I am currently a tenant at Doral Terrace and I am counting the days until my lease is finally up. I have lived here for 2 years and things were okay in the beginning but after I renew my lease, all hell broke loose. When I first moved in I was pregnant, working and going to school. The parking is awful. I ve had to do everything from parking around the corner from my building (near the rental office stop sign) to sucking in my 8 month pregnant stomach to get into or out of my car. I called the rental office, the one in Virginia not the one on-site, and that rude heifer Veronica or whatever her name is had the nerve to tell me that I knew how the parking situation was when I moved in. WTF'! The second problem is the fact that you have to mail the damn rent to a PO BOX in Merrifield, Virginia. That is ridiculous. Yes, I knew that when I moved in, but what I did not know was that if they receive your rent on the 6th, 7th, etc whether is it postmarked by the 1st or 5th you still have to pay a late/legal fee. Oh and the late and legal fee is almost most $200! Even complexes where you drop the rent off on-site allow you until the 10th before court costs apply. Again, WTF'! Not to mention that the first week I moved in I kept receiving a notice on my door stating that my rent was late and I owed $1100. Hmm, how the hell is that possible, I wouldn t have the damn keys to the apartment had I not paid the rent or my deposit. Okay the third problem is that smart ass, rude ass, unprofessional punk Malcolm. He s lucky that he hides behind a PO BOX. He will tell you what to do and how to do it and hang up on you when he is finished. What a jerk. For 2 years I have been trying to figure out why we even have an office on-site, they don t know anything and can t do nothing about anything. They always direct you to management . Problem #4 didn t appear until after I renewed my lease ROACHES! I only see them in my kitchen every once in a while but I had to stop asking them to come exterminate because afterwards the roaches would be chillin like they are on the damn lease too. I feel bad because I recommended this complex to two current tenants (family of my boyfriend) and one of them has a worse problem with roaches and noisy neighbors than I do (see Neva Again, 10/26/08). Oh, and I did not get my $100 credit for referring either of them. So that is one of their many lies. One of their other lies that I discovered recently is that they are telling people on the internet (craigslist and apartment guide/apartment showcase) that they have a swimming pool and that they offer student discounts. BOTH of those are BS. The pool has not worked in at least 6 years! Gary told me that his self. The student discount, FALSE. I m a student, there s no discount. Gary told me that one too. Another problem I have had this happen twice, is that my ceiling and bedroom window leaks terribly when it rains. My wall was completely destroyed underneath my window because it had rained for 3 days and they had to wait for it to stop in order to fix it. I live on the second floor, why they hell is my ceiling leaking' Also, while I was pregnant and taking a shower, the soap dish along with a couple of tiles fell off of the wall. I have been asking them to replace the vanity in my bathroom for 2 years, it is seriously water damaged. The last problem would be this bull***t utility surcharge that was dropped on us in October, 2 months after I had renewed my lease. We already pay electric, what the hell does a utility surcharge cover' Well, don t ask Gary or Regina. They don t freakin know. If you ask Malcolm he ll tell you that it s to cover gas and water due to the sky-rocketing price of fuel. So do I pay electric like the lease says or do I pay all utilities like Malcolm said. Hmm. The only thing that Doral Terrace and Bernstein Management has done for me is f- up my rental history and this was my first apartment. The one good thing I can say about them is that they are really good at screwing you. Oh and the security guards canvassing the complex is a plus.


Update 2/09:

For the past month, my heat blows out of my vents cold. Oh but it does start to warm up a few seconds before it cuts off. I am not the only tenant to complain about that.

It snowed and hailed two weeks ago, I fell down the steps with my 1 yr old because they did not clean the steps properly. The parking lot was one long sheet of ice, but the side walk was salted. Thanks maintenance staff because I never have to walk across the parking lot to get to my car anyways!

Update 4/09:
Recently, I have been taken to court stating that I owe them $500! They are charging me $150 because they say they didn't exterminate my apartment...BS! I was the one who let them in. Gary was in the hallway escorting them and he was the one who knocked on my door. I let them in they sprayed and left. They also, came back in a second time to look in my bathroom''' I came home one day last week to find a notice that maintenance had been in my apartment that day, um..I thought they were supposed to give 24 hour notice. They replaced something in my toilet that I didn't ask for and now I have to hold down the flusher in order for the contents to be flushed all the way down. Anyways, the other $350 is from a money order I sent them a month ago. They claim that they never got it and Malcolm had the gall to suggest that I borrow the money from someone and pay them back once my refund comes from Western Union. Apparently this isn't a rare occurence either because the gentleman ahead of me in line at the courthouse also had the same issue. I am not paying Doral Terrace twice nor am I going to pay a fee for something that they did and claimed that they didn't. I am counting the days, my lease is up in June!

User Responses
From: varoberson	Date: 02/06/2009
OMG! I am so sorry that you've had to go thru this mess. When I lived in MD, I considered moving there and I am glad I decided to re-locate back to Texas. It is obvious that this property has not changed in the years since I considered moving there. Thank God I took heed of the bad ratings posted on this site before deciding to chunk up the deuce to MD(no disrepect). Please keep your head up. It will get better once you move. Next time, use a locator and take your time in deciding on a place. Trust me when I say I can relate to your situation because I am waiting out a lease myself and will take my time and not rush into it ever again. My lease isn't up until September but I am currently looking right. It might also be good to ask a tenant how he or she like living at that particular complex and BELIEVE ME they will give you all of the information you need. Didn't mean to right a speech but I feel your pain. Take care and God Bless you and your family.
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/06/2009
I too am feeling and living the same pain!!!!!! I live in Doral as well and feel like it is some ***T!!!!! I have lived here for almost two years as well. When I first moved over here I was in a wonderful building until someone tried to break into my home. That lefted me uneasy, because I was on the ground floor and they tried to get in through my daughters window. Instead of moving from the complex altogether I chose to transfer to a two bedroom on the second floor. Well as life would have it, I have moved to the building from HELL!!!!! It is infested with roaches and my neighbors upstairs sound like they are going to come through the floor at any given time. I can deal with the noise at times, but I have roaches coming out of my stove and that is not a good thing at all. They have been to spray probably 100 times since I moved in in Oct. Come to find out my huge infestation of roaches was coming from next door!!!! I still have them, but not as bad as before. Even though my lease isn't up until Oct or Nov. I plan on moving soon. As for that Malcolm he is just a joke. I have pulled the actual address and will be sending a letter to the owner of the company and calling the health department as well.
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/28/2009
I agree this piece of ---- they call an apartment is a hell hole. When we moved in the carpet was filthy. They said we would be compensated but we have not been yet and have been living here for 4months. Its also roach infested. We stay on the second floor and had someone brake into our home through the balcony. That jerk malcolm had the nerve to say we planned the brake in. There is alot of other terrible things that i can name but i get upset just thinking about it. ANY ONE LOOKING TO MOVE IN PLEASE DONT YOU WILL HATE YOUR DECISION
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/06/2009
I got approved to move in here... and when I read these ratings I was like Hell no... and I agree cause although I have never lived in doral terrace it still feels like hell they spam my emails and blow my phone up...it is crazy... the staff is the worst... i honestly feel like you all are speaking the truth and I am glad I chose not move in...They are very misleading in many ways and have u seen how many listings they have on craigslist and other sights they are desperate to get people to rent there... and no thanks please don't bother ~
From: demmie	Date: 04/06/2009
My bathroom also has a mold problem and they WILL NOT properly remove it, insted they just paint over top of it. The entire complex needs to be torn down and renovated and rebuilt because it is so old. They need major updates and they are too cheap to do them. It is so obvious that the foundation of the building is old because of all the leaks they have which in turn brings the roaches because they love/breed off the moisture. The appliances alone are so pre-historic. They have replaced my dishwasher 4 times and insted of givin up a NEW one the bring another raggedy one from another apartment. The windows need treatment. Every gust of wind comes right thru, summer time all the heat comes thru. The ---- is ridiculous and these MF's have the nerve to want to charge and extra $100 a month for new carpet. I mean the carpet was already used upon move in and after a certain amount of time it comes to a point where it needs to be replaced! Then the floors are SUPER thin. I have to go back and forth with my neighbor because she can hear me walk! Well if they would get thicker carpet and padding then it wouldn't be a problem, but I am NOT going to tip-toe around my house because they too cheap to fix the problem. Bad enough I feel like I am being raped everytime i pay rent. 2 br and den for $1140! IN DORAL TERRACE!!!! Shoot my neighbors above me don't have carpet so I hear every little step they make. I don't get upset with them because i know it's not their fault and it comes with the territory of living in an apartment. Something needs to be reported on them because they are screwing people with no vaseline.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/13/2009
To those of you who currently live in Doral Terrace I'm sorry you have to live in that manner. I lived that complex almost 10 years ago and from these reviews it appears NOTHING has changed. The only issue I didn't have a problem with was roaches but everything else under the sun mentioned was an issue. To those of you still living there let me tell you what helped me in dealing with Bernstein Management and you WILL need to follow this in order to avoid them trying to screw you when you move out because they WILL try to. ***1. If you are having issues with your apartment of the Bernstein Management staff file a FORMAL complaint with the State of MD. One thing I can say about MD is they do their job. If you have a problem with your unit under law in MD the landlord only has a certain # of days to fix the issue or be fined DAILY by the state. So it's important you stay in contact with them (the state). Go to www.oag.state.md.us to file a complaint online or call 410-528-8662. Tell them you have a complaint about your landlord and maintenance or any of other issue. A rep will contact you back in 24 hrs I think. ***2. Take pictures of ALL maintenance requests before AND after the work is completed. This way when Bernstein tries to charge you for the work they did you have proof to sue them and they WILL back off. ***3. Don't waste your time calling the Virginia office as Malcolm is just there to tell you off. Put your requests in formal writing to the on-site office. If no response in 24hrs see number 1. ***4. When you get ready to move out take video and/or pictures of how you left the apartment because they WILL say you left it damaged and attempt to keep your security deposit. They tried that with me but my pics shut them up. It was hell living them but I gave them hell right back until I moved. Stay on them by contacting the State of MD because one thing Bernstein hates is fines from the State. Also, if they (Bernstein Mgt) attempt to retaliate against you that is also against the law. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. They only take advantage of those who don't know their rights in Maryland but Maryland is VERY strict with landlords but they can't help you if you don't report them. Good luck to you all.

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