I can quite honestly say that my 1 1/2 years in Fairway View ("the View") was the worst experience of my life. The reason I moved in was because I was in desperate need of a place to live after moving back to Baton Rouge after graduating from LSU several months earlier. Plans to room with a friend fell through, so I decided to get a one bedroom townhouse in phase I. What sold me was that the staff said that there was a noise policy and that there was a mix of tenants, not just students. What I found that this meant was, the noise policy is that they don't give a shit, and "mix of tenants" means that most people there are unemployed and smoke weed in their apartment all day.
There was a shooting in the complex literally a couple of buildings away from my door, yet I heard absolutely nothing from the management or staff about it. The only reason I know it happened is because I just so happened to read the police briefs in the Advocate the next few days. Even a police officer I talked to the next week said that I should get out of there as soon as possible.
After I was finally able to move out, I had to deal with the uncertainty that always comes with security deposits. I know how managements always like to invent reasons for you not to get your deposit back, and I had heard stories from people who said their apartment was spotless before they left, yet they received nothing from their deposit. I was told at checkout that I would get my deposit back within 30 days. 30 days passed, and I didn't receive my deposit. (More on this later)
However, what I did receive within those 30 days was an electricity bill for my final month that was 30% higher than any electricity bill from the entire time I lived there. Looking over the bill, I noticed that I was being charged for an additional 12 days after my move out date, which I'm assuming maintenance used to do repairs and cleaning in my apartment. I was told by staff that I needed to do nothing to transfer the energy bill back to the complex, that they take care of it after move outs. LIES!
I went to the office to complain, and they compromised with me and offered to pay some of the bill, which would be credited in my security deposit... Back to that: During that 30 day window in which they told me I would receive my deposit, I got a statement from them saying that I would be receiving my deposit plus what they owed me from the electricity bill. That statement was sent 25 days after my move out, and it stated that I would receive my deposit within 30 days of move out, or within the next 5 days.
Fast forward 15 more days, and my deposit still had not been received. I had called the office on the 33rd day, and they told me that it is possible that the check was sent out on the 30th day, and it may take a few more days to get here, since it is sent from the management company of Fairway View, known as Campus Advantage. On the 40th day, I sent e-mails to both Fairway View and Campus Advantage letting them know how severely pissed I was, and that they had violated their word since I had not received my deposit and I was prepared to file a formal complaint. I got a brief e-mail back from Campus Advantage saying that, legally, they had 30 days to only send me a statement, which they did, so I had no grounds for a complaint. The check, however, was in the mail. Regardless of legality, I replied, I was constantly lied to by staff and management, and even the statement I received contradicted what I was now being told.
I am a man on a mission now. If you are a parent, you don't want your children living here. If you are a husband, you don't want your wife living here. And if you have any respect for yourself, you don't want to live here. I won't be happy until the View is completely ruined financially and demolished. Please tell everyone you know that this is not the place for them.