Review for Kimberly Woods Apartments

I'm approaching my third year at Kimberly Woods and I'm glad to say I will not be renewing my lease. I thought the property looked great (except for the black olives littering the sidewalks) and was very excited to move in 3 years ago. After moving in I learned that looks can be deceiving. I saw a few problems when I toured the property, but was assured that they were being fixed... and it did appear that some renovations were happening... in fact, improvements have been made to the outside of the buildings.

When I did a walk through of my apartment I noticed that the sliding glass door was missing a piece of weather stripping- leaving a 1 inch wide gap the length of the door, allowing rain, heat and bugs to enter. I was promised it would be fixed that week and 3 years later it's still not fixed correctly... the gap is 1/2 inch wide now.

The door is the least of my problems though. The biggest and most disgusting complaint I have is the roaches... water bugs, or whatever they want to call them. They grow to be about 3 inches long and eat through any bag or box they can reach. I can't leave anything out on the counter and have to keep all my pantry food in storage containers if they don't have a thick cardboard packaging. It's not just a problem in my apartment, the entire building (and most likely the whole property) is infested.

That's not all though... I have mold growing in my bathroom in the shower and toilet... it has gotten worse over the past 3 years in spite of my constant cleaning. It appears that it was painted over before I moved in. The gas stove burners do not light if the oven is on... that can't be good. The wall where they have covered over the fireplace is so weak that when I rested my foot against it while at my desk, my foot went completely through the drywall. My thermostat doesn't work correctly, driving my heating/cooling bills through the roof (maintenance told me that everyone's thermostat is off by 5 degrees and they can't do anything about it). The windows rattle at the slightest vibration (like walking across the room) and if there is a rainstorm the rain will definitely come in. I could go on and on about the condition of the inside of the apartment, but I'll save time and discuss the exterior instead.

First of all, the smell of marijuanna lingers throughout one area of the complex... the area with a lot of suspicious, high volumes of traffic. There is very poor lighting at night and the courtyards are completely dark at times.My front porch light was out for nearly 6 months before someone replaced it. The manager claims to have a "courtesy patrol" but he's just a resident who walks around and does virtually nothing (except put "tow away warning" stickers on cars). Some residents even walk to the mailbox carrying a handgun because they feel unsafe. Just recently a resident who lives near me was arrested for murder. The manager is aware of all of this, yet refuses to take any responsibility for anything.

The management welcomes pets, as long as the tenant is willing to pay the non-refundable pet deposit (it used to be $300). I don't think they put any restrictions on the size or breed of dogs you can have. I've been approached by very large dogs whose owners let them wander through the courtyards with no leash. My last two neighbors have had large dogs (German Shepherd and Boxer) that bark and howl all day and night. There are stray cats everywhere and on occassion you can see one carrying a dead dove around in its mouth.

There are a lot of issues both inside and outside the apartment but the most disturbing of all is the management staff. They always treat me rudely and have never been nice... for no reason I might add. I prefer to leave my rent payment in the drop box because I don't want to deal with them in person. Just yesterday, I tried to talk to the manager about issues I have with the property and she became defensive and started yelling at me. I left the office knowing that I would not live here another year and I swore that I would tell everyone I know to never move to Kimberly Woods.