I have lived in an apartment in Edgewater Court for many years. I picked this complex because it is in a nice area; convenient to shopping, parks, movie theaters, dining etc. The landscaping was very nice with lots of mature trees and a small lake with a walking path that circles it and many outdoor pools and an indoor pool. The price, at that time, was surprisingly low for the area. It was rundown and shabby but the above reasons sold me on them.

I picked an apartment on one end of the building with windows on three sides and a nice little deck to sit out on. I saw the apartment before it was cleaned but they promised me all issues would be resolved.

On inspection day, the leasing agent seemed to be in a hurry and walked me through quickly and did the inspection and noted the various cosmetic issues herself; which I now regret greatly. I was too trusting and fear, when I move out, I will be blamed for many of the existing problems that may not have been noted. At the site called "Town and Four Sucks", that I discovered years later, I learned that other residents experienced this.

The carpet had just been cleaned and was still a bit damp and the cleaning detergents were all you could smell. The vinyl tile in the hall, kitchen and bathroom was stained, yellowed, scarred, small rips and paint was splattered here and there on the walls, floor. The bathroom vanity and kitchen cabinets were old and rather shabby. The tub/shower was caulked poorly and there were rust spots in the bathroom sink. The vents are caked with filth. (I found this later) The walls had patched cracks and holes, the floor molding was scarred and the carpet was old and worn and poorly patched here and there with obvious seams. The fridge was slightly dented and the dishwasher is dented and old. Later, I found the pipes under the kitchen sink were rusted out and soon I had water all over the floor. I learned later that the apartments hadn't been updated since 1968. (according to one source) It sounds terrible but it wasn't horrible, just shabby. I still loved all of the windows, the area, the layout of the apartment, the price for the area, all of the huge mature trees and the fact that it was very close to my work so I accepted it and moved in. Big mistake in retrospect. I have sinced learned from other tenant reviews that experienced these same things, that they are likely to fault you for these existing issues and charge you for them! Oh no! I am really worried because I let the leasing agent note the issues and did not think to take pictures...I was way too trusting.

Right after I moved in, the carpet had dried and the detergent smell was gone and I realized that the carpet reeked of pet urine. I couldn't stand the smell and I called the office. They came out twice to shampoo the carpets but the smell was still there. I gave up and asked them to note that they did not resolve the issue. I'm not sure that they noted this, I now have a cat and I fear that they will blame me for the pet urine smell and other problems upon move out. (i.e. worn carpet, patched areas with worn seams.) I sprinkled carpet freshner liberally and dealt with it. Over the years, I do not smell it anymore but I'm not sure if it is because I've grown used to it. Additionally, the sliding glass doors to the deck became stuck and would not open or close without force. Maintenance came to fix the door while I was gone and I came home to find some kind of silver metallic smears on the carpet in front of the door. I was becoming disenchanted.

I have been through so much here over the years:

The roof leaked and has been repaired but there are water stains on my ceiling.

They gave notice that the building would be painted and I moved items off my deck. Once painted, I moved my furniture and plants back out. Without notice, they repainted the building a different color shortly after and got paint on my new deck furniture, and my ficus tree and broke other plants I had grown and cared for over the years.

The second bedroom hangs over a walkway and joins my building with the adjacent building. It is freezing in winter and hot in the summer.

My apartment is on the second floor and in summer the temperature in the apartment would reach the mid to high 80s. This is with the A/C running constantly. I had them out several times, they said nothing was wrong. I told them there WAS a problem, it should not get this hot and, after calling and insisting several times they did correct it somehow and now it will only reach about 82 or 83 degrees on a really hot day.

The front door was a cheap hollow door and the peephole was covered. It would stick so badly that you had to yank and tug to get it open and slam it to close it. They have recently replaced it with a very nice solid door.

I have witnessed at least two apartment fires here. I know for a fact that at least one of them was caused by wiring. A couple of months ago, I was vacuuming and blue sparks began to come out of the socket. I turned off the vacuum but the sparks continued. I ran to the circuit breaker, cut the power and called 911. Help was there almost immediately; fire department, police and the maintenance supervisor. It was the wiring and the maintenance man said that it was aluminum wiring, which is not the best becuase the current causes the connections to loosen and wires can touch one another and cause fires. Yikes! He taped up the connections but I still worry and this may be one big reason I decide to finally move.

A couple of years ago they began many much needed repairs but it was really horrible to live here during that time:

Jack-hammering concrete, chain-sawing trees, and workers cussing and blasting their radios from very early morning to late evening. I know the noise of jack hammers and chain saws is unavoidable, but was 6am to 9pm necessary, or the bad language and loud music'

Bare dirt was everywhere sidewalks and courtyards used to be, which became a sloppy, muddy mess in the rain. Little or no walkways over this were provided for residents to get to their homes and if there was, it was rickety wood. This went on for WEEKS or longer.

I was given less than 24 hours notice that my concrete front steps would be removed in the morning and I needed to stay in or out of my apartment until 5pm. I get off work a few hours before this so I ate out and wandered around a nearby mall until 5:30. When I came home nothing had been done. No note or anything. I called the office and they said that it would happen the next day. I did the same thing, passing the time until 5pm. I came home and the workers were all around tearing things up and I had NO STAIRS at all. Mind you this is six steps with the landing over 3 feet from the ground. I had groceries and stood there dumbfounded, while the mexican workers snickered and made comments that I could not understand. One of the office staff was standing outside the leasing office and I said "How am I supposed to get in my apartment'!" She said she would look into it. I was furious. They had a plywood plank from the ground to my front door and I climbed it, pulling myself up the railing on the rickety bannister with groceries in one hand. All the while the workers laughed and made comments in their own language. It was pure adrenaline that got me up that plank because I was livid. I was then stuck in my apartment. Later in the evening the doorbell rang and it was the workers' supervisor. He apologized sincerely and said that he would call the workers back to build some temporary stairs. It was Friday and no new steps would be poured until the following Monday. The workers never came back. He rang the bell again and asked if I needed steps built for the weekend. What did he think!!! I had laundry to do and running around and I was actually supposed to have company on Sunday. I was as polite as possible and said yes. He ran to the hardware store himself and it was dark and drizzling before he was done. He was the nicest man and I appreciated his effort. However...when he rang to let me know he was done. He told me to be careful and showed me where to step and to hold on to the railing. I did as he said and the first step slid when I stepped on it and I lost my balance. Luckily I was holding on to the railing and just twisted my knee a bit. He was mortified and reinforced them with more nails. The bottom step was an old five gallon paint bucket and he laid down 2 two by fours as a temporary walkway. He reccomended that I stay in my apartment and not use the stairs if possible. I called my aging parents and cancelled their visit. Monday rolled around and when I came home at 5:30 all work was done but there was orange tape roping off the area. I was exasberated and ducked under the tape and walked over the still slightly damp concrete to my house leaving faint footprints that are still there to this day.

Some beautiful, healthy trees were cut down and dead/dying trees remained here and there.

In 2006/2007 pools were closed often due to water quality issues and sometimes the water was green or cloudy.

I've had multiple workers milling about my apartment replacing face plates on walls, replacing window and glass doors with double pane glass. I had to move all furniture 3 feet away from the walls. I think all apartments had to be done at once and it wasn't possible to wait until a resident moved out. It was chaos for awhile.

The lake was dyed a really strange aqua green color. When I asked about the funny color, a leasing agent told me the lake was an odd off color so they dumped in the dye.

Later, I learned that Fox 2 news aired a report on 8/18/05 at 9pm about Town and Four (their old name) and how they treated their residents.

In early 2007, my carbon dioxide detector goes off late on evening. I call the fire department and ask them what I should do and they came right out to check. There was no carbon dioxide in the air and the battery was new so they attributed it to a faulty device and recommended that I call the office for a replacement. I let the office know right away but there was no response or replacement.

There was a time when I had strange people in my apartment daily, weekly or monthly, with or without warning, for this reason or that. My daughter had recently graduated from highschool and these strage men came in my apartment without notice while she would be asleep! I didn't feel comfortable with it at all.

I had a flat tire from nails left on the parking lot during construction. Apartment complex said they are not responsible.

I found out, after the fact, that there was litigation for residents that believed they were treated unfairly, that managment did not fulifll their responsibilities or if they believed they were charged unduly. Oh how I wish I knew this before I moved in!

I have had problems with my tub faucet for years. The handle is plastic and there is a lever that you rotate to adjust the temperature. The faucet leaks hot water often and if you turn the plastic knob too tightly in a effort to slow the stream of water, it strips the thread and you cannot turn the water off or on. Another problem is the the temperature control lever doesn't work well and the temperature choices are hot or hotter. Not real good in the summer with an already very warm apartment. I have called maintenance so many times and had them come out so many times that I have long ago lost count. I know it is well over six or seven times. Each time it may be fixed, maybe only for a day or a week, and the problem begins again. Twice, it was fixed and a day later I came home to find maintenance in my apartment "fixing" what had already been fixed, only to find that this man actually made it worse again!! Twice this happened. The leasing office and maintenance began to behave as though I were a complainer which really upsets me. Should I really have to deal with a steady stream of hot water (so bad that sometimes I would come home and the bathroom would be hot and steamy). Eventually maintenance showed me how to turn off the hot water at the water heater (which means no hot water at all in the apartment) I would turn it back on to take a shower or wash dishes then turn it off again. The hot water heater would start making these loud banging noises that was alarming and I feared I was harming it. Now, the leak isn't too bad but the water temperature is always too hot for my tastes and takes some getting used to, and the water pressure is so bad that it is like taking a shower under the kitchen faucet. They mentioned replacing the plumbing in the shower at one point (kind of using this like a threat that I would be greatly inconvenienced by this if I kept "complaining"). It is hot water that is leaking, so I am paying the gas it takes to heat this water that is wasted and just recently, (after the complex installed automatic sprinklers for the grassy areas) residents were notified that they would begin paying for a portion of the complexes water bill. Aaarrrrrgggghh!
I could actually go on but my blood pressure is starting to rise just thinking about all of this. I wanted to wait until I saved enough money to buy a house before I moved but I can't take this any longer.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/06/2009
Your review states that you have been at Edgewater from 2002-2008. If this place is so bad, why don't you move? Why would you be in a such a miserable place (according to you) for SIX YEARS??? Also, if you had so many problems with the management/maintenance, why don't you just complain, instead of pretending like it's fine to them and then getting on apartmentratings.com and letting loose?

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