Moved in to River House in 2002. Seems like something major changed with the management of the place within the last two years. The folks at the front desk used to be helpful and smart, then about a year ago, they were all replaced by a group of folks who can best be described as jerks.

By the way:

1. Watch out for the tax collector! This is weird, but River House management is absolutely devoted to helping Arlington County collect car tax against its residents. Their help goes beyond doing the minimum the government requires, they seem to be actively out to screw their tenants. They: (1) forward lists of all tenants with parking passes to the county (my rommate got subpoenaed based on this, he doesn't even own a car!), (2) allow the county to cruise their parking lots and ticket cars with out of state plates and such (yes, you WILL get ticketed here, even if you work on the Hill), (3) will not even give permanent parking passes to folks whose cars are not registered in Arlington County (that's right, Hill staffers NOT WELCOME). Weird, but true, Cafritz Compnay (River House property management company) is basically an agent of the Arlington County treasurer.

2. Parking is no longer free at this property. The charge is now $10 per month for a surface space and $60 for a space indoors. The $10 doesn't seem like much, until you realize there are far too many cars for the spaces they have and that you will have to park at odd hours to find a good one. Otherwise, expect a trek.

2. Maintenance of apartments is great, but maintenance of important facilities is nonexistent. Case in point, the Ashley has 3 elevators for 17 floors full of residents. The center elevator has been broken FOR THREE YEARS. I'm not kidding, it really has been broken for three years. The management's response' Put a sign on it every once in a while that says "out of order", but usually they just turn it off and hope no one notices. The problem is that the elevator on the left has been broken on and off, as well. This means that whenever you are in a hurry, and need to get down to work from, say, the 14th floor, you will be waiting 5 minutes just to catch an elevator. Hope you didn't forget anything at the house...

3. Management is much more interested in making the pitch to prospective tenants than serving existing tenants. Ask a friend who has lived here how they treated him, and compare that with how they treat you when you walk in to look the place over. You will see a world of difference. I know, you can't just take some internet poster's word for it, but you can't say I didn't warn you.

User Responses
From: turandot1978	Date: 01/10/2006
How about the leasing process? How much do they charge? What does it include? Do they check your credit?

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