They say that first impressions can be lasting impressions, and it has been very true in the short time that I've spent here so far (less than a year).

First off, I moved into a "renovated" apartment. Now maybe I have too high of expectations, but when I think of renovated, I expect everything to work properly in the apartment upon move in, and for the apartment to have been improved upon, even if it's lightly. Unfortunately this was not the case.

The stove did not work when I moved in. I surmised that it could be because it was simply turned off (being an electric stove and all), but couldn't get access into the circuit box in the kitchen since it had gotten painted shut due to their "wonderful" renovation team. So instead of risking damage, and having them charge me with a fine, I reported the stove issue to the management. It took them 3 weeks to send someone out to simply break enough paint off so the circuit box was accessable, and after that the stove worked wonderfully. Not only is the amount of time this took an issue for me, but the fact that when I called after about 1 week and a half, and was told they were "ordering a part" and waiting for it to arrive. I do not appreciate being lied to, but this was not the last time this would happen.

My second issue is that the secondary light in the bathroom did not work at all upon move in, I included this in my list with the stove when I took it to the office, but apparently they forgot to include it in the service order since that light was not fixed when my stove was.

The third issue, is that there is an ice maker in the freezer, and an ice box included. When I noticed the ice maker wasn't making any ice, I also put this on my list of things broken that needed to be fixed. When the assistant got to that point on the list, she informed that since my refrigerator was on the opposite side of the kitchen sink, that the ice maker wouldn't work due to not having a water source. Once again, if they were renovating the apartment, couldn't they have looked into solving this problem' I used to live in an apartment where the refridgerator was not near the sink at all, and the ice maker in that worked fine!

On to the best part of it all so far then. When I was awakened at approx. 2am by my neighbors playing music loud enough to wake an entire neighborhood up, I naturally called the police to report a noise complaint. Apparently when the police came, the neighbors decided not to answer their door, and since they didn't answer, there was nothing the police could do about it. I live on the third floor so the only access into their apartment would have been through the front door. Needless to say these inconsiderate neighbors kept their noise level up until around 5am or so. So the very next day, I went to the leasing office 10 min after they opened to report this since it states in the aggrement that quiet hours are between 11pm and 7am (VERY fair IMHO). I was told to submit a written complaint, and that a letter would be sent to every unit in my building reminding everyone of the quiet hour rule. Of course, I asked "And if it happens again'", and was told that a letter would be sent directly to the tenant in question warning them to stop. And then if it happened again, that they would be asked to leave the apartment.

So I submitted my letter that same day, dropping it in the leasing office drop box as instructed. After a week or two of not seeing any letter at my apartment, the neighbors did it again. I submitted another letter detailing everything again, and stating how I had not seen any building wide letter being sent yet. I also lightly threatened that I would seek being able to move out without penalty to me if this was to continue on unabated. The asst. property manager called me that same morning saying she would send a letter to the neighbors in question. Now keep in mind, I still never saw the building wide letter yet. Well a week later, it happened again. I thought, good I can get these lousy neighbors removed once and for all, and submitted my third letter the very next morning.

Well as luck would have it, I then find a letter on my door the following day and notice letters on everyone else's doors as well. This was that building wide letter. A little backwards eh' It gets better. As you may have guessed by now, the incident occured again, during quiet hours. I submitted my fourth letter, and in it, indicated that if the neighbors had been given "one last chance" they had blown it, since that's what I figured had been done. As before I indicated that I was available to talk more about this over the phone. Of course, I received no phone call.

Coming on to the fifth occurence of this incident, I made my letter plain and simple this time, stating that I wanted to speak over the phone about it, since pleasantries and respect didn't seem to be getting me anywhere in my previous letters. I finally ended up calling the asst. property manager myself that same day because I wasn't going to have her shirk me off again, and I was getting quite tired of this little game.

My phone conversation with her proved to be very interesting. First she said she was going to send yet ANOTHER letter to them. Before letting her give me the shrug off again, I asked, "what then'". She said she'd fine the neighbors. Completely confused and upset now, I asked her, then why was I told after 3 letters of complaint that they would be asked to leave' She asked me who told me that, I informed her, and she said that employee shouldn't have told me that, and went on in general about laws and such that had to be observed. Then she tells me that I can call the police. I informed her with all due respect that if the neighbors hadn't answered their door the first time I called the police, what made her think they would start answering it now' She avoided the answer of course, as I kept pressing her for a REAL solution instead of these proverbial slaps on the wrists that she was sending out. She even had the gaul to tell me I could call the police again, and right as I started telling her that they wouldn't be able to do anything, she asked to put me on hold. I was almost convinced that she was trying to shrug me off again, and hope that I'd hang up or something. But surprisingly she came back on within a minute saying that she was going to send the neighbors their final warning, and if they blow it again, then they will be asked to leave the premises. I wisely asked for a copy of that in writing so it would be clear that the next time this happened (because I was sure it would) I wanted it to be clear what action needed to be taken.

It was nice to finally have some action taken, but after being lied to by the leasing staff, and then dealing with the asst. property manager who seems like the type that tries to avoid confrontation at all costs, it does not make me confident in the leasing staff overall. I have decided that unless this leasing staff manages to completely wow me somehow, that I will not renew at the end of my lease (they'll probably just try to up the cost anyways). It seems overall that the JBG takeover has not gone well, which does not inspire my confidence in JBG either.

In closing, ask many questions about the condition of the apartments, read the agreement VERY CLOSELY, and get anything you can in writing.

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