Review for Lancaster Village Apartments

In just one year of living at Lancaster Village Apartments my husband and my family and I have had an extreme number of problems. My husband and I are a young couple and we have a four year old son. My husband works in computers and I am a teacher. The problems started immediately and we found out right away that the management does very little to support their renters. I warn everyone, especially families with young children to stay away from this renter.

EXTREME VENTILATION PROBLEM: Our first issue began with large amounts of second hand smoke pouring into our bathroom and less as much in our bedrooms through vents and heaters. I am not a smoker, but I have lived in other buildings with smokers before and have never had this problem. The smell was there almost 24/7 and it made our bathroom unusable because of the extreme intensity of smell. It was like an unventilated bar. This is more than a neighbor having a cigarette. It seemed as though the ventilation system was gathering air from other units and depositing it in our unit. We have a four year old son who would cry because the smell (and whatever harmful chemicals were in the air)would make his eyes itch. I would get cold like symptoms while in the house as well. When my son used the bathroom or took a bath we had to hurry to finish so that he would not be exposed to the smell for long. It took multiple complaints and threat of filing for rent escrow before the management took us seriously and looked into the ventilation. Once they had, they sent us letter saying that there was nothing wrong with the ventilation system, but the smell miraculously disappeared. It was as if they did not want to admit to any wrong doing. I am afraid to think of what was really wrong.

NOISE: The building is poorly built and you can hear just about everything. From TVs to people passing in the hallway. We lived on the 3rd floor, so we lucked out (no overhead noise). However, We had neighbors that screamed and swore at each other all hours of the night and during the day. During one of their altercations, one person slammed through the door leading to the stair well and broke the door from the hinges.

URINE SMELL: It is common for the hallways to reek of smoke and the overuse of cheap air freshener. Also, for the past couple of months there has been a smell of urine in the carpeted stairwell. It is so bad that my son and I have to plug our noises as we pass that floor. My son now reminds me before we get to that flight of stairs to cover my noise.

MANAGEMENT: The only word that comes to mind when I think of the management at Lancaster is stupid. Here's why:
(1) The management sent us a stern letter complaining that our satellite dish could not be mounted on our balcony. Which is strange because we don't have a satellite dish. When my husband contacted them and told them this, they were curt with him (as if he was lying) and said they'd check in to it. Of course we got no apology.

(2) The list posting resident names and apartment numbers in the front lobby is always wrong no matter how many times they revise it. They had our number posted for something like 5 different residents. We kept getting the wrong mail. People would buzz our apt at all hours looking for some person that didn't live there. We complained three times and every time the list was revised, it was still wrong. I think it would be obvious that you can fit that many residents into a three bdrm apt?

(3) We moved out (Praise God!) yesterday and the funniest thing happened. When my husband went to the rental office to ask questions about the move out procedure, the manager greeted him as if he were a new renter inquiring about the rental property. She didn't even recognize him! After living there a year and all the complaints we had made, and several times in person, they didn't remember him!

(4) Oh, believe me there's plenty more, but don't bother finding out for yourself.