We moved in here about 6 months ago. We read the reviews and decided to ignore the overwhelmingly bad reviews. Big mistake. Here are the main things you need to know about this apartment:
1. You can't count on the management for anything. They wont keep records of any of your requests, they wont follow up with you even if they say they will, and reasonable maintenance requests are ignored unless you are persistent and check in with the office every few days. You can also expect the management to be rude and impatient with you, even if you're just coming in to pick up a package, which they will have a really difficult time finding. I read about the bad management in other review before we moved in and I thought it wouldn't really be a big deal to stay on top of them. Trust me, this issue alone is going to make you regret ever moving in.
2. The water is allocated. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, except that the property has some serious pipe issues under ground. Water frequently leaks into the parking lot and there are areas of lawn that are always saturated. Because the water is allocated rather than metered per unit, the total water usage for the property is divided amongst all the residents. As such, they just pass the costs of the wasted water onto you, rather than making the repairs. You can expect to pay AT LEAST $50/month on water. Trust me on this.
3. Apartments are poorly insulated. You can expect to hear the wind rushing through cracks between the doors and windows. Because of this, you'll have to choose between having a really high electric bill or being really hot in the summer. If you run the A/C in the late evening and night (and keep it off during the day while you're at work), you can expect your electric bill to be $200/month during the summer. You'll also be able to hear people going up and down the stairs. It is shockingly loud. We are on the third floor, and we can clearly hear a conversation that is going on IN THE PARKING LOT. This is not an exaggeration. Luckily our neighbors are polite and quiet, or else this would be a absolute nightmare.
4. Don't believe any promises the management makes before you sign the lease. If they tell you that the counter tops are going to be replaced after you have moved in, or if they tell you that they are in the process of upgrading all the appliances and that your future apartment is next on the list, they are lying. If you are smart, you'll get them to replace and repair everything you can before you actually sign the lease, because once the ink dries, they wont be following up with anything they said.
5. They have 2 pools, but only one is kept clean. The other one is extremely tiny and usually always dirty. They have a hot tub, but they shut it off during the summer.
6. NEVER hand your rent check to one of the employees. If you do, you run the risk of having the check lost, and then they will try to charge you a late fee. ALWAYS use the drop box for your rent check.
7. Other: Replacement or additional gate openers are $50/each, the gate is broken as often as it is working, covered parking is $25/month. Most of our neighbors are from India and are very polite and quiet. The impression I get is that management takes advantage of the fact that most of the residents are foreigners and don't understand what their rights are.
One final piece of advice. If you do find yourself in this, or any other, bad apartment, just start making all your maintenance request via certified mail with a return receipt. If it is a reasonable request and the management fails to make the repairs in 7 days, you are legally entitled to terminate your lease if you so choose. If the apartment tries to fight you on it, you can hire a lawyer. When you win, which you will if you have kept really good records, they also have to pay your legal fees.
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