Review for Troy Hills Village Apartments

1. LEGAL PROBLEMS Before you consider moving to Troy Hills Village (THV), consider the fact that Matthew Adler, co-owner of THV, has had considerable legal trouble with the THV residents and with the Law. He has even attempted to bring legal suits against them when they tried to exercise their First Amendment rights via their opinions on this website. You can verify what I have written in the following links:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050207-4593.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0502060456feb06,1,7174216.story

(The above link is embedded in the Arstechnica news article. For the Chicago Tribune story above, you can search their archives at

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/

Just enter the key words "Troy Hills" in the search andbe sure to use the quotation marks so that you get the most accurate search. Look for the article titled "Landlords sue their anonymous Net critics". )

Also, check these links:

http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/articles/news3-rebates.htm

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22troy hills village%22 parsippany %22class action%22&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t-284&fl=0&x=wrt

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2005-02-07-gripe-sites_x.htm?csp=34

I think it is a VERY bad sign when the landlord has to use the Court system to try to quash peoples opinions just to keep business going. Both of the landlords, Matthew Adler and Rena Plaxe, have even had arrest warrants issued for them (see the Daily Record article). How would you like to be sued for expressing your honest opinions about THV? How much confidence does that instill in you now?

2. CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING Also consider that, in my opinion, they do not care if their tenants die. Click on the following link:

http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2005/gs050207.php#Report:%20High%20Carbon%20Monoxide%20Levels%20in%20Parsippany%20Apartments

Look for the report "HIGH CARBON MONOXIDE LEVELS IN PARSIPPANY APARTMENTS" and you will see that Rena Plaxe, the THV property manager, never returned phone calls regarding this matter. Obviously, I think that since she refused to explain how she was handling the problem that she does not consider the health and welfare of her tenants to be of any importance to her.

3. DRUG ADDICTS Approximately on August 7th, 2005, two heroine addicts died here. You can confirm this fact with the Parsippany Police Dept. These two addicts resided at Apartment 140-A. Does this sound like a winner to you?

At night, drug users and delinquents congregate at the basketball court, skateboard court, and playground at the back corner of the Complex near the middle school. So far, THV has made no effort to clear these people from the area. How would you feel about carrying your garbage to the trash receptacles while they are checking you out? Is that the kind of place that you want to live? Do you want to let your children play in that sort of environment?

4. GARBAGE EVERYWHERE There is considerable garbage and rubbish everywhere. Of course, to maintain a good image, THV only picks-up the garbage on the main street. If you want to get a good idea of how dirty this Complex is, check the areas along the outside of the complex (along the surrounding fences and border); it is filthy! I recommend that you walk through the entire Complex on your own time. This way Rena cannot direct you away from the litter. Especially check the basketball and skateboard courts near the rear corner of the Complex near the middle school. It looks like a garbage dump.

The trash receptacles are horrendous. There is spilled paint, motor oil, and food in almost every trash pickup area. They desperately need to power wash the asphalt, the fences, and the trash cans. They smell horrible, especially during the summer. I have been to other places that have trash receptacles and they were nowhere near as bad as what is in THV. Now I understand why people do not properly put the trash in the trash containers and merely leave them on the ground; no one can stand to be there long enough to do a proper job. Why can't THV clean it on a regular basis even though they have the manpower to do it?

5. SKUNKS Speaking of bad smells, there is a skunk infestation here. They congregate at the trash receptacles and come out to the apartment quads during the night. They spray their foul-smelling stench at least once every other night. It is awful, especially during the spring, summer, and fall months because people have their windows open. These awful odors permeate the apartments all throughout the night. As far as I can tell, THV makes NO EFFORT to dispose of them. THV is a perfect HAVEN for the skunks. Is that how you want to spend you summers, smelling skunks?

6. DIRTY LAUNDRY ROOM For as long as I lived there, the laundry rooms have NEVER been cleaned. They are disgusting. The floors actually have a crusted layer of mud. There is a thick layer of lint and dust everywhere, especially on top of the dryers. If you visit the Complex, ask some of the residents (instead of Rena) to see the laundry rooms. I think you will be thoroughly disgusted. How hard would it be to clean and sanitize them on a weekly basis? Other apartment complexes do this; why can't THV?

7. PARKING The parking situation is fine. There are plenty of parking spots. I have never had a problem with finding parking. My car has never been vandalized, but I have talked with several other people whose cars were severely damaged, including broken windows and stolen hubcaps. I cannot verify if what they were saying is true.

8. THE SWIMMING POOL With regards to the pool fee, I dont like it, but I did agree to it when I signed the lease. Personally, I believe that it should be optional. To be fair to Troy Hills Village, though, they were upfront about the fee. The few times that I was there, I thought that the pool area was nice and well maintained. I have heard from some of my neighbors who have small children, though, that many of the people who use the pool area are rude and let their children get out of hand as well as use profanity around other children. I have not seen this so I cannot verify it, though.

9. BLACK MOLD Black Mold is prevalent in many of the THV apartments. This is due to the fact that the THV plumbing leaks profusely and makes the walls and floors damp. Due to the excess moisture, my apartment's hardwood floors are warping and buckling in several places. It is so bad that I actually trip over the mini-hills that have formed.

Instead of repairing the leaks, they merely paint over the walls to cover up the problem. Another apartments plumbing is leaking, which is causing Black Mold to grow in MY apartment in the closet and floor. For those of you who might not be aware of it (I just learned of this recently), Black Mold is lethal. Is this what you want your children and pets to inhale?

10. FIREWORKS I have seen THV residents shoot fireworks (i.e. bottle rockets and roman candles) at each other and other apartments. The Parsippany Police must consistently drive through there on the 4th of July in order to keep this illegal activity from occurring. Of course, THV does not hire temporary guards to curtail this sort of activity. How would you like to be the victim of one of this pyrotechnic contraband? Why can't THV hire a guard to keep the Complex safe?

11. URINE AND FECES IN THE APARTMENTS Several months ago my shower and toilet backed up. They spewed RAW SEWAGE into my apartment. The feces, urine, used toilet paper, and tampons spilled into the bathroom, my room, the hallway, and into my spare room. After the superintendent (who did respond very promptly and was very nice about the whole ordeal) cleared the line, I requested that Rena Plaxe provide some sort of documentation that showed that a licensed plumber had cleared the line to ensure that this would not happen again. Rena never did this. Why not? What does she have to hide? Doesn't she care?

12. CUSTOMER SURVEYS There are NO anonymous customer satisfaction surveys conducted on a regular basis. The only survey that I completed was one that asked if my move went smoothly. Other than that, THV has no objective method for determining how well they are doing. How do they know that theyre doing a good job? How do they know that their customers are satisfied? How do they know that they are meeting the needs of the residents? How do they know they are constantly improving their service levels? Doesn't that sound like a landlord who has grown complacent?

13. NOISY NEIGHBORS I have neighbors who consistently play their music and yell at levels loud enough to keep me awake throughout the night. Do you think THV has done anything about it?

14. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE A couple of times, I have seen the Parsippany Police called into the Complex to break up fights. One of the times was late at night (approximately 2:00 a.m.) when some young adults were intoxicated and had started to argue amongst themselves. A few minutes later one of them young men started to punch the young lady who was arguing with him. Eventually, the Police had to intervene. Is this what you want your wife and kids to see?

Try this: ask the Parsippany Police Department about THV. I think you will find a picture of the place that isn't so complimentary.

15. FRONT-OFFICE STAFF The two ladies who work in the front office, Mary and Brenda, have always been nice to me and are a pleasure to speak with. They explained all of the necessary steps for renting an apartment from THV and were easy to talk with.

16. PERSONAL EXPERIENCES W/ POOR SERVICE Last year, I had some problems with my apartment. Without going into excruciating details about the subject, suffice it to say that EVERYTHING was Rena's fault. Had she done some simple maintenance all of these problems could have been avoided. Due to her negligence, some of my possessions were stolen while others were damaged.

Of course, I documented everything so that, if necessary, I could bring a suit against Rena and THV for gross negligence. I hope that it never comes to that. I have chosen not to go into detail about the events for fear of reprisal from Rena Plaxe and Matthew Adler. For anyone who is interested, you can email me at THVResident-01@Yahoo.com for more details. I would be happy to provide the whole story in complete detail.

17. RENA PLAXE Please excuse my language, but Rena is a b*tch. I have asked her for help many times in the past. All of the requests that I made were reasonable and customary for the sort of services that she is supposed to provide at any time. At no time was she accommodative. In fact, she was rather rude and dismissive in her language and attitude. When things have gone wrong that were clearly her fault, she never accepted responsibility nor provided any sort of apology.

I have asked her for documentation regarding #11 and 16 above. She never was able to comply. In my opinion, she obviously has something to hide.

If you read through many of the other reviews on this website, you will see that MANY people consistently have had problems with her. I also consistently converse with many of the residents here in THV who have similar problems with her. With THAT many people having difficulties with Rena, dont you think that says something substantial about her character and professionalism? Do you think that so many people could write such a large number of negative views and NONE of them have a basis in truth?

For the people who do not like negative reviews of Rena, they should stop criticizing the authors of those reviews; they do not know all of the details of the events. The only people who do know the whole truth are the authors of those reviews and Rena.

18. RESIDENTS ARE LEAVING IN DROVES THV is consistently losing customers. Brent Adler is so cheap that he never advertises whenever he can get away with it. Now, due to the large number of tenants leaving, they are losing so many customers that they actually had to advertise. You can see the advertising signs at the front and the back of the Complex. Prior to recently, those signs were never there for as long as I have been here. You can also see the number of empty apartments is increasing steadily. I have talked with many residents who will break their lease or have simply refuse to lease for another year.

Two of my neighbors are currently trying to secure a home loan. They are disgusted with the poor service that they have received from THV. They have children and they do not want to expose their children to the bad elements here. Do you really want to move to a place that others are actively trying to leave?

19. PREVIOUS APARTMENTRATINGS.COM REVIEWS I know the man who wrote the "Living the High Life In Parsippany" review. He is a good guy who did not exaggerate with his opinions. The VAST majority of the opinions of THV are negative. They have a 34% approval rating and are at the bottom of the list. Doesn't that tell you something? Since we know that the owners of THV read these reviews, why havent they responded by improving their service? Does that sound like a group of people who care about providing professional service?

CONCLUSION I know what you're thinking, "Why stay there if its so bad?" The only reason - it's CHEAP. I pay less than $500 / month because I have a roommate. Getting an apartment in northern NJ for that rate is impossible. Also, moving is a real pain in the neck. Of course, when one pays CHEAP prices one gets CHEAP service. For now, it is worth it because I have a great job, low expenses, no wife, no kids, and I'm saving a LOT of money. If I had a family, though, I would MOVE OUT as others already have. Besides, I will only live here until my current lease ends.

I highly recommend that you look at the other close-by apartment complexes that have MUCH higher ratings. ApartmentRatings.com is a great resource. Please research all of the apartments in this area thoroughly before you make a decision. I think that you should ask yourself this question, "What am I getting for $13,000 - $15,000 per year (approx. $1150/mo)? Why are their prices so much higher than the average for Parsippany? Am I getting quality products and services?"

The only reason why I am not signing my name to this review is because I fear legal and illegal reprisals from Rena Plaxe and Matthew Adler. If you want to contact me to ask additional questions, please feel free to contact me at THVResident-01@Yahoo.com.

I hope this review was helpful. I wish you best of fortunes in your apartment search.