I am writing in rebuttal to the insistance by the Northlake management that PepCo is responsible for increased electric costs this past winter. Firstly, one can check his bill to verify this. We have kept our PepCo bills for the almost two full years that we have lived at Northlake, and the spike in monthly cost only occurred this past winter, while rates for production and distribution of electricity has not increases during that time.

In the Spring of 2006, Northlake underwent renovations, and at that time they replaced the old windows and sliding glass doors with newer models. These are the culprits for the increased power bill. On one of the coldest nights this past Februrary, I measured the temperature just inside the blinds that cover the sliding glass door. That temperature (60.2 degrees) was about TEN DEGREES different from the thermostat temperature (71 degrees)!

In Germantown, we had a relativly mild November and December. As a result, the power bill was not abnormally high. Yet, when the weather got quite cold from January into March, our power bill almost doubled. Now that the weather is warming again, the power bill is back to normal. We have not changed the setting on the thermostat over that time, nor has the kilowatt/hr costs increased on PepCo's end of the bill. There is only one reason for the increased power bills --- the windows and sliding glass doors. I don't know if the doors and windows are of poor quality or if they were installed incorrectly, but the cost of the mistake is most definitely being passed directly to the tenet.

If you decide to rent from Northlake, bear in mind that, if the doors and windows do not get repaired or replaced, you will need to set aside an additional $100 - $200 each month in the winter to cover your increase in power usage.

There are further problems that should also be addressed. Despite the numerous good ratings of the maintainence crew, I must offer my experience. When there is a problem with the appliances, they have been adequate in their speed of response. However, we have asked numerous times since September of 2006 (9 months) to have our front door painted as well as a strip of wall in the kitchen that was never painted in the renovations. We have yet to have these requests honored.

Other problems include the quality of the appliances. Before the renovation, the appliances were old but sturdy. We had no problems with them working. The new appliances, while pretty to look at, are of much poorer quality than those replaced. Great care must be taken to ensure that the washing machine does not become unbalanced on the spin cycle. The dishwasher has a tendency to not flush the small pieces of food out of the basin. As a result, the food settles on top of the glasses and must be cleaned off before the dishes can be removed. The storage drawer under the stove never stays on its tracks and must be constantly realigned. And finally, the caulking used in the bathroom is sub-standard and cracks repeatedly. The maintainence crew has re-caulked and it immediately cracked again. I used a cheap brand of caulk from K-Mart to repair this and it has not cracked since.

The staff at Northlake has been completely replaced since Equity took over ownership. There is no one in the office that we know at this point, and it seems that there are new people in the office every week.

Most of these issues are small issues (except for the power bill), but they add up quickly and they result in a very unpleasant living experience. These problems did not arise until the complex was sold to Equity at the end of 2005. To add insult to injury, Northlake has increased our rent by almost 40% over the last two years (started at $1005 in 2005, rose to $1150 in 2006 and is now going to $1375 in 2007). The quality of service and amenities is NOT worth the increase in rent. Northlake was once a very pleasant and affordable residence. We feel it no longer is.

User Responses
From: catchrenter	Date: 08/15/2007
hello is the electricity problem taken care or still you r getting high bills. please let me know. i am planing to lease an apartment
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/09/2008
As of Spring 2008 electric bills are $300 a month and management has done NOTHING!

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