Review History for anonymous

Bellevue Garden Apartments


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anonymous

Resident 2008 - 2009

8/22/2009

This renter came from a slum apartment in downtown Richmond, and has bad credit from an another apartment that flooded and developed black mold. This company was the *only* one who would work with my credit. When shown the apartment, it was warned that the "show apartment" was much different (And nicer) than the actual apartments; The company claimed these were under construction for renovations (They were not), and could not be viewed. One was informed that A.) There was an on-site laundry room, B.) Air conditioning and heating was provided at the appropriate times of the year, C.) The area was safe. These were all blatant lies. Worse, the company claimed (For some strange reason) "door prizes" to those who paid rent on time; This has never happened. Firstly, the place is CRAWLING with roaches and water bugs. No matter how many sprays, electronic devices, roach traps, etc. one tries, they never seem daunted. Additionally, there are large scratch marks on the floor, the windows and light fixtures are broken, and there's a very large, dark stain on the floor of the living room. Is it water? Is it blood? It's hard to say. Additionally, all requests to the office go ignored; We have put in numerous safety and living complaints, but soon felt uncomfortable doing so when a fellow renter walked inside to randomly discover a repair man at work; No one called or left a notice. They just came inside. This leaves an uncomfortable feeling. Second, the kitchen is a converted closet; It is tiny. Hopefully you are thin, or don't mind taking turns to do the simplest tasks. Additionally, you will find roaches everywhere; Including inside of cups and sealed food containers (So beware when drinking coffee--this is never a pleasant way to start the morning.) Third, while the apartments are VERY cozy in the winter and you'll find you don't always need to turn on the heat, in the summer they are sweltering hot. The office claimed they would switch on the A/C in April, and until June, made no effort. After several complaints (And discovering that the office was being sued for forcing repair men without HVAC training to try and repair such systems), they called in an outside repair group. Apparently, someone STOLE the insides to the A/C unit that cools the building; A $9,000 fix. The renters kept complaining, and finally, it was replaced. But it did not work well. You will be forced to keep to the living room area, as the heater IS also the A/C unit. And they shut it back off a month later. The worst part of living here is, every SINGLE time you leave or return, someone, usually from neighboring apartments (So, you can't complain about them) will accost you for cigarettes, spare change, rides to the store, to buy drugs, to sell them drugs, to help them locate drugs, to help them cash a check, to fix something in their home, to buy some item (Usually electronics) from them. Frequently, these persons are drunk, and may stop you to talk for nearly an hour, no matter HOW many bags you happen to be holding or how frequently you insist you need to go inside. On top of it, prostitution is equally popular, and more than once this renter has accidently come home to witness various sex acts being preformed in the (Very small) parking area. Much, MUCH worse, is the violent crime in the area. A number of sex offenders live in the area; It might be wise to keep your girlfriend from going outside alone after dark, even for a walk to grab something from the car. Numerous times the "neighbors" have seen females exit the building, to suddenly come close and begin to try and engage in conversation. . .at 10PM. If you're the jealous type, be aware that you'll have to get used to having your mate eye-balled like a piece of meat at all times. Additionally, gun shots are the same as crickets, to this area. You'll hear them, and, believe it or not, you'll wonder if you should call the police. This renter's roommate took a walk to the store, at 11AM, and while returning, witnessed a woman screaming at a 14-year-old on a bike for "change". The child raised a gun and fired it into the air. On New Year's Eve, stay AWAY from the windows. The gun shots tend to echo off for the next hour. One fine night, at 4AM, this renter had the pleasure of awakening to a man screaming for dear life. . .right outside the window. He was screaming that his hand was either shot or cut off (It was hard to distinguish), and begging to be left alone. Another man told him to "shut the hell up", a loud bang was heard, and no more sound came. However, a few nights later, there was a lot of sounds of power tools as a group of neighbors decided 3AM was a good time to "fix the car". They gave no explanation on why they needed a power saw to do this. Blood frequently turns up in the stairwells. The office also handles NOTHING over the phone; If you call to make a request for a repair, they will curtly tell you to fill out an online form. You have about fifty characters to work with. There was a claim of "security", and while there is a guy who sits outside in his car, nothing seems detoured by him. The front doors automatically lock when shut; However, your fellow tenants will let others in who happen to seem to need it. This has been the source of an attempted robbery. Also, folks will let in others from neighboring buildings, who, if you say hello once, will actually COME TO YOUR DOOR, wake you up, try to come in even if you're in your pajamas, asking for change, rides, cigarettes, whatever. Additionally, people you've never even seen ONCE before will do this. Perks of living here is, if you've never seen a prostitute, pimp, drug dealer, or drug user, you'll not only see them, but learn how to tell them apart. If you want to know who the normal folks are, well, they're the ones who stay inside, don't say hello, and keep totally to themselves. The walls are thick; Our neighbors next door play a lot of music, loudly, but usually it's hard to hear it, unless you're in the hall. The floors, of course, are not, so if the upstairs neighbors get up every morning at 4AM, and one of them wears high-heels, and you don't typically start to sleep until then due to insomnia, you might not then, either. However, the thick walls are lacking by the thin windows, filled with cracks, and they allow you to hear numerous screams, gun shots, cars, etc. People speed down Chamberlayne frequently, despite it being a residential area and an elementary school being nearby. This often happens after dark. If you have children, and still move in, make an effort and keep your child INSIDE after dark, and supervise them during the day. Several people allow their children out, unsupervised, during the day, and it never seems safe.

    Review 4 out of 5

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    Bellevue Garden Apartments

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