Efficient Property Assistants

****edited to respond to owners comment****I do not recommend renting from or hiring Efficient Property Assistants if you care about your privacy or property. Laura Atherton is not licensed as a property manager in Alberta and continues to provide property management services after formal warnings from RECA.Efficient property assistants was hired to manage the home I rented for 5 years in 2021 due to a bad basement tenant. At first Laura seemed nice when I met her with the home owner, however things took a turn rather quickly. When Laura notified me my rent would be increasing by $300/month (she can not legally negotiate or collect rent, she does not own the home and is not licensed as a property manager) I was reasonably upset and cried softly on the phone. I am a single mom with a special needs child and this was as we were entering another lock down. Laura thought it was appropriate to first laugh at me crying, and then when I said I have anxiety she scoffed and replied “I don’t know why your upset over a few hundred dollars”. When I said a few hundred dollars is my groceries for the month she accused me of yelling and threatened to hang up on me. She didn’t know at the time that I had started recording our phone call (one party consent). As soon as I said I’m not yelling and I’m recording this conversation to prove it she hastily ended the conversation and hung up on me. After this interaction I asked the home owner to serve me a legal notice of rent increase, as Laura’s letter was not properly filled out or legal, to which they obliged. Shortly after this Laura proceeded to enter my suite with no notice at all, while I was at work. I had installed a camera at my front entrance for security to which she was aware, however Laura told her staff member to enter from the back shared entrance to avoid this camera. Luckily for me she also had the city of Calgary attend this viewing via FaceTime so I was able to obtain an official record of this entry. No notice was given at all. I strongly urge anyone dealing with Laura to contact RECA and put in a formal complaint if you feel something is not right. She has been reported previously so she will be fined $10,000 per instance of unlicensed activity. If anyone would like advice or a copy of this report and/or the recorded phone call you are welcome to email me and I would be happy to provide it to you. Shameful behaviour from a human being, let alone a business owner.Landlords beware, this could potentially land you in some serious trouble. It’s your responsibility to ensure the party you hired is properly licenced to operate on your behalf.***** edited response*****Laura was only hired in 2021 by my landlord, not a number of years ago as she suggests. RECA gave her a formal warning to cease and desist unlicensed activity, that is not the same as concluding an investigation with no wrong doing. Your response to my review just shows how you will lie to cover up your activity. You continue to negotiate rent costs and sign leases for homes you do not own, this was confirmed to me by a current tenant of yours as well. The fact that you didn’t address your entry with no notice in your cover up comment is hilarious. Good luck to anyone who rents from Laura.

I have used Efficient Property Assistants for over ten years to help me to manage my properties. Prior to that, I relied on a number of other people/companies to perform similar work. From my experience, EPA has been the best. They have always been reliable, reasonable and responsive. Not only have they have given me advice on managing my relationship with my tenants but they have also overseen the maintenance of my properties. Some of the maintenance was small and some of it was larger in scope including the legalization of my secondary suite. Although the legalization took longer than I expected it was reasonable considering that it was done during COVID and a lot of the delays had to do with the City having to deal with a backlog of inspections. But in the end, I was happy with the suite legalization that EPA did for me.

Working with Laura and her team has been exceptional to date. The assistance I have received, especially on the legalization of my suite, was very professional and covered all the areas I originally had concerns in.Overall, timeliness, pricing, communication and overall service have all exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend Laura and her team to anyone seeking support in the property assistance space.

My boyfriend and I put down a $500 deposit to show interest in a place that Laura atherton was advertising, but we ended up deciding not to rent it because it was too far from my new job. Laura then proceeded to steal our $500 and ignore us when we asked (multiple times) for it to be returned. Times are tough for everyone, and being a young adult just starting life, it’s baffling to me that she would cheat us like that.

Laura is absolutely incredible at what she does!!! From the moment I reached out about one of their properties over a year ago, I have been treated with nothing but respect and compassion. My entire experience with Efficient Property Assistants has truly been exceptional. Being a younger tenant, Laura and her team have taken the time to patiently explain every part of the rental process (from move in to move out) with kindness and understanding, and have repeatedly gone out of their way to make sure my experience was a positive one.I have heard horror stories about similar third-party services “disappearing” after signing the lease, but I can assure you this is not the case with Laura and her team. From our initial communication, to the fast and efficient maintenance, to going the extra mile to accommodate my preferred move-out date and even stepping up to advocate on my behalf to the condo board to get a key fob replaced, Laura truly walks the walk when it comes to a seamless rental experience.Thank you, thank you, thank you Efficient Property Assistants, and special shout-out to Laura for everything she has done to make my tenancy a memorable one for all the right reasons!!

If you are looking for responsible and kind people to rent from, look no further than EPA. They are always quick to reply with any issues we may face, and like me they value long term relationships with their clients. Laura is someone who understand the perils of trying to rent with pets & as such, she advocated for our pets on our behalf. I cannot thank her & her staff for all the hard work they do. Thank you EPA!

I have rented from EPA for awhile (8-9-10years) but have never posted a review before forgetful, busy ect. Really good people, flexible, fair and they care. They are there when you need them, but are not intrusive. Best landlords I've ever had and I'm old

I used Laura's services for legalizing my basement suites on 2 of my properties in Calgary. I didn't lift a finger besides pay for her services. It was all completed in an acceptable time frame and increased my home values HUGE! Laura took care of everything, kept me in the loop on everything and got it done! Thanks a million Laura!!

Big shout out to Laura with the pet friendly rentals!! Not only did she help me out in finding a place to live but a place to call home with my 2 girls (dogs) who love the yard and space we have! Thanks again Laura! Also just wanna say how she took the time to know who I am and made sure I was safe till my new home was ready! Thanks so much it means so much to my lil family!

My girlfriend and I moved from Victoria to Calgary back in May. Laura was very pleasant and helpful during the whole process. A great property management team. 5 stars for sure