i've reported these people to the better business bureau, and attempted to report them to the attorney general, who says i will just need to file a lawsuit. i have a friend who lived in these apts before me, who warned me that they charge you upon move out for bogus trumped-up "repairs". i gave 30-days' notice and thoroughly cleaned the apt before moving out (neat freak) with my own mom (cupboards, scrubbing tile floors on hands and knees, refrigerator, etc. . .) so it was cleaner than when i moved in, and a couple months later received a bill for over $250. i was expecting to have my deposit returned, and received A BILL INSTEAD! when i called to question the charges on the bill, i was told it was for cleaning charges/repairs. that's nearly $400 total for cleaning! amazing! they must have the cleaning crew for buckingham palace on staff. i should note that i'm not a partying club girl or anything of the sort, and i take care of my own and others' property. the apartment looked better when i moved out than when i moved in, and i have witnesses to prove it. these people are tenement lords and scam artists!

while i lived there, i discovered there is NO ventilation system. the bathroom soon began sprouting mushrooms LITERALLY. . . from the ceilings, floors, etc. . . their idea of "fixing" the problem was to scrape the mushrooms off the ceiling, and paint over them. the problem reoccurred shortly afterward. also, when i moved in during december, there were chicken bones/meat left in the garbage disposal. when i found an eviction notice from the former tenants of the apartment, it was dated august so those chicken bones were four-months into the process of rotting! this should indicate how immaculately they clean the apartments before a new tenant moves in (they left the eviction notice on a shelf, and bones and meat in the garbage disposal). . . $400 for cleaning indeed!

when you move in, they REQUIRE you to purchase renter's insurance. i've rented many times before, and never came across this. i suspect it's so that they don't have to take any responsibility for damages should your belongings be ruined by unrepaired leaking ceilings (from previous rating post) or fungal damage due to poor ventilation. these people are VERY VERY savvy at getting out of covering anything themselves, and at stealing out of your pocketbook in the process.

oh, and i should mention the apartment manager when i first moved in (who was pretty cool) quit after working for the company only three weeks. after quitting, he called me PERSONALLY to tell me he could no longer feel comfortable working for the company due to "ethical reasons".

FINAL NOTE: IF YOU ARE THINKING OF MOVING INTO THESE APARTMENTS, BE VERY CAREFUL TO HANDLE EVERYTHING ACCORDING TO LANDLORD/TENANT RIGHTS (STUDY UP ON THESE) SO THAT IT WORKS IN YOUR FAVOR. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE YOUR TIME WHEN PERFORMING THE MOVE-IN INSPECTION, AND STUDY EVERY MINUTE DETAIL (A MICROSCOPE, WHITE GLOVE, OR FINE TOOTH COMB IS APPROPRIATE HERE). DON'T BE AFRAID TO REPORT EVEN THE MOST MINOR DETAILS, BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T, THEY WILL CHARGE YOU FOR THEM WHEN YOU MOVE OUT. READ OVER YOUR LEASE AGREEMENT VERY CAREFULLY. WHILE THE MOVE-IN CHARGES AND RENT COSTS ARE LOW, THEY WILL MAKE SURE TO COLLECT IN OTHER WAYS.

UPON MOVING OUT, OPT FOR THE TENANT/LANDLORD WALK-THROUGH TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY DON'T CREATE CHARGES OUT OF THIN AIR (SUCH AS "DAMAGED LIGHT BULBS" AND "DAMAGED DRIP PANS"). BRING WITNESSES IN TO CLEAN WITH YOU, AND TO INSPECT THE CONDITION OF THE APARTMENT, AND EVERYTHING IN IT. PHOTOGRAPH EVERY INCH OF THE APARTMENT TO KEEP AS EVIDENCE. THIS MAY ALL SOUND A BIT PARANOID, BUT YOU HAVE TO THINK LIKE THEY DO. THEY ENJOY MONEY A LITTLE MORE THAN MOST OF US, AND THEY ARE WILLING TO GO TO COURT FOR IT.

if there is anyone who has experienced similar problems with this company, please email me: snakestress26@yahoo.com

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/25/2008
Oh yeah, I completely forgot about the insurance sham ... not only do they require you to carry a certain kind of coverage but they conveniently point out an agent that just happens to have the kind of insurance you will need. Hey, isn't that kinda, oh, unethical at best and, well, borderline corrupt or perhaps just plain illegal? I'm no attorney so this is all speculation but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ... or something like that. Anyway, I have this idea for an experiment that involves a few students (a marketing major, a social sciences major, and perhaps an economics major, plus a few creative types), a video or two on YouTube that can also be copied to all the other major video sites, MySpace web page, a blog, and a team of "communicators" to spread the word about the experiment. Would it be possible to turn this into a school research paper for some of the participants? This ratings web site is a good start but I'd really like to share the experiences of the many folks that have come to SouthWoods properties with the world through the power of Web2.0 using all of the best sharing resources. We can put up videos on file sharing services, bombard the local new media with press releases, post the links to any blog that will let us... massive effort, as Tony Robbins puts it, yeilds massive results. Anyone out there care to come along for the ride?
From: cbsnakey	Date: 07/30/2008
i am willing to do it, provided they don't drop my "debt", and they continue to harass people for bogus charges that they've trumped up because half of their units are unrented, and they need the money. i'm sure i could probably get my friend to join too.

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