My family and I moved into a Brandywine apartment in July. Upon moving into the apartment, we completed the pre-move checklist, and detailed any discrepancies we might have found. Included in those discrepancies were remarks about the sub-flooring in the apartment, and the fact that the sub-flooring seemed to be "loose" or "buckling" in a couple of areas.

It didn?t seem like a life or death discrepancy at the time, and since we had planned on purchasing a house at the end of our one year lease, we determined that it would be something we could live with. We only asked that if this discrepancy was going to be a major concern, that we switch to another apartment prior to getting settled.

About 3 months after the move was completed, we had a discussion with a downstairs neighbor, who informed us of how loud the floor boards actually are from her apartment. We apologized and told her our plans to only stay the term of our initial one year lease.

In early November, we were notified from the Brandywine office that we would have to switch apartments. The request came 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, and was asked that we complete the move prior to Christmas. As most people know, that is a difficult time of year to accomplish anything outside of normal daily responsibilities, never mind a complete household transfer.

What bothered me the most about the move request was;



1.) It came six months after we made a major life move from NY to Tennessee, including a career switch. We were still mentally and physically exhausted from the transfer of lifestyle.



2.) The request to switch apartments was not even accompanied by an apology.



3.) We brought the issue of the floorboards to the attention of the apartment management prior to completing the move, and listed it on the pre-move in checklist. It wasn?t an issue then, however they claimed it to be a "safety" concern in November. We also have been told by neighbors that complaints were filed about the noise that resonates downstairs from the loose floorboards, and have concluded that the issue was not driven so much by safety as convenience to pacify the downstairs tenant. The reason we believe that it is not about "safety concerns" was because at no point from the time we initially made the complaint about the floor boards, until the time we were told we must move did a professional do a detailed inspection of the problem.



4.) Initially, Brandywine apartments attempted to lead us to believe that we didn?t have the option to move out of the apartment complex. We were led to believe that our lease was still a binding agreement for the full term, regardless of the fact that were being forced to switch locations within the complex. After consulting with an attorney, I learned that we were indeed NOT required to be held to the terms of the original lease if we had to forfeit the apartment the lease was written for. However, moving from Brandywine apartments would mean either starting a new one year lease, or hastily purchasing a home prior to being fully prepared. We didn?t want to do either, so in essence, we were still forced to stay with Brandywine apartments for the term of the lease.


The details of the move were as follows:

Brandywine apartments would pay for the move itself, and the costs that were involved with switching our cable, electric and telephone services would be reimbursed after we initially payed out of pocket for them. That was it.


I questioned what we would be receiving for our "troubles"...would there be reimbursement for the time spent packing, dealing with the telephone, electric and cable companies and the time that we would inevitably have to dedicate to this move. We were viewed as being completely unreasonable for expecting some form of compensation. We were initially told that there would be nothing else they could do beyond the original offer of paying for the move and reimbursement for utilities.


After playing hardball with Brandywine apartments, and finally talking to a head person about the issue, I was told that they would give us a whopping 200 dollars off of rent and they would add crown molding or a ceiling fan in our new apartment.


I agreed to the deal in order to save myself added time, effort and heartache, and made the decision right then and there that I would never live a day longer than I absolutely had to in a Brandywine apartment.


There are a couple of other things a person should know before moving into a Brandywine apartment:


1.) There are several fire hazards in the apartment complex itself. Although the rustic "wood" look of the complex is aesthetically pleasing, it is older than one would imagine and in areas, it is decayed so much so that I have actually feared falling through the upper levels of the apartment. The Balcony style, outdoor foyer for instance was inspected by my father in law who was a Fire Chief in Davidson County and deemed to be unreliable. We were told that in the event of a fire, it would most likely not hold the weight of all of the upstairs occupants at once.


I could probably go on for another hour about the other problems with Brandywine apartments, but I won?t. I will simply say this; if you are considering moving into a Brandywine apartment, please think long and hard about the pros and cons. There are many things that you will learn only after your move is complete. Brandywine apartments has been one of (If not THE) worst experiences of my life.


Here is a list of other problems:

1.) No parking

2.) Fire Hazards

3.) 1 of the two pools is always closed

4.) Poor maintenance team

5.) Grounds un-kept

6.) Front Gate doesn?t work frequently

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