Tenant Reviews for 500 E 33RD ST

I am a 10+ year long term tenant at Lake Meadows. I have never experienced the level of neglect that I am experiencing right now. I have sent three emails, and also made a visit to the leasing office asking for information in writing regarding the new RUBS (Retail Utility Billing Service) pricing structure. Although I have had assurances from staff members at the office that the matter has been sent to the General Manager, I have not yet received a proper answer in writing. After a wasted 15 minutes in a meeting with the management team they gave me some number stating my 1-bedroom flat utility fee which used to be $110 per month will change up to as high as $290 or more which is 170% increase of the previous fee. Management still refuses to show master utility bills or clearly explain vacancy liability or how the formula accounts for situations where unauthorized tenants may be living in apartments, which can increase overall usage and shift costs onto compliant residents. Also do the tenants have to cover the cost of unoccupied apartments? All of this must be disclosed before signing a renewal or a new lease and it has not been disclosed. Over the years, the upkeep of the apartment has significantly deteriorated. Management has refused to replace 20-year-old oven and broken cabinet hardware. The parking lot is unsafe, with frequent car break-ins and package thefts LM needs to be transparent which is required by law they seem to be hiding the facts. Do not sign anything until you at least have copies of the master utility bills for four months or more and a breakdown of the formula used to determine your portion of the RUBS. Otherwise, you are signing a blank check for the duration of your lease.

Do not rent here. They add charges at their will. I had numerous negative experiences with the new management company, Fernwood. On multiple occasions in different months, I attempted to pay my rent using a credit card. Each time, the payment failed due to insufficient balance. However, management still added credit card surcharge fees to my account ledger, claiming that the credit card companies had charged them. The problem is that there were no transactions at all from Fernwood on my credit card statement on those dates. Despite this, the management insisted that the charges were valid. I spent nearly two months trying to resolve the issue, but no one was helpful. The accounting department in particular was extremely unhelpful and incompetent. They continued to insist that transactions had occurred, even though there was no evidence of them on my credit card. In the end, I gave up and paid the fees simply because I didn’t want to risk additional late charges due to the unresolved surcharge balance. One of very frustrating experiences out of many.

The management is too cheap, and they find ways to save money by cutting heater and hot water in winter. Even when we complaint they do not care, and they do this on a weekend and thus we cannot reach out to anyone

You are charged $60 a month to parkat Lake Meadows apartments. There are rats, roaches, and bed bugs. No security and lead paint on the cabinets. No AC and no heat in the winter time. Managment is very rude a d never listens to the tenants.

You never get a response from them unless it is beneficial to them. The top management doesn't know who they have employed as their staff members. Very incompetent and lies to tenants all the time.  They add numerous charges to your bill without your knowledge. Don't ever rent here.

I reached out to David James via email to inquire about scheduling a tour of the Lake Meadows apartment complex. Unfortunately, despite following up three times, he never responded. This lack of communication and disregard for potential tenants is disappointing and unprofessional. It reflects poorly on the customer service at Lake Meadows, especially with someone in a key role like David James. Terrible service and a complete lack of follow-through make me question the overall quality of their management and whether they truly value new renters

New management that came in last summer is horrible! They respond to nothing! No working laundry for months, ROACHES roaches roaches! Emails, maintenance requests, and phone calls do nothing, no matter how polite or desperate. Location is the only perk, and it’s not worth it.

The "new" management needs to start looking at reviews being left by current residents - lack of screens, (code violation), lack of adequate security, lack of laundry facilities that are a supposed amenity - Building 7 laundry room has been out since before CHRISTMAS DESPITE repeated complaints made by tenants - they just ignore it or say they are "working" on it. Maybe pay the bills management so you can get someone out to replace and or fix these machines. Residents have no nearby options to wash their clothes - this is a basic need - building is wildly outdated....no way to regulate heat to tenants keep windows open in the winter wasting precious resources - it's like public housing.....terrible

I would not recommend these apartments to anyone. The buildings are really old (from the 1950s), and the apartments still have the old heating system, windows, kitchen cabinets, etc. Almost all of the residents are international students from India who room together, so each apartment has 3-5 times as many people as it should, and the buildings are severely overcrowded. These are highrise buildings that do not have a fire sprinkler system, which makes them very dangerous. Poor maintenance and management as well. The neighborhood is isolated and boring. Anyone who did not just arrive here from a third world country would probably not find the apartments acceptable. The reason there are so many great reviews of this place from the past by "verified residents" is that the management used to encourage residents to post reviews for a chance to win cash.

My refridgerator began to malfunction on Saturday. By Sunday I called the office to put in a work request. I was told it would be treated as an emergency. Several hours later no one had showed up and the refridgerator had stopped running with my Thanksgiving turkey, ham and other meal ingredients inside. I contacted the office again and the best solution that the person on the phone could offer, was a technician who probably COULD NOT fix the refridgerator, and he wouldnt be available for another 1.5 hours. I said thank you and hung up. Approx 30 mins later, the woman called back and AGAIN offered the technician who probably COULD NOT fix the refridgerator, so that I wouldnt feel that nobody was coming to help me. 7:30 no technician. I contacted the office again, and was offered the same NON SOLUTION by a young man who was annoyed by my being annoyed. I resigned myself to the fact that the food would spoil and my family's Thanksgiving along with it. As my anger began to rise, I knocked on my neighbor's door. My neighbor is a very kind and always helpful, former Draper & Kramer employee and present Fernwood employee. I explained my dilema and asked her who I could contact on Monday. My kind and generous neighbor 1. Welcomed a resident knocking on her door at 8 p.m. or possibly later on a Sunday night. 2. Offered to let me store my food in her fridge. 3. Got off of her personal phone call to contact maintenance and find a REAL SOLUTION to my problem!!! Within 30 mins Russell was bringing a refridgerator from an empty unit to my apt. Thanks again, Katherine and Russell!!!! P.S. The Fernwood emergency team's NON SOLUTION technician NEVER showed.