibility of the tenant to pay for. They could come in whenever they wanted, without warning or notice. If you had any sort of legal dispute with them, you are required to pay their legal fees. I let them know I wasn't going to sign the lease unless they changed the wording and got rid of the more ridiculous clauses.

They responded with essentially telling me to eat dirt and that they'd be keeping my security deposit unless I signed the lease immediately. I ended up deciding being out $900 was better than being legally bound to them in any way. They're still refusing to refund my deposit, which is not legal. But getting it back would require me going to court, which Soniat knows most people cannot afford anyways.

If you're considering renting from Soniat: DON'T. Do not ignore the warnings of others like I did. Edit: If your goal is to "rent apartments instead of keeping deposits" like you said, you wouldn't have waited THREE WEEKS after initially approving my application to actually send me the lease. Your lease is full of ridiculous stipulations including that tenants are required to pay *your* legal fees.

You tried to coerce me into signing by threatening to keep my deposit (illegally). If anyone would like to see a copy of soniat's lease before placing a $900+ deposit, I'd be happy to provide a copy so that everyone who wants to can see the unethical and shady way that Soniat operates.

We rented an apartment through Soniat Realty for close to 4 years. (When we originally moved in the apartment was managed by Maurice Guillot, but that's neither here nor there). During our time at our apartment, the management company did little to no "managing" and effectively only collected the rent and played middle man for the property owner, causing significant delays in any repairs or communications.

They also could not seem to "manage" him, and he would come and go on the property as he pleased without giving notice to tenants. The most important thing to note is to TAKE PHOTOS and DOCUMENT the condition of your space upon move in. They will nickel and dime you out of your entire security deposit, and then charge you on top of that. On the whole, this company seems innocuos enough, but don't let that fool you. They are just as bad as some of the other slumlords around New Orleans.

I believe in transparency and with this company there is none. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact the property manager for landscaping issues I called the company to speak with the administrative team. The manager came out to the property the same day. Not to discuss the issue but to place a sticker on my truck to have it towed from the property. Blatant retaliation for reporting him as the truck was not in anyway a violation.

No call or knock on the door while he was in the area after ignoring my calls. Never the less landscaping issues which have become hazardous are still not addressed. Be careful when dealing with these people if this the way they treat paying customers. You may not want to get involved with them.

This place is pitiful for property management. NO ONE calls you back and they don't address maintenance requests. I may visit this place personally to hopefully straighten out their pathetic "management."

Anyway, I moved in, loved that apartment, I had gotten a puppy a couple months before the end of the lease. My friends visiting from out of town decided they wanted to go to Destin, so we embarked on a road trip to the beach. Literally as we were leaving Destin to come back to New Orleans, I get a phone call that my apartment had been robbed. I start freaking out because I wasn't sure if my boyfriend had left my puppy in the cage or had left him out to roam, since we were still crate training him.

Police officer inform me over the phone not to worry, he was in the cage. Great! Not Really, but just glad my pup was safe. I get home and it turned out the thieves had kicked down the door, (could have just slipped a credit card though the door and popped it open, but I digress) stolen from the apartment above us and the 2 apartments next to us. Across the street is a stone wall; a cemetery, so perfect robbery, they definitely knew what they were doing, well that's what forensics said anyway.

While I was driving back, the management company came to I guess check in and assess the damage, they ended up leaving before I got there so I don't know who it was. As I'm leaving for work the next day, a sheriff and a man approach my door and the man informs me that I have 30 days to leave, since it is the end of the lease. They are not renewing the lease. lol WHAT!?!

I just got robbed, what do you mean, no explanation, just a here you go, goodbye. I was furious & livid. So I end up calling them, they inform me that when they walked in my apartment, that b/c they had seen my dog had pooped in the cage onto the floor, tile floors btw, that they were evicting me! This is 100% what happened no info missing, these people are evil & disgusting.

So I thought I'll be evil and disgusting too, so when they called for their last month of rent I decided to tell them "I didn't know" when I would have it. So they took me court, I stupidly didn't show, to this day I kick myself for it, because I'm sure the judge would have been sympathtic and probably would have been more moral.

But anyway, I ended up just paying them the following week, b/c who cares Im getting my deposit back anyway. But I still have a $0 court action against me on my credit. Thank good I haven't had to buy anything major, but now that I currently work in real estate I know these people are scum.

I sublet a room for tenants that were moving out, and we were supposed to renew the lease for another year. Getting in touch with Bonnie Wattingy was a nightmare, and almost caused legal issue with me giving my previous landlord proper notice- as it took over a month to get the paperwork sent to me for the apartment. Upon moving, I found that the apartment was in disgusting condition, and was not clean.

There was black mold in the window units, under the kitchen sink, and the oven did not work. I scheduled a walkthrough with Bonnie (because this had not already been done), and she seemed annoyed that I wanted record of the condition of the apartment before I moved in. When they sent someone to fix the black mold in the kitchen (he painted over it), the maintenance person CAME INTO MY HOUSE IN THE MORNING WITH NO WARNING.

I was asleep in my pajamas, and they had apparently called my roommate 15 minutes before, AFTER the maintenance person had the keys and was on his way. They also scheduled a walkthrough with the owners about a month ago and were an HOUR late, making me late for work. The oven was fixed after a month, but it has been two months and there is still no AC.

The house is running about 95 degrees, and they did send someone out to examine the window units after several weeks, but have done nothing else. The A.C. experts said that the units were incredibly old and one was literally falling apart, and shooting mold and insulation into the apartment. I very clearly told Bonnie Wattingy that the window unit had mold in it that I suspected was black mold, and she pulled out the filter and said yeah, make sure you clean this filter.

While waiting on the A.C. situation to be fixed, the hot water heater went out. THEN, we received a notice on September 10th to vacate because the property was being seized for sale. They emailed it to my roommate but NOT to me, despite me giving them my contact information several times. Our lease ends on the 30th, there is no new contract, and I would not have agreed to a month to month lease whatsoever, but they are claiming that the lease automatically renews and because we did not give them 30 days notice that we were leaving (?!) That we are responsible for the entirety of the rent for October.

My roommate and I found another apartment, and when our new landlord called during the background check, Bonnie Wattingy claimed to not know we were moving, despite having drafted and signed the notice to vacate?! In over a decade of renting in New Orleans, I have never dealt with such a miserable, frustrating, unorganized company. I would advise that no one rent from them.

They do not take care of or inspect their properties, they have no respect for their customers, their safety or their health, and will attempt to manipulate you via illegal lease claims, all while refusing to make necessary repairs in your home.

I really didnt want to hit no stars! This realty company is horrible they refuse to fix anything and Bonnie is a liar and she is the worst property manager I have ever met. The people who gave her 5 stars. Bonnie must have paid them. Please do not rent from this company!

I called Bonnie's cellphone and her inbox was full. (ok not a good sign right?) I left a very detailed text message about the property that I was inquiring about_____that was just listed less than 20 hours earlier! I do not receive a return phone call, but a reply text message asking for my personal information to be sent via text message. First off, I am not sending any personal information when no in real time voice dialogue has not yet taken place with an agent yet!

Like seriously. WHAT THE (BOMB).what kind of company's representative would be so audacious to think that a prospective tenant would be so desperate for a place to rent that they would take this type of risk.especially with these renting scams going on? I actually called her and she was out of breath "washing her car" She told me she'll call me back___no call back___I called her back____no answer_____I texted her____no response. Is this some type of mafia business only used for money laundering?

This can't be a legitimate company conducting business like this.can't be. I am very suspicious and uneasy now, and I loved the house. Too bad, but thank goodness I didn't give my personal information to these agent ghosts.

This realty group has been fabulous! Our realtor went out of her way to swiftly get us approved, and was with us every step of the way. *be prepared, there is A LOT of info you have to give. It was like buying a dang house* Our landlord came and met us personally for a sit down and made us feel so much more comfortable, unlike most management companies where you never meet the owner.

We had issues with the deposit because we have two dogs, so they split it up for us over three months to ease the pain. Our manager John Taylor has ALWAYS returned calls and texts the same day. When our heater went out, he had someone there in two hours and the heater was replaced the next day. Our upstairs neighbor (we live in an updated duplex) had problems with her water and doorbell, and he was there the same day and fixed the problem.

On New Years Day our pipes froze and he personally came out and thawed them for us. We also love being able to pay rent immediately online, with only a one dollar fee for using your bank account. It's so much more convenient (and less stressful) than getting a money order and delivering it in person, as I bike everywhere. All in all, I would highly recommend Soniat to anyone in the market. We don't plan on moving anytime soon!

I am truly NOT a fan of Soniat Realty. Members of their staff treated my wife and I with utter disrespect and I'm glad that we aren't dealing with them anymore. We rented one of their apartments in Mid-City and after signing the lease, handing over deposit and first month's rent, and moving some coats and vinyl records in.we found out that the building was infested with roaches.

This was no light problem. These roaches were out during the day. When my wife and I arrived one day, they were all in our coats, all over my records, and had laid their eggs in the closets. I immediately called the property manager (who totally ignored my wife when she tried to talk to him first.) He downplayed the issue and even accused us of bringing them into the building.

How disrespectful and unprofessional. Since we had just signed the lease and only moved a few items in, we wanted out of the lease. If they had been honest with us about the problem we might have been able to make a better decision. The long of the short, they kept the security deposit AND the first month's rent.a value of $1,900. I understand taking the deposit, but the first month of rent as well?

We hadn't even slept there one night. The property manager, Mike, told me that it was an addendum to the lease. Sounds like a scam to me. Through all of this, NO ONE even apologized for deceiving us or for the disrespect that my wife endured. She did not deserve to be ignored. She has not slept and is traumatized as a result of this and I am out of $1,900 that I really didn't have to begin with.

Moral to the story.if you are going to rent with Soniat (which I don't advise) make sure you ask them if the building is infested, has ever been infested, has been sprayed, etc. If they will be honest with you (which they probably won't) I still wouldn't rent with them.

They were exceptional in many ways. They are prompt to answer phone calls and emails. They are straight forward about what the property needs in order to show. All paperwork was meticulously executed and they found a qualified tenant in just a couple of weeks. We cannot say enough about our great experience with Soniat Realty.

Before I moved into my apartment (managed by Soniat) I was a landlady with three rentals. Knowing how much work goes into managing repairs and tenants, I have been very impressed with the property management at Soniat. I have had an excellent experience with Bonnie. I live in one of the Dante street apartments, and since the day I moved in, Bonnie has been nothing but responsive and responsible when something needs to be fixed. She is always professional, and has made me feel welcome to let her know what I need.

My husband and I rented a home in mid city for a little over a year. Our property manager was Mike. He was always rude in his tone when speaking over the phone. It took him over 2 months to get our refrigerator fixed. (We lost 100's of dollars in food). The place was VERY dirty when we first moved in. Dead bugs in the kitchen. It wasn't professionally cleaned after the previous family moved out.

When we put in our plan to vacate notice 30 days prior to moving, Mike never called to schedule a walk thru. I cleaned that house top to bottom. Scrubbed EVERYTHING. I left it looking better than when we moved in! Well Mike sent me only half of my deposit back because of paint and floors. Which is normal wear and tear. There were no wholes or missing paint. It was touch up, at best. Out of $1050 deposit he gave me $425. I called for him to explain and never heard back. The rent was cheap but do was the manager so.

I've been yelping for years now, and here goes my FIRST one star review! Too bad there wasn't an option for no stars. This was my boyfriend and I's first time renting out a house in New Orleans and unfortunately it was the most unpleasant experience ever! We moved in in February, and things were fine and dandy until those excruciatingly hot summer months came around.

Our house had no insulation whatsoever, which meant that the air conditioning was constantly running and unable to cool our house. That then turned into ridiculously high electricity bills, even WITH level billing. Our house literally got up to 90 degrees one day! If we were senior citizens, that would not have been safe whatsoever, but we do have a dog and the poor thing had to endure that heat with us!

We sent our realtor, Bonnie, a picture of the thermostat reading 90 degrees, and she had the nerve to say "It's hot outside." WTF! No sh!t Sherlock, but we don't expect it to be as hot inside the house when we're paying an insurmountable amount each month for electricity that's not even cooling the house. We notified Bonnie of this issue several times.

She attempted to rectify the problem by sending service men over to the house, but there was nothing they could do to fix it. The landlord refused to install an indoor AC unit for us, and also refused to insulate the house. It came to the point where they made us feel like we were the burden for letting them know about all of the inadequacies and issues with the house.

Another thing to add, we have had issues with the dryer from the moment we moved in and the issue was never fixed during our stay there. They are the epitome of what bad customer service is. 6 months later, we got completely fed up with our situation and got the help of the lawyer to get us out of our lease with our deposit back. When we did receive our deposit, it was about HALF of what we should have gotten.

They charged us huge cleaning fees, and also for things that weren't true! They said that there was a knob missing on the stove and charged us $75 for that. Who in the world would steal a knob on a stove?!?! We could have gotten our lawyer to take care of the situation, but decided to take the high road and move on from such a horrible experience.

On the plus side, this gave us the opportunity to live at Rice Mill Lofts with the BEST customer service anyone could ask for. So I guess you can say this experience was a blessing in disguise, which led us to an amazing situation elsewhere. Other than that, BEWARE OF THIS REALTY COMPANY! The absolute WORST!

I truly wish that Yelp allowed ZERO stars, because this is exactly what I would rate my experience with Soniat. BONNIE WHITTINGLY is the most unprofessional, demeaning witch that I have ever had the displeasure of knowing and doing business with. One would think that customer service is of great importance in the property management/realty field. NO. NOT HERE!

What you will get for asking about updates on repairs and maintenance needed on a house is an attitude. This is to the extent of which you feel like a burden for bothering her and the company. My house that was rented for 5 excruciating months got up to 90 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT in the last week of July. When I informed Bonnie Whitingly of this, she went to tell me that her house was hot as well, and that the owner has made many repairs on the property so nothing could be done.

No window unit, no insulation, NOTHING! I literally had to get my attorney to write a serious letter to the company stating that the home at 815 Dante St. Is UNFIT to live in because of the AC not being able to cool the house adequately. This is what it took to get out of the lease. Be aware! They will also nickel and dime you upon move out in order to take some of your deposit back!

I rented an apartment in the Irish Channel through Soniat Realty this past year and they were very responsive to any and all needs that cropped up during my time here. When the freezer stopped working they sent some guys over with a whole new fridge the next day! When the new dryer unit needed a different hook-up than expected, an electrician came by later that afternoon to investigate and fix the problem. Thanks John and the rest of the team!

My husband and I rented a place through Soniat for a year and a half. We were always very well taken care of. When we needed something fixed, they were prompt. We also signed a two year lease, but found ourselves in a situation where we needed to vacate earlier. Bill worked with us and the whole process was painless. We took care of the property and we were refunded our entire deposit in a very timely manner. I have no complaints and would rent through this agency again.

We have been renting a Soniat Realty property for almost six years. We have found Bonnie W. extremely easy to work with and reach whenever we needed. She is very helpful and flexible whenever we need to schedule a meeting and/or property inspection. Because our experience with Bonnie has been so good, whenever I have a friend that has asked me about rentals in the area, I refer them to Bonnie for assistance!

Sigh. My every interaction with Soniat plays out the same way, and it's happened 4 or 5 times. Imagine this is a radio script as you sip your cocktail and peruse Yelp in the comfort of a fabulous bar. SUZANNE: ::sees a "For Rent" sign on a good looking property:: SUZANNE: I should call about that place! It looks great! I wonder how much it rents for.? SUZANNE: ::calls Soniat Realty:: Hello? RECEPTIONIST: HI!

Thank you for calling Soniat Realty. SUZANNE: I have some questions about the property for rent at 321 Countdown St. Can you tell me how big it is, and how much the monthly rent is? RECEPTIONIST: Sure! It's [a great price] per month, and the apartment is [an ideal size]. Would you like to be connected to the agent that represents that property to talk about it more? SUZANNE: I would love that.

Thank you! RECEPTIONIST: Please hold! ::connects me:: AGENT: ::doesn't answer phone:: Thank you for calling Agent X. Voicemail full. or AGENT: What do you want? I'm busy. or AGENT: What property? I have no idea what you're talking about. Why are you calling me? AND SCENE! At no point has an agent from Soniat actually talked to me, nor have they followed up on my rental requests.

I have some theories, but they aren't very flattering. Is it incompetence on the part of the agent? Racism (which is assumed based on the neighborhood I'm calling about)? Classism? Poor relationship between the agent and agency? No idea, but I'm sick of it. No more attempts at renting a Soniat property for me. If they can't manage to get me in a rental property, how can they manage to respond to my requests for a fix as a tenant?

I've lived in a Soniat Realty apartment for about 3 months now. I was nervous at first because I've rented from other large realty companies before with terrible outcomes. Soniat has been a much different story. From the beginning, I met with a helpful and prompt agent who was very accommodating. She introduced me to some of the staff at the main office as well as John the property manager for my building.

He's been great and communicating has not been an issue. I had a few requests and repairs that needed to be done before moving in and they were taken care of immediately. Overall I've had a great experience and it doesn't feel like I'm renting from a large company. They feel much smaller and more personal.

Soniat has done a good job in managing my portfolio of property and keeping me informed of maintenance needs.