Apartment Review for Latvian Village

I lived in these apartments for two years, we had signed a two year lease or we would have moved earlier. We were good tenants, never complained, never late with the rent. We originally took the place because it was large and one of the few places that took large dogs.

However, shortly after moving in, we realized that whoever they contracted the construction work out to... was almost definitely the lowest bidder. THEY ARE NOT AS NICE AS THEY LOOK ON FIRST GLANCE.

- It has nice new windows installed but there isn't any insulation around those windows. During the first big rainstorm, water came in around the frame. The wind blows straight through. My bedroom (which had a non-insulated sliding glass door) was consistently 15-20 degrees hotter or cooler than the rest of the house. That was after I put plastic over the windows. Ice formed on the inside of the sliding glass door.

****BECAUSE OF THIS OUR ELECTRICITY BILL WAS MORE THAN IT WAS IN OUR 3 BEDROOM HOUSE!!

- The tile on the floor around the toilet was cut incorrectly so that there was a visible opening behind the stool. The tile in the shower (behind the showerhead) was a jagged cut. The water temperature would not remain steady during our entire stay there. You could not take a shower with a steady temperature... ever. We asked for this to be fixed but were told that we would be without a bathroom for three days. What are we supposed to do... go to a hotel to shower?

- The carpet was installed to where the edges have nails coming up through the floor... this is where it was tacked down around the edges of the tile. I hammered them down several times and they just kept coming up.

- The water gets turned off a LOT. Sometimes several times in one month. Our electricity went out several times and the cable service is on splitters. The signal is terrible and goes out constantly. We have not had a single problem with the same equipment since we moved to our new place.

- Our car was broken into and the stereo stolen during our first few months at the apartment. This was due to inadequate lighting in the parking lot. This happened to several people while we lived there.

Near the end of our lease period, they were going to raise our rent which was already high. We decided not to renew our lease and they still managed to get an additional months rent out of us. Even though the apartment manager and I had been talking back and forth about whether or not she could keep my rent on the current level. By the time I had received word that they would not raise my rent again, it was past the notification period. Be very aware that this property requires a SIXTY day written notice, instead of the standard 30 days. So instead of pro-rating the 10 days that I was overdue, they charge an ADDITIONAL FULL MONTHS RENT.

They also took $500 from my deposit to replace the carpet. If you live in a place with a large dog for two years... don't you think the carpet would need replacing due to normal wear and tear? Wouldn't YOU want new carpet.

So, yes, they take large dogs... yes, it is in a good school district, yes, they are large apartments with nice grounds. But NO, overall, you can get a much better deal other places. Latvian Village is overpriced and cheaply constructed. Everyone in my building was moving out. Out of the ten apartments in my building... seven had moved or were moving at the time we left. There is a reason for this.