Apartment managing is one of the easiest and..oh, how to say "a monkey could do it" without sounding so mean'

Like the previous poster, I was roped into a 12 month lease as well, and can't WAIT till it's up so I can move somewhere else. They keep bragging about the view.. the view through the gigantic trees that block everything'

And heaven forbid you ever be late paying anything to them. The fees associated with rent, utilities, etc are ASTRONOMICAL! 10% of your rent if you're late with it. And there's no one-time courtesy like most places have.

Do yourself a favor, just drive on by when you see that sign for Meridian.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/16/2007
I am currently in the market for an apartment home and came across your review. As someone who previously worked in the management industry for many years, I couldn???t help but respond to your "managing is one of the easiest, a monkey could do it" remark. You are obviously someone who has never had the displeasure of dealing with self-entitled individuals like yourself on a daily basis. For example, you complain about the trees, I would be confident in assuming that those "gigantic trees that block everything" were present when you made the decision to move-in and willingly signed a lease. You are responsible for your own decisions; no one is obligated to accommodate your changing mind. And as for your remark regarding late fees, I again would be confident in assuming that there was a specified rent payment date on the contract that you willingly signed. We all have financial obligations, why should exceptions or "courtesy's" (as you put it) be made for you? You'll be doing management a favor when you move and they no longer have to deal with your adolescent antics. Best of luck in finding a rental community that offers the type of contract terms acceptable to you.
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/22/2007
Ha, that response sounds like it was written by the Meridian manager. Notice the crappy arrogant attitude of this "management" person - it's always the renter's fault, so screw you. Fact is, the 10% late fee is way out of line. Oregon renter's law says the late fee should represent the cost involved in processing the late payment. Well, if you are ONE MINUTE late at the Meridian, you can get hit with a $100 late fee! Say the rent was due on Sunday, and because you were on a business trip and arrived home late Sunday night, you decide to pay the rent at 9:01 AM the next Monday morning. Sorry you scumball lowly renter, add 10%. This is BS, as the actual processing cost in this case is zero. This is a violation of Oregon renter's law - but Guardian will keep doing it until someone challenges them in court. Since most renters cannot afford a legal battle with Guardian, Guardian & Meridian gets by with this unscrupulous late fee. A fair late fee would be based on the number of days late. One minute late on a Monday morning has zero cost, so the late fee should be very small. It was once only $20 here flat rate here, with a reasonable attitude if it was only a few minutes late. That all changed when Guardian took over. The OP is right about the other high fees. EVERYTHING is an extra charge here: Storage, garages, water, sewage, garbage, and even basic cable. And expect more added fees in the future. Many residents did NOT agree to the present charges, and remain here only because of the inconvenience of moving elsewhere. They lose many potential renters who DO read the fine print in the contract - but since vacancy rates are low now in this area, the management could care less what the fee structure is. It's all about taking your money to maximize the out-of-state investors profit on a 17 year old property.
From: Meridianmgr	Date: 05/10/2007
As manager of Meridian, I would like to make it clear that I did not write the response dated April 16th, however I do agree with the author. Property Management is a challenging and unique profession. I would never call it easy. On a daily basis we make critical decisions which have the potential to effect the lives of many people. I cannot speak to what goes on elsewhere, however at Meridian we take the comfort and safety of our residents seriously. Yes, this is a business and one of our goals is to assist owners and investors to realize a profit. If someone was not making money, Meridian would not be the outstanding product it is. We have many happy residents, I have learned after being in this business for seventeen years that I cannot please everyone. I try to focus on residents who appreciate that we are here to assist them. That said, we always treat our residents consistently and with the respect they deserve. The response dated April 22nd makes reference to a "scumball lowly renter"; I find this very offensive. Meridian is a 312-unit community, we have many types of individuals, some are more difficult to deal with, I have been frustrated and angry on many occasions, however I have never considered a resident to be a "lowly scumball renter". In addition we never try to make everything the residents fault. We are all human, we all make errors, our staff makes plenty, we have no problem owning up to that. When we do make an error, we always apologize and we always try to make it right. What I don't understand is how a few individuals think it is not okay that we charge for our services, anywhere else you might do business you are going to be charged the fair market value. I am always happy to spend time with a resident who is angry or upset for any reason. Our staff, maintenance included, is available to assist residents seven days a week. Customer service is always our number one priority when it comes to current and future residents. I am just sorry the resident above is unable to come to the office and communicate their frustration, because as always, we would work very hard to make them happy in their home. Sincerely, The Manager Meridian@Murrayhill
From: shellpuppy1	Date: 07/27/2007
I just wanted to say to 4/16/07 and 5/10/07..great job in representing what REAL life is about...to the author and 4/22/07, give it up already, what is your problem anyway, are you not all growed up enough to be living alone in this big bad world of ours? PALEASE, get a grip and a life while you are at it!!
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/23/2008
A question from someone who has read this review and is curious. I sympathize with both parties, but do not understand something. In the spirit of the hard work you speak of to please your tenants, could you briefly explain why a "progressive-increase" late fee would not be a fair idea and also what exactly you spend the $100 dollar fee on when processing a late payment? In other words, I think it would help people to understand that you do not make a profit on the fee, which of course would be unethical. Thank you.
From: christpyrenter	Date: 12/18/2008
Meridian at murray hill is a low key complex and the staff are friendly. However the late fee's are horrible. I've spoken with a few friends who live in the area and their rent is due on the 5th. (Which is payday) At Meridian it's due on the 4th. I now owe a lot of late fee's. I like the complex but for that single reason I will not be renewing my lease. It's sad that they charge people so much money considering we spending money on rent that will just go out the window every month. Unlike buying a house... :(
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/28/2009
How about everyone pay's on time? Wow what a concept! Being a real estate advisor, I am going to make an educated guess that the late fee on the mortgage of a property the size of this apartment building is about ...$5600. And let me guess again, a large management company is not going to charge fees that are "a violation of the law". Those companies have a team of lawyers review each and every aspect of their conduct, and they would not jepordize their investments breaking the laws in Oregon. Ignorant people make comments like that. Stick to what you do best 4/22/07, and keep pumping my gas.
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/14/2009
I too am in the industry. I do not work for this company... I work for a property in Tanasbourne area and was just looking at the ratings here to decide whether I wanted to apply for a job here. The late fee does seem fair, the property I work at has a much higher late fee, as this is the direction the market is going. The late fee on a mortgage is high, like the poster on 7/28/09. My suggestion to my residents that cannot make the payments on time would be to save up some money and pay in advance one month, so that you're not waiting until your paycheck to pay rent. I am basing this off of the lease that is at my property, and my assumption would be that the rent is actually due on the 1st, with a grace period by the 4th or 5th... which would mean you can pay your rent without penalty before the 1st. My property has been offering free rent when people renew, so I always suggest people to pay their rent anyway during this time, that way they have a credit in their bank account at all times for emergency. Best of luck to the original poster, and as for the trees: many apartments overlook roads such as Cornell or Murray, so trees sound like a fabulous view! Enjoy what you have now because I am sure this is a nice property with a professional management team. I would also invite you to try a customer service job. Working in a leasing office takes a lot of work and a lot of responsibility. While occasionally there is the office worker that spends their day on facebook or some other website, many of the leasing agents in the office spend their time working on marketing and documenting. Each time you call into the office, believe it or not, they have to race into their files and document the conversation you had. This takes a ton of time. The job isn't as easy as it seems, and is possibly one of the most stessful jobs for someone just out of high school and in college. It takes a unique individual to keep a smile on their face while someone is on the phone irate about something, such as a late rent payment, or a broken appliance. Again, thanks for the review, but I do suggest walking a mile in our shoes first. :)

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