UPDATE! 4-23-2009: I'm a nester & hate to move. After 5 1/2 years here I could take it no more & moved out November 2008. Jenny had just started working in the office and I have to say she's a sweetheart. She really wants to make a difference there, told me of some positive plans she has in the works & I truly hope she succeeds. HOWEVER I did have trouble getting Goldmark Property Management, INC in Fargo, ND to return my deposit (it finally arrived March 13 and as of this date I am still fighting for my refundable pet deposit. I had to "PROVE" to Goldmark after 5 1/2 years that I paid it!!
WARNING! Keep ALL receipts, leases, copies of checks & document, document, document: on paper, in pictures, etc. You'll need it!

Below was written in 2007 when I still lived there:
The Good: Free Expanded Basic Cable, (Supposedly) Secure entrance viewable on Channel 4 so you can see who you are letting in, Washer & Dryer in each unit (apartment size), free water (including hot water), the smaller 2 BR/2 Bath apartments do have a walk-in shower which is great for handicap accessible, window coverings provided (blinds) so buildings look consistent & nice from the outside, apartment maintenance is excellent in quality and timeliness. They have been good about keeping the furnace filters changed, approximately monthly. The few times I've had to call for emergency maintenance during weekends or off-hours my calls were answered promptly. They do try to keep the halls vacuumed, clean, and looking nice. I have seen management doing property walks to see how things look, and to try to address immediate concerns. When I had noise concerns (loud partying) & reported them to management, management addressed them promptly. Apartments are close to shopping, grocery store, etc. They do a good job of keeping the sidewalks cleaned & salted in the winter, however when is thawing the melting causes the sidewalks to be covered with water which then refreezes and becomes dangerous.

The Bad: Low water pressure (I am certain this is to try to keep costs down, but it is difficult to get your hair rinsed out in the shower!), Gutters are not kept clean causing overflows & poor drainage. The current landscaping is attractive, but trees & shrubs are not kept trimmed & not sprayed for bugs/worms (management just lets them die). The maintenance man is not full time and the poor man is at a dead run when he is there. Every year my lease was up I had difficulty negotiating a new lease. They WANTED to raise the rent over $100/month each time. Talk about "sticker shock"!!! I also had items stolen off my patio.

The Ugly: Parking is a nightmare. is not enough parking for tenants let alone visitors. They have tried to address this problem but nothing seems to work. are only 4 or 5 "guest" parking spaces which makes it very difficult to have any visitors (especially Holidays), and absolutely no overnight visitors unless they park somewhere else & I go get them. The parking slots are VERY close together so it is nearly impossible not to bump the car next to you with your door in order to get in/out of your vehicle. On a Saturday night my car was hit by a hit&run who ripped the whole front end off. "No one" saw or heard anything

GOLDMARK has gotten so desperate to rent apartments they seem to be letting just about anyone in, and as a consequence have been some terrible incidences with partying, people urinating over balconies, people locking their kids out on balconies, a lady attacked & robbed in the parking lot, a fight in which someone was hit with a broken alcohol bottle in the face & left blood all over the entryway (where he pulled the fire alarm), down the sidewalks and out to the parking lot. Management did address this incident immediately, and these tenants were evicted ASAP. My car's electrical antennae was busted off which is very costly to have fixed. I would not keep a nice car there unless I could afford a garage.

Regarding PETS: They started out only allowing cats with an additional pet deposit, plus additional monthly pet rent. About a year or so ago they started allowing small dogs, however I have seen much larger ones. have been problems off & on with people NOT picking up after their dogs!

Regarding SECURE ENTRANCE: has also been a problem with someone breaking locks on the entrance doors. Cameras are SUPPOSED to be installed.

My son and his wife moved into the complex 2 months after I did, however after they gave proper notice to move out a year later, their problems began. They were charged the full amount of replacing carpet throughout the apartment (by GOLDMARK) even though the carpet was original carpet from when the place was built in 1999, and was damaged & stained when they moved in! I know of others who have also had similar problems with GOLDMARK when they moved out.

Summary: I realize this is a BUSINESS, however GOLDMARK is missing the 'human' component and seems to only care about the money. The company does not seem to care about keeping good residents who not only pay on time, but care about the community. They frequently have move-in specials just to get apartments rented and then end up with more empty apartments due to the good renters getting fed up & moving out, or the new renters getting evicted for non-payment or other problems they cause. It would make better business sense to me to take care of the good renters they have so people will stay and make it a great community in which to live.

In Closing: Deerfield Apartments is not a "bad" place to live. Every place has its problems. I would not recommend Deerfield to people with small children since there is nothing for them to do (no playground, no pool). I do think the rent is a bit pricey, everything considered. My suggestion before moving ANYWHERE is to call the police department to find out how many calls and what kinds of calls they have had to respond to , and then make an INFORMED DECISION. Good Luck.

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