We have been tenants for almost 2 years. The rent is sky high for the condition of the units and the building. AIMCO is the owner and they will try to squeeze every dollar out of you here. The buidling was built in the mid 60's and little, other than appliance replacement on an as needed basis, has been done. Typical: Metal Kitchen cabinets, stainless steel counter tops you could perform an autoposy on. Appliances don't match in colors. Bathrooms are mis-matched tile where it has been replaced (different colors). Bathrooms extremely dated. Lots of closet space. Not ready for cable; tenant must run unsighly cable lines from front door along baseboard all throughout unit if they want TV in their bedroom. We opted not to. Poor telephone jack system.

AIMCO is charging every occupant $10.00 a month above their lease for water usage. We rented a house a few years ago and the water didn't cost us $90.00 a quarter for a 4 bedroom house with 5 people, car washing and lawn watering. The claim that the charge will make us more aware of water usage...instead now I don't care. I cared more in the past that if we were careful maybe our rent wouldn't go up so much. The hallways are unsightly. We pay a high end rent and the carpets are a mixure of hot orange and avacado design (I guess from the 1970's)in all of the hallways. The walls in the hallways are embarrassing. They haven't been FULLY painted in years. Instead they show different roller swipes to cover a past scuffing. Over the years there have apparently been different rollings using slighly different colors. Cheap, Cheap, Cheap. The parking lot is dark at night. It is largely unkept. The trees drop leaves, pine needles, branches and some tenants drop their trash and no-one picks it up. It has gotten worse since AIMCO got here. They work with a skeleton staff and can barely keep up with problems in the units. AIMCO advertises that it has remodeled units here..it has one...a one bedroom unit that currently rents for $1,600. I guess this unit allows them to make the claim and stretch it. They are not renovating anything though they have talked about it for 2 years. They could start with some paint and carpeting. I have children and since we moved here they have asked what the smell is in the hallways. It doesn't matter what time it is. It is the smell of "old and moldy." I have never seen them clean the carpets here. The community is not very child friendly. Most of the children are well behaved. The older occupants constantly view themselves as the enforcers of the rules and are outright rude to my children. None of them could be harder on my kids than me for bad behavior but their is no consideration that they are just kids who sometimes talk too loud, jump and skip outside and want to throw a ball in the air while standing still waiting for their ride to a ball game. There can be a chorus from the balconies and patios that the chilren shouldn't be riding their bikes on the driveay or in the parking lot or throwing a ball in the air. They are expected to walk their bike to get to the outside entrance of the property. They are not allowed to walk on the expanse of grass in the front of Merrill House. With the beginning of the school year AIMCO posted a reminder to the tenants that they are to remind their children to stay off of the lawn since our leases prohibit walking in the "landscaped areas"..since when is grass landscaping' I can't even lay down on the grass and read a book..this is the only grassy area in this community!!! The rents are going through the roof here and are not in any way justified by the money grubbing AIMCO company. They are doing nothing to improve the public areas of this community...except where they think they can charge extra. It is in half jest that I suggest that they might start charging us for the breathable air in our units. Only because the air has so much dust that the vents in my bathroom have to be vacummed every month and they exude a heavy lint dust that requires that I dust my bathrooms before they need to be cleaned each week. We are only here for another year when our tour is up. So here are my complaints in a nutshell.

-Rents don't equal amenities, condition or quality of similar priced units in the local area.
-Killer charges for Water (Monthly charges of $10.00 per person in unit added to base charges).
-Rent must be paid on the FIRST day of each month...no grace period...and you suffer a 10% penalty if late (can mean as much as $180.00 for one day being late).
-AIMCO is trying to drive out elderly tenants through draconian landlord policies, rents and fees. Many have lived here for over 20 years. Truly a BAH HUMBUG Company.
-If you are on a budget then this is not the place to live...they will charge you for everything they can think of that in other apartments are benefits of your lease. They are looking to figure out how to charge for electricity.
-Water leaks in the buidling that need attention but no-one is doing the outside work to fix where it is leaking from.
-Not a friendly place to raise children.
-Rents are skyrocketing with no improvement in livable space.
-There is no true month to month lease after the first years lease. Merrill House charges you an extra $100.00 per month to keep a Month to Month lease, an extra $75.00 per month to have a six month Lease or you can sign a full years lease again. Don't forget that doesn't include the $10.00 more per month per tenant in each unit.
-There is no on-site manager. The response is terrible on the weekends and at night. Elevators break with people in them.
-Improvements will only lead to more rent increase so when that starts to happen watch out.
-Tenant Group formed to try to address issues with AIMCO.
-The Tenant protection laws need to be improved in the State of Virginia.

I would move if I weren't already planning to move next year. Next time I will look at buying a condo rather than renting. At these prices it would be a better investment.

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