Lindsay S.

The kitchen in our floor plan is very small. This would be fine, but the oven blocks ALL of the drawers in the kitchen because it is stuffed into a corner that is too small for it, rendering 1/3rd of the storage space in the kitchen unusable. The refrigerator sticks out and blocks the oven door so you can only open it 3/4 of the way. We noticed and complained about this the day we moved in and were told "It has been a problem for many of the apartments." The guy basically said "too bad, you have to live with it." They will NOT tell you in advance whether your apartment will have this problem. I spent 8 months trying to work with the leasing and maintenance people to get this resolved. They gave us a small credit on our account along with the promise that it would be fixed, but it never was. My realtor friend tells me this is a building code violation in the state of Massachusetts. When I mentioned this to Royal Crest they did not bat an eye. We had a huge leak (3' x 3')in our ceiling from the apartment above. It took MONTHS and multiple complaints to get them to fix it. There was also a wet patch that spontaneously appeared on our wall on the other side of the room. When we FINALLY got them to come in to fix it and address the oven problem, they fixed the leak but did not fix the wall or oven problem. The maintenance staff had left boot prints on our carpet and moved all of the things in our kitchen up into the cabinets- presumably so they could take one look at the oven problem and proceed to ignore it. They also unplugged all of our electronics to make room for ladders and did not return them to the state in which they found them. We had to stay at a hotel for a few nights while they did this. The leasing office promised us a food reimbursement since we were forced to eat out, but then changed their story and would not honor their promise. We had to chase them down for another several weeks to get them to pay up. They then assured us they would call and follow up about the ignored kitchen problem... they never did. The sprinklers spontaneously went off in our apartment. The maintenance staff unscrewed them, leaving exposed wires hanging from the ceiling. They said they would be back two days later to finish the job. Needless to say they never returned. The apartment is infested with house centipedes. (If you don't know, these are disgusting three to four-inch-long million-legged vermin that run as fast as a small dog and jump out of the tissue when you try to kill them. Good luck sleeping tonight. You're welcome.) The closet is full of mold. There are wiring problems in the kitchen, such that when you flip the switch for the kitchen light, it may turn on. But then again it may not. Who's to say? Because of the way the ventilation system is set up, our bathroom smells like our upstairs-neighbors' kitchen, so no matter how much I clean it, it still smells like old bacon. (You won't notice this when they show you vacant apartments because the carpets will be shampooed and the walls will be painted, masking it.) The fire alarm is broken and went off at least once a month. The bathroom sink doesn't drain. They advertise that they are a "gated community". The gates have been literally ripped off their hinges by God-knows-what. (Take a look yourself if you visit the complex- gate posts and no gates.) They also laid off one of their security guys, so there is very little surveillance. The laundry room has two washers and two dryers for all 12 apartments. They break often and leave the deodorant stains on your clothes. The laundry room is also the same room as the garbage room (separated by a door). So if you drop your laundry, you have dropped it on the garbage room floor. Yum. There is no recycling. There are sirens. This is particularly bad for us since they stuck us in an apartment that is very close to the main road- of course they did not tell us this beforehand. The only thing Aimco cares about is how their grounds look. So while you are sleeping at 7 AM in your hole of an apartment on a Saturday, there will be landscapers with heavy machinery blasting away right next to your head. There are no noise ordinances- or no enforcement. So, after all this they had the gall to increase our rent by 11% at lease renewal. Not a typo. ELEVEN PERCENT. The rates you are finding on apartment websites do not accurately reflect what you can expect to pay. They offered us a lease at $1,000 and then we blinked and it was $100 more expensive at signing. Needless to say we are seeking other housing.