Preferred Rental

"I can't recommend more highly the services provided by Preferred Rental. As both an owner looking to rent my property and as a prospective tenant looking to rent a property for a family member, Preferred Rental has been attentive, thorough, responsive and professional. It is a tough market in Santa Barbara and there are some bad actors. Preferred Rental are the good guys. They are at the top of their game."

"Horrible customer service. The way they treat the tenants is unacceptable. Ignore calls, do not appear in the office even though it says open in the google. No answer on emails either."

"Terrible service and a complete waste of money. I was in urgent need of housing for work, exhausted all my options, and felt I needed "professional help" so I turned to Preferred Rentals. They did no better than I could've done in searching for housing, sending me Craiglists links that I had already seen in my own search for housing. Not only were they properties I had looked at but they were also completely out of price range despite making my budget very clear. Eventually they found an apartment that I decided to settle on because I had no other options. This was a huge mistake. Leah, one of the owners of Preferred Rentals, claims in her bio that she "enjoys building relationships with landlords" and "linking prospective tenants to properties they will call home" meanwhile she had never even met the landlord I have and never even stepped on the property she was advertising. I was and still am super unhappy with my landlord and the apartment that Preferred Rentals recommended. Leah stopped responding to calls or any form of contact after I moved in. I lost all respect after this. She clearly abuses her family connection and "owner" status of Preferred Rentals to appear as if she has any experience with helping prospective tenants find a home. Preferred Rentals is completely useless and robs you of your money. Once you've signed a rental agreement and they have received their payment, they'll abandon you. I don't recommend this company whatsoever, steer clear and save your money and the misery. I would give a zero star if I could."

"I was hesitant to sign up for the $30 PDF service during this COVID-19 time, however there was a note on their sample rental list stating how they were continuing to provide updated listings, just at a limited capacity. One month later and they have only released ONE updated listing. Today is April 29 and their "current" rental guide is dated April 3. I've called, e-mailed and submitted request forms for additional communication and even a refund. Nothing, no response. I noticed they're still posting listings on Craigslist, but no updated sheet. Incredibly frustrating as every other small business has been great in communicating and adapting during these challenging times. I have some patience, but to have no response and no acknowledgment is rude. If you aren't able to operate during this time, simply close and put a note on your website. 10/10 would NOT recommend at ANY time."

"No stars for this company. We listed an immaculate 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath condo with them in June and honored their exclusive contract for the next three months while they searched for a tenant. Finally, in Sept. -- with the place still vacant and no prospect of a signed lease -- we terminated the agreement. Even with a local vacancy rate of 3% this company couldn't deliver. The next day we hired a more motivated real estate agent who held one open house and found well qualified tenants for us within the week. Given our experience, we wouldn't recommend Preferred for other landlords. They no longer seem to have a client base beyond the cold callers who respond to their Craigslist ads. Their open-ended contract gives them no incentive to perform by any reasonable deadline, but they'll still collect their fee."