Review for Ballantyne Apartments

I moved in the Ballantyne Apts the last Friday of Aug 2009. I thought they were a nice property and the management seemed cool. The only persons I can say has been nice and helpful thereafter, was a young lady by the name of Jessica and another young man, I can't recall his name but he is very well educated and is always professional in person or over the phone. Long story short, I had a situation that occurred with my banking institution and it called for me having to close my account and re-establish a new one. I called and spoke with Jessica a few days after I moved in and explained my situation thoroughly and that I would be substituting the check I’d written for a money order instead. A month passed and I assumed everything was okay and so on October 3, 2009 I went in and gave my rent check under my new bank account information and she thanked me and was pleasant as usual.

On October 19th I received an orange junket from the Lewisville Deputy's office that I needed to appear in court because Ballantyne Apts had processed an eviction for me to move. I immediately went into the office and spoke with Manager, Tammy on October 20th after briefly speaking with the Asst Manager, Amanda whom I assume is also the Accountant. Tammy was very unreasonable/subdued as well as cold and calculated with her responses and was placing blame on me for the offices clerical error/errors. She also told me that there were 2 notices "allegedly" slid between the cracks of my front door which I never use anyway because I always enter in/out through the garage. Neither here nor there, these notices were NEVER produced for either September or October indicating that I was delinquent in rent and I wasn’t privy to seeing those until I walked into the office on October 20th. To challenge the eviction I’d been served. Had I'd been made aware of these notices prior; I would've gone into the office and explained my situation to whomever, Tammy or Amanda. Jessica had already been briefed as I also placed a phone call to the gentleman on duty on a Saturday afternoon for verification that they received my rent. During that call he told me it had been received. Keep in mind this was for the month of September.

My October check was never sent to the bank and they NEVER gave it back to me either. When I asked why my check hadn't been cashed, Tammy's response was "We are no longer excepting your checks" However, Tammy NEVER took any initiative in returning the check back to me prior to my visit into the office nor did she offer to give it back to me while I was in here presence. I even went as far as stating that I would gladly pay it again while I had this case being investigated by Money Gram and that maybe there was an oversight on their behalf and I’d be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because clerical mistakes do happen, She went on the defense when I made that comment. I informed her where I purchased the money order which was (Wal-Mart) who I also reached out to by phone and was told by customer service that I’d need to place a phone call to 1-800-MONEYGRAM. I did as instructed and was informed that the process would take 6-8 weeks and that fees would also be charged. This answer wasn’t sufficient for me. Because I didn’t want to fork out additional money that I don’t have access to I offered to pay (yet again) September rent as I didn’t have the energy to go through a tedious and taxing process which is never made easy for consumers. I tried to work out an arrangement with Tammy and she scolded me as if I were a toddler. She than stated I needed to give her over $1600 at one time which I explained to her was not feasible. Tammy was uncompromising and again was accusatory.

It baffles me that they claim to have left 2 notices at my residence and I didn't receive even 1 of those (2) How did they lose my September rent? (3) Why am I just now being notified by a Deputy and not Tammy (The Mgr) (4) Why are they holding on to my check if my check is NO LONGER GOOD as she states? This is not the treatment I neither deserve nor expected and it’s also unprofessional as well as unwarranted. I since some dishonesty from both, Tammy and Amanda. I almost feel as if this was done intentionally so that they could justify a reason to have me thrown out of their complex. The question is, Why? I also feel like I’m being discriminated against and being singled out.

You're probably asking yourself where is my receipt for the money order. The day I moved in I had miscellaneous papers and junk all over the place and I'm certain that this was thrown away by accident as I didn't put in a safe place. This could happen to anyone just like anyone in the leasing office could've misplaced, credited funds to a different account, or lost it. Either way, I shouldn't be the one held accountable for their mishandling of funds.