For the first time, I think we can finally tell the true story of Apache Springs.

Many would ask Wow, why is a 11 year resident leaving the complex. The answer speaks volumes.

Prior managers had stolen from tenants, leaving the once pristine property into a virtual ghetto falling apart around us. On any given day the lot was filled 3 inches high with leaves never raked, which risked flooding many apartments. But when needed they performed all work on the apartment, even if it meant being called a 3 am to fix a leaking pipe. Then the "saviors of Apache springs" entered the picture.


It began with new management 2 years ago and the promise things would change for the better in the community. When we moved from one unit to a larger one we were shocked to say the least to begin with. It was already too late to go back to the old apartment. The place had clearly been raided several years before. The bedroom door was splintered and pasted together like a jigsaw puzzle. The carpet in the living room/dining room area was in over 20 pieces. The rest of the carpet in the bedrooms were not much better. The cabinets had shown severe water damage in the bathrooms, the patio wood was literally eaten by termites, then painted over, leaving exposed insulation. The Windows leaked constantly and the bath tub had a huge crack in it. The office closet seldom if ever opened willingly.. It look literally lifting it off the track to get in and out when we moved in. The faucets all leaked severely. Roaches were infesting the place so badly it took literally bug bombing the walls, ceiling, cabinets under the woodwork to get them killed off.

The management prior said they could not afford to fix anything, so we were stuck with a destroyed apartment already falling apart around us. So that made the rest of the two years an absolute nightmare.

The first incident happened with a new worker. While I was out, he borrowed the keys from the work shed and proceeded to enter the unit uninvited and tried to rape my fiancee. When she pulled a knife he fled shortly before I returned home from errands. She still was deeply shaken as we filed a incident report and he was fired soon after. We thought this would be the worst we would see but we were wrong. A new dishwasher was added but clearly it was much older than it appeared. They also did such a good job installing it, it fell out from under the counter on the floor the first use.

It began with a garbage disposal that would have a loose wire and you would literally have to crawl under the cabinet soaking wet while washing dishes to get it to work. This of course brought the grave risk of being shocked to death. Maintenance was called in, and the relationship began with new management with kicking several of our cats and then branding them as vicious animals for fighting back. Over the course of almost 3 months, over 50 calls were made to fix the issue.
It took almost threatening to get a contractor to fix it before they took care of the problem.

Next came the bath tub. 4 attempts were made to fix it. The first we evacuated our pets to a unit that had been raided by police so the contractor could do the work. The first attempt failed because they did not have keys to the unit. SO once ones were made (having re-keyed the lock from the attempted rape), a second try was made. This one too ended with nothing done because the contractor arrived too late. The third attempt ended with a spray on latex enamel coat on the tub and a poor patch job despite waiting 24 hours to use. The crack soon reappeared and the last attempt to fix it failed. So for the last 20 months there, we spent with a destroyed tub that somehow did not flood the apartment due to blind luck.

From there it was getting a car stolen. Before new management, it was safe to leave a 16 year old car unlocked thining no one would take it. To our shock, and the shock of police, it became the first casualty. The car was recovered but the engine had been destroyed beyond repair. the replacement car would be stolen 6 weeks later and recovered in fairly decent shape. After spending 900 to replace the steering column and add an alarm we thought the fun would be over. Sadly 7 months later, in b road daylight with the alarm set, the car disappeared. it was not found until 3 months later. Remarkably, the pnly damage was the steering column once more.

During the time of the third car theft, my fiancee worked a little in the office, and also advertised the apartment. The car being stolen pretty much made work difficult but not impossible on bike, foot and also by taxi to some of the areas. Shortly after being let go, the car mysteriously reappeared. This time the only damage was the steering column once more. For three months it had remained hidden in a person's home or storage and was recovered in the same condition it was before the theft. Obviously, the managers were suspect on the third car theft.

While working in the office, my Fiancee endured a lot of verbal abuse both from Anne and also from upper management calling her everything from a "slut" to a "fat sow." Some of this was done in front of her. All she had done was file everything perfectly and had many hits on referrals. She was promised $250 per person who signed a lease. Of the 2 dozen plus she referred and confirmed had moved in, not one dime was rewarded to her.

Our first 4 months in the new apartment was greeted with gunfire 5 occasions across the street in the government housing. at least 7 people died, including a young baby shot and killed because her mother hid cocaine in the diaper. To say the least changes we wanted to see happen and soon. With the help of many veteran residents, the idea of a neighborhood watch was formed, with law enforcement as back up to help clean up the place and area. This was promptly denied by upper management and as conditions continued to deteriorate, after many tries the watch program was as dead as the people across the street. Note: part of this program was added security at both the entry gate and exit gate to quell the gang, drug traffic and the lovely sex parties.

As you can see by the statements above, our goal was to see the apartments come back from the dead. Instead the problems only continued. Gangs would use the young kids in both complexes as personal drug runners, some of them as young as 4. It didn't stop there with constant beer bottles and everything littering the grounds. Police and medics were seen often at both places.

The next couple of incidents involved the plumbing on getting the water issues fixed. The first attempt was greeted in the bathtub with the person tightening the parts so much they were all shattered when finally replaced. The first time was relatively quickly done, but the second took several months to resolve. This marked one of the last actual times maintenance tried to do their job..

The final one, in July, when temperatures were near 100 every day, the air conditioning began to fail this summer. The first attempt to fix it resulted in me nearly getting my fingers broken when asked what stunk. Because of no air flow in the apartment, of course small pets (ferrets without ---- glands) or any animal for that matter smells. SO he said we stunk and refused to enter. The next attempt they partially fixed the air conditioning which promptly failed less than 2 weeks later. The assistant entered the apartment with two fans trying to keep the animals cooled down in the living room going full blast said she was comfortable in the apartment. Even after turning off the two fans she still said she could feel the airflow from a vent that was not pushing out air. Two more calls were made to the office, one shortly after my computer lost a motherboard after a week of record 100 temperatures. This was followed by being called a liar by one worker and that we were being picky on getting the air back on (mind you this entire time of nearly 10 days we were without any air conditioning). The animals suffered greatly, especially the ferrets and two of our cats who were being closely watched. After our roommate fainted and two ferrets were near death and being cooled with water now around the clock, another attempt was made.

We had requested by now professionals to fix the air conditioning since it was clear management refused to handle the issue. After being graciously declined, the same people who had called us a liar several times before came in and it was clear something needed to be done. I went up to the office and said, " listen, it is over 90 degrees in that apartment. Both girls are suffering from heat illness, we have nearly lost two ferrets and several of our cats were now in dire straights. How many pets do we have to rush to the hospital or people before the issue is fixed'"

This sparked them finally to fix the air conditioning which saved the lives of three of our cats and the ferrets, plus the human side as well.

I must digress slightly to a month before to tell the next part of the story. This ties into the events that will follow soon. On May 30, a friend was shot and killed on property washing his car. A day later shots rang out in a argument between two boyfriends of a woman and left residents asking where security was (by now people should see it was non-existent. Police were on property during all of these besides the friend being killed. They were instructed to protect the buildings, not the people). This prompted by management when I asked what changes were being made to stop the bloodshed "what security measures' They are amenities that are not required to keep. The cops are there to protect manager's assets. We don't have to provide you with anything." TO add insult to the family, they were evicted at the end of the month for allowing the violence to happen... We knew this family for over 3 years. They were some of the nicest people around.

This prompted a visit by security basically in a attempt to terrorize us to drop any mention of security and saying " the kid was a low-life who deserved to be shot." We also heard this from contractors who were paid to fix the property.

About this time, my fiancee was offered the opportunity to care for a disabled woman on property. We had made some brownies in a attempt to show appreciation for the woman who asked her to take care of her mother. This promptly was reversed on the offer without telling us and sparked being accused of entering apartments uninvited and harassing residents. On top of this, thanks to me being angry with the air conditioning, being banned from the office. Mind you all we had done was be nothing but nice to residents, management and the like to get the treatment above.

SO for the next 3 months, we lived in constant fear. We had been visited at the time 3 times by police (one for the homicide investigation, the other two were basically terrorizing). After being banned from the office, we planned to move at the first chance that was given. Finally in August, we saw the chance and planned to leave the nightmare behind us.

Early September, a fourth visit was done by the cops. A Mexican van had been parked in front of the walkway through our building (leading to the middle of the complex). The guy, after urinating in the bushes had sex in the van, in front of an apartment across from us with over 10 children. Three days later cops come pounding on the door accusing us of harboring the Mexican. ALl three of us barely spoke 100 words of Spanish, let alone knew anyone from Mexico... SO yeah to say we were insulted was a understatement.

At the same time, the final plans to move came into play and we began packing.. Our lease was up at the end of the month and we had signed a new lease with a great apartment. We packed and cleaned in the dead of night so office staff did not know we were moving. Granted since they had banned us from the office making it impossible to renew our lease, it was clear we were not welcome in our home to begin with. So we left.

I will not bore you with the constant being spit on after our friend was shot and killed or being called every name in the book, and the risk of getting shot just to throw awa trash, if police were not harassing us to begin with. Even walking to check mail their cops would say keep your fat asses away from the office (the mailboxes were right by the office.... made it hard to get mail)... The dumpsters were always full, and to say the least even around them was a wall of shattered glass. Residents who tried throwing away trash were accused of littering if they had to place the trash bags by the full dumpsters. The only time they were ever empty was a 3 am. by then most people were asleep save the gangs and drug dealers doing their thing..

Please do not rent from these people. Besides the 12 sex offenders in the area in less than half a mile, several gangs, drug lords, and Mexican mafia call this place home. It is not safe for anyone to live in.

This story did not have to happen if they cared for the residents and not the buildings. How many more lives must be destroyed' When the bullets stop flying ask someone sometime..

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/22/2009
that's what happens when you run 1 bedroom specials for $399

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