I should have known what I was getting into on the first day. Nothing was updated or repaired in the apartment that was promised to me when I signed my lease. As I was unloading furniture, a resident warned me to load my stuff back up and leave or I would be sorry. Two days after I moved in (middle of summer of 2003, 90 degree heat) my AC broke. I made TEN requests to management to fix it. They finally sent someone out but it only worked for 8 hours. By the time they finally got it fixed, it was the end of September. I moved in the first of July. I lived on the ground floor and had no locks on my windows nor did I have any screens. I asked over and over to have the situation rectified but to no avail. It was extremely dangerous as crime was a common thing. Two weeks after I moved in there were two warrants posted by the police dept. for different tenants in as many days. In November I had made arrangements with the manager to pay my rent on the 3rd by 5:30 pm. At 5pm I came home to find an eviction notice on my door. I marched over to the office with my rent check in hand but the manager had left a half an hour early. She just wanted to get busy with her weekend party plans and decided to screw me in the process. I talked to someone the next day and got the problem straightened out, but for almost 12 hours I was sweating and crying wondering where me and my three year old were going to live. In January, my bathroom sink started to back up everytime anyone who lived above me took a shower or used their sink. It backed up into my bathroom and into the hallway. It soaked through the bathroom walls and into my bedroom and bedroom closets. I was 13 weeks pregnant at the time. My fiance and I called maintenance 12 times. 6 of those time I left a voicemail pleading for help. Two days later they came by and said the reason they never called back was because I had a privacy block on my home phone. They didn't want to make the effort to hit *67 to unblock their number and respond to my emergency. They failed to acknowlege I also left my cell phone number, too. They sent a guy in three days after it started flooding to fix the pipe. Then he took a $20 shop vac to "remove" the accumulated water. It was worthless because water still squished up around my feet when I walked down the hallway. After about a week it started to smell like mildew and I began complaining again. A week after that the sent a professional carpet cleaner in to get up the rest of the water and clean the carpet. That seemed to help some, but it never smelled like anything but mildew in my apartment after that. Then, in April, my stove broke. I was making dinner when one of the burners shorted out. It arked (sp') and briefly caught fire. It gave me a small shock and my husband had to shut the power off to the stove at the breaker box. I called that evening but no one ever replied. I called the office the next day and they said they would send someone out that night. They came by when I was at work and replaced the burner. I told them that wasn't going to fix it because the heat was so intense when it malfunctioned it melted the prong on the burner. Low and behold it happned again...then again. Finally they just stopped responding to my complaints. I went from April to July without being able to use my stove safely and properly. I was able to use the oven and one of the burners. When I wasn't using it I had to turn off the power to the stove at the breaker so the apartment wouldn't catch fire. When I moved out I petitioned to have my deposit returned. They said I would only get $60 of a $250 deposit back. When I asked why they said my keys weren't turned in on time. I told them I spoke to the agent named James or Jim on July 27th (the day I moved out) and told him the keys would be in his hands in the 29th. I was having my baby that day and my best friend turned them in for me. She and her father both went into the office on the 29th and turned in the keys for me. You guessed it....by September when I was fighting for my dpeosit, Jim was no longer there! The turnover of staff and management in that office was so high one could barely keep track of the names of the staff. Needless to say I never got my deposit back. When I heard that residents were trapped in the complex after last years snow and ice storm because management wasn't plowing the lot, and weren't answering the residents calls OR the calls of the media I was NOT SURPRISED!!! I STRONGLY SUGGEST that if you feel lured in by the peaceful, landscaped appearance of the complex and the seemingly clean and spacious apartments for a "too good to be true" move-in special and monthly rent rate...to just KEEP looking. The cheap comes expensive and this place is no different. The company that owns the complex is NO better. They NEVER answered my many complaints and calls for help. Everytime we (the residents) tried to advertise for a residents meeting or tenants association, the ads would mysteriously disappear. The county and city need to get involved with the MANY health and fire violations and hazzards. People would leave junk cars with no tags abandoned in the parking lot for months. Once hideous yellow hoopdie was up on a jack everyday for weeks. No lights in common areas outside the building and the entry way lights were broken. Only a couple of the car ports had working lights. I think the Trotwood PD has an office there because of how many times they get called out. Trust me...this place is HELL. Stay away.

Melanie Stephens-Diamond

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/03/2007
I live at Castlebrook Apartments and the "NEW MANAGEMENT" that took over in March 2007, has made a difference. They answer maintenance calls, the staff here now, are nice , courteous and professional. The complex has taken on a new appearance and has security. The front of the buildings and hallways are being re-done and upgraded. The manager and staff seem to really care about the residents and the overall complex. I have lived here since 2005 and I think with this new company and all of the changes, CASTLEBROOK is the place to live.

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