We recently moved out of the Lodge at Shavano. We were only there for two months (moving for a job) so of course we were paying higher rental rates anyway for month-to-month. WE also have a pet, so we had to pay the $203 pet fee (nonrefundable) plus a $200 pet deposit and the regular $200 deposit. Upon our inspection, they charged us $248 for miscellaneous items - paint, cleaning, defleeing, carpet cleaning, etc. Uh, ok, so what is the $203 pet fee for' So we basically payed an extra $450 if you include that plus the pet fee. And, uhm ok, have you ever heard of wear and tear' I understand that in the process of moving after only two months, there might be more "prorated" wear and tear due the moving, but we are also paying a higher rate on the rent. I called them to inquire and express disagreement, and the lady in the office could really only explain "it's in the terms and conditions of the rental contract." And interestingly - her comment is that no matter what, if you have a pet, they are going to deflee it, and for every apartment they are going to clean the carpet, both of which come out of the deposit, and of course "it's in the contract" per the office attendant.

This is just simply robbery. Having lived in other multiple other apartments before in prior years, with a pet, we have never had an issue like this with getting the deposit back. The subjectivity of the items on the moving out inspection puts us as renters in a very vulnerable position, after all, they already have your deposit - they can give you back as much or as little as they want, and they certainly took advantage of that position.

We also had several complaints about the apartment itself while living there - Air conditioner was loud, right outside the bedroom window, was not cooling all that well most of the time, and took several trips by maintenance, which never really did improve it all that much. The toilet seal was leaking in the bathroom, never did fix that despite our calls. My 2.5 year-old son was stung twice by wasps on our patio (obviously they're not using all of that deposit and rent money for extermination). It was difficult at night usually to find parking within 200 yards of our apartment. Conveniently, a few days before tax day when I was trying to use the Wi-Fi connection in the clubhouse to work on my income tax return, it wasn't working. The girl at the desk had no clue what do do or who to call, completely incompetent and unhelpful on this issue. Her response was "it was working yesterday."

Definitely would not recommend these apartments.

User Responses
From: noyb123	Date: 06/24/2009
I agree. I also moved out recently and didn't receive any of my security deposit due to "cleaning" and paint... even though it was spotless. If I knew I was going to get screwed anyway, I wouldn't have taken the time to clean. Also, only one room really gets any air in a two bedroom layout. And there's no ceiling fan in the living room! Too many problems to deal with. Glad to be out of that place.

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