Insights from Turner: How To Reduce Complaints in Communication and Financial

Two of the Einstein categories that derail otherwise high performing companies are Communication & Financial. The funny thing about these categories is that they tend to be more controllable than you might think!

This blog takes a look and what types of complaints (sub-categories) actually cause residents and prospects to leave reviews criticizing these two operational areas. All findings are for reviews over the previous twelve months to keep the takeaways as relevant as possible.

Some Background

If you struggle with either or both of these areas, you are not alone. These are two of the more frequently complained about categories in reviews, and specifically, in 1- and 2-star reviews. Moreover, as we mentioned in our 2025 recap, both of these categories are being criticized more than in years past.

While a lot of this can be traced back to consumers’ increased sensitivity to service, many of the companies we work with misunderstand where the complaints actually originate from. It is not always due to hot-button topics like centralization or a lack of fee transparency. In fact, many of the issues can be fixed with better training and accountability. It should be no surprise that there is an incredibly high correlation between companies struggling with communicating financial policies also struggling with communication in general.

Why Do I Get Communication Complaints?

For most properties, it is a lack of good accountability. The number one complaint regarding Communication is something that has been preached since the beginning of multifamily: answering phone calls and emails! While it seems so basic, unresponsiveness makes up a staggering 23.0% of all Communication complaints.

Unfortunately, this is not surprising to us at J Turner Research. We work with some companies that struggle to hold their onsite teams accountable for responding to surveys and even public-facing reviews, both of which are mediums the residents took time out of their day to provide feedback on. Companies that do not have accountability for these types of day-to-day activities unsurprisingly struggle with getting negative reviews about not responding to emails and phone calls too. If you are looking for a quick win to improve your online reputation, this is absolutely it.

Once you are consistently being responsive, there are a few other things you can do to go above and beyond:

1. Be Informed and on the Same Page: The 2^nd biggest issue for communication is the resident or prospect getting conflicting pieces of information from two different people or not being able to get direct answers on certain policies (18.2%). This is a training opportunity.
2. Be Proactive: Residents feel like you care about them and the community much more when you are giving them information before they ask. Being reactive causes complaints (17.9%).
3. Be Consistent: Like the first one on this bulleted list, make sure your ducks are in a row. No information is better than bad information and residents do not like being confused. When they don’t understand, they leave negative reviews (17.7%).

Communication and financial issues are among the most common drivers of negative reviews—but many are more controllable than operators realize. Request an Einstein Analysis to uncover the specific complaint patterns impacting your portfolio and identify where your teams can improve resident experience. 

Why Do I Get Financial Complaints?

In a similar fashion, it is easy to let headlines distract you from the very controllable, onsite items when it comes to Financial complaints. If you have attended any of the industry conferences so far (or maybe even your own leadership conferences), you have seen that one of the top two talking points is hidden fees. And yes, that is very important – 17.0% of Financial complaints reference failure to be clear on these. But that is not the full story.

The biggest reason properties get Financial complaints is because they continue to charge monthly fees when the service is not operational or bill line items in error. An incredible 29.4% of Financial complaints are not because of the fees themselves, but rather the onsite team’s delivery of how/when they charge residents for them. While many residents are frustrated by deception related to fees, almost double the amount just want management to be flexible – they would like a break on paying these fees when things like the gym or pool are unavailable and they want to be able to trust the onsite team to get billing correct.

There are two other touchpoints that we believe are very controllable to reduce complaints with Financial clarity:

1. Nail the Move-Out: 20.1% of Financial complaints are about move-out. Moving is not an everyday occurrence. Many millennials and Gen Z have maybe only done it a handful of times, and it is reasonable for them to not understand what constitutes excessive, chargeable damage versus normal wear and tear. I would strongly recommend being up-front about what you charge for at move-OUT when the resident moves-IN (before they do their move-in checklist). You can then follow up with that information at lease renewal, including pictures and meaningful descriptions at both touchpoints to reduce surprises and increase clarity. Companies we work with are quick to point the finger to the residents for “not understanding,” but plenty of properties get zero move-out complaints – it is possible.
2. Be Empathetic and Honest About Rent Increases: One of the trickiest conversations to have is forewarning residents about rent increases. However, the reality is that poor communication around rent increases drives nearly as many complaints as hidden fees (16.0%)! That is incredibly meaningful, especially knowing that these types of negative reviews actively deter prospects. We strongly recommend giving residents more time than their lease renewal window (which is sometimes as little as 30-days), to consider all options and to know about any bigger rental increases.

Conclusion

While there is nuance to every property and management company, a lot of what it takes to be good in both Communication and Financial are very controllable. It starts with remembering that we are in the business of providing homes and leading with honesty, transparency, and empathy. While there is understandably a business component to how we must operate, the relationship between staff and resident is the foundation of satisfaction.

Doing a lot of the things that we would simply do in our own lives offsite will translate to happier residents and greater leasing traffic. As Kadi Mancuso, Vice President of Leasing & Marketing at Tailwind Group once told me:

“They don’t live where we work. We work where they live.”

ABOUT THIS BLOG:

The insights in this blog came from utilizing J Turner Research’s text categorization tool, Einstein. Einstein uses Thought Analysis, a proprietary AI software, to objectively show you your operational strengths and weaknesses based on anything anyone has ever said about you online in reviews. What is being said is incredibly valuable because it is essentially the "why" behind your scores. Reviews are unprompted descriptions of why a resident is satisfied (left a high star rating) or dissatisfied (left a low star rating). This means that what is being complimented and complained about can be seen by owners and operators as drivers of satisfaction/dissatisfaction.