Update 7-28-04: Makowsky, Ringle & Greenberg has contacted me. They are taking this letter very seriously and will be making some adjustments to address some of these issues. The fountains will be in working order within a few days, new pool furniture is on order, & the bulletin will be in circulation soon. Criminal background checks are being made on new residents in order to try to lower the crime rate in the community. Hopefully, they will be able to turn this around for current and new residents.
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Posted 7-16-04: Well, the most recent comment on 7-1-04 reflects the rebuttle of a letter written to the management the very same day!! Very interesting and rather coincidental that I had mentioned this very website in that letter. Though it does refute the comments made herin, it mentions a couple of comments made only in that letter. This leads me to believe that the new management has attempted to be the 'long-time resident' who 'does not agree with the comments made on this website' or a friend of the management has written in for them. Good attempt at salvaging the Company's reputation, if that is the case. Nevertheless, the problems still exist, even if there is one tenant who is oblivious to them.
The 'gossipy' lady mentioned is the Management's worst nightmare due only to the Management's own negligence. The gossip is, for the most part, true. Maybe a bit exaggerated in tone, but the words are quite accurate. Below, I have copied the letter that I sent to the entire Management/Staff of this property.


TO:CHAMPION HILLS @ STONEBRIDGE APARTMENTS
2918 Champion Hills Dr
Arlington, TN 38002

Dear Sir or Madam:
This letter is intended to accomplish two goals; first, to notify the Management of lease termination; and second, to respectfully provide both positive and negative feedback regarding this property and its Management.
I am requesting the termination of my lease contract with Champion Hills, which I am a month-to-month lessee. I and all property will be removed from the said property, as well as, all keys turned in by 1700 hrs, July 30th, 2004. Please forward all correspondence and refunds to my new address shown below:

[Deleted for privacy]

I would like to take this opportunity to give the Management of this property, to include the staff at Makowsky, Ringle & Greenberg, a chance to reflect on my time of residence here at Champion Hills @ Stonebridge. As a business-minded and customer-service minded individual, I, as a Lessor, would be very interested in knowing what made my customers/residents enjoy living at my property; what prompted them to proudly refer there friends, relatives, co-workers, & acquaintances to Champion Hills @ Stonebridge as a great place to live. I will guarantee you that the monetary incentive alone is not what generates referrals. As a matter of fact, even if a referral comes in, the new family moves in and discovers that it wasnt a good choice at all and decides to move after one year of residence. Then your expense is cleaning the unit for a different tenant, fervently advertising, losing money to new tenant discounts, etc. Wouldnt it be worth your time, money and energy to keep the property in good, working order' Pleasant staff, excellent amenities, good landscaping, grounds free of trash, good maintenance staff presence on the grounds; these are all things that tenants look for. There are a plethora of things that I can name that need to happen with this property, to include, a management change. I have never observed, over the 14 years of being a Lessee, a more rapid degradation of an entire facility of this magnitude. I dont believe that Makowsky, Ringle, & Greenberg is directly to blame for this degradation. I believe that they have been misguided by those directly caring for and managing the property. Though it may seem that costs have been cut, expenses have been lowered, rate of return has bounded, this may only be a very temporary reaction to the absolute neglect that the property and its tenants have experienced. In the following paragraph, I will explain my experiences.
It has been two years since an air filter has been changed in my unit or pest control has alerted the tenants of their scheduled treatments. The grass has not been fertilized and left to brown and weed up. Four and a half years ago this property was beautiful. The landscaping was nice, not award winning, but it was still nicely kept. Most tenants arent looking for award-winning landscaping anyway. We would just like to see that it is cared for. The trash receptacles have been overflowing on many occasions. The small ponds on the property have been left standing; their fountains left idle. Scum and pests have been your best tenants here. Since The Storm in July 2003, there still remains damaged roofing. It took months to replace lighting that was necessary to illuminate the entrance for safe entry, small trees lie snapped in half and untouched. Plastic signs with their wooden posts were left, vandalized by whomever, in full view for months. The propertys pools are riddled with non-residents, leaving trash, beer bottles and cans, using and abusing the amenities that we pay for, and parking in prime parking spots. A few guests, accompanied by residents is one thing, however, it is quite another when they are the vast majority. I have followed people through the gate, who had no key, right up to the parking spaces behind the main pool. They get out with their bathing suits on and enjoy. This leads me to the issues regarding the gates. The gates are more often broken than they are operable. The only good that they truly provide is a very small discount on rental insurance. It is misleading to advertise that they provide any security at all. The workout room, Executive Business Center, and laundry are not maintained. The computers are not anything that I would want, or would have the ability, to do Executive quality work. They are only used by kids doing what kids do best when unattended; mistreating, abusing, damaging and stealing. This is not an Executive Business Center. The workout equipment is functional for the majority of the time, however, the televisions have always malfunctioned. Crime on the property has increased tenfold since I became a tenant here. Evidently your standards have lowered in order to get new tenants in; if only you would raise the standards of the maintenance and upkeep of the property your tenants would continue to live here longer, in exchange, your turnover would lower (and so would the overall expenditures). If you care for it today it will last longer, lowering expenses from abuse and neglect in the months and years to come. You cant make everything new; you just have to care for what you have. Keep it as nice as possible for as long as possible. It will pay for itself in other ways. There is a problem in the management that is directly involved with the property. There is only one employee, currently, that honestly cares about the business; that would be your Assistant Manager. She lives on site and the residents love her. She responds to their needs and tries to do the best to help them. Unfortunately, she has limitations as to how she can respond due to her direct Managers wishes. This was an awesome, beautiful, and affordable property up until two years ago. It didnt have textured walls and gas/wood burning fireplaces. It didnt have dry cleaning delivery or tanning facilities. It didnt have an Award Winning Landscaping sign at the entrance or tennis courts galore. It just had caring management, moderately attractive landscaping (free of trash), nice units with clean filters in the heater/AC units and free of pests, a nice workout facility with cable TVs for entertainment, and two fabulous pools that were clean and moderately busy (with tenants and their guests).
I urge your company to get back to the basics and revive this complex. Reestablish the community standards and rules and then enforce them. Start publishing that wonderful, monthly, community bulletin that used to be slipped in the doors of the current residents. That bulletin congratulated people on their birthday, had community volleyball games, pool parties, pest control schedules, pumpkin carving contests, Easter egg hunts, costume contests, community concerns, gave notice when something major was being repaired. This reflects the care and responsibility of the facility, as well as, the care and interest in the residents who bring their hard-earned money to your table. With the interest rates as low as they are and the number of unbelievably affordable homes that are being built in this area and all over Shelby and Fayette county, I would think that it would be your companys goal to make Champion Hills @ Stonebridge such a great place to live that your tenants would hate to move out. Currently, the approval rating for this property is approximately 29%, according to www.apartmentratings.com and other rating sites. And the word on the street is that this place is a dump. Personally, I believe that it has potential but I dont want to live here anymore. I want to take my 4 years, my approximately $45,000.00 spent, and live elsewhere. I couldnt recommend this property to anyone. All I can do is walk away and shake my head in disappointment. There is a framed Creed that hangs on the wall outside of the Managers office, I think that anyone else responsible for this property needs to read it. I am very sorry that it has come to this.

Sincerely, with your future in mind,

[Name deleted for privacy]

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