Where to begin

Lets start with the pros. Village green of AA has a beautiful exterior. Nice landscaping, ponds with fountains, ducks and geese. Paved walking paths around the complex, playground equipment for kids, a sand volleyball court, and 2 tennis courts. The clubhouse is very nice with a business center, pool table, bar and kitchenette to rent out for social events. Also included are a racquetball court and work out room with universals, stair masters, and 2 ellipticals. There is a hot tub and men s/women's locker rooms with dry saunas and a pool outside. All of these wonderful amenities are bait to lure you in.
When I first looked at the apartments, I was impressed. The model apartments were nice, but they changed for the worst. Hey Village Green, Ikea called, they want their show room back. The clubhouse with and all the amenities sold me. With a couple roommates the price was reasonable. The trouble began when I was ready to attain a lease. The office staff informed me that no units were available in August of that year. However, they wanted me to pay the application fee, non refundable of course, because she was always able to place tenants. If I remember correctly the application fee at that time was 100 dollars. So we decided to move in a month earlier just so we were guaranteed an apartment. Our move in date was in the end of July and we were told it would be ready. Let me give you their definition of ready. As I opened the door, the carpets were filthy, stains on them. Every single shelf in the kitchen had dust in/on it. I tried not to look at the mess in the oven. Light bulbs were burnt out, filthy bathrooms. The bottoms of the shower and bathtub were stained black, the glass doors on the shower filled with soap scum, paint chipped and missing in the upstairs bathroom, cracked door moldings, broken blinds, missing curtain rods, dents in the walls from missing doorstops, dusty and dirty stair railings, scuffed and dirty floor tile in the kitchen and foyer, fireplace had black suit covering the tile grout and surrounding carpet, the windows and screens weren t clean, you get the idea. (I still have the copy of my move in report and will gladly email it too you if you are honestly thinking about living here.) Basically, only the light bulbs and blinds were ever fixed. Lovely first impression if I do say so myself.
The walls are very thin, you can hear your neighbors even if they aren t being loud or have their stereos up loud. Therefore insulation is worthless and heating the place cost close to 200 dollars a month (this doesn't inlcude electric). You can keep the thermostat at 72 and the temp never would rise above 68. Oh yeah, one of my favorites, the filters used in the AC/Heating units need to be changed once a month. It would have been nice to know this; maintenance changes them once a year. I pulled one out and it was no longer a filter, but a barrier. Numerous people complained that their AC didn t work in the summer so this was probably why.
Speaking of utilities, let me tell you how they hose you with the water bill. You are not charged for the water you use. They take the use of the entire building and divide it among the tenants. So you could be living in a studio only using your shower, sink, and dishwasher and paying as much as a tenant with a small family using the shower, sinks, dishwasher and washing machine. Just remember this fact if you actually visit and see if they mention it to you. Average water bill was 45 to 50 dollars, sometimes up to 60. Average electric bill for me was 120 dollars. If you have a pet, it s 20 dollars a month extra for that, plus an extra pet deposit. Basically, the only reason we stayed was because it was worse on campus, or so we thought, and having roommates made the price tolerable.
My rent for the 2 bedroom, cathedral ceiling apartment, and 2 covered parking spaces was 1125 dollars a month and a 250 dollar security deposit. How were we rewarded for paying our rent on time the entire year' A wonderful rent will increase letter if we wanted to renew our lease. Yet they were offering first month s rent free to new tenants, along with waived application fees, and lower rates than what we received. Nice to know Village Green cares about its tenants.
I had a couple of co-workers living there as well with not so pleasant experiences. One co-worker had a raccoon family living in her attic space Raccoon pee stains on the ceiling and excrement smell in the apartment. Another had his roof leak in to his new 2,000 dollar computer, and he had to take the property manager to court because she wasn t going to reimburse him for it. She tried to say that in the lease he signed, Village Green isn t responsible for damage to property inside the apartment. I ve heard other various residents complain of an increased amount of insects in their apartments. Plus it takes maintenance an extended period of time to fix things. Examples are a rather nice racquetball court, but a nice hole and soft spot in the floor. Requested to be fixed my first year, never completed. Sauna in the men s locker room, worked half of my first year, never since. The office staff and property manager were reminded of this fact constantly. However, this didn t stop them from remodeling the clubhouse and model units. It is listed as a gated community; I lived there for 4 years, the gates worked for a total of 3 days. They give you gate cards that never worked, people ran down the gates so the always looked mangled. There is a non-working card reader that is supposed to allow access to the clubhouse, but that has never worked all 4 years I was there. The clubhouse is never locked, so anyone could walk in there. High school kids we saw on more than one occasion, partying and drinking at the hot tub. I was paying 20 dollars a month for a covered parking spot, yet every time the grass was cut, I had grass all over my car. This problem was never solved all 4 years. I am sure female residents have noticed a strong smell of cigarettes coming from the women s bathroom; I noticed when I used to work out there. There is a no smoking policy in the clubhouse, yet the property manager is frequently smoking in the women s bathroom, which stinks up the entire drinking fountain/vending machine area. There is a lot of passing the buck that goes on in the office. Too much talk and not enough action. Sure they place looks like a million bucks when big wigs from the Village Green main office come around, but it goes back to same old when they leave.
With all of the problems I had with the apartment moving in, I thought they might be a little lenient in letting us move out 2 months early after 4 years, but what a shock. NO. Almost 4 years of paying rent on time, and I bought a condo and had wait 2 months to move it. Just isn t a very friendly or considerate staff. When I finally did move out, I was charged 75 dollars because someone thought I didn t sand the patches I did on the walls where I had items hanging. They were all sanded. They said we painted the counter top pink, yeah 3 guys are going paint a kitchen counter top pink. With all that was wrong when I moved in, it s insulting to be treated just as bad on the way out.

Except for all the management crap, my first year wasn t bad. They have social events for residents, which were fun when people actually showed up. Examples are wine and cheese night, trivial pursuit, BBQ s in the summer, Sunday brunches, Halloween parties for kids, etc The only real problems I had was with the management and maintenance/condition of the apartment, my rent trying to be increased every year, and the fact we had to argue just to keep it the same rate. For boasting to be one of Ann Arbor s premier apartment complexes, they really don t measure up. Look at most of the reviews on this website and it says it all. All Village Green cares about are how many apartments are filled for their efficiency percentage, not the satisfaction of their residents. They paint a pretty picture, but it s the residents being nice to each other that make it tolerable, not the management. Most of the residents that have had to deal with the property manager and some of the office staff have not had pleasant experiences.

How sad is this: Look at most of the positive feedbacks on this site and examine the diction. Example:
Village Green is fabulous place to live. Our neighbors have been very friendly as well as the leasing consultants and maintanence staff. If I call on a problem, they respond quickly and efficently. The grounds are beautiful and very well maintained. Our apartment is very spacious with 2 story cathedral ceilings. It is definately worth the money!!!
Don t tell anyone, it s our little secret. The staff wrote these!!! How pathetic is that' What resident has ever used the term leasing consultant in their review' Worth the money' You can get the same amenities at other area apartments, plus they pay for heat and water. I guess they don't teach the staff how to use spell check at Village Green University. I definately don't think so (maintenance and efficiently also misspelled).
If you want to deal with all of the above, come live at Village Green of Ann Arbor. If you do at least ask for Aaron, he is very professional, and courteous.

User Responses
From: sorryabouturluck	Date: 10/06/2005
Sounds like you have a lot to be upset about. Want to offer a bit of wisdom to your post though.
From: kristilush	Date: 03/08/2006
I remember the smokey bathroom! Aaron is the way to go, and we can't assume the staff wrote the review. Another thing, however, is that you need to be upfront when signing a lease and that is to tell them you want the very best deal ever offered or you will go elsewhere. That's looking out for yourself. I also find it hard to believe that when I called on the office to send maintence, it was done immediately, while others had a problem getting them out there. I think we all learn eventually, that they will probably respond faster when their tenants are not irate. Just sayin...
From: ElisraOne	Date: 09/29/2006
Regarding the Racoons. I've lived here two years. Both the staff and the tenants I've met value biodiversity to ensure global sustainability. When the City of Ann Arbor cut down 200 birch trees here, several tenants spent EarthDay 2006 planting 30 foot trees: everything from Chineese Ginko and London Plaintain to Magnolia and Persimmon Crab Apple so the wildlife still had a place to live. Other tenants have planted gardens in front of their homes. The swimming pool area has the feeling of an international resort atmosphere in the summer. The location is about 1/2 mile (i.e., walking distance) of two state parks and the Michigan Botanical Gardens. I've seen toddlers to octarians. The neighbors are friendly but respect privacy. The people and wildlife make the difference here. On move in -- my place was clean.
From: favorite26	Date: 03/27/2008
Hey michiganman20 maybe things have changed sense 2005!!!

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