Gargage, Garbage, GARBAGE...........!!!!!

For the past few days the dumpsters at Wyndsor Forest Apartments in Union City, GA, have been over flowing with garbage. I don't know what the problem is but, it is very unsightly, considering the garbage receptacles are located in the front of the complex next to the mail boxes. Every time you go to get your mail you have to see and smell this mess!! I wonder if they've paid the garbage bill? When I have time tomorrow, I'm going to the office to inquire about the situation.

Check me out on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L99wQzB8bTc

We're a Gated community Again.........

Wyndsor Forest Apartments has finally fixed their front entrance gate. It took long enough! I wonder how many people had to complain before they decided to fix it?

For the last couple of months we have been without security at our front gate. It remained open 24-hours allowing anyone to get into the complex. I'm so.... glad it is operating now. It makes me feel a little more secure.

They FINALLY did something.........

August 11,2009
Maintenance came to make the following repairs;

1. Unclogged sink in master bathroom.
2. Corking placed around front door area to seal gaps and keep lizards and bugs from entering apartment.
3. Ceiling stains in kitchen and laundry room from leak in upstairs apt. repaired

The maintenance guy told me there was nothing he could do about the water accumulating in the dishwasher. He told me to run the dishwasher once a week with a little bleach to get rid of the odor. I have had dishwashers before and have never had this to happen with any of them. The odor is so... raunchy that I Have nor ever will use it to wash my dishes. He said this problem is common to all the other apartments also. In other words he was telling me to just live with it!
He also said that there was nothing he could do about the master bathroom toilet filling up with soapy water to the point of running over. He said it happens sometimes because the main line gets clogged. The only time it would need to be investigated further is if it flooded every time the toilet was flushed.
I believe I'm being given the run around just to shut me up!!! These apartments cost tooo..... much to have to deal with so many issues.

What Would You Do..................?

Below is a date by date detailed account of everything else that has transpired that I have not yet discussed in this blog:

May 28, 2009
Meet with Gina, office manager. She informed me she could not offer me the month of June free as originally promised by previous management. She said she could offer me $955/month until the maintenance issues in my apartment had been corrected. I inquired again when my back porch area would be cleaned and the screens repaired. She assured it would be taken care of soon.

May 29, 2009
Natasha, from management office called wanting me to come sign the new lease. The revisions had not been included. I told her I was not going to sign it and that I had discussed all this with Gina yesterday. I told her apparently there was a communication gap with her and Gina. She proceeded to tell me I had to sign it or they would terminate my lease and I would have to pay the going market value of $1080/month. I did not appreciate her attitude nor the threatening tone with which she spoke to me. I told her I would not sign until the revisions had been made and the maintenance issues in my apartment were corrected. After the call ended I proceeded to call Gina, the complex manager. She had given her personal cell phone number and told me to call her if I needed to. I left a message on her voice mail informing her of the conversation that had just occurred with Natasha. I asked her to please return my call.

June 2, 2009
Have not received a return phone call from Gina. I called the office to speak with her. Sonya answered the phone. She told me Gina was unavailable until next week. She said she would relay the message to Gina to call me about an important matter.

June 20, 2009
Sonya from management office called and told me my lease was ready to sign. Nothing had been changed in the lease nor had anything been done to correct the problems in my apartment and t I I told her I was not going to sign anything. She told me she would fill out a work order and give it to the maintenance manager. I told her I had left messages for the apartment manager to call me over two weeks ago and had not yet received a return phone call. She said the manager had been very busy.
Wow! Busy! REALLY!

June 24, 2009
Have not received any communication from office management as yet. No maintenance has been done!

July 1,2009
So very.......... frustrated with this whole situation! I wrote over a 7-page letter explaining everything that has transpired since I moved here and mailed it certified mail to the District Office( Harbor Management, Inc.,3190 NE Expressway, suite 410, Atlanta, GA, 30341). Since I cannot get the office management to do anything maybe the District Office will!

July 20, 2009
Phyllis, from management office, called to let me know she was the new manager. (OH MY GOD, ANOTHER MANAGER!) . She said that Corporate Office had forwarded her a copy of the certified letter I had mailed to them. She said she would like to make an appointment with me so that she and the maintenance manager could come to my apartment and discuss all the maintenance issues that needed to be taken care of. The appointment was set for Thursday, July 22, 2009 at 2:00 pm.

July 22, 2009
No one showed up for the scheduled appointment nor did I receive a call to re-schedule. I figured just as much!!

July 25, 2009
Went to the office and filled out two pages of work orders filled with repairs that needed to be corrected. Below is a list of what was included in the work orders;

1. Handle on toilet in hallway bathroom broken; won't flush.
2. Wash machine water draining into toilet in master bathroom causing it to flood over.
3. Air filter needs changing. Hasn't been changed since April.
4. Master bedroom sink clogged.
5. Holes around front door needs to be plugged. Lizards and bugs are getting into the apartment.
6. Water still accumulating in dishwasher causing a bad odor.
7. Ceilings in laundry room and kitchen need to be repaired from a leak in upstairs apt. that occurred last year. Laundry room fixture also flooded from leak.
8. Leak under hallway bathroom sink.
9. Outside foyer area needs power washing. Was not done before moving in and has not been done since moving in.

August 2, 2009
Phyllis called to apologize for not showing up on the 22nd. She said she was in the hospital. She promised to call me the next day to reschedule another time.

August 3, 2009
Phyllis did not call to reschedule today as she had promised. I'm so....very....very...frustrated!!! If I had the money I would sue this apartment complex!!

If all this was happening to you what would you do???????

Lack of Integrity..........

Out of all the grievances I have with Wyndsor Forest Apartments in Union City, GA, I believe the most important one is the lack of integrity displayed by management. They do not keep their word. If they make a promise to you make sure you get it in writing! I have had to deal with five different managers since April, 2009.

In April I went to the office to discuss the terms of a new lease. My health has not been its best so moving at this time is not an option for me (I have Kidney failure and have been on dialysis since 1999). There was a new manager there. She informed me that the previous manager, Bridgette, was no longer there. I explained to the manager at that time the error that had been made in the previous lease and the current condition of my apartment. She told me that my first lease should have been prorated but, she couldn't do anything about it. She said she would contact her supervisor about the lease issue. At that time I was assured that the screen porch area would be taken care of as well as the other issues in my apartment. I explained to her that I was a dialysis patient and that I was not physically able to move. I told her I needed the screen porch and storage closet area to be cleaned and repaired so I could store my dialysis supplies.

I returned to the office several days later. She stated she had spoken with her supervisor, Jenny. I was told that because of the errors that had been made on my previous lease and the inconvenience I had been put through by not having access to my screen porch and several other maintenance issues in my apartment, that if I re-leased they would offer me the month of June free and $990/month for the next twelve months (I was paying $1030/month then). She said my files showed I had been a very good tenant, never being late on my rent , and they did not want to lose such a good tenant. I told her that sounded fair and would compensate for what I felt had been an injustice done to me. I agreed and told her to call me when the lease was ready to sign.

Two weeks passed and I did not receive a call from her so I went back to the office only to find that she had been replaced by another manager. I asked if there was a lease for me to sign. There was but, the conditions of the new lease that had been discussed were not included. I carefully read the lease. I was not about to make the same mistake as I had made with the first lease. The lease stated that my rent would be $990/month but, it did not include the month of June, free. I asked to speak to the current manager. I had to tell my story all over again to her. She said she had to go over my file and would get back to me.

Another week went by without me receiving any communication. I went back to the office only to find yet another manager , Gina. I told the same story to Gina. She told me she would have to go over my files. She also said she didn't want me signing anything until everything in my apartment had been corrected. A couple more weeks passed without me receiving a call from Gina. On May 28th I returned to the office to speak with Gina, She said that there was no record of me being promised the month of June free in my file. In fact, she said that none of the previous managers had recorded anything concerning what had been discussed. I told her that all this had supposedly been cleared with Jenny, the area supervisor. She never confirmed if she had spoken with the supervisor or not. She told me she could not offer me the month of June free as promised by previous management. She said she could offer me a monthly rate of $955/month until the maintenance issues in my apartment were taken care of. She also insisted I let her know what I intended to do as soon as possible. Whether I would be re-leasing or moving. I really did not appreciate the I -don't-care-attitude with which she said this.

It is my understanding that an apartment complex is in the business of attracting and keeping quality tenants. I believe that I am and have been exemplary in this aspect but , I have been treated with disdain. I am only asking for justice. To receive quality living conditions for which I am paying. As of the writing of this blog I have yet to receive it.

Mold and Mildew Problem...........

When I moved into Wyndsor Forest Apartments in Union City, GA there was extensive mold around all the window sills in the apartment. I had to get tilex mold and mildew cleaner to remove the mold myself, but four weeks later the mold returned. I did report it and the maintenance guy came by. He told me that all the apartments have a moisture problem and mold. This is a chronic problem. I am concerned about health issues because I do know that mold can contribute to respiratory problems. I am unable to show you any pictures because the windows have just been cleaned but, as winter sets in the windows will begin to sweat and I will have plenty of pictures to display.

I thought the mold problem was only around the windows but recently I have noticed the hallway bathroom ceiling has mold near the air conditioning vent. It makes me wonder how much mold may be growing in the walls or in other places that can't be seen such as the air vents?

GATED Community..........OH REALLY!

Wyndsor Forest Apartments in Union City, GA boasts in their brochures that they are a gated community. Sorry to bust the bubble but, they are not. Most of the time the gates are not functioning properly or are out of order all together. For the past two months or so the front gate has been open to anyone who wishes, to come and go as they please. There is no guard to check who gets into the complex. It's a free for all when it comes to our security here. Mind you this is suppose to be included in the amenities they offer you before you sign the lease.

Why isn't Harbor Management able to keep the security gates at Wyndsor Forest Apts. in working order?

Taken Advantage of.......

Before I write the story of how I was cheated out of $400 by management at Wyndsor Forest Apartments; I admit that it was partly my fault and I do accept some of the responsibility. I should have read the lease more thoroughly before signing it but as I have stated before; my health was not very good at the time. I was running a temperature and later on found out I had a serious bacterial infection in my liver which had spread into my blood. I made assumptions I should not have made and signed on the dotted line.

To begin with the lease was suppose to be a 13-month lease. The move in special at that time was 3-months at $343 upon signing a 13-month lease. I did not become aware that I had really signed a 14-month lease until March 2009. I went in to discuss the terms of a new lease. At that time I was informed that my lease would not expire until April 30,2009. The month of March had not been prorated as it should have been (March 16-31) and the special of $343 should have begun in April and continued through June. Instead they included the month of March in the special. If March was to be included in the special then it was suppose to be counted as a whole month and the last month of my lease would have been March 2009. Due to this I paid $400 more in rent than I should have during the term of the lease. When I confronted management with this they acknowledged the mistake but the manager at that time said she couldn't do anything about it because the lease period was almost over and she being a new manager was not responsible for what her predecessor had done. I expressed how unfair this was but, to no avail. They did not try to compensate me in any way. Considering everything I have been through with them , it seems they could have offered me some concessions but, nooo....

Why Electric Bill sooo..... High?

On Friday august 11th maintenance finally came to fix the toilets and to change the air filter in the air conditioning unit. I filled out a maintenance order over two weeks ago (7/25/09) for this work to be done.

As the maintenance guy was changing the air filter I asked him how often should the filters be changed. He said, "..... they were suppose to be changed every month." I told him the last time it was changed was April and that I was told at that time they only needed to be changed every three months. When he pulled the old filter out it was filthy. He stated that he was surprised that the unit had not frozen up. He went on to further say that they had been out of filters and that they had recently received a supply of them. Now, I know why my electric bill has been soooo.... high!!! I guess it's up to me to to hound them every month to come change the filter. Shouldn't that type work be on a standing order for all the apartments, considering they know that the filters need to be changed on a monthly basis? It would seems logical to me, that preventive maintenance would keep the air conditioners in good running order and would be cost effective in the long run, right? But, what do I know I'm only a tenant?

The hallway toilet was easily fixed, but when I asked him about the toilet in the master bathroom that was filling up with dirty, soapy water and running over; he stated that he didn't know why that was happening and would have to think about it and get back with me. This was on the work order I filled out over two weeks ago. He should have thought about it before he came, so he could tell me something. If he didn't know what it was or how to fix it he should have asked someone that did know. I didn't want to hear,"I don't know," I wanted the problem fixed. I am soooo...... frustrated with this apartment complex! If my health and my finances were better I would definitely move!

In the next post I will finish telling you about how they cheated me out of $400.00, about their lack of integrity in not following through with what they promise and about how I have had to deal with over 5 managers in the last 4 months! They can't keep managers. What's going on?

Begin at the Beginning.............

When I moved into my apartment on March 16,2008 it was not ready. Mind you management had been informed for three weeks that I needed to move in by mid-month. I was assured the apartment would be ready. The apartment I was shown was nothing like the apartment they assigned me to move into. Apparently I was shown a beautiful model apartment which I immediately fell in love with. At the time the price was pretty steep for me but, I decided it was worth it so I filled out an application and put
down a deposit.

The day before moving I was taken to my apartment. They unlocked the door. I walked in and took a look and was not pleased with what I saw. The refrigerator had to be replaced and the apartment had not even been cleaned. They assured me that they would have it cleaned and the refrigerator replaced by the next day.

Next day I arrived with a loaded down u-haul truck. Opened the door only to find out that they had only replaced the refrigerator. The apartment still had not been cleaned properly, especially the kitchen and bathrooms. I could not wait for them to send someone, because My children and I had to have a place to lay our heads that night. I decided to call a cleaning service. They arrived within the hour and cleaned both bathrooms and the kitchen. We continued to move things into the apartment as they cleaned. The manager at that time, Bridgette, told me to make a list of all the maintenance issues and turn them into her. She said she would have them taken care of. I insisted they replace both toilet seats immediately. They looked like they had been there for the last twenty years. They were old and filthy. They did come and do that.

I am a dialysis patient and had been trying to move while ill. I had been running a temperature for several days but, I had to get my children into the apartment before I could go to the doctor. The very next day I went to the emergency room and they admitted me to the hospital. I was there for a week so I was unable to turn in the list of maintenance issues right away.

The following is the list of maintenance issues I turned into the office on 4/14/08:

1. Towel rack in master bedroom broken
2. Cabinet door completely detached in hallway bathroom
3. No door knob on closet in bedroom #1
4. Closet shelves in bedroom #2 unstable (will not hold all my clothes)
5. Temperature control thermostat in hallway broken
6. Rips and holes in the outside screen porch
7. Concrete of outside screened porch severely soiled
8. Front right stove eye sits unevenly
9. Left drawer next to stove will not open and close
10. Door stopper in hallway bathroom completely rusted out (unattractive)
11. Damage to linoleum in laundry room
12. Damage to linoleum in kitchen
13. Damage to electrical outlet in bedroom #2
14. Damage to electrical outlet in dinning room
15. Mold along edges of all windows. were not cleaned
16. Water damage in kitchen causing unattractive baseboard molding (unattractive)

RETURN SOON TO FIND OUT WHAT ELSE HAPPENED>>>>