When I first moved in Sept 06'I was very happy despite our $1800 rent per month yet, I received a month free & was ok with that. A former leasing agent was very helpful and reasonable. Six months later a friend of ours moved in and got the same one bedroom unit with a loft for $1600 with 2 months free! The official market rate did not go down $200- so what's the deal'

We received a notice requesting an answer of whether we were staying or going at the end of the lease, only a few days before our 60 day notice was due. Then it took us two weeks just to get an appointment with the property manager who apparently does not spend much time at this particular property. It is no wonder that when I spoke to the her about possibly renewing, the lowest rent she could possibly offer us was $1840 per month! So I found another apartment and let them know as soon as possible when my move in date was confirmed for the new place. Even though this was okayed & confirmed with the assistant manager prior to leaving our notice, this decision to leave was met with much resistance when conveyed to the office staff who apparently had no idea what had been worked out previously.

The current property manager was not helpful and acted unaffected to our concerns-(maybe because she is not that invested in her job at this property due to the fact that she is not there all the time to see how things work). The assistant manager however,is always very helpful & nice. The maintenance staff has also been nice, honest, and helpful.

Now after we had given our notice to leave, this company's true colors are showing. Preliminary deductions from our security deposit are being drawn for normal wear and tear items. Apparently, $410 for a few scuffs on the cheap paint job that is impossible to wash without wiping the paint off is a common fee asserted towards former residents in a poor attempt to claim unwarranted funds. Massachusetts state law prevails that normal wear and tear items may not warrant a charge to come out of the tenant's security deposit. Now they have also told us just recently that everyone must now pay to steam clean their apartment before they move out or they will be charged. If there are no stains and the carpet has been vacumed, is this not also a normal wear and tear area as well' A new policy they said. Is there anything this company does pay for'

If this has happened to anyone else, please respond. A class action suit may be in order and triple damages are due to any resident that does not receive their full amount of security deposit owed within the first thirty days upon moving out.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/11/2007
I had a similar problem when I moved out in 2006. They kept our security deposit even though the apartment was spotless! They also made us pay rent until they could find another tenant because we moved out a few months early. (Not to mention we lived there for almost two years and were always curtious tenants that were never late with a payment!) They had orginally told us we could let them keep our security and then we could move out without issues, but later decided they wanted us to pay them until they found another tenant. We tried to fight it but they kept sending legal notices! I would love to talk to you about this and see if we can not get more people together to file a lawsuit! Please let me know how I can contact you.
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/16/2008
I am a current resident living at avalon for 5yrs.. I just moved from a 2bdrm to a 3bdrm, when I first moved in the security dep was $849(somewhere around there it is now only $500) when I moved into the 3bdr, they took over $600 for so called issues with the 2bdrm, $90 for blinds that I cleaned by hand 1 at a time, few hundred to replace the kitchen and bathroom floor, said the kitchen had knife marks so small I never noticed when I moved in I pd a couple of hundred to have the carpets cleaned and they still charged me for sm (and I mean sm) stains that needed to be dyed. and they chared me a couple hundred more said the kitchen and bathrooms were not clean enough and I didn't use tylex to clean the tile (I did) they said I could go back and clean so I went back and wiped down the kitchen counter didn't touch the bathrooms and when they reinspected they said it was much better and refunded me the cleaning fee(Idiots) so when I moved into the 3bdrm I passed in a 2pg move in inspection list, I left my apartment cleaner than the one they put me in which is currently having the walls in the bedrooms taken down for having mold we are staying in a hotel until this is complete,, this is the 3rd apartment for me at avalon the first 2bdrm I was in also had mold and needed repairs they moved us to another 2bedrom,,
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/16/2008
We have lived here for two years and never had any problems with charges or anything but Robin DiPina. When we moved in we had a very unreasonable downstairs neighbor who not only complained of noise on our actual move in day (a saturday afternoon), but also on a few occasions when we were not even home. She claimed that her "pictures fell off the wall" because of our noise. It turns out, she was either psychotic or it was our 8-lb cat jumping. The former manager, Elizabeth, documented this and told us that we had no worries and that this woman may be asked to move if her false or exaggerated complaints did not stop. When Robin came in late 2006, we received a letter saying that due to multiple noise complaints we may be asked to leave. We approached the management and explained that the situation had been documented and they did not seem apologetic. However, less than a month later this horrible neighbor had moved and we have not had a noise complaint in almost 2 years. Also, we live in a loft and pay more money to have no people living on top of us. I feel that Robin owes us an apology or at least an acknowledgement that the letter was uneccessary. The maintenance is wonderful, always fixing things right away, and they always have a steam cleaner available to use for FREE. I don't know how anyone can claim that merely vacuuming after two years of living can maintain white carpets. This is apartment living, and it comes with noise and additional fees built into the rent that cover maintenance (we got a brand-new washer after ours was fixed unsuccessfully four times), the gym, clubhouse, grounds, snow removal, pool and safe parking. Anyone who is going to complain about anything except Robin's lack of knowledge should probably move to a more suitable place to your ambulance chasing class of life - JEFFERSON HILLS IN FRAMINGHAM. A class action suit! Please! Get a life and go deal with yourself.
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/04/2009
We also feel very taken advantage of by Avalon. They failed to give any explanation for, much less itemize and show receipts (as required by MA law) for the more than $800 they kept from our security deposit. There were no damages whatsoever, just normal wear and tear that one would expect after several years residency. They also raised our rent each year, with no regard to current market value. New residents would be charged less for the exact same model of apartment. This might be legal, but it certainly isn't ethical. It's unfortunate because there were many aspects of living there that we liked. However, these issues have left us with a bad feeling. We couldn't recommend living there for more than one lease term, and even then, be prepared to fight for your security deposit!

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