*****I MUST ADD THAT LAST WEEK, I WAS ABOUT TO GET READY FOR WORK (A LATER TIME THAN MOST PEOPLE) AND I HEAR MY DOOR UNLOCK, SOMEONE WALK IN, WAIT FOR A MOMENT, THEN WALK OUT. THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE A KEY TO MY APARTMENT ARE MY BOYFRIEND WHO WAS AT WORK (I TAKE HIM) AND THE OFFICE. THERE WAS NO KNOCK OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT ALERTING ME THAT SOMEONE WAS COMING IN MY APARTMENT. THE LEASE CONTRACT SAYS THAT THEY ARE TO KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE AND I HAVE REPORTED TO THE REGIONAL OFFICE ABOUT IT. ALSO - MORE PEOPLE IN THE PAST TWO MONTHS HAVE MOVED OUT THAN MOVED IN IN THE PAST 4 MONTHS. THAT SHOULD INDICATE SOMETHING RIGHT THERE!*******
I MUST ALSO NOTE THAT I HAVE ASKED FOR MY AIR CONDITIONER TO BE FIX 2 TIMES IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS AND BOTH TIMES IT HAS NOT PROPERLY BEEN FIXED WHICH HAS LEFT ME WITH AN ELECTRIC BILL OF 265 THIS PAST MONTH AND 223 LAST MONTH!

This is an email I wrote to the National Resident Relations contact.
Unfortunately I have had one of the worst experiences having lived at Balcones Club for the past year.
I sublet a one bedroom through Balcones Club from a friend late July '05 and the lease was up early Sept, I believe the 13th.
My roommate and I signed a lease for a two bedroom in August to move in Sept. 10, 2005. As we were moving in, we were told that the apartment was not ready but we would still be able to move in. We were told by Abel the doors would be replaced on the Monday after we moved in due to holes being punched in them, some doors not shutting, stains on doors, ect. We walked in the apartment and not only were the doors messed up, but there were a few black stains on the carpet in front of the bar area, the towel racks were not screwed into the wall, a hole in the window of the second bedroom, tile broken around the fireplace, and there was no secondary lock on the sliding glass door. (It is my understanding through the lease contract that there will be a secondary lock on the sliding glass door.)
Monday came and went without doors being replaced. I called and inquired about them, I was told they would be replaced Tuesday. Tuesday, the same thing happened. I continued calling for a week or so and kept getting the same answer. Finally, the next week, ------- told me the doors had just come in and they would be replaced the next day. They never were. I called once a week for 3 weeks inquiring about them and I got the same answer yet the doors remained the same, never replaced. I finally gave up until January came around.
Sometime in December or January, my roommate and I woke up to banging as maintenance was changing out our front door. We never requested this, nor was anything wrong with our front door, so we weren t sure as to why this was being done. ALSO, the doors in our complex are all maroon and ours turned out to be white after being replaced. We figured they were going to paint it but months later it never was painted. I called to inquire about it being white and ------- told me they were changing all the doors in the complex to be white. I accepted that answer for a few weeks but looked around and never saw another white door. I called ----- and inquired about it and he was rude about it and finally decided to send someone to paint it. The door was finally painted months after it was replaced, but on a rainy day. There was paint dripping everywhere.
January, my roommate and I had turned in our rent checks on time. Because of an error at the bank, my check was sent back; however, I was not notified by Balcones Club until January 23rd (my check was returned on the 5th). I never received a notice through my bank earlier than that due to my name not being put on the mailbox at the complex so I hadn't received any of my mail. *Please see note below as to why I did not receive a notification through my bank before Balcones Club.
When I was finally notified by Balcones Club about a returned check fee, initial late fee, and daily late fee that I had to pay before Feb totaling $294, I of course contested the situation. My bank acknowledged it was a bank error and offered to write a letter stating this to Balcones Club management. Balcones Club refused to take the letter and said the $294 was to be paid immediately or I would receive an eviction notice. My bank was surprised to hear this as a letter has been sufficient in the past with numerous other apartment complexes. They were also surprised to hear the total in late fees as it seemed extraordinarily high compared to other company s late fees. I accepted the amount of the late fees listed in the lease as I signed the lease agreement; however, I don t feel I should be held responsible for the late fees totaling the amount owed for the maximum number of days the complex can charge the tenant. If my check was returned on the 5th from my bank, I don t believe it took nearly 3 weeks to reach Balcones Club. I at that point notified ------- AND ----- that I would not be renewing my lease. I also mentioned that my doors still hadn't been replaced since we moved in. ------- told me that there was no documentation that there were doors to be replaced nor does she know anything about it. AFTER she was the one that told me in Sept that they would be because they had just come in. Once they were finally replaced, they only replaced ONE of the doors that was messed up and it was put on upside down.

Somewhere around Jan-Feb, it was raining (which is rare around here) and mud started pouring onto our walkways. My walkway was so covered in mud that there was absolutely no way around it unless I went behind my building in the muddy grass where there is no light. I was careful in trying to get to my apartment; however, I still slipped and fell. I injured my back, scarred my knee and hurt my wrist. I could hardly type for a week and that was an esential duty of mine at work as I was Data Management for a company at that time. My roommate had also slipped the night before and hurt her wrist as well. I asked that it be swept off or something of the sort and ----- had told me it was done. When I went home for lunch after he told me it was done, it hadn't been done. I asked about it and he said that it was clear when he went to look at it. It was finally done about 3 days later. It continued to be a problem as we were getting more rain than normal. Finally, action was taken to put in french drains which don't really do much for the walkway as it still floods. For a good two weeks I was not able to stay at my own apartment due to the walkway being completely gone and the only other way around to my door was behind my building with no light again. Two females living alone don't need to be going through the back the way we had to.

Basically, I'm not happy or satisfied with the service here at Balcones Club.
I have contacted both the Regional Resident Relations line AS WELL AS the National one.

(I finally found out why I wasn't receiving my mail after I caught the mail man outside delivering mail. He stated that Balcones Club was to notify all residents that our last name had to be on the mailbox in order to receive our mail. Balcones Club had my roommate's last name on the mailbox, but not mine even though my name is on the lease, nor had they notified us of this. I do not have a complaint about that situation due to the fact that I was able to fix the situation with all my bill companies. I am just noting this as to why I wasn't notified by my bank earlier than Balcones Club.)


To add to everything - electric bills are ridiculous! Who in their right mind puts 1) the AC controler in the 2nd bedroom and 2) puts the return vent in the second bedroom'! The master bedroom gets little if any air ever. It's about 10-15 degrees hotter in the Master bedroom than the rest of the apartment even after I had the air balanced.

Parking is not adequate as some of you suggest. It's rare that I can find a parking spot anywhere close to my apartment. I'm normally having to park 4 and 5 buildings away.

I will state that I feel safe there anywhere OTHER THAN by my apartment. My neighbor had a psycho banging on the window threatening to slash the tires of the guy she was cheating on him with which scared the hell out of me.

The rent is a decent price especially for the location. However, it's much too expensive for having to deal with the jerks in the office!

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