There are some things you should know before you rent an apartment in Heritage Creek in Glendale, Colorado. These have been my experiences. I have two medium sized dogs and was delighted to find an apartment community that would accept both of them and liked what I heard from the property manager about how pet friendly the community markets itself to be. You will pay a significant non-refundable pet fee and monthly pet rent that seems to be the highest charged in the general area.

This is not the case; they are only interested in increasing their revenue by filling a need that is difficult to fill in the metro area. They are only interested in pet deposits and pet rent. This complex uses ice melt that is not pet friendly. I almost lost my older dog, she is nearly 12 but prior to this experience very healthy. I didn t realize that she was walking on the poison ice melt and then licking it off her feet. She has webbed feet, she is a Portuguese water dog and the ice melt must have stuck between her feet and she licked it off. She began by throwing up, not a common thing for her. She refused to eat and I took her to the vet the first time. He ran blood and urine tests and was confused, as I don t allow her access to any household cleaners or poison. Within 10 days she lost 8 pounds, 20% of her body weight. She isn t still out of danger; we aren t sure how much damage was done to her organs. When I approached the manager, I was told that pet friendly ice melt was too expensive . When I asked both doggie day care providers the cost difference, both told me it was negligible. My only experience with an apartment in the 30 years I've lived in Denver was the apartment I moved from and the manager, a dog lover used kitty litter on the walkways. It never occured to me that a "pet friendly complex" would use toxic ice melt. The majority of tenants have pets and the revenue they generate on the pets should provide for the pet s safety. This property has so much dog poop that you can t walk your dog across the lawn and avoid the poison on the walkways, it isn t possible. If you are a responsible pet owner and pick up after your pet, you can add the worry of disease from those who don t. When I inquired about it, I was told that I needed to report those not cleaning up after their pets to the management. Remember this isn t a condo complex where we own the unit, it is an apartment where the owners and managers have a requirement to make it safe. It wasn t until I threatened to call the Board of Heath did I see one of the many maintenance people cleaning up dog poop that has been there for months and months.

In addition to the lack of care for your pets, I have lived there for five months of a fifteen-month lease and for the last four months have had water leaking into my apartment. I have had maintenance people, roofers, and plumbers in and out of the apartment with no resolution to the water problem. I m told the problem is fixed and then water appears again and often in a new place. I ve had holes cut into the walls, walls left with wet mud on them---remember I have two dogs to keep out of the holes and the wet mud. I ve had carpet pulled up and pad removed and then pad replaced and carpet let not attached to the floor. The apartment is so cold and drafty that the blinds move when the wind blows and the window is closed. Don t be taken in by the nice model. Neighbors tell me that the leaking problem isn t mine alone. I m also told the dog waste problem has been ongoing for years and the ice melt poison is what they have always used.

In attempts to resolve these problems, the generosity of the manager is laughable. I can move with 30 days notice and not be fined the $2500 lease termination fee or charged back the discount I ve been getting on my rent. I ve paid my rent of $1137 per month on time for five months and for three months lived in an apartment that isn t habitable. I ve slipped on puddles of water on my way into the bathroom, tripped on the carpet that hasn t been repaired properly and the expectation is that I need to pay more deposits to a new landlord and incur the expense of moving. I know that if I were to just move without the generous offer, a court wouldn t give them a $2500 lease termination fee or permit them to increase my rent.

Oh, I ve also had the pilot light go out on my furnace or hot water heater seven times in five months. I do love those cold showers in the morning before work. I ve been told it is because the wind blows. The hot water heater is inside the apartment in a closet and hasn t been damped properly. The maintenance person, who re-lit it the first time, told me that it is a constant problem in building Q. This is further proof you don t want to rent an apartment in this complex.

Other things they won t tell you, there was a murder on site last fall. They try to give you the impression it is gated and safe. The doors are often left open or don t work properly. This is public information and you can verify it. If you would like for me to verify any of the above call me. I don t think members of Craig s list should be fooled by their catchy ads here and you should have all the information you need.

Be aware that there are things in your lease that violate Colorado Law, there is a great handbook that will outline tenant rights available online. The lease states that they can enter your apartment at anytime without notice. Colorado Law requires 24 hour written notice. That is just one example of how badly their lease is written.

I had a mold inspection done that I'm happy to share with anyone who requests it as well as photos of all the water damage.

Nikki Parker

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/27/2008
Response to the comment regarding the ice melt and I do not live in this community - nor have any connections to this community - I just find this comment ascenine: Every pet owner is responsible for safeguarding their pets. With snow, comes many sidewalks with ice melt. Living in apartment or condo style living arrangements requires us pet owners to use facilities not maintained by ourselves - therefore we must take the necessary precautions to keep our animals safe. Blaming the property owners is not an excuse. There are many ways of protecting your pets paws - including shoes or boots or diligently washing your pets feet after every jaunt in common areas.
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/07/2008
I live in this complex and find the critique of the management, maintenance and condition of the facilities to be spot-on. I can't wait until my lease is up. Over-rated and unsafe. The so-called security gates offer little, if any security at all.
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/09/2008
I had the exact same pilot light problem! Different building than yours, too! I'm now living somewhere else and love it; best of luck to you!

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