Apple Property Management - Seattle, Washington

Garrett K.

‘Shameless, exceedingly dishonest, ethically-bankrupt con woman’ is too kind of a description for Lisa Dankers, owner of Apple Property Management. Lisa proclaims herself to be ‘Seattle’s neighborhood specialist’ — I’d counter that she’s a despicable scourge to the city of Seattle and a complete embarrassment to herself.

My experience with Apple Property Management is as someone who inherited property that APM had been ‘managing’ for more than 10 years. Lisa Dankers/APM took advantage of my vulnerable grandmother for years, betraying her trust and doing her best to deplete her resources, all the while making my grandmother believe that she was a friend.

Apple Property Management left my grandmother’s rental properties (and tenants!) in a severely neglected condition. Since having Lisa Dankers removed from managing the property I inherited (a triplex), I have been told horror stories from tenants with limited resources and options who suffered years of Lisa’s lies and trickery. I have seen myself the deplorable state she left the property in (see photos below), failing to have basic maintenance done for years even though the neglected repairs created safety risks for tenants and depreciated the value of the property. Is this not the definition of a slumlord?

Upon my grandmother’s death, Lisa Dankers did everything she could to avoid and delay providing information and documents in hopes of continuing to draw her management fees. Eventually, legal action had to be threatened. Lisa’s suspiciously uncooperative actions, paired with her litany of increasingly ridiculous excuses for her lack of professionalism and basic follow-thru, finally convinced my grandmother’s fiduciary trust company to recommend she be terminated long before the estate was even closed.

Lisa Dankers claims to have “staff that handles departments within the company” (untrue) as a way to deflect any accountability. From what I know, she is the sole staff member of Apple Property Management and works with a number of shady, unreliable sub-contractors. I also suspect that it is Lisa herself who pretends to be her own assistant responding to negative online reviews. Her sloppy grammar, spelling, and punctuation betray her.

I do not post this review as ‘revenge’ or as an attempt to seek justice, but rather to do what I can to warn others away from the headaches and problems that come from dealing with this corrupt woman. This woman and her company are a mess. As others who have unfortunately had direct experience with Apple Property Management and Lisa Dankers have stated in other reviews, steer clear and avoid at all costs!

Srdjan G.

Have been renting with APM for more than a year now and have had a positive experience. Lisa has gotten every maintenance item taken care of within a reasonable timeframe and the online payment system is easy to use.

Rusty O.

Apple property management is, based on my experience. Criminal.
I put a huge deposit down on a property. Got the keys, took in my first couple boxes and sat down. This was the first time I had sat in the house for a couple minutes, my previous visit was a walk through.
Two of my friends were with me. All three of us started getting attacked by fleas! Which was gross. Dozens of them jumping on our legs and biting.
This was absolutely nuts.
We ran outside and went "ick" for a while.
I had just put down a huge deposit but there was no way whatsoever I was going to live there, or bring my cats over to an infested house.

I had a suspicion that they would not give the deposit back in full without proof.

I called an exterminator and explained the problem. I needed to prove that there was a flea infestation, and that we were not responsible for it.

Easy enough, said our exterminator.
He laid out traps, these instantly caught fleas.

The way the flea life-cycle and biology work made it absolutely incontrovertably clear that we did not bring the fleas over.

Which was clear to me as my pets did not have fleas and had not been on the property, but the goal was to be able to prove it to apple Property Management.

The tech explained that the fleas he found don't normally go for humans. They have to be very hungry to do so. They prefer animals. So for the fleas to bite us, they had to be hungry, meaning they had not had access to an animal or a human for a while.

I had the tech write up this explanation. So we had an expert provide documentation that we were not responsible for the fleas and wanted the deposit back in full.

It was Lisa Dankers that we dealt with. The company refused to return the full deposit, which they had had for a total of two days.

I got half my money back, and only got that by being persistent.

This is company is dishonest and criminal. You want nothing to do with them.

At every opportunity I will warn people to avoid this company.

They will rent you some vermin-infested hell hole.

Lisa Dankers knows exactly who I am. She stole half my deposit for the Tukwilla property that was supplied in an unlivable condition and gave me a check for the remainder.

She saw all the documents from the exterminator I hired. I was in the office several times and we have met.

Lisa is not trustworthy. Other reviews here support the same conclusion

My name is attached to this post and I would be putting myself in legal jeopardy if what I assert here we're not provable in court. I have all the emails and my bank statements.

I made it very clear to Lisa that her actions were criminal and unacceptable.

I am warning other people away from doing any business with Apple property management based on my experiences there

They should not be permitted to do business.

She will respond to this with more falsehood, misdirection and probably some religious sounding nonsense will attempt to feign innocence while protesting ignorance of the situation.

Just like any petty thief.

This is not a place you can trust. Avoid at all cost.

Greg N.

Lisa Dankers lied to my face and screwed me in court 9 years ago. She knew what she was doing and she knew how to play the court system against an unsuspecting renter who had no reason to be knowledgeable in the landlord tenant justice system (hint: never sign the check for partial payment) Why do you suppose she knows the system so well? (I’ll let you do the math. But seriously, it’s because she has so much experience being taken to court because she’s a grifter).

Did I mention that I’m still holding on to this after _9 years_ ? Am I doing that to cover my tracks because I was lying? Or is it because 9 years later I’m STILL shocked that someone would be as shady and dishonest as Lisa Dankers. I’ll let you decide. I grew up with parents that had rental houses. I know what’s shady and what’s not. I’m not quick to blame landlords for things that aren’t their fault. But Lisa Dankers is an absolute criminal and I know she knows this and I can see from the ongoing current comments this has not changed her approach in the last entire decade. I honestly don’t understand how this woman is still running a functional business, let alone not in jail by now.

Lisa. You know you’re a terrible person you know it. But you don’t care, do you?

It should be noted that Lisa always seems to respond to negative reviews with some sort of question so as to suggest she is trying to fix a problem. You can’t respond to the her questions on here so how could that be helping? She’s just putting up a front of giving a damn. She doesn’t. She makes her profits by unjustly taking your deposit.

You may also notice that for the last ten years she always says “we try every day to be better”. Bit in 10 years the reviews haven’t improved. So do you try to be better Lisa? Do you really?

Oleg M.

I dealt with them a few years back when I moved to Seattle. The agent with whom I worked (Lynn) was manipulative and disrespectful of my time. She wanted me to pay the deposit and the first month rent before letting me read the lease agreement! I am glad I insisted on reading it first. The agreement was making me responsible for weekly cleaning of every corner of the property. I was even made responsible for caulk and grout in the bathroom. Not sure if it was their standard agreement or property owner specific, but it was clear after reading it that I would have to fight hard to get my deposit back.

Corey T.

Lisa Dankers hired my home improvement company to work on a building that she’s currently managing. After the work was complete, it took her 7 hrs to respond to my phone calls and text messages. She paid from a personal account that would only send payments to recipients who have the same bank. I advised her that she needed to contact her bank, reverse the charge and send it to me correctly. 38hrs passed by before she told me, it’s my fault that I hadn't received the payment. This review is the 1st steps taken to get paid for the work that my company provided. I wouldn’t trust this lady.,

Jeanne C.

I moved out of an APM managed property in April and have not yet received my rental deposit 5 months later despite being told at the walkthrough in May that it would be fully returned and would be sent shortly. I have since called, emailed, and texted and have been ignored by both Lisa Dankers and Sam Dankers. Several housemates are having the same experience. Do not recommend!

Tip: By City of Seattle code 7.24.04- if APM does not provide a maintenance checklist when you move in, signed by you and by one of them, they are NOT allowed to collect a damage deposit. DO NOT pay it unless APM does a walkthrough or checklist with you!

Tip #2: By RCW 59.18.280, if a property manager takes more than 21 days to return your deposit, a court may order them to pay you back double the deposit.

@APM- I welcome my deposit any time to avoid legal action.

Linh N.

Similar to previous posts, APM does not provide professional business practices to their tenants. It has also been past the 21 day mark for the deposit refund for the property I rented from and per WA law, they forfeit the right to taking the deposit. There have been numerous times where there was a lack of communication and inability to reach Lisa. It seems she only responds when it’s convenient for her and the situation is convenient. There is no real or genuine ownership of unprofessional behavior and business practice. There have been a number of occasions where her office worker Natalie has been rude and does not provide appropriate explanation when concerns are brought up. As anyone can see in previous comments and how APM responds, it does not seem to me they really care about customer service nor are they taking ownership of the multiple similar accusations against them. My roommate and I have been patient with Lisa and her team and have been understanding of the multiple situations where communication was lackluster. This is supposed to be a professional business and it does not seem APM can manage their end of the bargain. I am currently still waiting for my deposit and have multiple documentations and proof of conversation for how lackluster their communication has been. Like other posts have mentions, I would not rent from APM.