It's a really long story, but I'll try to be concise. My family and I have lived in an apartment in NY, OH, and LA before moving to Waco, TX, for my new job at Baylor. We've never lost security deposit or got sued for any damage after living in an apartment (including one brand new apartment, where we lived for 3 years with four kids, in LA) because we always cleaned up thoroughly and replaced anything necessary (e.g., range drip pan and light bulbs).
Of course, that's what we did when we moved out of this apartment. Because it was a special deal and our excellent credit history, we're not asked for deposit when we moved in. After we lived there for a year and moved to our new house, we got a letter from the apartment manager that we owe them more than $1,000 for carpet replacement and a "damage" on kitchen countertop. Before moving in, we asked for new carpet, but they refused. We were not pleased, but decided to tolerate old, though steamed-cleaned, carpet since we planned to move out relatively soon. They said there were stains on carpet, although we don't remember such serious stains that would have required carpet replacement for the whole apartment. When we tried to see the alleged stains, they refused to let us see (though the manager claimed she took picture of them) and already put new carpet. We tried to reason with the management because we honestly didn't think we caused such extent of damage, they insisted that we're responsible for replacement and repair cost and later sued us.
This is my first time got sued after living more than 50 years! Although we knew we would end up paying much more than what they initially charged if we lost, my wife and I decided to let them take this case to the court because we concluded that the Saddlebrook West (which has the same owner of the Saddlebrook Apartment) is not simply mistaken but rather evil business, which we felt we should stand up against for the sake of justice despite all the hassle (our loss in terms of time, emotional energy, stress, etc.) and risk of losing. When I checked some of reviews posted on this site, I noticed the same type of charges not only this apartment but also the Saddlebook Apartment made to their moving-out tenants. In fact, soon after we moved in the apartment, we were told by a church friend who were very concerned that one family she knew had to pay more than $1,000 for carpet replacement after living there for a year. They were threatened for lawsuit, and ended up paying full amount because they were moving out of state and had no time and energy to deal with the situation. I also read a review about $1,000 damage charge for carpet replacement for the whole apartment. As I was reading review after review, I was convinced that my case is not an isolated incidence, but instead began to see a pattern of unethical business practices.
Though not directly related to my lawsuit, my family and I had to suffer from fire ants in one of our bedrooms, where my children slept. We noticed the management of the problem when my children began being bitten while they're sleeping. At one time, my kids had to sleep in living room. Although we suspected that ants were constantly coming in through cracks on the wall, they insisted that exterminator service would take care of it. Eventually, months later they reluctantly admitted and fixed the problem (once we had a garden snake in bathroom next to the ant-infested room). We couldn't believe the way they treated our complaint. we've never seen such unprofessional people in addressing such problems. We decided to just move out without causing too much noise, and then got sued for damages we know we're not responsible for. When they sued for such reason, we had to stand up and say, "Enough is enough!"
If you happen to have been victimized by this apartment and don't mind, would you please let me know to see whether your experience would help us fight this case in court (trial date has been set for Jan. 16). If you'd like, I'd be happy to hear from you via email (sungjoon.j@gmail.com). While we're still new to Waco, we believe that letting this kind of business practice in this area will bring only disgrace and bad name to this city. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
By the way, if you are considering this apartment or the Saddlebrook, please know that the approval rating you see is true. It was our huge mistake to give a benefit of doubt to the apartment management, suspecting that those negative reviews were posted by irresponsible whiners. I never even dreamed that I would be writing this review. I know there are/were happy tenants, which we were until we began having problems and eventually got sued. I know we moved in the apartment partly because of Midway ISD, but please, please look for other place than this apartment.

User Responses
From: New2Indiana	Date: 12/15/2008
I would love you help you out, but you didn't post your email address.
From: sjj6	Date: 12/15/2008
Thanks for your willingness to help me out. I've just updated my review to include my email address. Thanks again.

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