Review for Chimney Ridge Apartments

On my move in day, I was disappointed in the condition of my apartment. There were carpet stains throughout the 2 bedroom apartment and the walls were spotted with spackle. No one had bothered to sand down the spackle, nor paint. They didn't even bother to clean the carpet. I contacted the office and spoke to Stormy, who is no longer employed there. She assured me that the carpet was cleaned and the walls were freshly painted as they had told me when I signed the lease. She told me to note these items on the Move-In Condition Sheet. This sheet was provided to me by the office to note any items that I thought I might be charged for when I moved out. I made sure that every little thing that was wrong was noted on this sheet. I noted items room by room, kitchen, laundry room...everything was on this sheet that should have been addressed BEFORE I moved in. I contacted Tracy, the community assistant manager, the next day and informed here that I did not have a ice cube collector tray in my freezer. I told her that I had a Tupperware container that would do just fine, and that there was no need to order one, as she stated they did not have one at that present time. I noted the absence of the ice cube collector tray on my Move-In Condition Sheet.

In my third month of living there, I had an issue with my trash. It was a Sunday morning, about 7 am. I placed my trash right outside my door, as it was raining this morning and I didn't want to get wet taking it to the dump. My boyfriend would be waking up soon and he would be taking the trash on the way to get the paper at the local gas station. He woke at approximately 8:15 am, got ready and as he was leaving to take the trash, he called my name. He stated that there was a note on the door, he handed it to me and left. I read the letter, it stated: "Garbage left outside of tenants door is $25 per bag. If this happens again, you will be charged on your rent." Well...you better believe that I never left my trash out again. These people were really after some money! I just filed the letter in my apartment file in my office and forgot that it ever happened.

In our fifth month living here, our vehicle was broken into. I know, its a gated community, and things can happen. Cars were always tailgating my car as I would put in my code in at the gate and as I would go through the gate...they would just slide in behind me and go on as they pleased in the community. BUT this night that was not how these robbers were able to get into the community. They just walked right under the gate! There is still to this day an opening under the fence that is about 5 feet of space. PERFECT for BURGLERS to park their car and neighboring businesses and just WALK RIGHT UNDER THE GATE! I know this only because I awoke at 5 am as my car alarm was going off. I leaped out of bed and what did I see? Yes, two young men running from my vehicle with about $2500 worth of Navigation and DVD equipment and broken glass. My boyfriend jumped in my other car and went up to the front gate where they were running towards. He had to go OUTSIDE THE GATE to where their car was parked and was where they had dropped other peoples items from their cars. We still to this day have not recovered the full value of those items as insurance only covers factory costs. There were 5 other vehicles that were broken into that night in the same apartment complex. You live and learn! MOVE!

The last situation I will review is after I moved out. I received a certified letter from Chimney Ridge Apartments. I think they charged me for everything that was wrong when I moved in. So I went to my office at my new house and went to my apartment file and pulled all of my information from the date of lease to that day. I reviewed the Move-In Condition Sheet and everything they charged me for was noted on the sheet. The carpet stains were surprisingly noted on the sheet 4 TIMES! I was charged over $100 for the stains. I WAS ONLY THERE FOR 6 MONTHS! I had 3 huge area rugs that covered under the couches and beside our bed and in my office under my desk and covered much all of the carpet in the apartment, so I was pretty upset. I took my informatin by the Chimney Ridge Apartment and spoke to Susan, the apartmant leasing manager. She told me that she looked at her copy of the Move-In Condition sheet when she charged me $500 for damages! The sheet she was looking at was the same one that I brought with me, I made sure we were on the same page. I decided at that point to hire my lawyer for this one and just drop it and leave to go back to work. I contacted Concord Management, the owner of Chimney Ridge Apartments, in Florida to discuss this matter further. They took my statement over the phone and took my number and called me back. When I received the return telephone call from them they knocked off $90 dollars! Plus kept the $150 deposit. I decided at this point it would be a lesson learned. I was not about to waste my lawyers time over a couple hunderd dollars and I am honesly glad this happened to me. Reason being, I am a Realtor with Russell and Jeffcoat. I have clients constantly moving in from out of town, and prefer to live in an apartment for 6 months and decide which area to purchase thier home in. I would hate to refer them to Chimney Ridge and ANY of these events happen to them! I have referred over 4 to Waterway Apartments in Lexington, they will gladly give you a list of events from their apartment complex from the Lexington County Police Department. Its pretty slim I must say! Another one I have referred to is Thorn Hill. I would hate for this to happen to anyone! Please BEWARE: Looks Can Be Deceiving!