I encourage you to read through the following review before renting here.

The management here was delightful, making the complex's few 'quirks' more bearable. However, Arbor Lakes has been under new management since Fall 2005, and things have snowballed downhill since then.

SECURITY: Usually you have to worry about the tennants. Try the staff! The first incident was the fire extinguisher inspection. Taped to everyone's door was a note clearly explaining that you MUST leave your fire extinguisher outside your door, or else they would be forced to enter your apartment. Well...fire extinguishers WERE placed outside everyone's door that morning. Yet mysteriously, they were INSIDE peoples' apartments by the end of the work day. Not once has that ever happened in any prior inspection (read, prior management). The second incident was in regards to the alarm system. Yeah - the alarms are gone now, replaced by a white wall cover. Once again, a note was taped to everyone's door clearly explaining that they would enter your apartment on this day between this time to remove your alarm. It never happened. Instead, they showed up either a day earlier or a day later (in my neighbor's case), unannounced and unexpected. I came home to find that they'd been in my bedroom (where part of the alarm system was housed) and had moved some furniture around as well. A very creepy feeling, especially when you had already taken time off work on the day they said they WOULD be there. And finally the water heater. The new management now requires that you pay for water, which of course is not the issue. The ISSUE was the mysterious switch from full-mode to energy-saver-mode on my water heater. While I have no proof, how else was it switched other than an unanounced, undisclosed visit to my apartment' In and out in 5 minutes, the tennants being none the wiser, eh' Again, creepy, and a once 10 minute hot shower is now about 4 minutes.

MAINTENANCE: Used to be impeccable! In fact I used to feel sorry for all the other complexes. Problems were fixed within a day of calling, sometimes within HOURS of calling. Now it's a hit or miss. They may or may not show up that day, or the next. When they do arrive, the problem is usually PARTIALLY fixed with a promise to return and complete the job. Unfortunately they do not come back.

APARTMENTS: Not bad. The windows are old-style, and may or may not open smoothly. The pantry cabinet is by far the most frustrating feature of the place. Yes, really - a pantry cabinet. Roughly 7 inches wide, and 2 1/2 feet deep. If you can't picture that, try reaching into a long shoebox for a box of pasta without knocking everything else over. Can't say much more about them as I understand they're doing a sweeping remodeling project. Which brings me to the price: Ludicrous. Absolutely ludicrous. I moved here 4 years ago in 2002, and paid what I considered an exceptional price and continued to with each renewal. The new management, however, has decided to spike the price. A STUDIO will cost what I am paying now for a 1 br. Now your standard, 600 sq ft. 1 br apartment will be a minimum of $685.00, water, sewage, and garbage not included. NOT worth that price, even with the remodeling, when you take into account everything else.

MISCELLANEOUS: The tennants are average; you do have your quiet singles mixed in, but there is a large quantity of those who party during work nights, rev their cars at 6:00 a.m., and slam doors every time they go in and out. Dogs bark at all hours of the day and night, continually and without rest. My car was broken into once, but in 3 years, that's not bad considering many of the reviews for other complexes. It's Tampa - it happens. But considering our apartment alarms are gone now, it's just all the more to shake your head over.

All in all' My lease is up in July, and I will not be renewing.

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