I have lived here for four years. I'll be leaving in a few months and can't wait. Waterford has gone downhill ever since Colonial management took over, and it doesn't look to get better anytime soon. Management is disorganized and unfriendly, maintenance (while more friendly) is almost non-existent, and depending on which building you're in, you'll have better luck finding a parking place in the fan.

A few personal examples:

The condensation drain on my air conditioner started backing up last September. I called maintenance, who sent someone to pour Drano (I am not making this up) down the pipe. After that it not only backed up, but leaked onto the downstairs neighbors ceiling and into my wall. I have called a total of five times about this, and it still has not been fixed. There are now waterspots on my wall and damage along the baseboard.

My roomate rents a covered parking space. For three years, no problems. Then, within a two-week peroid under the new management it was double-rented twice. The first time they said they'd take care of it. Second time they even wrote it down -- on a post-it note -- and promised it wouldn't happen again. A few days later there was an "available" sign posted over the space. We just tore it down that time.

Parking in general is terrible, depending on which building you are in. It seems there are entirely too many units for the parking spaces available. It has gotten so bad in my building that people create their own spaces, along curbs or whatever. This blocks the driveway and makes it difficult for some people to get out of their legitimate spaces. There are not supposed to be any vehicles on the lot parked long-term, but we've had several that didn't move for months at a time and management has done nothing about it.

There are other examples, but you get the idea. I would be interested in knowing if other apartments managed by Colonial are just as bad.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/11/2007
The covered parking spaces are NOT first come-first served. I PAY for that space, I expect them to NOT rent it to other people each week. Also, the lease I signed states no commercial vehicles are to be left on the lot. At any given time there are 2-4 commercial vans and trucks parked there. There are also two unhitched trailers taking up spaces next to the building. The lease also states no "permanently" parked vehicles. For over a year, there were cars and an SUV with expired tags/inspection stickers that did not move taking up spaces. One of them had two flat tires. Again, this is in violation of the lease. So yes, I do expect the staff to enforce the lease that they make everyone sign. Since my first review, however, the office has implemented a decal system for covered spaces which should prevent the double renting, so kudos to them for that. However, there have also been more problems: There now been a sixth call to fix the air conditioner, with no fixed air conditioner. (Someone came out, took a look at it, and decided they needed to hire an outside contractor to take care of it. That's all well and good, but they decided the same thing back in September without ever doing it. The office has informed me (for the second time in three months) that they have lost the keys they had to my apartment. That means there are at least 3 keys to my apartment floating around out there. And finally, when lease renewal time came they wanted to raise the rate $135.00 a month. That is ridiculous. I have lived in this apartment for 4 years, and lived in apartments in general for the past ten years. I have never had a company try to raise rent by THAT much at one time. I've spoken to another person who's rent is due to go up by roughly the same amount, so it isn't just me. Fortunately, arrival of the renewal notice meant it was time to tell them I'm leaving. I agree, some things are starting to get better. They finally have more than one maintenance person on payroll and they're issuing decals for the covered spaces. However, how can you say I've pre-judged the office staff when none of these problems existed until they took over? And improvement or not, it does not justify raising rent $135 a month--especially when the improvements are only bringing the community back to the level it was two years ago. For those willing to shell out that much extra cash every month, I hope it turns out to be worth it, but I'm not willing to take the chance.
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/18/2007
Have you ever been a babysitter? Its not the easiest job in the world with one. Try watching every resident that lives here which Im sure there are well over 700 people since they stay full all of the time.

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