Review History for jmsolko

Standing Bear Lake Apartments


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jmsolko

Resident 2008

4/30/2009

Looks nice but not worth all the hassle

I will start by saying that Standing Bear Lake Apartments were the nicest in visual appearance of many that we looked at. They were comparable to other apartments price wise and came with a lot of square footage. We were very excited to move in. Our biggest problem was with the staff at these apartments. First of all, we lived over 5 hours away where we went to college. We found jobs in the Omaha area and were planning to move in June. We started apartment hunting in January and toured that same month while we were in town for job related reasons. We were assured by ---, the person who showed us the apartment, that by putting down a check to hold the apartment, we could do everything over the phone since we lived out of town. When it came time in May to finalize everything, --- informed us that the only way we could sign for the apartment was in person. We had already talked this over and been assured it would be no problem. We asked if we could do it a week later when we would be in town again - we were also told that wouldn't work. She told us we had to be physically there to sign the exact day our lease began. After multiple calls and finally speaking with a -------, they allowed us to notorize EVERY SINGLE page of the 10 page lease with a notary. The apartment was nice, we liked that it was 1400 square feet and almost felt like a house instead of an apartment. What we didn't like were all the rules. I would get calls weekly about things like "We noticed your bike out on our deck and that is against the rules of apartment community." Also, we have a small dog and lived in the dog building, but there is no where for you to take your dog to the bathroom. They called us once saying that they had gotten multiple reports of us letting our dog poop near the grounds, even though I picked it up. Where is the dog supposed to go? They told me to take my dog to the lot across the street that they don't own. As far as the other facilities, with as much as they are charging per month, I expect a little nicer. The exercise equipment was at least 10 years old and there were very few machines. The pool was nice and I spent some time in the summer there, but not in the pool. Even on the hottest of days, the water was barely tolerable. I asked the staff why they didn't heat the pool a bit so it was warmer and could be used more, and they said it was "too expensive." So definitely don't move to this apartment complex for the amenities. We knew we would only be living in an apartment for the time it took us to locate a house we would want to buy. So upfront, we asked for information about breaking our lease and cancellation fees. We were informed that if we were to break our lease before the 1 year mark, we would have to pay an extra month's rent, forfeit our deposit, and repay any "deals" we got at our lease signing. We asked about any other fees. We were told that those were the only fees and that all needed maintanence/repairs came out of the deposit. So when we bought a house 5 months after moving in, we paid the extra month's rent, paid back the $100 deal we got at signing, and figured we were done. We turned in our keys the day we moved and were given an extra sheet of paper of $366 worth of "repainting and cleaning fees" that we had never heard about before. We called that week to ask where in the lease that was mentioned or why we were informed at move-in that there were no additional fees. The lady at the desk was extremely rude and hung up on us. Then we called back and asked to speak to the -------. She came on and sited one paragraph of the lease. We had the lease in front of us and read it back to her. She quickly said "Oh, that's not the right one" and named another paragraph. This also did not mention any extra fees. She then told us that we just had to pay it and hung up. No one ever explained to us where this was in the lease, and it clearly was not there. We wrote a letter stating our position and received no response. A month later we received a notice in the mail saying we had been turned over to a collection agency. Then we got 2 letters a week and multiple phone calls about our debt that we hadn't paid. I have never dealt with a more rude and downright universally ------ staff ANYWHERE. In short, save yourself the time and don't get sucked into this apartment building. It may be nice, but it isn't worth feeling like you are being watched and critiqued all the time. They are out to screw you, and they will not hestitate to lie to get your money.

    Review 11 out of 28

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    Standing Bear Lake Apartments

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