I lived at Ridgebrook for three years and there are certain things any prospective tenant should know before making the decision to live at this complex:

1) Management staff is friendly and helpful right up until you actually need something from them. The only person who can make decisions on issues relating to the property is the general property manager, and he never seems to be around.

2) If you happen to live anywhere near the playground equipment, you won't be able to open your windows in the summer. The children who live in the community go completely unchecked, they will throw balls off the apartment building wall, scream obscenities at each other, and generally make living there a complete nightmare. I moved to another apartment in the complex after only a year to escape the craziness... I should have just moved to a different property all together... My mistake.

3) I had continual, unresolved plumbing issues my apartment that were never resolved. My kitchen sink kept backing up with garbage from the people above me. The dishwasher never worked properly, and when it did work the sewage water from other properties may still be backed up into the washer, so you're washing your dishes in sewage. The water in the shower never maintained any consistent temperature level, so I ended up dancing around in the shower to avoid either scalding hot, or freezing cold water depending on the time of day.

4) Speaking of plumbing problems, how about having the water in your building turned off without any notice. The facilities team gave ZERO notice, three times in three years, before turning off the water in order to perform plumbing upgrades and maintenance on the building. These were NOT emergencies, it was simply poor planning. This management staff posted their notices at MIDNIGHT, on the building doors, the night before plumbing maintenance was performed, informing tenants that ALL water would be shut off THE NEXT MORNING. If you don't leave for work until after 8:00 AM, you might as well kiss your morning shower goodbye.

5) When I moved into my apartment the property management people hadn't properly cleaned and repainted the bathroom from the previous tenant who was a smoker. This meant that after living in the apartment for a year the walls started to "bleed" smoke residue down the walls due to steam, making the walls look filthy and gross.

6) The property was at one time in the past painted using lead-based paints. So if your apartment wasn't repainted or properly cleaned, you are cleaning residue of the walls at your own peril.

7) The parking lot is a joke. It's laid out absolutely wrong, and the management staff contend that the flow of traffic should only move in one direction. This means that getting out of the lot takes no less than 5 minutes, driving over 7 speed bumps, circling all 3 of the properties buildings.

8) Unless you pay $20 a month for an assigned parking spot, you are never guaranteed to have a spot anywhere near the entrance to your apartment, or even near your building! The best part is that even if you do pay for an assigned spot, the management doesn't enforce the assigned parking spots. I was actually told by one of the property managers that they don't have the authority to have cars towed out of assigned spots. If the cars are towed they can only be moved to the back of the lot, and that can take up 3 hours to complete. In the mean time you have to park in an unassigned spot that is, again, no where near the entrance to your building. Enjoy the walk!

9) I moved into this property because I was interested in the motorized security gate keeping out non-tenants. After living here for less than a year the "Security Gate" became an OPEN gate that never closed again. I was willing to pay more for this service, then they summarily chose to discontinue use of the gate. Not to mention continually finding the door propped open with rocks, trash cans, shoes, and other items that allow strangers to walk the halls of my "Secure" apartment builds. Thanks for NOTHING Ridgebrook!

10) The facilities crew doesn't properly salt or manage the sidewalks and parking lot when it snows. I slipped and fell in the parking lot three times because they did not properly salt the sidewalk down into the parking lot. One would also think that the management team would tell tenants specific times and dates when the lot was going to be plowed, but needless to say the "notices" they post on the door can sometimes be the night before the plows come, and if you're not moved in time they will tow you or fine you.

11) They expect you to remove your car completely from the lot when they plow snow. There is NOWHERE to park your car nearby if you have two vehicles and only drive one during the day. The closest public lot is two blocks away. In the snow, cold, and freezing conditions in Minnesota winters two blocks might as well be two miles. No thank you.

12) Expect to get taken advantage of by the management staff when you move out. I spent money to have a cleaning service come through my apartment and follow the Cleaning Check List that they provide prior to checkout. After looking over the checklist myself and evaluating the work of the service I paid to bring in I was more than satisfied that my obligation had been met. During the final walk-through the management and facilities crew dreamed up NINE HOURS worth of additional cleaning that they deems I had to pay for out of pocket at $20 dollars an hour. So after I paid for a professional cleaning service, I also am being charged another $180 dollars for the onsite cleaning woman to come dance around my apartment with a rag doing NOTHING, because the apartment was already clean. This property management group will go out of their way to extort every last penny out of tenants that they possibly can before you leave. Budget for an ENTIRE MONTHS RENT when you plan to move out. They will dream up fees and other nonsense to charge you so that they will both A) Keep your deposit and pet deposit, B) AND charge you additional costs ON TOP OF YOUR DEPOSITS. Not only will you not get back your deposit. You are going to owe the property the equivalent of an entire months rent when you leave. Hope you have the money for this, plan for it in your budget it WILL happen.

I've never felt more betrayed, lied to, or taken advantage of than I have by a management group that I did when leaving this property. I will never live in a property owned or operated by Steven Scott management ever again, and I would encourage anyone considering living in one of their properties to STRONGLY reconsider, and live somewhere else. This was, far and away, the worst apartment experience I've ever had, and I have lived in many affordable apartment communities that treated their residents with more respect and decency than this group treated me. The management crew was friendly and all smiles right up until I gave them my 60 days notice. Then they conspired to take me for of as much money as they possibly could.

RENTERS BEWARE!!!

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