In all fairness, there are positive aspects to living in Korman. The units are nice, the appliances work, the grounds are well-maintained, and there are nice amenities like a fitness room and computer/fax room.
Unfortunately there were bad aspects. The rent is ridiculously high, even for a townhouse. We lived in Korman for two years and were paying over $1,000 a month. If we had renewed for a third year we would have been paying over $1,100. Plus there are extra fees that are not advertised on the company website. They charge you $25 extra each month for cable TV...even if you don't subscribe to cable.
My major complaints are with incompetence of the management and staff. During the two years my husband and I lived there, maintenance requests were left unanswered. For example my husband got a flat tire in our parking lot, and another resident told me that maintenance would help us put on the spare. We called them, were promised help within a half hour, and help never arrived.
Management was less than helpful when I made a complaint about the noise. My middle-aged neighbor thought he was a rock star and would play his electric guitar and bass at top volume for hours. When I addressed this with management the woman was dismissive and said that the managment doesn't like to get involved in matters like that. Our lease stated that management would take action against a resident whose pet makes too much noise, so why not against a resident who deliberately blasts music?
The absolute WORST experience was when we tried to move out. My husband and I found a new apartment we liked and gave notice to Korman more than 60 days in advance. But when our new apartment community tried to contact Korman, the management at Korman said that we had not given proper notice! I found the source of the problem to be my name change after my wedding, as I had first signed the lease with Korman before I was married, and used my maiden name. However when giving the 60 day notice I specifically told Korman that I had changed my name and they assured me that it would be no problem when we were ready to move out. I had to explain all this to our new landlord, who faxed the information sheet to Korman a second time so that it could be filled out correctly. And again Korman filled it out incorrectly! The woman checked the box indicating that my husband and I had not given the proper notice!
My husband and I were infuriated. Not only did we have to deal with the inconvenience of playing phone tag between Korman and our new apartment community, our application for our new apartment was delayed due to Korman's incompetence. It was weeks before we could be officially approved for our new apartment, when it should only have been days.
The situation did not improve when it came to getting our deposit refunded. On May 31 my husband went to drop off our keys and leave our forwarding address. He was assured that the check would be mailed the first week in July. That week came and went and still no check. He took it upon himself to call Korman, and was told that the check was at the office waiting to be picked up! He asked what happened to the address he left at the office, and was told "it's not in your file." Not for nothing, but both of our cell phone numbers are in our file from when we moved in. Did anyone think to call us? How long was this check going to just sit around before someone bothered to contact us? So I went to the office to pick up the check. And true to form for Korman, the check was made out to my maiden name and not my married name. The desk clerk said I could request to have the check re-issued, but it would probably end up in Nepal so I just took it and left.
I do not understand how simple tasks could be screwed up so badly, and how information can just disappear. This is a true case of poor communication in an office. The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. My husband and I are reasonable people. We try to keep our cool in conflict situations and not become rude customers. But this situation was handled so poorly it was extremely difficult not to scream at someone.
So if you're thinking about moving into Korman, please keep this caveat in mind. There are plenty of places in Montgomery County that are ust as big but are cheaper and have a management office that uses some kind of organized filing system and a staff that can fill out simple paperwork.