Let's get a few things out of the way first: Cherry Grove stays in business only because of its proximity to Union University, and it is expensive (some of the highest rents in Jackson) because it's relatively new, not because it's nice. My stay at Cherry Grove--a grueling thirteen months--consisted of one hassle after another:

Because I was transitioning from being a full-time student to a full-time worker when I signed my lease, my proof of employment wasn't good enough for the main office. My father, who was kind enough to co-sign my lease, was forced by Cherry Grove management to drive from Memphis not once but twice (the second time because of a Cherry Grove error) to sign the lease in person.

Cherry Grove doesn't allow more than one unrelated occupant per bedroom. It doesn't allow an out-of-town tenant to ask a friend to "house-sit." When a close friend of mine underwent emergency surgery during an out-of-town trip, Cherry Grove would not allow me to access her mailbox, even though she issued spoken and written communication that this was okay. Cherry Grove is slow to make repairs, but wait a few days to put your parking sticker on your car and the threats will begin. The staff at the Cherry Grove office is almost sociopathically rude and unhelpful. You literally will not believe it. And unfortunately for its tenants, Cherry Grove is managed by a Memphis firm. Any unpleasant questions can be avoided by referring you to them. Shockingly, they're even less helpful.

Cherry Grove sucks you in by offering a drastically reduced first month's rent and a gift certificate for groceries. Break your rent, though, and all of it must be repaid. This is reasonable--after all, they're a business--but the process to end your residence legally is complex and unbending. I know people who actually called the operators in Memphis for help and still managed to be found in violation. It's a lot of money, but the threat of legal action scares students into cooperating. They know they can screw us unresponsible kids, and they do.

Folks, I live in Brooklyn now. My landlord lives in upstate New York and is blind. As far as I know, there is no 24-hour emergency maintainance. Someone vomited in the building's entryway three days ago and it still hasn't been clean up. And despite all that, this is still a significantly better renting experience than Cherry Grove. Don't say I didn't warn you.

User Responses
From: alvina	Date: 06/05/2006
< My neighbors seem to be packing 2-3 "unrelated" people into their 1-BR just fine.

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