For those of you thinking about renting at this complex....please think twice if not 10 times about it before doing it. Here's why. This complex is being converted into condos. (I doubt they mention this when you sign your lease.) So if you are planning on a "long-term" lease you are going to be surprised when a notice appears on your door telling you that you have one month before you have to move out. That's what happened to me. My lease was scheduled to end Nov 30th, 2004. The day AFTER Thanksgiving I received the following notice:

THIRTY DAY NOTICE OF NON-RENEWAL 11/24/2004 (Note: I did not receive this notice until the day after Thanksgiving 11/26/2004)

Please be advised that pursuant to the Rental Agreement and Arizona law, we have decided not to renew your lease. This notice is provided as a courtesy to give you ample time to find other housing arrangements.

We do hope that your stay has been enjoyable.

Please vacate your apartment as of 12/31/2004 and remember that your responsibility to pay rent continues until the above vacate date. Failure to comply will result in legal proceedings.


/signed/
Community Director



Question: Who wants to have to move out over the holidays' No one I know. Could they not have waited an additional month'

According to my lease agreement, it states that the complex must give at least 30 days notice PRIOR TO THE END OF MY LEASE AGREEMENT, informing me that they would not be renewing the lease. (30 days prior would have been the first of November) I got 4 days notice. It also states in my agreement, that if management fails to provide 30 days notice, that I was entitled to stay 2 additional months beyond the end of my lease with no increase in rent. The complex was only giving me one month (till the end of December). Since my lease was ending anyway and I was planning on visiting family out of town over the holidays, I decided that I would just move out when my lease expired in a couple of days. I told the manager of my intentions to move out and she informed me that I would still be responsible for paying Decembers rent because I was still bound by the rental agreement. (I'm supposedly bound to the rental agreement, but they are not.)

My next step was to call a lawyer who couldn't believe what he was hearing, and was more than willing to take on my case but couldn't do anything until the complex initiated legal proceedings against me. He suggested that I go ahead and move out on the 30th and not to pay December's rent.

Since it was the weekend and the manager was not working, I had to wait until Monday (the 29th) to inform her that I would definitely be moving out on the 30th and that I was refusing to pay December's rent and that they would have to take me to court to get it. She then backed down and told me that as long as I was out by the end of my lease, "legally" there was nothing she could do to me. This comment proved to me that they were indeed trying to scam additional money out of me as well as trying to intimidate me with legal proceedings as stated in their letter.

I now thought my worries were over. But how wrong could I be.

Around mid December, I received a letter from Ventana Vista. This letter stated that I owed money for my water and sewer bill which I gladly paid, but included a charge for carpet cleaning because the carpet was "supposedly" dirty. There was a due date for the payment and if it was not received by that date, then the amount due would be turned over to a collection agency. (Another scam/intimidation tactic.)

Note: (This apartment is going to be gutted and refurbished for the condo conversion, meaning the carpet was going to be ripped out and replaced with new carpet. My question is, "Why am I being charged a carpet cleaning fee when the carpet is going to be torn out and replaced'" Were they going to clean the carpet prior to ripping it out' If so, why')

I spoke with two other people who manage apartment complexes here in Tucson and both told me to not pay the cleaning fee and could not believe that Ventana Vista was demanding a cleaning payment for carpeting that was going to be replaced.

I went back to Ventana Vista Apartments to speak with the manager; however, she was not there. I asked one of her associates to let me see the carpet so I could take photographs to document the dirtiness of the carpet, but was not allowed to do so. I left a message for the manager to please call me. She never did. After a couple of days, I then called the SPM management office to speak with the complex manager's supervisor. She was on vacation over the holidays so I left a voice message asking her to call me when she returned. She too never called me. After a couple more days, I called her office again, and this time she was out of the office. I left another message for her to please get in touch with me as I wanted to resolve this carpet situation prior to the date stated on the letter. She must have not wanted to talk to me because a couple of hours later, the manager from the apartment complex called me and said that the cleaning fee had been waived. I'm hoping that there won't be anymore surprises from this complex.

The sad thing is is that there was also an elderly couple that was moving out at the same time that I was. I can only hope that they were not treated like I was and that they were not taken for any additional money. Some elderly are so gullable to scams like this.

For those that are going to rent from this place, first off, I wish you luck, and secondly, if any of this happens to you, I hope you stand up for your rights and fight back. Don't be pressured, intimidated or taken advantage of. Don't be afraid to talk to a lawyer.

The following is located on the SPM, Inc. website:

"Provide our residents with exceptional customer service and not just an apartment, but a home."

If what I experienced was their "exceptional customer service", just imagine what you have to look forward to.

I have lived in numerous apartments over the past 20 years and this is the first place I have EVER had trouble with.

User Responses
From: echo234	Date: 03/30/2006
I don't know but this sounds like sour grapes. management worked with you in everyway. you should be thanking instead of trashing them
From: SS4Real	Date: 08/05/2006
Sour grapes? Did you even read the whole thing. Clearly this complex is crooked and was trying to take advantage of the situation. The resident should not have to go through all that hassle. Remember these management groups have been doing this for a long time and they have learned little tricks to pressure residents into paying more than they should. Don't be so arrogant.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates