It seems their google reviews are stuffed with suspect 5 star reviews. The following review says it all - “I'm being bribed by offer of free coffee, oh well. I LOVE YOU, HALES.” I typically just use Google Reviews to reward great service/business, Hales is the only exception I will make for a bad review because they are just that terrible. Initially I thought Hales was just highly incompetent, which they are, but they are also deceitful and the last people I want managing my HOA funds. Our needs were very basic, small building management with automated payments and an occasional special assessment. Paying the flat rate they charge just wasn’t enough for Hales and they were pulling excessive charges left and right. If you are looking for reliable, (even somewhat) honest property management, then I advise you look elsewhere. If you are currently using Hales, take a close look at your accounting. I see Keith comes on here and knocks down the bad reviews, accusing negative reviewers of being competitors; par for the course with Keith. I am a former condo owner under Hales management and am happy to forward my correspondence with Keith/Hales if he questions the validity of my review.

If anyone is seeking a management company; please, by all means, look elsewhere! There are many reasons that constitute carelessness of this self-centered company. Steve Walter, a manager of the company, bought unit 5C at Casa Bonita, in April; 2014.During that time, Walter was working by himself with the pipes. As a result of his carelessness, Walter broke one of the water pipes. Because of the breakage, water leaked and rained down to my unit, 5A, Repeatedly, Walter, Manager(HPM) and Owner 5c, has been asked to repair the damages of his carelessness to my unit, 5A. Three months ago 5B water pipe was broken and 5b Owner ready to fix the ceiling we have an appoint 3 weeks ago .But Steve Walter Manager (HPM) stop them doing the job and email me from his Attorney that I,m not giving them access to the unit 5a Big Lie By far, this is the most narcissistic, egotistical, and self-absorbed “management” company. Their “management,” it seems, is done through the selfishness and blindness of not repairing, as well as the inability to take responsibility and ownership of their problems. This is the worst company in Chicago; as well as nationally, if existent elsewhere! Today is 10/01/2015

Hales Property Management is literally the shadiest and worst company I've ever had to deal with. The owner, Keith, and his company consistently pulled exorbitant charges from our budget and were incompetent when it came to managing our projects. We moved into our 6-unit condo building in mid-2013, which was already being managed by Hales. When we started digging into the budgets, we noticed there were multiple checks that Hales was writing to themselves coming from our account that they were "managing". When we asked them what these clandestine charges entailed, everything we were told was ridiculous. We were consistently being charged $300/yr for "stamps, envelopes and copies" in an age where everything is paid online and I cannot recall having one copy or piece of mail sent to us. We were also being charged $250 for "snow salt" (a quick online check showed that a A 50 lb bag of rock salt that would last any building an entire season is $7.77), on top of the hourly fee that we paid for snow removal. Additionally, Hales wrote themselves an $891 check for "renegotiating" our insurance policy. Negotiating our yearly policy was clearly something that was in our contract and part of what we paid them a monthly fee to do, so the fact that they took it upon themselves to pay themselves another $891 is absurd and immoral. These are just some of the examples of them taking money from us, but the list goes on-and-on. In addition to all the money that Hales was taking from us, they would also raise their annual management fee 10% every year without making that clear to the Board. In 2014, we raised our annual HOA fees 7.5% to account for inflation in the market, but didn't realize Hales had increased their monthly payment by 10%, so all of our incremental money that we were supposed to use to pay bills and build up our reserves went to them. Hales did not help us deposit one dollar into our Reserves in over 2.5 years of working with them since they basically use every last penny of your budget by writing themselves checks for erroneous charges. So while they might appear cheaper than their competitors, they certainly won't be when you realize that each year they raise their fee by 10% or more and they are gradually taking thousands of dollars from you over the course of your contract. Since cutting ties with Hales in July, our HOA has already saved over two thousand dollars in less than three months. We've also negotiated lower pricing on some of our monthly services, which is laughable since you would think that favorable pricing would be the one thing that having a property management company would for sure get you. I'm sure Keith will comment on this post with some lame excuse or accusatory statement, but just know that he is full of it. Whatever you do, stay clear of this company. You will be happy you did.

Hales Property Management is one of the premier property management companies in Chicago. They have a professional staff that is responsive, friendly, and knowledgeable in all facets of the industry. Keith, Barbara and Mary Lou are awesome! As the President of a 56 unit condo building in West Town, Hales has helped us to 1) streamline our records and accounting procedures, 2) bring us into compliance with city codes and state statutes, 3) introduce us to a wide network of contractors and vendors 4) install a security system and 5) greatly improve the appearance and feel of the building. They are not the cheapest management co. around, but worth the the investment. I recommend Hales Property Management to any condo association or rental property owner.

I came to here to give an honest review of Hales Property Management (not good) however as soon as I got to the site I noticed that there are about 20 reviews all 5 star and all in the last 3 weeks. This is so obviously phony. This does not surprise me at all, WHAT A SHAM!. The service and promises that we received from Hales were absolutely false. I am not the only one our board that is under happy with these guys and we are working to find a new management company ASAP. They promise it all and do not deliver. Hales never has any idea what’s going on, there seems to be unusually high turnover and I never hear back! So no, these fake reviews do not surprise me at all. Just look at George R’s review “I'm being bribed by offer of free coffee, oh well. I LOVE YOU, HALES”. What an absolute joke. Need I say more?