Please do yourself a huge favor and do not move to River Oaks or any other Rainier Management property. Trust me, you will quickly regret it. Management is the absolute worst I have ever encountered. While the units are cosmetically attractive, the infrastructure has never been updated, despite the "renovations". I've lived at River Oaks for approximately 8 months. For the first five months I had a natural gas leak. [update: the gas leak is back.] My air conditioner exploded one evening so I called the emergency maintenance line and never received a call back. Water continued to leak inside my ceiling and walls for 12 hours before anyone from maintenance showed up. Mold and mildew was in my walls and ceiling for 2 weeks before they did anything about it. It then took over a month before my air conditioner / heater was fixed. I went 4 weeks in November and December without heat or air conditioning. After much complaining, they begrudgingly offered me a $100 discount on the next months rent. To this day, there is still mold and mildew in my ceiling and the paint and drywall is crumbling off. [update: Last week they finally came and fixed the mold and mildew and crumbling dry wall - three months after I first reported it. And I can only imagine, just in time for the new tenants that will be moving in after my lease ends in a month.]

Rainier also engages in what might be considered as deceptive advertising and misleading advertising in regards to the amenities offered in their units so read the fine print on everything and get everything they promise in writing. In my opinion, you do not get what you pay for at River Oaks, I can only imagine the same applies for other Rainier Properties as well. In addition, Rainier appeared on the news for questionable practices regarding forcing tenants to agree to lease changes. Rainier sent out letters to all tenants threatening to deny acceptance of rent checks unless the tenant signed a lease addendum in which the tenant would agree to pay for gas and trash, which the tenant did not have to pay for when they signed the original lease.

Other things to consider before moving here:

1. No guest parking, none, despite dozens and dozens of empty parking places in the lot. And they will tow, even if you are parked in a spot marked "VISITOR" on the ground. The towing company they associate with is the notorious J&J Towing located on Burleson out near the airport, don't even get me started on those bastards.

2. No running water on Friday afternoons since I have lived here.

3. A chiller A/C system which takes 72 hours to switch over from heat to A/C. This system is complex wide, you do not get to decide when you want heat or A/C, they do.

4. All utilities are split with the entire complex, you do not have individual meters. This leaves little incentive for anyone to conserve electricity and water. I was out of town for 3 weeks one month, turned off all electricity and A/C, and still got hit with the $100 utility bill.

5. Bike thieves run rampant in this area and at this complex. I've had a bike disappear from the bike rack and so have a few of my neighbors.

6. If I could afford to walk away from my lease I would do it in a heart beat. I've personally talked to many of my neighbors who would do the same.

7. While they advertise that all units have "Washer / Dryer Hookups" the reality is that these hookups only accept one make of Stackable Washer/Dryer sold at Sears for over $1000.00. Of the hundreds of stackable washer/dryer units on the market, only one will work in this complex.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/01/2008
Could not agree more. I had almost a carbon-copy experience with emergency maintenance in regard to a gas leak as well as water pouring from my A/C. I, too, was without air/heat for a month in Nov./Dec. DO NOT rent here. Everyone I know is getting out, if they can afford to move.
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/13/2008
These are old apartments! Things are going to go wrong! It happens! Get over! They fixed it didnt they!
From: rainiermgmtsucks	Date: 06/29/2008
I wouldn't say it has gotten any better. I know they are almost finished with construction on the other units and suffered a minor setback when the roof blew off one of the buildings in that big storm last month. I also heard they lowered the price. It just depends on what you are looking for in a place... the pool is great, the neighbors are great, the units are cosmetically attractive, the location is great, and from what I hear the price is much more reasonable for what you are getting. The biggest problem with this place is management and some of their ridiculous policies. As long as you know what you are getting into and are ok with that, then go for it.
From: newrenter45	Date: 06/29/2008
Help. Was just thinking about signing a lease. Have things gotten better over the past few months???
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/26/2008
No. I can guarantee they won't. I lived there for a year and just finally escaped. You would could not pay me to move into another Ranier property - when I was turning in my keys to the office (one office for 17 properties - staffed by a handful of girls that are always new, since they are always leaving), I met another girl who was doing the same thing for her keys to another property. She mentioned she had raw sewage seeping into her walls and had a gaping hole in her ceiling for weeks before anyone would fix it. It seems to be a management-wide problem.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates