I've had two living experiences at Village Green, (Wilmington, NC) and neither one was a pleasure. The first occurred from May 2006-May 2007, when it was still called "College Green." I lived with two other girls, who were sisters. Three of our friends lived directly below us; we all lived in the same building as the leasing office, which is also where one of College Green's employees lived. She wasn't the manager; she was more like the manager's minion, and the the main source of our problems. This woman spied on us; one night, a friend from a neighboring apartment complex took her dog for a walk and decided to come by and visit us. This was about 8pm, well after office hours. A couple of days later, we got an official letter from College Green stating that we had to pay the pet deposit (which was ridiculously expensive) just because we had a visiting dog. The letter even stated the time that the dog came, and the appearances of both the dog and its owner. Clearly, she was spying on us, which is surely some kind of illegal.

Two weeks before my friends and I moved out, we had a small get together that apparently offended this woman. My friends and I had numerous "'parties" throughout the year, in both my apartment and the one directly below us. We never had any complaints and were very friendly with our neighbors. In fact, the one time that we did have a bit of a larger party, we informed and invited our neighbors, asking them to please tell us if we became bothersome. Nevertheless, this one time, our "party" was apparently so out of hand that this woman (the minion), sent us an eviction notice, claiming there was a very loud party at 2am. Though we did have a small gathering, we were all in bed by 2am, for sure. This woman was just looking for ways to causes us trouble. How convenient for them to try to evict us after we've paid an entire year's rent in full. The funny thing is, one of our roommates moved out a week early and accidentally took the mail key with her. I didn't get a hold of the mail key again until the day I moved out (May 31st), and that was when I found the eviction notice. I brought it to the manager (then, her name was Angie) and asked her what was going on, and she said there was no record of an eviction notice or complaint on our record. Therefore, this hateful minion woman, who had access to the office, sent it all on her own, just be horrible.

Even after all of that, I decided to give them another try 2 year later, in May of 2008. They'd changed the name to Village Green, repainted and remodeled some of the apartments, and had a new manager, Pam, who was very friendly and helpful at first. I lived in a two-bedroom apartment on the other side of the complex. My roommate and I, because we are graduate students and lived off of student loans/grants/etc., so we paid our rent in full/advance each semester. We paid our rent from August-December, and then January-May. To make this easier to read, here is a list of my gripes from this second time around:

1) Throughout our stay, Pam treated us very well. We were tenants who were studious, mature graduate students, and paid our rent in advance. Every time we spoke to her, she was personable, and really acted like she cared about our lives. However, when it came time to move out and schedule a walk-though, suddenly she was too busy to return phone calls or speak to us. We tried and tried, for the better part of the month, but we always ended up leaving messages with her secretary or answering machine. Once Pam no longer saw us as dollar signs, she stopped caring. How very two-faced. The current manger of Village Green is fake; don't be fooled by her seemingly sincere demeanor. She'll stab you in the back once she finds out you're leaving. Why shouldn't she' You're just a young student...you don't know anything. I believe that in both of these living situations, if I had been older, I would have been treated with more respect. If you're a college student, she'll take advantage of you.

2) At Village Green, if you get a package, the mail man leaves it in the office. Then someone from the office staff will call you to let you know there is a package for you. This way, they know from whom you are receiving packages, which seems like an invasion of privacy. Also, sometimes they won't call you until 4:55pm to tell you about it, meaning that you won't be able to pick it up until the next day.

3) Things broke in our "remodeled" apartment and we're never fixed:

-Laundry room door (Maintenance man was called to fix this; fixed poorly with putty; it came off again, and was never fixed
-Bathtub leak
-Bathroom floor coming up (tile)
-Balcony door didn't lock properly (the maintenance man actually told us we'd have to slam it shut if wanted to lock it).
-Ceiling fan in bedroom couldn't not be put on high without shaking violently. (The maintenance man looked at this, too, telling us that we'd just have to not put it on high, rather that actually fixing it).

4) The maintenance many actually walked into my apartment when I was in the shower and my roommate was not home. I'd just turned the shower off when he walked in, and since I heard a noise, I walked out into the living room with my towel on. He was startled by me, and though he apologized, he kept talking to me about what needed to be fixed, as opposed to leaving and coming back at a more appropriate time.

5) The insulation is incredibly poor. You'll either be too hot or too cold. The heat/air runs too often if you have it on auto, resulting in high bills.

6) Their recycling bin in paltry; you can only recycle a few types of things. So much for Village "Green."

7) At least three time throughout our stay, people came by soliciting, even though there is a "No soliciting" sign and policy at this complex. This policy is not well enforced.

8) There is no management of the pool area. Village Green residents are given "pool passes" to bring to the pool and show should they be asked. There are also strict rules about who can be a guest and how many guests a resident can have at the pool. However, my roommate and I were often discouraged from using the pool even though we lived right beside it. From this vantage point, we saw many people park in the parking lot and walk to the pool (not residents), many other walk from nearby residences and use the pool, and even some alcohol use the pool area, which is not allowed. Again, no one working for Village Green saw these things as problems because no one checked on or stopped them.

9) The pet policy limits pet size to 40lbs. It also states that pets must be on leashes when outdoors. Throughout the year, I saw several dogs regularly who were clearly over 40lbs. Also, there was one dog in particular who was never on the leash...never.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Village Green is unprofessional, unable to properly manage their properties, and unfair.

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