We have been sorry since our first week here. The office staff is RUDE (with the exception of Steve who is VERY nice, but has no authority) and they are very unprofessional. They will say hello and smile ONLY when they have a prospective tenant with them. Otherwise, they ignore residents. It's almost funny to watch. The residents congregate to complain to each other about the latest unbelievable story in the sad saga of Forest Ridge. We have one neighbor who tells us the office hung up on them during a phone conversation because a prospective tenant walked in. The office lady just said, "Well, I have to go, buh bye." She didn't bother to finish taking down their maintenance request. When they called back, our joke of a property manager, Tracy, told him she must have thought they were through when the prospective tenants happened to walk in. Another neighbor says they received an eviction notice when their rent was one day late. (A quick check with the court house here in Knoxville and you will find that this complex files more eviction notices than any other complex in the state of Tennessee! The court clerk is open about her disgust with how they clog the legal system.) It seems to be another source of revenue for them as they charge hundreds for "court costs" and "attorney fees" at every opportunity. Our neighbor tells us they called the office to alert them their rent would be 4 days late. The manager, Tracy, told them it wouldn't be a problem, but the standard late fee of $50 plus $5/day would apply. The next day, they were served with the eviction notice and Tracy denies her conversation with them ever took place. We have been waiting almost 4 months for a maintenance request -- we'd like our filters changed and our garbage disposal to work. Every month we call and check on it and are told it's on the list. Another little gem is the office neglected to tell any of the residents that they were written up two years ago by the fire marshal who mandated that cooking grills are not allowed to be used due to fire hazard. The same fire marshal reinspected last month and found that countless residents have grills on patios. So, the office puts letters on our doors that if we don't remove our grills, we will be - you guessed it - evicted. It was our first notice of the issue!! Other points worth mentioning are that security does not respond to cars being broken into while in the parking lot or loud college parties. The answering service says to call 911. The police then call Tracy who is supposed to call security but none of my neighbors have ever seen them show up. This includes when a fire was started by people shooting fireworks in the parking lot - and not on July 4 or any other holiday. So, no police show up when needed and no security officer either.

Calls into corporate don't do any good either. They say that life is perfect; they have never ever received a single complaint from any resident, ever. Our neighbors, who have called to complain, find this humorous. The only good thing about living here is you get to know your neighbors as a camaraderie is formed around grumbling about how much longer until leases are up and people can escape this nightmare.

DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF MOVING INTO FOREST RIDGE or other Steven Bell properties who have similar problems.

User Responses
From: clairity	Date: 09/10/2008
About the evictions . . . well, pay your rent on time! About the fire marshall . . . I was one of the many people who had to move my grill to another location. I bought one, EVEN THOUGH THE LEASE SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITS THEM, because about half of the residents seemed to display and use them openly. The notice from the office did NOT threaten eviction if grills remained; only a citation from the fire department. The office staff is simply suggesting that we follow fire code, since the fire department is breathing down their necks about fire safety for multi-family units. The notice gave us 14 business days to comply. I have never heard of anyone's car being broken into or witnessed any loud college parties. A neighbor's 5 year old son called 911 when she had a small and manageable oven fire. He hung up before saying anything. The Sheriff's department sent a car within 5 minutes. I've also heard about people successfully summoning the neighborhood "courtesy officer." I have found the office staff to be professional, friendly, and accommodating in all circumstances. The only problem I have with the neighborhood is some of the neighbors. The people here on a temporary corporate lease seem to be less interested in maintaining our pleasant, family environment. We have some loud and rude construction workers on our street. When my neighbors and I get together to complain, it is about those guys, not the office staff. Oh, but those construction workers have been given notice to vacate. Thanks, Forest Ridge! Reading this review is quite perplexing to me. I honestly have no idea what this resident is talking about. I've had nothing but positive experiences here, except for having to live near a few temporary corporate rental residents. This is a wonderful place to live, since my family and I are in Knoxville temporarily. There are not many apartment neighborhoods where I would be willing to live with my daughter. Forest Ridge has saved me from having to buy a house in a town where I may not stay permanently.
From: KathrynHunter	Date: 09/10/2008
Venture outside and talk to our neighbors to hear first hand about what I have posted. Also, my father, a retired attorney by the way, reviewed my lease and mine does not prohibit having a grill. Maybe they changed the lease and you have a newer version? I also have the threat of eviction notice to come if the grill was not removed within 10 days. If you'd like to see it and talk to the neighbors who will verify their own nightmare stories, I'd be glad to meet you at the club or pool and escort you to our area of the complex where you can talk to anyone you wish.
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/21/2008
My husband and I moved in April 2008 and have only had positive experiences so far. But we pay our rent on time, so we've never had an eviction notice. And I absolutely LOVE the office staff. Anytime I need to stop by to pick up a package or for any other reason, I'm greeted with nothing but smiles and friendly faces. Our apartment has been so well maintained that we've not had any issues so far, but I'm confident that if we needed help with something we would get it. Forest Ridge is a wonderful place to live!
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/13/2008
I have never had any major issues with Forest Ridge. We live in Autumnwood Townhomes owned by them and we love our apartment. The staff has always gone out of their way to be helpful to us. Maintenence comes quickly, although they do not do the most thorough job in repairs. Overall a great experience! Very quiet neighbors and safe area.
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/16/2009
I have lived at Forest Ridge since May and love it. It seems the one posting the complaint needs to pay his or her rent. This is not something that the office can do anything about. It is called the Fair Housing Law, everyone is treated equally. It is also no different than paying a mortgage. You signed a contract now you have to pay. As for calling in the most eviction in Knox County that does not surprise me. I do not know if you noticed but there are a lot of units in Forest Ridge and Autumnwood. I believe it is about 600. Well, if you do your research with your average apartment there is about 5% eviction rate. 5% of 600 is going to be more than a complex that has only 200. I also have a hard time believing that the county clerks office has a problem with this. The court it goes to is specifically for not paying rent and minor problems like this. As for hanging up on a resident about a maintenance request, it could have happened by accident. Anytime my roomate or I have called in a request then it has been taken care of in a timely manner. As you notice this was never mentioned above. Which I would assume would be the most important part of calling in a service request. Oh and as for the grill. I removed mine when I first got the notice and necer received an eviction notice and it is in my lease that there is no grills allowed. (Actually in two spots) If you received a second notice that threatened eviction that is your fault for not removing the grill when first asked. I went to the meeting with the Fire Marshal that FR provided for us and this is what was explained. It is not FR's fault. There have been quite a few fires in apartments due to misuse of grills. Therefore, the fire marshal decided to crack done on apartment complexes use of grills. You gettig an eviction notice has to do with you not complying in the amount of time originally given.
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/10/2009
When I moved in I read the lease and yes it did say no grills allowed, but the staff at forest ridge told me it was ok. They just had to put that on the lease for legal issues. Well after I purchased a grill and spent 4 hours putting it together, I received my letter informing me that if my grill wasn't out I would receive a $1000 fine and an eviction. This is the only thing that really bothers me about forest ridge, and the fact that it takes a little over 20 min to get from there to downtown. I'm sure the next response to this going to call BS on it taking 20 min to get to downtown. So for that response could you please leave directions on a quicker way. I've tried them all!
From: being-honest	Date: 04/14/2009
Rent being 4 days late is still within the grace period, but Forest Ridge does take advantage of the opportunity to nickel and dime for more money so they file eviction and charge those people for inflated attorney fees. I see the notices go out every month on the 3rd. If you are a prospective tenant, DON'T move here. You WILL regret it. Even if you don't have problems, some of your neighbors will and the atmosphere is like acid. No one is happy and residents seem to bond over their hatred of the place.

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