I moved in November 2001. At the time I moved in, the staff was great. About 2 months after I moved in, they changed and the next roung of staff started slacking. The TV in the gym was broken for 1.5 years, when the 3 neighboring high schools started using the pool and destroying it late at night, the new staff would tell tenants that they (the tenants) could ask people to leave if we knew they didn't live there. They were horrible to deal with. After about a year, they got kicked out and a new round of management came in. They were awesome! They put up a high fence around the pool to keep non-residents out, fixed the tv, repainted the property, kept up with the maintenace inside the apartments and outside. They didn't take any crap from the tenants, but were fair and friendly.

Apparently, they attracted the attention of the new owners. About 1.5 years ago, the property was sold to the current company. They changed the staff and it's been downhill since then.

The first round of management was so horrible they stopped paying the bills in order to make their budget look better. As a result, things couldn't get fixed because Home Depot, etc... cut them off. The manager would take about 3 weeks to deposit tenant rent checks.

Finally, they kicked that staff out and replaced them with the current staff. Since then, I have been less than impressed.

The accountant at the time had the worst customer service skills I've ever seen. She managed to offend more than half of my building and the building next to me and they wound up leaving. If you called and she answered, she was patronizing and would imply the tenant was not very smart.

The first encounter I had with the accountant was over the holidays last year. When the ice storm hit, there was ice on the parking lot. I got out of my car and slipped on a small patch of it that they had not cleared away. Unfortunately, I wound up shattering an armful of glass Christmas presents. I called, furious, and she answered. When I asked when they would remove the ice or put sand over it, she stated, "Clause 24 in the lease states we are not responsible for removing ice." Unfortnately, she was correct when I later reviewed my lease.

The second dealing I had with the accountant was when I added a third pet to my apartment early this year. I called prior and was told by one of the leasing agents that all I needed to do was come up and sign a pet addendum. so I spend $300 on the dog and when I called to have the paperwork drawn up, the accountant answered. I explained the conversation with the leasing agent and when I gave the name of the leasing agent, she said they didn't have anyone there with that name. Then I was told "Well, there's a $300 deposit that has to be paid." I argued that the deposit had never been mentioned. When I argued again about not being told about a deposit, she said, "Well I was here when XXXX talked to you on the phone and I can't imagine she didn't tell you." Which implies I was lying. She then stated, "The lease states that a deposit is required for pets." Yes, the lease states a deposit must be paid, but it didn't say how much and since it's new ownership, no one informed me of the dollar amount that would be needed when I called the first time about getting a dog. I wound up getting no where with her and called later that week and ripped into the new manager about the accountant and how she dealt with the staff. The new manager released me from having to pay any deposit on the third pet and only said I needed to come up there to sign a new pet addendum showing the third pet to make sure the paperwork was in order.

Since the new ownership took place, Sevenoaks has gone downhill. The staff is friendly, but it's not like it used to be with LPC in charge. The grounds look as if they aren't mowed as regularly, and the mowing out back of the buildings is uneven. Their were wasps in the breezeway of our building and no matter how many times I called, nothing changed that. The parking situation is horrible. They let people use 4 spaces to park monster boats and RV's without ever citing them, much less having them towed. My neighbor across the hall had his truck stolen and they never bothered to notify anyone of crime issues on the property. The pool area became an issue again with the teenagers from the local high schools using it more than the tenants, in addition to the basketball courts. I *never* saw anyone other than maintenance around the grounds unless they were riding in their golf cart giving a tour.

During the last 7-9 months, I've been sick more often than usual. I knew something was causing it, but had no idea what. My neighbor below me called for service one day because we had a big rainstorm and she saw water coming down the inside of her wall. The maintenance guy said there was a hole outside the building and he plugged it up. She asked him about the possibility of mold and he told her there was nothing to worry about. He said she should worry when mold starts coming through the walls.

I put in my notice a month after that and when I started packing, I lifted a photo from the wall above her leak and there was 3 patches of mold on the wall. I called the complex and the maintenance guy came out and scraped the wall and treated the surface.

I called and asked if they were going to get inside the wall and test it and the manager said no because the maintenance guy said it's fixed now. So I argued that I had been sick for the last 7-9 months much more frequently than usual and that if the water came in from the hole outside that he had fixed, that if he had not dried out the inside of the wall and just plugged it up, that he had just trapped water inside a wall and in the summer heat, that walls interior temperature is probably around 170 degrees or higher. Then I argued that if there is mold in the wall, then spraying the surface isn't going to help. It's still festering in the wall. I was told the wall would be dry by now and not an issue. I told her that even if it dries, it doesn't matter if a mold spore has already formed, it will keep growing in a dark place.

I kept protesting and she finally called the owners. When she called me back, she said she spoke with the owners and that their mold removal team couldn't make it out for another few weeks to test the wall (how convenient since I was going to be moving out within a few weeks!). She said the only thing they could do was release me from my lease early with no penalty. I took her up on that and moved out about a week early. Unfortunately, since I was moving to another property, I couldn't leave any earlier because I needed to pack my belongings. My speculation is that they were buying time for me to move out so they could blow off having the wall tested for mold spores.

Now that I've moved out, they are once again, using verbage in the lease to try and make more money come out of my pocket.

My cat peed on the carpet during the last 6 months. I could not get her to stop, no matter what I did. In the dining area, she found a corner and destroyed the carpet with pee. I burned the kitchen countertop. Both of which, I knew I would be liable for and don't have a problem with that.

The problem I have is that in my original pet addendum, the money I paid for my pets is referred to as a 'deposit', but the new management keeps calling it a 'fee' and won't apply the money toward the damage. Instead, they say that after the security deposit, I have a balance of $181 left to pay. I paid $300 in non-refundable pet 'deposits' and the original lease states that clearly.

When I moved into Sevenoaks in 2001, I was told that there is a $300 pet deposit, with $150 of it being non-refundable. They waived the $150 refundable deposit. I was told that the deposit I paid would be used for damages but any remaining amount would be kept because it's non-refundable. I have no problem with that.

So I have $300 in 'deposits' that I can't get back, but Sevenoaks is saying that when I signed my new pet addendum when I got my dog, that they changed the verbage to make it a 'fee' and thus, they don't have to use that to pay for damages.

Of course, once you move out, they do not care how much you protest. They won't work on adjusting anything because there's no incentive in it for them. They just lost my rent, so why bother living up to the original agreement, even tho the last ownership told us in writing that the new management had agreed to uphold all the prior agreements.

The only thing I have to say is, enjoy it while you're living there, but get out as soon as possible. The rent is way to high considering the age, condition and amenities in the apartments.

User Responses
From: san2cents	Date: 10/27/2005
Mikki, you sure have a lot of time on your hands. Hope to see you back on the site soon.

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