Mikala Miller

My partner and I lived at Bent Tree Apts from Mar '22 to Jan '23. We terminated our lease early because it was that bad, so bad that we paid hefty termination fees to get out. Tip: get a lawyer to look at your lease before signing anything! Before our move-in day, we were unable to get in contact with the leasing agent that coordinated our move-in. We later found out that our leasing agent left the company and forgot to transfer our information to another agent. Our move-in day was also on a Sunday so the leasing office would have been closed. Good thing we kept bugging them about it--otherwise, I'm convinced we would have never gotten our passcodes while still getting charged rent. Within the first week, we noticed evidence of previous water damage all over the apartment unit (e.g raised flooring, cracked walls, water stains). There was also an ant infestation that came from outside our first floor unit; we had to seal the trim with tape to keep them out. Another issue is that there is a shortage of parking spaces. We paid for general parking spaces every month but were not guaranteed spots after 7pm. A few months later, our ceiling flooded with sewage water near the HVAC vents on two separate occasions. This explained where the signs of prior water damage throughout the apartment unit came from. Another big concern was that the maintenance team entered our unit for an unannounced VA state inspection. The maintenance team told us at the door that they knew some units did not receive a notice, but they still apparently needed to enter that day anyway. Luckily, we happened to be home at the time and were able to calm down our anxious dog. If this is a routine state inspection, shouldn't they have known about this for a while? Why couldn't the maintenance team have rescheduled the inspection when they realized that some units were not notified? We felt very strongly about this because we had a lot of concerns about our rescue dog being home alone with any strangers in the unit. When we brought this concern to the attention of the leasing office, they told us that all units were absolutely notified ahead of time. It took a lot of persistence on our end before they finally checked their e-mail distribution list and realized that some units indeed did not receive the notice. However, instead of apologizing for the gaslighting, they shoved this under the rug and promised not to do this again. Except it did. Needless to say, we lost all trust in Bent Tree after this experience. There was a drain in the hot water heater closet that collected the runoff from the HVAC of all the units above us and it constantly dripped with water. A sewage smell appeared every 2 weeks and it permeated throughout the entire apartment. There were random fees added to our invoice every month; however, we don't know where that money went to as they never did any landscaping in the Fall or Winter and only raked the leaves twice the entire season. The complex was hideous with all the leaves that would rot in the grass and encourage snakes to hide underneath (and yes, we did see snakes). Bent Tree's online portal is also a mess and you can't track what you're being charged for as the charges are not listed in any sequential order. As others have mentioned, we received an automated message that our batteries for our door lock were dying and scheduled a date and time to have replacements dropped off. They were never delivered and we had to buy our own out of fear of getting locked out of our apartment. We confirmed later with the leasing office that their AI assistant rarely works. Maybe they have it figured out by now, but I wouldn't get my hopes up on it. Overall, terrible experience that negatively impacted our quality of life. You could rent a better apartment at a similar price point that comes with fewer headaches.