D. Irene R.

You couldn't pay me enough to say anything positive about Mariner's Cove Apartments! I left after living there 16 years, and watching it become a more and more unpleasant place to live. The third management company to buy the buildings, (The land is owned by the Federal Government.) is the worst yet. Not only are they extremely restrictive about any personalization of the outside of your apartment, they have gone so far as to throw away items that they didn't want on the ledges of the short walls around the patios. They want uniformity, conformity. They also do not want any low income people living there. Because the Federal Government owns the land, they must rent 10% of the apartments to such persons. I personally know of three people they forced to leave because those people were on Section 8 housing assistance. They are clever. What they do is to harrass these people until they give up and leave. They make it very un-pleasant for them to live there. The kinds of things they do are: Threatening to evict those people; being especially restrictive of what those people display outside their apartments, to the point of removing any of those items. I had two plants removed from the ledge around my patio, that isn't the worst of it. I'd planted a jade plant, the very same kind that is planted all over the complex, when I moved in, 16 years ago. I asked the management if it was ok, and was given guidelines for where to plant it. Because I planted it, it was dug up, chopped up, and thrown in the garbage. That was my last straw. There are many other things which were done in their attempts to make me leave. Such as sending me a 30 Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit every month, even though management has known from the day I moved in that I get my Social Security check on the third of the month and can't pay my rent until then. The initial owners of the complex understood. Besides which, a person on Section 8 has until the 5th of every month to pay their rent. Section 8 pays 75% of the rent amount on the first of every month. A guaranteed rent! Two of the three low income people I know of that were harassed died from the constant harassment. Yes, they were harassed to death. The third person has visibly aged. I left before that could happen to me. I intend to enjoy the last years of my life. I will not sit still and be harassed to death. There's more. When I first moved in there was a gardening company with many gardeners who came every week and took beautiful care of the grounds. Now there are two gardeners who try to take care of the grounds, which are extensive. The complex has 500 units. The grounds used to be park like. That's why I wanted to live there. Now many of the trees have been cut down. Of those that remain, many have been mutilated by chopping off "dangerous" large branches. There also used to be 5 maintenance men. Now there are 3. It's to the point that those 5 men can't speak, even to say "Hello," because they are overworked. There's more. There is an ongoing presence of drug dealing. About five years back, there was even a "sting." Those drug dealers were caught and arrested. Others have taken their places. I know because I saw drug deals going down on my walks. Yes, I was frightened. That's not the only kind of crime. Many times Navy personnel who go on deployment come back to find that all their belongings have been taken by burglars. I personally witnessed one such attempted burglary. Those burglars were caught. A rare occurrence. The gated community is not true. The fence along the wetland preserve is ordinary chain link fence such as you might put around your yard. At the back of the complex on the side that borders the wetlands preserve, the fence has been broken down and homeless who camp in the preserve, just walk over it. When they do, they steal small items on patios, and inside apartments if the patio door's been left open. The fence that's at the front of the complex is often breached by people who don't want to walk to the pedestrian gates. The fence isn't very sturdy, and it's easy to kick out a slat. Those slats are replaced every few months. Which brings me to the gates. The gates are set so that three or four vehicles at a time can enter. All a person has to do is wait in line to get in. If they bother. The "gate code." All that needs to be punched in is 1,2,3,4, and the "secure" gate opens. Pedestrian gates are locked. That is except the one that has been welded shut. That was done because homeless were taping the gate so that it could be opened without a key. Then they found out that all they had to do was wait in line for a car to open the gate so that they could easily ride their bicycles in, carrying their bags of cans and bottles. That's enough for me for now. All I want is for you to not move there. Even if the management is nice to begin with, believe me, they won't stay that way.