This is one of the worst experiences I have had as a renter. I've been here for 7 months so far. I'll start at the beginning.

I had to move to the area for a new job, and needed housing fast. Franklin Commons looked ok from the outside. I was shown a "model apartment" as they call it and it was very nice. I was still going to take another place since franklin commons is SO expensive, currently 845 for a 1-bedroom. But they told me they would offer me a special of "715" for one year. Great! But when it came time to sign the lease, at the last second they told me that "based on my credit they have to cancel the offer of 715 a month." At this point I started work in a few days, and had no choice but to move in for the higher rent. By the way, they told me my "apartment is just like the model apartment."


The first time I see my apartment, I'm very upset. The kitchen cabinets are AT LEAST 8 YEARS OLD, unlike the brand new ones in the "model apartment." The wood under the sink is DRY ROTTED AND MOLDY. There is a hole in my wall by my railing. There was a floorboard under the linoleum raising up right in front of the glass door. My power switch for my overhead exhaust fan in the kitchen shorted out the entire kitchen circuit if flipped on. And there were many other inconveniences. Maintenance was very hard to schedule an appt. with. Don't buy into the 24-hour maintenance thing..its a joke.

As Time went on:
I discovered that the hot water is "shared" between the apartments. Thats the only reason you don't have to "pay" for hot water, even though you pay for it because your hot water in the shower lasts for 6-10 minutes maximum ALL THE TIME. And once its cold, its cold for hours. Forget about running your dishwasher if lots of people recently took showers around you, because there is no hot water left. Then the guy underneath me brought ROACHES to my building, and it took them over three months to evict him and exterminate his apartment. Imagine living with THAT. Oh and don't forget I'm paying 845/month for this dump, PLUS privately owned utillities, not the utility company the rest of the county uses. (Hmm...I wonder why my utility bills are so high.)

Office attitude:
The women that rent you the apartment are so nice when you meet them, but once you are a tenant, forget it they are jerks. Its hard to get them to set aside time to hear your concerns and when you do get them they basically tell you that you have to "deal with it for the time being." (Like previous my roach-infested neighbor).

Parking
You would think every person gets an assigned parking spot. NOPE! Parking is on a first come, first serve basis. If you get home after 8pm, expect to park very far away from your apartment. People that have lots of guests over take up ALL THE SPOTS, all the time. Its so nice when its freezing cold out to walk a marathon to your front door, especially with 20 bags of groceries. Such convenience!

Trash situation:
You have to DRIVE your trash to a trash compactor. You CANT leave trash in the bag on your back porch until you have time to take it there. Who wants to lug their trash across a giant courtyard to the car and then have your TRASH in their car.

Oh, and speaking of the courtyards:
The courtyard at my building turns into a SWAMP if it rains just a little bit. If you step foot in it you will sink into mud and filth. In the summer time, they mow the grass only ONCE A WEEK, and do a poor job of it too. By the end of the week, the grass is almost a foot high, and no I'm not exaggerating. Oh, and you can't park your truck by your apt. on the grass when moving in your very heavy furniture, but its OK FOR MAINTENANCE TO PARK THEIR HEAVY TRUCKS ALL OVER THE GRASS WHEN THEY NEED TO DO WORK SOMEWHERE. God forbid they have to walk back and forth between their trucks like the RESIDENTS DO.

Oh and don't expect to be able to have your friends come over and hang out in the pool with you unless you want to start a fight with the office demons over how many "guests" you can have in their oh so precious pool. Don't forget, your paying 845 a month for this place. Absurd!

The only nice thing about Franklin Commons is the new carpet you get when you move in, and the windows (on the second floor units) are well insulated.

So if you like bad service, outdated appliances, shared hot water, having to walk 20 miles to your car/apartment if you happen to come over after 8pm, traveling through a swamp or jungle of a courtyard to get inside, pretending to be a garbage man (driving trash to the compactor), and RENT THAT IS TOO HIGH FOR WHAT IS BEING OFFERED, then by all means, move into Franklin Commons. I am 100% sincere in this review, and I can't wait until my lease is up so I can leave this place. If the rent were 700 dollars, it would be BARELY worth it. But this place is a Grade-A headache.

Happy Renting.....

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/06/2007
User review is excellent. The only item he/she forgot is that you have to pay for the pool.
From: 13579-	Date: 10/10/2007
Yep, when you move in you had to pay for swimming pool/ Plus, pay the taxes for community and local.
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/05/2007
Awesome review totally agree.... def out dated appliances which in turn has changed my life completly for the worst not saying how because it will give me away.... but of course its not "FC" fault... just to let everyone out there know that renting this place was the worst decision of my life... no lie
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/03/2008
The cabinets are more like 25 years old.My Aunt lived in these apartments in 1978 and they are the same cabinets now as then.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates