I lived at Brazos House Apartments for about 6 months in 2003. The apartments were decent-sized and relatively cheap, but I had a few problems with them. First, I didn't feel particularly safe there. I could smell pot on weekends coming from my neighbor's apartment, and one of her friends was arrested (for car theft, I believe) the morning after my graduation in August in front of my family (that did NOT leave a good impression on my parents!). I also had some minor problems, such as a lot of spiders in the apartment and poor wiring (I replaced 11 light bulbs in the short time I was there, several of them multiple times).

However, my major problem with the complex was with the manager. She was extremely nice and great to work with until I signed my lease. Almost every time I dealt with her after that, she was rude and deceitful. When I signed my lease, she told me the pet deposit was $400, $150 of which was nonrefundable, but she said I could just pay the $150 NR and she would ask for more after I moved out if my cat had caused excessive damage. A couple weeks after I moved in, I found a note on my door saying I owed them $400 or I would have to get rid of my cat. I went and talked to her and explained that I had already paid $150 and this would bring my total pet deposit to $550 and she said that was correct. So I paid it since there was nothing else I could do.

About a month after I moved out, I received a check for $315 out of the total $800 I had given her for the security and pet deposits. I contacted the management company and they agreed that she had overcharged me $150 for the pet deposit so they refunded it. So I'm now up to $465 back from my $800 deposit. I received an itemized list from the management company saying they took out $35 for cleaning, $150 for carpet cleaning (which is outrageous in my opinion since only the bedroom and living room were carpeted and I left them spotless), and $150 for the non-refundable pet deposit. I'm extremely frustrated that they kept $335 of my deposit since I scrubbed my apartment from top to bottom and I left it in better condition than I found it. I'm also not sure why they didn't use the NR pet deposit for carpet cleaning and deodorizing like most complexes do. The management company's been as helpful as they can be in the dispute but the apartment manager refuses to cooperate. (One of my neighbors skipped out on her lease after 2 months, so I suspect that the apartment manager is trying to recover the lost income through other tenants' security deposits.) I've contacted Jamespoint 4 times trying to recover more of my deposit or at least get a more detailed description of the charges (since the Texas Property Code says you cannot be charged for normal wear and tear, and I feel like I am being charged for that), but they haven't complied. I am planning on filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau to see if they can help us resolve this dispute.

Even though Brazos House seems to be a pretty good value, I highly recommend that you find a different complex to live in because it'll probably be cheaper in the long run if the manager decides to keep a large portion of your deposit like she did for me.

User Responses
From: 3rdrock	Date: 05/10/2005
new manager. she is doing a good job. must have run off the problem residents, because everything is nice and neighbors are nice.
From: 01151214	Date: 06/10/2006
i totally agree with this review. I was charged about 900 dollars for cleaning, new carpet, light bulbs????, i cant even remember all the things i was charged for. After i recieved the paper in the mail we showed the manager pictures we took when we moved in. the carpet was rising on some ends... had some spots... so they reduced it to 400 just like that. hmmm they said ok well just pay 400... that sounds deceitful and them just wanting to keep every little things they get. I guess its cause theyre always running a $0 deposit all the time they want to get something or everything. I would never live here again.

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