University Apartments

Students beware. This is a frustrating leasing company on campus.
I paid $ 725/​month to move into a small «one bedroom» apartment that had layers of dirt and dust all over the floors and walls. I called the landlord politely, and she told me it was my issue. It took me two weeks to clean before I could actually move in. After I moved in, I noticed the apartment would take the temperature of the weather outside or the hot restaurant below. Thin walls. It took two 12,000 BTU units to keep the apartment just below 80 degrees in the Summer.
I paid $ 60/​month for over a year for a parking spot right behind my apartment complex. This morning I was towed, despite parking in my reserved space.
I called University Apartment for support, and my landlord gave me none. She told me I should have «updated» my sticker with a new one, which they never sent to me in mail or email. They never notified me about this change until I was towed. She told me it was «my responsibility.» Note: University Apartments has a password with Shamrock Towing for their parking lot. Tenants or restaurants that have parking spaces in the lot cannot tow without University Apartments consent. While I’m not sure, it seems likely University Apartments could have authorized Shamrock to tow me, before they did, despite my regular monthly payments to them.
After over 1 year of reliable rent payments, and $ 60/​mo parking, University Apartments continues to allow me to be towed from my own parking space. I’m breaking my lease next week. I don’t want these people to get anymore of my money, time, or frustration. Students beware.
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Please don’t rent from University Apartments. I have lived in one of their King Avenue apartments for the past 6 months and am counting the days until my lease is up. They don’t take critical maintenance requests seriously. I’ve had mice in the downstairs entryway and they still dragged their feet on repairs to the side door of my apartment. I’m having water pressure problems in both sinks and the shower — the water will shut off randomly and not come back on for 5 whole minutes, which, under guidelines published by the Franklin County Clerk of Courts, gives me the right to put my rent in escrow with 30 days’ notice. And what does maintenance do? Replace the AERATORS in the sinks. Even I could have told them that those weren’t the problem! So now I’m hoping for a solution that won’t result in the water shutting off randomly in the middle of the shower, because I’d really rather not have to mess with the paperwork to put my rent in escrow.
They hire sloppy contractors who left a bathroom renovation job half-​done, even after I complained, and the contractors also tracked mud all over my carpet. Stop hiring cut-​rate contractors and maybe I’ll stop phoning with complaints, eh? (Also, the UA main office never picks up the phone when I call, either. What am I paying these guys $ 450 a month for?)

DO NOT LEASE FROM UNIVERSITY APARTMENTS! I am currently in the second year of my lease at 1680 Summit St. In my first year, the property was owned by Buckeye Real Estate and I found that all of my maintenance requests were met in a fast and orderly fashion, not to mention they did not charge for visits, repairs, or any other maintenance related request. They treated their tenants fairly and with respect.
My second year however, has been a much different story. Over the summer, the property was sold to University Apartments. I figured, it’s the same location, same rent fee, how bad could it be? I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG. I noticed the difference almost immediately. The front and back doors to the building, which functioned with a code entry system, were switched over to a lock-​and-​key system, much to the dismay of my roommate, several other tenants, and myself who much preferred the earlier, more convenient system. This was followed by all of the units having their locks changed to locks with noticeably less quality, which have been much more difficult to open and lock. But this was only a minor inconvenience. The two washer and dryer units soon fell into disrepair, eating quarters regularly (which were not refunded), and often did not work at all. University Apartments took weeks to fix these problems. This again was bothersome. What really started becoming infuriating was when the cost of an annual parking pass, which under Buckeye Real Estate cost $ 80, was increased 375% to $ 300! With absolutely no explanation other than «company policy», it made no sense to pay $ 220 more for the same exact amenity. This is when I realized that University Apartment’s goal is to milk their tenants for every last penny they can squeeze out of them while performing the absolute bare minimum in service.
No longer were service requests met in a timely matter, or ever at all. Maintenance, free under Buckeye Real Estate, costs a fee to the tenant per request. Luckily for me, my rent fee was locked in under my previous contract with Buckeye, though unfortunately for the other residents in the building, this was not the case as each unit saw price hikes under the new management. During the winter, I have seen the parking lot and surrounding steps and walkways COMPLETELY frozen over to the point where they are essentially impossible to drive or walk on. My car was stuck twice in the parking lot due to the lack of any traction on the ice. Other tenants complained about falling down the icy stairway out front. When I called University Apartments to complain about the blatant safety hazard that they had done nothing to remedy, they said it was «company policy» not to maintain the parking lots or steps, and it was clearly stipulated in the contract. The manager told me that if they maintained one parking lot they would «have to maintain every parking lot». You would think that parking lot maintenance, especially when it costs $ 300 for a pass, would be an obvious inclusion in the cost. Why else would the cost of my pass rise 375%? For the $ 80 I paid to Buckeye, the parking lot was always perfectly maintained. I asked to speak with a manager, when I was informed that I was speaking to the manager, I could not believe the way I was treated over the phone. I told this individual that I would be writing a review to alert other prospective residents of the absolute garbage service University Apartments employs to which he responded «go ahead». This management company clearly does not care what its residents think.
Basically, if you’re thinking of renting from University Apartments — think again. They are dishonest, greedy, and think nothing of the tenants other than the rent checks they deposit every month. If you are looking for a management company that prides itself on reliability, expedience, and quality LOOK ELSEWHERE! University Apartments is not to be trusted.