I signed a 14 month lease at Westlakes Villas (2006), and was VERY excited to move in, as it was a step up from my previous (and very first) apartment in San Antonio. The model apartment they showed me was great, and the leasing agents were extremely nice.

When I moved in to the unit they wouldn't show me until I signed a lease, I realized that the carpet was old, stained, and stinky, even though they called it "new." The paint and appliances were outdated, but other than that, everything was tolerable.

Things only got worse from there. First, my AC bill was always high - at least $80 - $150 in the summer, in spite of the fact that my apartment was always hot. I mentioned this several times to the leasing office, who assured me that everything was fine and that it was normal to pay that much. Then, my unit finally broke one morning. I called and begged them to come and fix it quickly, because I had to leave my dog there while I was at work, and it was the middle of the summer. They didn't have it fixed until the following day - my thermostat showed 90 degrees in spite of my running fans.

The worst part was, I started getting mice. I kept my apartment REALLY clean, and couldn't figure out how they were getting in on the third floor. I complained to the office, and they had maintenance come up several times (I had dozens of mice) to set traps - the sticky kind where the mice's feet are stuck and they're just alive and suffering - and seal off different areas of the apartments.

They FINALLY - after two months of having mice - figured out that the mice were in the attic and climbing in through my chimney. Their theory was that each time the adjacent field was cleared out / mowed, the mice would flee to the attic and come down to my apartment. I was not cool cleaning mouse poop up from my counters every morning, and finding live mice suffering on their little traps. Sometimes the maintenance guys would not come to change the traps often enough, and I'd find a shriveled up mouse body under the oven or in a closet.

I wish I was kidding. I was so disgusted living there.

On top of that, my neighbors kept getting creepier and creepier. Initially I was surrounded by quiet and respectful military couples or singles, but big families started moving into little apartments and having cook-outs every night. They'd stay up past midnight drinking, making noise, and letting their young children run around scream. They'd leave chicken bones and beer bottles everywhere.

The neighborhood wasn't any better. Marbach is right down the street, next to a plasma donation center where homeless people lined up every morning to donate. Every time I'd jog down the street, creepy men in trucks would whistle and scream (I was not dressed scantily).

Leaving the heat, mice, crappy neighbors, and rough neighborhood was the best thing I ever did. The leasing staff changed hands a few times near the end of my lease, and got ruder every time. They kept my $250 "refundable" pet deposit to do a carpet treatment for fleas, which my dog didn't have. When I asked about it, they said that the treatment was mandatory on every apartment with pets. I asked why they called it "refundable" when they never intended to refund it, and no one could give me an answer.

Overall, I'd highly recommend running the other way.

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