Jennifer Y Rlu

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Verified Reviewer
| map-marker Maplewood, New Jersey

Avalon Communities - Apartment Rental Review from Maplewood, New Jersey

Let's see what do I love more the made up fees or how Avalon breaks a piece of the action! Lawyers that are ambulance chasers just given the case and you get charged 320 for legal fees. Asked to see a copy itemized no response. Next YES mgmt the lease even can't explain what you are paying for. Avalon Somerset is predominantly section 8 but they don't tell you that.. Run don't walk away from avalon
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Reason of review:
Problems with payment
1 comment
Guest

What do you mean it's predominantly section 8? I was thinking of moving here.

Janeil Zcm
map-marker Gaithersburg, Maryland

My apartment is infested with fleas

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So when i first moved to this community(eaves at washingtonian center) I experienced a lot of issues with my apartment for example: centipedes, spiders, ants, and fleas. My 16 year old daughter has suffered over 400 bites due to this matter.

I have told the community about this issue and brought them doctors notes explaining the issue. They took their sweet time doing anything. until i contacted my local housing authority in Montgomery County, Maryland. Is when they decided to do"what they call is their attempt to correct the issue".

I got fed up and decided to obtain a lawyer to assist me out of my lease and to help me obtain money for damages/ pain and suffering, I'm losing all my furniture due to this issue, instead Avalon Bay made me look a liar. They made false dates and statements. Instead of my lawyer helping me they put my lawyer against me. No need worry off to the district court i go im not giving up.

My daughter is suffering because of this awful community!!!!!!!!!. Beware never rent at any of these awful communities ran by Avalon Bay.

Not to forget they had my lawyer come up with a letter stating they will break my lease but i have to lose my rights in taking legal action against them. Guess what i am not signing anything.

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Reason of review:
Damaged or defective

Preferred solution: Full refund

Anonymous
map-marker Woodland Hills, California

Move Out Hassle

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The main reason I am writing this review is to let all current tenants and prospective tenants know about the pathetic experience I had after the move out.

I moved out of the apartment on Sep 15th and even after a month, I have not received the final move out bill. I called the leasing office and they told that they are not the right people and asked me to reach out to Avalon Bay customer care. When I talked to customer care, they told that they forwarded the final notice to a different address and assure me that they will send it through email. But I haven't received it till now. On Nov 12th, a collection agency called me and told that my account is in collection and want me to pay the entire balance. When I told that I haven't received the final notice, they informed me that their primary task is to fulfill the collection and there is nothing much they can do. They also threatened me that if I did not pay the balance amount, they will report it in my credit and renters history. They mentioned that the damages are mainly in carpet and painting. The carpet damage is caused by Eaves staff only when they did a *** plumbing work which screwed up our stay for almost a week. I have reported this to the leasing office and they have all documents and photos of the damage. I tried to call Eaves leasing office and Avalon bay customer service and they told that they are helpless as it is now in collection. The FUNNY thing is that even after all these discussion, I STILL don’t have the move out notice.

I don’t want to have this *** impacting my history and don’t have much time to follow up, so I paid the balance amount in full. I am looking for some options to raise my case now.

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Loss:
$348
Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Anonymous
map-marker Northborough, Massachusetts

Avalon Employee moving my money into Shrewsbury Housing paid column making it appear I underpaid

In 2010 I moved into Avalon in Northborough, MA. I was on section 8 at the time. The apartment was inspected by section 8 inspector, all paperwork was completed. I moved in on Jan. 2, 2010, my portion of rent was $571, Shrewsbury Housings portion to Avalon was $337. In Feb. I paid an extra $1200 to cover future rent, the money was from a tax return. In March 2010 Avalon paid the Jan., Feb. and March portions of Shrewsbury Housings contracted portion to Avalon from the overage of my money in the rental account. Shrewsbury Housing Authority didn't make any payments until June 2010. This continued to happen every time I had overage in my rental account. In Dec. 2013 I voluntarily left section 8 housing or I would have never known this was going on, however, it appears that the employees of either Avalon or Avalon and Shrewsbury Housing were not paid up and now they have me in a lawsuit stating that I owe them $904 that housing pulled from them as an under payment by me. According to Housing regulations this should not be able to happen and Avalon and housing have both been unable or unwilling to provide any written documentation regarding this amount or the amounts not referenced or documented that have been going into and out of this account since 2010. I have spent close to $1000 and my attorney is more interested in getting the case dropped than addressing the issues or reading the documents I have provided. I have every document, receipt, bank statement, email, housing rental change made for the term of lease. I as we all have am being bullied by the big boys, who do this type of thievery on a regular basis because the average person can't fight them.
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Loss:
$1200
Mardee Lpq
map-marker Los Angeles, California

Worst company you can rent at.

They blocked my account online and don't let me pay. Now I have to send them cashiers' checks + 6 dollars postage fee. I literary hate them! Even the balance is not online ( "due to heavy volume" ) So I even can't see my balance because their online service doesn't work. They told me they will not unblock my account until my lease expires in December. I called their customer service. Managers on the premises are useless. They do not do anything. Just give the phone # you can call at!!!! They dont solve ANY matter!! We have HUGE cockroaches in Studio City's appartment, extremely loud noise every day. Hopefully this is the last time I'm renting. Archstone and Avalon are the worst companies you can rent at.
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Loss:
$20
Anonymous
map-marker Smithtown, New York

My dog breed has been added to a restricted list. Only in NY

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Looking for an apt. in NY (L.I) we were told that our dog was on the restricted list because they are "Nasty". I am in Employment & Training and the Leasing Agent should have never made those comments. This Company need to change their training program, for someone to be in a Customer Service Position, and call someones pet "Nasty". Was she trying to tell me they are dirty??? or because they are supposedly a threat. These are the most docile dogs, misconception by the population of the "fighting dog" stigma. Maybe they had an owner who lack respect for others, but they should not discriminate based on what they hear.
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Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: They need to take case by case and not discriminate on a breed. Also the Leasing Agent needs more training, she was nasty herself

Shatisha Cil
map-marker Manhattan, New York

Phantom Fees and fines for unpaid phantom fees

This company will charge fines for EVERYTHING, and if you do not pay right away, they start charging you fines for unpaid fines (even if you are in dispute with their lawyers). Then they will charge you lawyer fees for even asking questions. STAY AWAY! Unless you have unlimited access to a good lawyer, do not get involved. It is also impossible to speak to anyone other than a phone operator in North Carolina. The on-site sales people claim to know nothing. And the lawyers charge YOU for speaking to them - then use intimidating fees to get you to pay.
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Loss:
$2000
Resolved
Christian M Jbd

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Verified Reviewer

Resolved: Horrible service, greedy and dishonest

Avalon Communities - Horrible service, greedy and dishonest
Avalon Communities - Horrible service, greedy and dishonest - Image 2
Avalon Communities - Horrible service, greedy and dishonest - Image 3
Avalon Communities - Horrible service, greedy and dishonest - Image 4
Updated by user Jul 11, 2018

After three and half years of going back and forth, and a fantastic amount of help from several of my lawyers friends - Avalon Communities Inc. decided that I still owed them money even though they couldn't seem to give me a straight answer of why I owed them anything....

Updated by user Mar 31, 2014

Company still unreasonable, had to get several lawyers. Ridiculous, will never do business with this company again.

Original review Sep 22, 2013
I lived at the Media Center apartments before Avalonbay Communities Inc. purchased the place and fired all of the professional staff. They hired incompetent and unhelpful staff - who would close the office for the entire day with no notice.

Finally, I got tired of the run around and started taking pictures to document issues, such as, no hot water, laundry room sewage spill allowed to sit for months, sewage spill in the garage area, broken appliances, a/c not working, heater not working, and so on.

Management wrote to me and stated that I had given proper notice to move out early. Fast forward a couple of months and I get a collection agency contacting me for accelerated rent? I complained and showed documentation for everything including the professional cleaning crew that cleaned the room. Avalonbay Communities Inc. stated that they would remove the damage charges. This confused me as their collection letter mentioned nothing of damages. After many letters back and forth, Avalonbay Communities Inc. stated that they were sorry I had so many problems but I still owe them money. For what, the service you didn't provide?

As the management decided to be completely unreasonable, I decided to notify every single state and federal government agency of every one of the documented issues I had that may be a violation of state/federal laws.
They have dinged my credit and they remain the one and only mark on my credit report.
I have found the management to be completely unreasonable at every step of the way - would never do business with the company again.
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Loss:
$700
Abdallah Rnf
map-marker New Rochelle, New York

Rapped!!! I reiterate, Rapped with Fees!

Let me start by saying that Avalon Bay Communities is at the fore-front of tenant offenses, filed complaints with Department of Civil Rights, Federal courts and blogs/websites. I read most of the reviews about Avalon Bay Communities but ignored them and still moved in not whole-heartedly believing them. Boy, was I tragically mistaken! Every review was right! Everything that tenants said in their reviews had happened to me! Avalon Bay Communities or whatever their name is now, puts organized crime to shame! These people are the biggest gangsters around! And that's putting it mildly! Their rental advertisement is highly misleading. They tell you the rent will be one amount until you sign the lease, it conveniently increases to a different amount due to a slew of nonsensical community fees. Additionally, if you are ever late with that rent, OMG...look out! Your doomed because they will charge you a $75 Late Fee and if for whatever reason "that" rent is not in by the 15th of the month...they with slap that's right "SLAP" you with a $450 Legal Fee and threaten to take you to court! This will happen every single time! They take no prisoners! I wish it stopped there but NOOOOOOO! Avalon then pretends that you are paying an outside utility provider for all your lights, gas and hot water when in fact...they own the utility company! So when it comes to your utility bills...yeah that's right, they make up those number too! I couldn't make this stuff up if someone paid me! To add insult to injury, they will periodically enter the apartment pretending to be conducting routine maintenance when all the while...this is just another one of their "Gangster" tactics to snoop around tenants' apartments. They pay off everyone in their surrounding communities...i.e. city officials, Judges etc. Additionally, they own and operate most of the real estate in NY, NJ and other Eastern region areas. I'm writing this complaint in hopes that it will spare some poor soul from entering into the Avalon Bay pitfall! Take it from me, I ignored all those helpful reviews and as a result...I PAID, literally and figuratively! It was the worst rental experience I've ever encountered. Please beware of these people and research your rental establishment because these guys operate under a plethora of different names due to their diverse law suits and complaints! Good Luck!
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8 comments
Heinrich Qzc

How do you know Avalon owns the utility company? I'd like to pursue this if it's true.

Guest

these guys are bad news stay away Lived at Quincy Ma location for 10 years!

Guest

Yes, I think your right. It sounds like that comment came from the management company and they're pissed about the person writing this complaint.

Guest

Dude! Your taking this spelling thing waaaay to far!

Who would leave such a vicious comment..SMH. You must be the Avalon Bay Communities :-/

Isn't it the consumer who should be pissed.

Guest

You deserve what you're getting. You can't even spell, you lazy git.

How is anyone going to take you seriously. The word is "raped" not "rapped" you dip$hit.

Guest

Main Entry: 2rap

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): rapped; rap·ping

Date: 14th century

transitive verb

1 : to strike, a quick sharp blow *Many uses of the English language

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-808004

Yeah, I had looked it up and thought the word didn't fit and what they meant was they were "raped" with fees.

Guest

How is one "rapped" by fees? just curious.

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Anonymous
map-marker Huntington, New York

Avalon Communities - Cleaning Fee Review from Huntington, New York

Avalon will charge for anything they can think of! Moved out and got $579 of our $2.5k deposit after living tree for 5yrs! Damage was from a small dog. And we payed $500 for cleaning fee. They never replaced the carpet but managed to charge a total of 2.5k for it! We then didn't cash out deposit check on time (90 days) so they charged $35 to cut a new check which takes up to 20 business days to receive!! Did I mention we paid rent late once and had to pay lawyer fees and late fee of almost $600. They also gave our new landlord a horrible review about us. They said they had to litigate! Seriously, that was in reference to paying 7 days late once! They left that part out!! We paid $3300 monthly and rent was raised religiously!!! Upgrades never done and when they were done, the cheapest patch up jobs were provided!! Waste of money and unfriendly people to boot!
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Anonymous
map-marker Livingston, New Jersey

Home Inspection Review

Bunch of scam artist..we moved out and had inspection..everything fine..now 4 yrs later trying to collect 7 grand..after tbey kept all of our deposit and fees..the fridge was dented when we moved in..place leaked and saying we caused it..wifi was smoking..they removed it said we caused it..got bill for water sewer 100 mo..stay away from these crooks..I have pic s before and after.. See them in court..
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Anonymous
map-marker Los Angeles, California

WARNING: Don't move into Avalon Bay communities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My boyfriend and I have been looking for a new apartment community because this company has been giving us ***!. We live in the eaves los feliz apartments and we placed a deposit of 5 grand for our 2 bedroom, we have paid rent late about three times and as we apply for our new apartment they give the landlord a bad review about us. The review was based on our payment history. What are we suppose to do? our lease is up in 20 days, we have been applying and looking for other apartments and we keep getting denied, its so annoying that they could do this to us! I agree the customer service there is a bunch of ***. Everytime I call the service line they want to ask "how is your day going?" I want to honestly tell them that their company is full of *** They don't want to help you at all, don't ever be late on rent because they will say whatever to get you denied and what -_-....we are suppose to be stuck here paying rent to a corporation that doesn't care about my well being? Screw Avalon! Yes paying rent can be a bad rep,however, there were situations where I had to help my family for money and would think that maybe just maybe paying rent would be OK. nope. I've never experience such fraud with a property management company like this. DONT RENT WITH THIS COMPANY!!! EVER!!!! Keep your credit good and recommendations by not living with this corporation! I am beyond pissed………..
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Loss:
$5000
Dyke Asg
map-marker Dublin, California

Avalon sent may deposit almost 2 months after moving out.

I got into Avalon Properties, ArchStone of Sunnyvale (CA) During the first month, and due to noises in the walls due to their bolier, we decided to use the right to move out during the first month of the 1 year lease. We moved out on the 11th of September. I called them around October 10th, to inquire about the return of my deposit. They had sent it to the wrong address. No problem, anyone can make a mistake. I went to the address they sent it and they tell me they never received it. They say they need to wait till October 14th to stop payment and re-send to correct address. I call them on the 28th of October, they say they are still "processing". I call again on November the 4th and they say they just sent it today. I call their (877)282 **** customer number and they blame it on me for not calling too many times to remind them. I start doubting that I will get any check ever. I mentioned to them that when I had to pay the rent, they said that rents arriving on the 2nd of the month will be considered late. Then I ask them why tye take almost 2 months to reurn my money, they repeat that is my fault for not calling, that they never signed a paper in which they are supposed to return my money (ever) ontime. On top of this, after staying in the apartments for a month, and not even bringing my furniture, and leaving the apartment as clean as when I got it 4 week before, they discounted close to 500 dollars out of the 1000 dollars, due to some standard cleaning fees. Unbelievable! Will never go to an Avalon Property ever again.
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Anonymous
map-marker Washington, District Of Columbia

AvalonBay billing for bogus fees

These are scumm lords for sure. I had a preliminary move out inspection during which the maintenance man wrote down that everything was in great shape and nothing was damaged; the carpet needed replacing because it was more than 5 years old and would be replaced not at my expense but as required because of age.

Lo and behold i get a bill for carpet replacement and for supposedly replacement of vinyl [which the guy at inspections said was in good shape] and on top of that they threw in cleaning and trash disposal charges. I knew to take pictures of the apartment before i moved out and it was in very clean condition and they say it was not?

let them try to sue me those scam bags! I am writing to the BBB on them!

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1 comment
Guest

Did anything ever come of this? They are trying to charge me similar bogus move out fees. Seattle, WA

Ryan T Kbt
map-marker Mill Creek, Washington

Collection Agency Charges for Apartment's Prorated Rent Twice

I was nervous about Avalon Brandemoor the second my girlfriend and I read the bad reviews online. I've seen some bad reviews before, but let me just say that these reviews were mortifying for us to read. The information made my girlfriend and I change our minds about living at Avalon Brandemoor (in Lynnwood, WA). I proceeded to move out within my 30 day guarantee just like the lease allows, clean the apartment perfectly (the maintenance professional complimented me and told me about the horror stories he had seen before), and go through all the motions to make sure I was payed in full with no loose ends. Within a week I was moved into another location, and I was feeling more comfortable. By the end of that month, I had payed my final statement.

Little did I know how badly this company was going to try abuse us.

BUYER BEWARE: AVALON'S MANAGEMENT WILL TRY TO RIP YOU OFF ANYWAY POSSIBLE. JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE PROVISIONS IN THE LEASE (30 DAY GUARANTEE), DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE SAFE. In fact, I believe they tried to rip us off purposefully, because we moved out within the 30 day guarantee (attempting to recover their "losses").

Avalon's management hired a collection agency to charge me an extra $350 for prorated rent. There was no telephone call, no email, and no letter in the mail attempting to contact me first. They went straight to a collection agency, who was the first person to contact me. This puts an extreme amount of stress on the consumer, considering the collection agency can put freezes on your credit and affect your credit scores VERY GRAVELY. When I say Avalon's management, I mean Avalon Headquarters on the east coast in Arlington, Virginia. None of this was done by the apartment complex in Washington, THIS IS THE WAY THEY MANAGE THEIR ENTIRE BUSINESSES THROUGHT THE U.S.

I was outraged by this, because they certainly were in the wrong. My 30 day guarantee was in the lease, and they HAD ALREADY CHARGED ME for the prorated rent. I contacted a lawyer through the company I work for (a well to do engineering firm that shall not be named) and I was told that I could pay $1000 - $2000 for a day in DISTRICT COURT IN FRONT OF A JUDGE, or I could pay them off. And because they had hired a collection agency, those were my only two options. Now it all makes sense to me. Avalon's management purposefully did not tell me anything, purposefully made me believe I was all set for 3 months, and purposefully charged me $350 extra just because they wanted to make money, and knew that they could get away with it. They've clearly done this before, knew how to do it correctly (most stress on the consumer possible), and are clearly going to do it again. PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR, DON'T LIVE HERE.

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Loss:
$350
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