Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  11/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  At the end of June, the apartment building I live in raised its rent prices by over $700 with notifying me of the effective date or that it was going to happen. I did not renew my lease because I planned to move, but they didnt inform me of the raise in price. I only knew about it when I went to check how much I owed in rent for the month of July. I notified the property manager by email that I plan to vacate my unit on the 16th of September. I sent this email on the 12th of July. The property manager informed me that my notice was received and that my resident account was updated. Today August 29th I go to check how much I owe and I find that i am being charged for the full month of rent for September even though for half of that month I will not be in residing in that unit.

  Customer response

  11/01/2023

  I would like to cancel this complaint. The issues were resolved. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This complaint about the **** Apartments by ******* which is managed by the Washington Property Company. The complaint is about the building and increasing charges. For 9 floors of residents, out of 15 washing machines, only 8 are working. It's a struggle to do laundry. The building and my floor in particular, smells like marijuana and smoke even though the lease states no smoking. The stairwells and hallways have garbage, food, dog urine frequently. The utilities have increased greatly over the last two years of living there. For these reasons, I'm moving. I'm appalled at the amount of money to break my lease, and then have to continue to pay rent on top of that. It's upwards of $6000!!!

  Business response

  10/04/2023

  Dear Sir or Madam: 
  

  Your letter of September 24 to ******* ****** of our company has been forwarded to me for response. *** ******* raises five issues. Our replies are as follows: 
  First, the washing machines are all to be replaced within the next two weeks. They have been on order from the supplier for months but will be installed as soon as they are available. 
  

  Second, she says there is tobacco and other smoke in the hallways. In a large, multi-tenant building, it can be very difficult for a landlord to know which tenant was smoking in the hallway or in their apartment. We make efforts to enforce the terms of the lease but unfortunately, we cannot resolve every issue of this kind. 
  

  Third, she complains that the halls and stairways are dirty. We regularly clean all common areas of the building but particularly in a large building, it can be difficult to prevent others from being inconsiderate and unsanitary. 
  

  Fourth, she says that the utilities have increased greatly over the last two years. We have no control over the cost of utilities. We only pass through the costs that are charged to us by the utility company. 
  

  Fifth, she wants to break the lease but does not want to pay the cost she agreed to pay in the lease that she signed. If a tenant breaks a lease, we incur the cost of cleaning and repairing the unit to make it ready to lease again and frequently, the unit will be vacant for a period of time before another tenant begins to pay rent. These are costs that we would not incur or would not incur for months if the tenant did not break her lease. If we allow some tenants to ignore the early termination provisions of the lease, it becomes difficult to enforce them for others. 
  

  We regret that *** ******* has been dissatisfied with her residence but are not able to make an adjustment to her account. 
  
   - General Counsel 
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  This complaint is in regards to HVAC that I'm being charged for although the thermostat has been OFF since the day (September 2019) I have moved in the apartment unit. Several times I have expressed my complaints to ********** ***********, Inc, the company that oversees the utilities for the apartment complex, ******* ****. I live by myself plus I work long hours, meaning that I'm hardly ever home and every month I keep getting charged for air conditioning usage although the thermostat stays in an OFF position. I have also constantly complained to ******* *****, the property manager but to no avail. She is just an angry mean white ***** who is not taking my concerns seriously and in fact calling me a liar by saying that I am turning on my air conditioning (AC). On several occasions I have turned OFF the AC unit from the circuit breaker to see if that would resolve my issue and I still keep getting billed for usage. The management claimed that turning off the AC from the circuit breaker affects all the apartment units in this building, I don't believe that **** not for one second. I tried repeatedly try resolve this issue in different aspects, I believed that this apartment complex is trying steal money from me for something I have no desire to use. Also, I will NOT pay this balance that is being held against me for something I haven't used, it makes no sense.

  Business response

  09/18/2023

  September 7, 2023 

  Sir or Madam: 
  

  Your letter of August 28, 2023 addressed to ******* ****** of this company has been forwarded to me for response. 
  

  We are looking into the complaint by *** ********. We are checking with the local manufacturer's representative about why *** ******** has seen the billings he has seen. If necessary, we will have Studebaker check their equipment as well. Unfortunately, this will take several more days. 
  

  I can respond to one point *** ******** raises. The heating and cooling system in the building is very sophisticated and very energy efficient. In this system, one rooftop unit serves approximately 15 apartments. We have been advised by the manufacturer that turning off the circuit breaker in any one apartment is considered a fault by the system and it will disable the service to all units served by that rooftop unit. For this reason, we have asked the tenants to not turn off power at the circuit breaker. 
  

  *** ***** is no longer an employee of the company and we apologize for any comments she may have made to *** ********. 
  

  I will be in touch when we have additional details on the billing question. 
  
  General Counsel 
  

  Business response

  09/19/2023

  Sir or Madam - 

  I have received your second notice, which did not indicate that you had received my first response.  As I said in my first response, we are working with the manufacturers of the system and with our billing system to identify any errors. I will notify you when I have additional information. 

  *****************************

  General Counsel

  Business response

  09/26/2023

  September 26, 2023 
  
  Sir or Madam: 
  

  Your letter of August 28, 2023, addressed to ******* ****** of this company was forwarded to me for response. I previously responded on September 7, 2023, by mail and on your website on September 19, 2023. 
  As *** ******** claimed, it appears that the thermostat was set to "off" almost continuously for the period for which we have records (back to August 16 of this year). We have decided to credit *** ******** for all amounts on his bill for HVAC electrical consumption. He should be able to see that credit in the next few days on the tenant billing portal. We will attempt to monitor the situation and avoid further charges of this kind to *** ********. It appears that the system may have a minimal electrical use even though the thermostat is set to "off" but until we can verify what if any charge should be expected, it does not seem fair to ask him to pay the charges accrued to date. 
  We apologize for any inconvenience and hope that this resolves the issue. 
  Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. 
  
  General Counsel 

  Customer response

  09/28/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: On Friday, September 8th the Air Conditioning (AC) came ON and I was home and I don't know why came ON, when the thermostat was in the OFF position. Also, earlier that week I came home from work and the AC was ON and it was freezing in my apartment unit, no telling how long it was ON. I don't know what you people are doing, but you need to get it fix ASAP. I keep telling you people I am not paying this balance yall have against me. What yall are doing is trying to extort money out of me due to your negligence in trying to resolve this issue.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************
  

  Business response

  10/11/2023

  October 11, 2023 
  
  Sir or Madam: 
  

  Your letter of August 28, 2023, addressed to ******* ****** of this company was forwarded to me for response. I previously responded on September 7, 2023, by mail and on your website on September 19, 2023, and September 26, 2023. 

  In my September 26 letter, I said that we agreed the thermostat had been set to off almost continuously for the period of our records and that we would credit *** ******** for all amounts on his account for HVAC use. I also said that we would attempt to monitor the situation to avoid further charges of this kind to *** ********, which we have done. 
  

  Shortly after my letter, we credited *** ********' account. The credit should be visible to him on the tenant billing portal and it included a credit for the consumption on September 8. There should be no balance due from HVAC usage on his account. 
  

  There has been a considerable amount of work being done on the heating and air conditioning system in that building. Its possible that there was work done on the rooftop unit that serves *** ******** apartment and that the thermostat was turned on from the rooftop on the occasions he mentions as part of that work. Again, there should be no charge on his account for those occasions. 
  

  General Counsel 

  Customer response

  10/31/2023

  Ok, I agree to this conclusion. Thank you BBB for your assistance in addressing my concerns.

• Initial Complaint

  04/27/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In November of 2022, my brand-new apartments heat stopped working. I entered ticket after ticket to their resident portal system. This was an ongoing issue from mid-November through December, and into January. The office claimed the HVAC system was being serviced in December so the issue wouldn't arise again, it did. I was aware I left a balance of $700 for November/Decembers rent, as for being without heat for two months, I felt it was owed. I then contacted the rental office about the balance to have it removed, they lied to my face and said my heat was only off for 3 days from 12/20-12/23. This is completely FALSE; I went without heat on the coldest night of the year which was Christmas Eve. They have documented proof in their resident portal of the tickets entered and I have it in my phone that my heat was clearly on and off for over two months. Now they are refusing to contact me back regarding my concern about the fees assessed. I contacted them via email, sent messages to their social media accounts and left voicemails on their main voicemail box to no avail. The next step was going to headquarters but I have to make the time to do so. I currently have a balance, and over $400 of that balance are fees which should be removed. If the company were to contact me directly to simply remove the fees, as opposed to ignoring me, I wouldn't be resorting to such measures. This company has never even answered their phone ************ or responded to the many voicemails, I'm almost convinced they're a shell company or otherwise illegal business. Please help me get this issue resolved.

  Business response

  07/07/2023

  June 13, 2023 
  

  Dear Sir or Madam: 
  

  We received your letter regarding the above complaint. We believe that we have acted in accordance with not only our responsibilities at law, but in accordance with sound business practices. 
  

  A bit of background. We have had trouble with the heating system in the building where this individual lives. We are aware of the issues. We have spent very large sums of money and have devoted considerable other assets to the problem. In fact, we have filed a lawsuit against the general contractor over this issue. By no means were we the cause of the problem nor have we ignored tenant complaints but have tried to rectify the problem as promptly as possible. 
  

  As to this individual in particular, she did contact us through the tenant portal and on each occasion, we responded promptly and appropriately. We provided her with a supplemental heating system, reset the regular system, adjusted her thermostat and whatever else could be done. Because she has been provided with supplemental heating, she has had heat available. 
  

  She is correct that we do not review all social media postings. We do not encourage those and do not respond to those kinds of complaints. We do review and respond to the questions and complaints in our system, which we have done, as noted above. On our office phone line, we advise tenants to not leave messages but to file any requests for service through the tenant portal, which as noted above, we responded. 
  

  As to her billing status, I do not think this is the proper forum for that discussion - but suffice to say that the lease does not permit her to decide to withhold 50% of her monthly rent without discussion, as she decided to do. And if someone does not pay rent, they will be charged late fees and such, although they are quite a bit less than the amount claimed in the complaint. 
  In short, we have provided the tenant with heat, although admittedly from supplemental sources, and ask that you dismiss this complaint. 
  

  General Counsel 

  Customer response

  07/08/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  First, there was no alternative heating method provided until this year. If the company is aware of the ongoing issues with the heating company why wouldn’t the residents affected be compensated for being without heat which is required by law.

  Them having to pay out of pocket for the costs associated with the HVAC system is not on the residents, but it absolutely is the management company and rental offices  responsibility to correct it.
  

  I reached out to corporate consistently for four months because the office manager is unreliable and apparently unable to speak with us residents to resolve any issues. 
  

  The discussion in regarding to withholding 50% of the rent is part of this discussion because the manager was UNWILLING to work with me or help in anyway in regards to the matter. The next complaint I file will be a discriminatory suit against them, because I’ve seen her interact with white residents, but when it’s a black resident trying to have something resolved, I get ignored until filed THIS complaint. It’s very strange that the corporate office decided to respond to this but not to me directly. I sent emails to the office that I asked to be forwarded to corporate which I’m guessing never happened.

  I want this the issues rectified by providing the original credit I asked for of $700. Additionally, no one has still contacted me to try and resolve my issues. I’m speaking with them through you which says a lot in itself. This is very unsettling. 

  Regards,

  ***** ******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩