I've been living at Mtn. Brook for a few years now. Overall, it's a decent place. I have had some issues over time, as most apartments will. My overall view is that, given the waiting lists in some apartments around the area, this place is not bad overall, but I have issues with a lot of things.

1. Parking. There are enough spots if you happen to never have any guests. There is no guest parking spot anywhere, so if someone happens to have guests over, a resident may have to go looking around for a spot. I myself have not needed to park away from my apartment, though.

2. Laundry facilities: there are very few of them and always in use. Most people wind up using a local laundromat that is in a nearby shopping plaza. There are no hookups in the apartments and frankly you wouldn't have room to put one in the apartments anyway.

3. Maintenance: I've had issues with a few things over time, and the maintenance staff generally responds in a timely manner. However, the things you report sometimes just don't get fixed. The power distribution in the apartments can just stop working all the sudden in some sections, and that is somewhat shocking.

4. Inspections!!!!!!: For some reason, the owners/staff feel the need to constantly go into your apartment to "inspect" it. I was told that they go in to check on apartments because of some NY law regarding subsidized housing, but my apartment is not subsidized. The staff claimed that all they do is go in and inspect the smoke detector, air conditioning filters, water and bathroom, etc etc etc.

5. Apartment conditions on move-in: My apartment was thrown together rapidly, and it showed when I moved in. Paint chips all over the floor, paint spots all over the area where painting took place, doors to closets that stick, sliding doors to closets very rickety, etc etc etc. Returning this apartment to the state it was in when I moved in (needed sweeping, mopping and lots of surface wiping) will be a breeze, but I'm sure the management won't see it that way.

What they actually do is check on your housekeeping to see if anything is in "violation" of the lease. This year alone, I was inspected five times. I suspect that before the year is out, it will happen again. They always leave a note on your door to state they will be in to inspect, but to be quite honest, I am a veteran and I lived in barracks. I was inspected less when I lived in an Army barracks. The law doesn't even say they can do this, but I'm sure it's in the lease somewhere that you sign. I intend to find out.

The inspections alone make me not want to recommend this place to anyone. The Kamson Corporation is likely the reason for these inspections, but their reasoning is not what they tell you it's for. The only reason they would do this is to remove people that aren't neat freaks and collect the remainder of their leases. Otherwise, it serves no other purpose. The NY state law, even for Section 8 housing, only requires a yearly inspection, not quarterly.

Also, given that there was an actual shooting on the grounds of the complex in recent years, it would seem that they would be better served improving the apartments and providing some basic security than being nosy busybodies.

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