Matchbox Realty & Management Services Inc., harrisonburg-va

Do business at your own peril with these folks. They use predatory business practices (I received 161 line items of billing over a 12 month period), are very difficult to get on the phone to have any discussions, and do not honor the lease. I tried for months to reach the property manager, and the leadership team, but apparently the like to insulate these folks from talking to their customers, and have an entirely different team manage the return of the deposits (they too will not have any live discussions with you). After 4 months I gave up and just paid the $400, on top of the security deposit they kept. It's not worth ruining my son's credit over these jokers, and my time is way too valuable (by the way, they know this about their tenants and is why they play this game of rope a dope). When I asked them to point out in the lease where the tenant is responsible for painting of the apartment (which we made repairs and repainted ourselves, and showed them video), and power washing the outside of the property, they refused to answer my question. That's because it's in black and white its' not the tenants responsibility. There were numerous, other, very suspect billings throughout the year as well. They have a monopoly in Harrisonburg so it may be hard to avoid them, but if you can, you should. Lastly, I don't care to hear a response from Matchbox to this review, as after trying for 4 months to get a hold of them and have a discussion, for which they refused, I feel they had every chance to avoid this review. I generally only issues good reviews, and will just hold my tongue if I have a bad experience, because running a business can be difficult. However, I feel strongly they use certain strategies to take advantage of folks, and extract every last dollar from their tenants. That is their business model.

Avoid this realty company at all costs! They seem to find a way to keep your security deposit and charge you additional fees on top of it, just like so many other people have mentioned in their reviews. What’s even more frustrating is that they refuse to discuss these charges over the phone and will only communicate over email. Now, they have stopped responding to emails altogether. Definitely not the level of communication or accountability you would expect from a property management company. Unfortunately, our experience at move-out was just one of many negative encounters we had throughout our time here.

We believed we were misled by Bella @ Matchbox Realty as well as the male front office person. We had a scheduled showing with Bella at the Keezel Buidling for 4th floor studio at $1200. We were told the apartment was available and I reconfirmed this with Bella during the showing. However, the morning of the showing, the apartment was no longer showing as available on the website. Again, I asked and Bella confirmed the apartment was available for immediate move in as my daughter was moving there for work. We even verbally confirmed her dog was allowed. After the showing, my daughter completed the application, paid the $50 fee plus the required pet screening ($30) on Monday, September 28, 2026. As of today, no one from Matchbox including Bella has reached out regarding the application. They had no trouble taking the money! Now, the apartment is listed for $1320. Ridiculous for a 400 square foot apartment. The fact that the company and Bella agreed to the showing, completed the showing, and then did not respond to the completed application is just sketch business practice.

When I moved across country from Oregon, I was not familiar with Harrisonburg nor how the rental market worked in such a small city. But the team at Matchbox helped me even before I left my home nearly 3000 miles away. I provided me with details about commute times and things in the area near my house. I am grateful for their consistent attitude and accommodations. I would give them the highest recommendations. And a special shout out to Mary at Matchbox. Thank you for being a thoughtful person throughout my time in Virginia

This is my first time ever leaving a negative review. It does feel necessary to try to turn people away from the experience my roommates and I have had through matchbox. As many in these reviews have expressed, Matchbox is a dodgy, untrustworthy, and scammy agency. My roommates and I moved out a couple months ago now, after a thorough deep clean of our townhouse (in which we cleaned for about 18 hours), we have been charged for: 85 dollars worth of “lawn trash and dump fees” (despite not leaving any trash, and relocating anything to the dumpster that would not be kept), charged for light bulb and air filter replacements, a mystery 30 dollars for maintenance with no specification, 40 dollars for a mattress cleaning, and 75 dollars for a carpet cleaning (our move out procedure said to vacuum which we did). These are just a few of the charges. And finally, as I’m preparing to reluctantly pay fees that I wholeheartedly disagree with, my matchbox account has been disabled. The front desk is unresponsive midday on a Tuesday, and I suppose I am expecting the “legal action” threat from the company. Matchbox is an absolute joke, and it’s a shame that this company can gouge college students the way they do.