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An updated rental service do-not-call list

Lakeshore East and Streeterville, Chicago IL

Note: See the 2014 version of the do-not-call list. This version of the list is out of date.

New renters in Chicago are often confused or misled by Craigslist ads into believing that they’re contacting a landlord or management company when they respond to an ad by one of the many apartment locators / finders / rental services.

Many of the rental service ads on Craigslist are for non-existent apartments or apartments only available at a higher or lower price. When an ad does represent an actual apartment, it’s likely to be advertised repeatedly by scores of rental services, none of whom have any control over the property or knowledge of whether it’s still available for rent.

The apartment locators advertise their service as “free,” and that’s an appealing argument to renters naive enough to believe that they’re not ultimately paying the one month’s rent they receive as a commission.

Finding a good apartment in Chicago is relatively easy – unless you’re using a locator service to find one. In that case, you’ll often be shown the difficult-to-rent dogs that landlords can’t rent on their own. As a bonus, you’ll be pressured into believing that these leftovers are the best available or steered into neighborhoods you’d rather avoid.

If you’re looking to rent along Chicago’s lakefront, YoChicago’s at-a-glance apartment lists make it easy to see what’s available from all the major buildings and management companies. Searching the MLS at a reputable broker site and walking around your preferred area on the lookout for rental signs will expose you to almost everything else.

An earlier version of this rental service do-not call list generated a lot of comments before comments were closed.

If Craigslist is your preferred source, we’ve prepared an updated list of the rental services / locators / finders you should avoid, and a list of the twenty-five things rental services won’t tell you.

  • Access Chicago Realty
  • American Realty / American Realty Pros
  • Apartment and Condo Center
  • Apartment and Home Seekers
  • Apartment Connection
  • Apartment Friendly
  • Apartment Group, The
  • Apartment Guys
  • Apartment Locators
  • Apartment People
  • Apartment Savvy
  • Apartment Source
  • Apartment Vigilantes
  • Apartments in Chicago
  • Blue City
  • Buzzer Real Estate
  • Chicago Apartment Finders
  • Chicago Apartment Hunters, Inc.
  • Chicago Apartment Renters
  • Chicago Apartment Seekers
  • Chicago Apartment Solutions
  • Chicago Real Estate Services
  • Chicago Rent Finders
  • Chicago Signature Properties
  • Chicagoland Property Group
  • Chicagoland Rentals a/k/a Meyers Group
  • Chicago’s Property Shop
  • ChiLife Realty
  • Chicago’s Property Shop
  • Chicago Residential Experts
  • Ciddy of Chicago
  • Continuum Brokers
  • Core Luxury Real Estate / Core Group
  • Crazy Steve
  • Downtown Apartment Company
  • Downtown Apartment Finders
  • Dream Spots
  • Dwell Chicago Rentals
  • Elan Leasing
  • Exchange Apartment Finders
  • Fulton Grace Realty
  • GoldMark Realty
  • Green Ivy Realty
  • Homescout
  • Homestead Group
  • HotSpot Rentals
  • HP Realty
  • Hybrid Realty
  • iMove Chicago
  • Just Rent Chicago
  • Kale Realty
  • Lakeside Living
  • Linear Realty a/k/a Linear Leasing
  • Live Here Chicago
  • Live Well Chicago Realty
  • Loop Apartments
  • Luxury Living Chicago
  • Meyers Group a/k/a Chicagoland Rentals
  • My Chicago Flats
  • My Place Apartments
  • My Town Realty
  • New City Rentals
  • New Urban Property Services
  • Open Path Realty
  • Premier Chicago Rentals
  • Prospect Equities
  • Quantum Apartments
  • Real rentals
  • Red Door Realty
  • Rent Apartment Leasing
  • Rent Here Chicago
  • Rent Here Realty
  • Rent Proactive
  • The Rent Pros
  • Rent Smart
  • Renters Refuge
  • Rentology
  • Second City Apartments
  • Shaw Real Estate Group
  • Spaces Property Group
  • State Street Properties
  • T-Rock Enterprises
  • Tricap
  • Trudo Realty
  • Urban Lux
  • Vesta Preferred Realty
  • VibeRent Real Estate
  • We Know Realty Corp
  • X Plus Real Estate

New rental services are constantly being spawned, so we’ve doubtless missed some. Add a comment to help us update the list.

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