After living an entire year at a private dorm right off campus (Dobie), I moved here to Chelsea and have been residing here for a year and a few months now (just signed a new lease...what a mistake). I can honestly say that this is 100x worse than living on/near the UT campus if you're a student. At first, I moved here w/a friend due to the convenient location, proximity to a UT shuttle, and seemingly relative low rent (which management makes up for by charging ridiculous fines for "lease violations" for things they have no proof for or knowledge of). There are 3 different kinds of residents here: those that are responsible dog owners, those that are irresponsible dog owners, and those who don't like dogs and will do anything in their power to rid of every dog in the community. No doubt, there is an ongoing problem in this community with "dirty" residents, who have most likely never picked up a piece of trash, dog feces, or cigarette butts in their entire lives. However, with me being a dog owner who lives near neighbors I don't fair well with, I am constantly bombarded w/random $100 fines from the office who love to hear complaints, even if they are false, for that's how they make their money. The first time I was fined w/not cleaning up after my animal, I went and spoke w/the manager and reluctantly paid the fine, for the other option was eviction (which is yet another way the office pulls in money). The agreement, however, involved the manager sending out a memo to the community concerning this issue. It is now a month later, and today I just recieved the memo. The office staff must have better things to do like not fixing the gate to provide security for their residents in a somewhat unsafe neighborhood, or not having anyone pick up the dumpsters overflowing w/smelly, disease-bearing trash, or not addressing the issue of strange persons walking around the community at odd hours of the night. For me, the security issue is very important for I unfortunately got involved w/someone who had a criminal history, is very obsessive, and beat me up in this parking lot one time. Yet, in the last month, the gated community was only a "gated" community for about a week. In addition, even if the gate is operating, the gate code has been the same here the entire time I've resided here even after numerous car break-ins, robberies, and attacks. Thus, pretty much anyone has entry to this community. In addition, the maintainance record here is absurd. I thought we had wonderful maintainance when I was living w/my friend in the 2-bedroom just to find out that we were one of the few getting maintainance attention for one of the maintenance guys was dating the friend I lived with. When I moved into my own apartment, I wasn't able to shower here for 3 weeks for the shower had no pressure and despite numerous calls to management, the shower wasn't fixed for 3 weeks. Now, I have severe leaking in my roof and maintainance tells me there is nothing they can do for me. Thus, when I invite people over I try to stray their attention from the disgusting mold/water marks on my ceiling. All in all, management here is a joke, and when you try to convey that to them they are sarcastic and laugh. Never once have I made a late payment, and I have overall been a model resident; however, I am not treated as such. Management has been charging me w/what they refer to as "non-negotiable" fines. Unfortunately, for most residents this is true; however, I am fortunate enough to have a father w/a good lawyer who says these fines are certainly negotiable in court. Frankly, I don't even care to speak to management anymore. I simply want to stay here the rest of my lease, pay my rent, and get the hell out ASAP!

User Responses
From: chuckfelsea	Date: 06/22/2006
Be careful, even when you move out they will try to get you on any charges they possibly can, make sure you get EVERYTHING from here on out on paper, including copies of your rent and water payments. Also make sure to do a walkthrough on the apartment, perhaps with a recorder or camera to note anything wrong, or something they didnt tell you you would be responsible for. These measures can only help you, as they will most likely try to get you to pay for anything they dont want to pay out of pocket to fix. I wholeheartedly agree and endorse your claims against this complex, and anyone reading should as well. DONT RENT FROM CHELSEA REGENT
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/16/2008
Your fines weren't random...you never let management know you had pets and then your neighbors got tired of them barking and let us know about them. All you needed to do was sign a pet addendum and pay the pet deposit. We would have even spread it out in payments so it would be more affordable for you. Duh.
From: ltrompler	Date: 02/22/2009
This most recent comment is actually hilarious to me. First of all, how did management not know about my dogs if I paid the pet deposit and they knew the breeds and even the names of my 2 dogs? Unless there was a faulty transition from one management to another (because management changed multiple times during my lease) there should have been no problem. "Duh"? Really? Are we 12?Moving on, I have now been leasing further north. The location is not ideal and the rent is higher; however, I could not be more happy that I left Chelsea Regent (Magnolia Court?). My current management has been stable (same staff for almost a year and a half now) and wonderful. The maintainance staff responds quickly (often the same day) and does a great job. I have absolutely no complaints. Parking is abundant and I don't have to worry myself with theft, vandalism, etc. for the security gate ALWAYS works. Also, the complex provides residents with many conveniences like reporting maintainance problems online, rent payment online, and trash pickup (right at your door) 5 nights a week.

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