My fiance and I moved into Cheney's newest building at 3000 Mead Hill last fall. We saw the apartment in August as they were finishing up the final units - the majority of the building was empty. We told Cheney we would not be able to move in until October. They told us they couldn't hold an apartment until then because they were going quickly, and we had to take it as of September. Well, the final apartment ended up not being rented until sometime in the late winter (March I think), so they lied to us about that and we ended up paying an extra month's rent for no reason. Although the apartment was brand new, we had to have the maintenance dept come several times to fix plumbing problems (the dishwasher purged water all over the floor and had to be replace in the first month, pipes under sinks were leaking, they never finished the caulking around the shower head so there was a hole in the shower) and to fix the bedroom doors (which wouldn't close without hitting at the top, which is funny considering how huge the spaces at the bottoms are - my cat can fit half her head under the door to the bathroom). And there are so many cracks in the walls because of the constant construction from the other buildings they are putting up (see below).

I laughed at everyone's comments about plowing. Oh, they plowed alright. They plowed the snow up against the dumpsters, so that you couldn't get to the dumpsters without climbing over snowbanks. And forget clearing the walkways in front of the doors.

Now, for the worst part...we live in a construction site. Literally. They have been digging on 3 sides of the building since the snow melted. Huge, building size holes. Our stuff is filthy from all the dirt being kicked up...couldn't open the windows all summer because our furniture is covered in dirt. I'm not talking dust, but brown dirt. And our air conditioners clogged all summer as well. And construction has started as early as 5:30 AM, including weekends - yes, Sundays!!. When we complained we were told that the subcontracters set the time and they can't control that. BULL! You hire them, you tell them what to do...oh, that's right, they work for Cheney. State law says we have a right to "quiet enjoyment". We don't have any.

And then there's the games they play. Whoever heard of paying for a full month's rent and having to be out of your apartment when you move on the 28th of the month' And the re-rent program. Come on, they want you to pay them for something they have to do anyway. We got notice to renew about 2 months before the end of our lease. however, it wasn't an actual lease, but a piece of paper with a place to initial your choice. Because we were looking for a house, we asked if we could do a short-term or month to month lease. They refused. We sent the paper back with no initials (we were hoping to try to get them to change their minds). We ended up getting a signed copy back, but someone in the Cheney office had put a checkmark in the "renew our lease" area...so they basically made our decision for us (wonder what a lawyer would think about that since our initials are no where on that piece of paper). That essentially leaves us as tenants at will, but they are still trying to push the re-rent program. Yeah, right, I wasn't born yesterday.

On top of it all, the staff is very rude and unhelpful. For what we pay for rent, we at least expect a little courtesy. We've actually had them arguing with us.

We did buy a house and are moving out soon. To put it in perspective, our mortgage, property taxes and homeowners insurance comes to LESS than we pay for rent at Mead Hill for an apartment surrounded by construction with no amenities. Considering we are technically tenants at will given we don't have an actual lease, I hope they are reasonable about returning the majority of our security. But from what I read in the comments here, it doesn't sound like it. And to the writer who wondered about interest - yes, it is a state law that they have to give you interest.

If you're thinking of renting from Cheney - DON'T. If you already do...get out as soon as you can. And to everyone...know your rights - tenant's do have them according to the state, but Cheney makes up their own rules as they go along.

They really just don't care about their tenants.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/05/2007
Again I live here and have no problems with them really. I don't really see how you can complain about not getting your security deposit back. If you lease is up and they give you the option to renew for a year and you don't want it..then move out. If that is their rules and agreements you can't send a blank paper back and expect them to let you stay til whenever you feel like it...sorry I've rented from many many people before and the cheney company so far has been the best rental company I have ever rented from.

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