Tenant Reviews for 14504 BRIAR FOREST DR

I love the apartment Melanie is so sweet and amazing. It feels like a home to me. I love it here and why I give it 1 star because I do not have a working dryer, this is my 2nd dryer and it does not work. It takes about 4 times to dry one load of clothes with only 5 to 7 pieces and still after 5 times my clothes are still damp. This issue has been going on over 5 weeks since I moved here in Dec 2019. Melanie is an Angel she has been helping me but maintenance told them my dryer works fine but that is not a fair assessment because he did put any clothes in the dryer, he goes by the temp. I advised him to take my damp clothes sit there about 30 mins to hour and then he can see what I am talking about or better yet he can take my dryer to his apartment and give me his. I bet you he would not keep that dryer because there is a problem with the heating element. It doesn't take a rocket science to figure this out. But my clothes are backed up 5 weeks because of this and my light bill is high because I use more electricity now because it takes us about 4 or 5 times to dry clothes and I still have to hang them up around the house, which looks so tacky. My clothes does not have a fresh smell after being wet so long. Some of my clothes have mildewed so bad, I had to throw them away. I don't have the money to go to the Laundry Mat. Very disappointed and dissatisfied with the maintenance on this issue. Yes I pay my rent on time and over the amount. I will come back with an update once this issue has be resolved.

In short, Beyond disappointing, moderately unethical and possibly illegal behavior. I'll break it down into Pros and Cons, starting with the Cons. Cons- - I was advised that if I rented a carport I could park in the carport or any available open parking space if it happened to be closer to my apartment. When I did just that, I was towed. - Attempts to speak with the property manager have resulted in me speaking with the assistant manager, but I have never been able to speak with the manager Rachel Kiser. - My car was towed in violation of state occupations code chapter 2308. The signage does not meet code and state code prohibits the property owners from accepting "anything of value" from the contracted tow company. The Villages have accepted parking passes from the tow company. The parking passes literally have the tow company logo on them. This alone is enough to invalidate all tows conducted on the property. Additionally as the signage is more than 25' from the entrance or main road, this alone is enough to invalidate all tows. I haven't even listed all the violations! For any of these violations, State law enforces reimbursement for the actual damages (towing, storage and other fees incurred from the illegal tow) as well as compensatory damages of $1000 plus 3 times the actual incurred damages as well as filing fees/court costs. I requested a refund from the the property and after waiting over 3 weeks they refused a refund or to offer any concession. And I only asked to be reimbursed for the actual incurred damages! I was willing to forgive and forget if they just reimbursed me for that. Again, this was relayed to me by the agent at the front desk after I asked repeatedly. The manager refuses to contact me at all and I have to catch the assistant manager Melissa in order to get her to speak with me at all. I have requested contact from the property owners but again I have heard nothing and no contact information will be provided to me. As per my lawyer, in order to file a claim in small claims court, I need the Tax Identification number and names of the property owners so they may be served with notice of suit. I am attempting to locate it through the state system, if anyone has it please let me know. - Additionally, maintenance requests are generally ignored for over a week. I advised the staff upon move in that the fire extinguisher was missing but it has never been addressed. - The air conditioners are comically small and run constantly in order to maintain a livable temperature in the apartment. Expect very high electricity bills to offset any potential savings in rent you think you are getting. - The property isn't safe, someone's wheels were stolen recently, I understand crime happens everywhere but the management didn't release a statement and have done nothing to even attempt to enhance security. - Although the assistant manager has only spoken to me once, she offered no apology for the incident and immediately denied any liability without having consulted her staff or investigating the situation at all. My complaint was dismissed off hand. No remedy or concessions were offered despite being verbally told that I could park there. Verbal contacts are legal contracts after all, they are just difficult to prove. This is why I recommend that you don't trust what they say, only trust what is written. On top of all of this, I was advised that visitors could park across the street at the school without being towed. Given my complete lack of trust I questioned them further and they don't "technically" have any agreement or contract with the school and I there would be nothing stopping anyone from getting towed. - I am unable to trust anything verbally said to me. - They are now required a signed form stating that you agree to a $25 fine if you don't return a temporary parking permit yet they won't provide you with a receipt when you do return it. What's stopping then from fining me $25 and simply stating that I never turned it in? Without a receipt I have no proof that I returned it. Pros - front desk agent Melanie is very polite and friendly. - they are currently updating the property as it is somewhat outdated (hopefully security is one of the additions, Although there has been no mention of it) - carports ($20) and garage rental cost ($50) is very reasonable - overall the apartment itself it very nice, it's fairly large for the price range (non-remodeled 1 bedroom 820 sq ft $940 base rent plus $25 valet trash) and has a useful layout. (refer to the A/C factor above) Lastly, I have only been here a couple months. I will update my review as time goes on should conditions improve. Very disappointed overall.

Horrible experiance! The apartment was very dirty on the move-in day( 3werks ago, a lot of things need repairs, and full of small inscets and roaches. No repairs done yet, no pest control done, I cleaned the apartment my self.

Be aware about this place, I could do a full list here but I am just mentioning some: . Parking: this is a nightmare, if you do not pay for a carport or garage and you arrive late at night, you will not find an open parking available for you, they are often full. It is just like that, there are more carports than open spaces and you are forced to pay for one. If you have two cars and you decide to pay just for one carport and then you are traveling and your wife wants to use your spot because your car is in the airport, they will tow your car, even though you pay for that carport but you have a different sticker on the other car, you can not park there, this happened to me. Which means you have to park on the street even though you have your carport available. . Cockroaches: since I moved in to this apartment I have complained about cockroaches. They have sent pest control more than 20 times in my apartment but cockroaches are still there, every day I kill more than one. . Gym: the gym is useless, just one treadmill is working. It is all garbage with no maintenance at all. . Hallways and staircase: they will never clean this area, I have been living more than one year and this area is always dirty. I have seen rats around there and probably you can find other animals. . Trash compactor: do no try to get close to that area. I do not know how often they come to pick up the container but every time I go there, container is full and there are garbage all the way around it. I have seen raccoon all the time around that area. . Burglary: they do not notify the community about it. I know it has happened but I do not know how often just because they hide this information. . Pool: Forget about using pool during summer time, they are always dirty. . Grill: not sure if you can say they have grill there. At one pool there are only charcoal grill in very bad shape and dirty. The other pool they have a gas grill but again, it is disgusting and you will not consider to use it. . There are at least 4 apartment complex next to each other better than this one and they are about the same price. You should try Vista apartment just next to it or Sunrise which is in front. Another better option is Aliso Briar Forest. Do not rent here, I assure you will regret if you do it. Do not believe in the sign telling they are newly renovated. This is an old community and there was no renovation. Just a few apartments they have replaced the carpet to look better and charge premium price. I am looking forward when my lease ends up to find another place. I have lived in more than 6 different apartment complex and this is the worst ever and the first one that I had to write a negative review.

Do not apply at this property if you have any broken leases, evictions, and more than two negative items on your credit report. You will lose your $50 application fee plus your $150 administration fee. Do not Put your former name on the application . If someone also go by your former name and has bad credit you will be penalized and lose your $200. The screening services that Villages of Briar Forest uses focuses on mostly going by name basis and not driver license and Social Security matchup. In my opinion, they need a better screening service.

Ever since husband and daughter moved in to one apt, there has been very little water pressure and since the maintenance had turned off the water several months ago to maybe fix it, they have not. My daughter is going crazy because of course she wants to not stink and with only a little water pressure, it sure makes it difficult for a shower. Also, maintenance has tried to fix our dryer but it still doesn't heat up enough to dry towels, jeans, etc. Have requested maintenance again and again but they have not fixed it and won't replace it. Not happy with living here.

In the end of June, I have signed documents to transfer from apartment number 814 to 813. After I signed these documents, I was told that on 14th of July 2018 I could receive the keys for 813 at 10.00 am and turn in the keys for apartment 814 at 5.00pm. They told me that I would have to pay the full month rent for 814 saying they would give back rest of the money as credit to pay the rent for our new apartment that we were moving in since we were going to stay in 814 just 14 days. In July 14th when I have arrived at the office at 10.00 am to pick up the keys from the front office. In the office, the employee told me that she was not informed that there was a transfer happening on that day. Then, the lady told me again that I could not move into the apartment because I was missing some documents. I was never told about these documents were needed even though I have came over to the front office many times to make sure there was nothing wrong about the moving. It was my first transfering in an apartment in the United States. Since they did not want anything, I thought transfering to a different unit in the same apartment is different than moving into new apartment. The employee told us that they did not let anyone move into the apartment until she gets hold of the documents. So, I had to call places on the Saturday morning, the day we were moving in, just to get these files. After hours of talking on the phone I have walked in to the front office get the keys and turn in the papers. When I received the keys, I had really short time to move into the new apartment due to waste of time in the office. After I have moved, I gave the keys for 814 to the front office employee in the office. First Monday after we've moved, I got a call regarding to our new apartments unpaid rent from office. I was very confused about the unpaid rent because before we moved in they have told us that it was going to be taken cared of from the money I already paid for 814. Unfortunately, it was not the situation. They said that they took that credited money as damaged repair amount, without even telling or asking , leaving me with no possibility to oppose the damages that they claimed that we did and asked for this months rent for new unit 813 again.Also I wrote rent on memo part of the check when i gave it to them, not damage repair money. Without asking someone, using their money to do something they have not agreed is very unacceptable and illegal. When we were going to move in to apartment 814, they offered me around $87 non refundable deposit to pay, since I had good credit history. They said that if I ONLY paid that amount, it would be my sure deposit money which will be non refundable and would be used for the damages so, the damages would be taken out of that money. But then, again they claimed that it was a wrong doing of the employee who worked there before and they cannot do anything about it to fix it. This 87 USD is to make the moving in cheaper and during moving out time I would have to pay damages no matter what. So, what I understand here is they make people pay non refundable 87 dollars from the beginning instead of the full deposit and during moving out you pay damages too. And in the end, you left with top of your damage payment extra 87 dollars which you would have not paid if you just pay the full deposit and damages are taken care out of that and you get rest of your money. The procedure is already doubtful but the problem is not just that. The problem is that was not what I was told from the beginning. Also, they took the 'damage' money out of my own will. If I was moving out to another apartment, I wonder how would they want any money for the damages that they claimed. At least, I would have had possibility to oppose some of their claims. Now, I have none because I already paid them without Knowing and I also have to pay rent for another unit If I want to stay there. From my side, they clearly use my transfering to their advantage to take money. Even though that was the situation, I myself an construction engineer and, I tried to talk to the employee at the office about these damages. Most of the damages they have showed a picture of me were either caused because of how old the apartment was or things that were out of me and my family's control. Some of the damages would have been even taken cared off with the basic fixes every apartment complex does after a move-out. Since they have already received the money, without my will they did not accept any objections against them about these damages that was out of our control. When I even offered to visit and see the damages together, I was told they 'did not' have the keys. Whenever I said anything against, I got rejected by the workers in the front office. They would say that it's already paid and in the past, so we should just stop thinking about it. At some point, I was even threatened that if I don't pay the money they wanted from me I would get kicked out from my new unit. Right now I have paid the money for the new apartment and due to this I am writing this to inform you, this unfair procedure had to make me deal with really rude office workers and great dishonesty. I have been many apartment complexes past years but I have never been treated like this and never been fooled like this. I believe the greatest servis in a company should be their honesty and urge to help. I sadly have seen none of this in my experience with this apartment. I am waiting the time I will move out next year. I hope someone can change this system and take action about this absurd situation. Thank you

I visited this property today and I had a bad but interesting experince. The leasing agent that I dealt with was Melaine Case. I have been looking into this community for months and I decided to go in and visit. Melaine was helping a lady who was looking to lease as well. After she was done with her she offered her a bottle of water. The lady declined stating no I have bottle of water in my car. Once the lady left Melaine started helping me being rude and short with me to say the least. I then asked her for a bottle of water (due to me needing to take my medication) which was offered to the potential residence ahead of me but not to me. She proceeds to say I gave the last bottle to my UPS guy. I then informed her I heard her offer the woman in front of me a bottle of water. She denied it and told me I am welcome to get a cup and get water out of the faucet. I told myself not to argue with her and just write a review for her manager and management company and the public to see. The reason this incident is more startling to me is due to me being African American and Melanie and the woman she offered the water to was White. I do not live here and I have nothing to loose or gain from this situation. Just want it to be known how you can possibly be treated here if you are a person of color. Every single apartment complex I have ever visited offers water or coffee. But this one I'm told to drink out of the faucet. This is disturbing is unacceptable and needs to be resolved and she needs to be reprimanded and given training on how to treat customers despite their race.

I was so excited to live here and then came my move in day. Long story short - there was mold in the unit, it wasn't the unit that I was told I would get (I was told initially I would be in a Praha and then told I would get a Lamar but on move in day- I'm in a Praha? I didn't even ASK for a Lamar), one of the cabinets was missing a level, there was paint missing and lets not forget the roaches. All on move in day? I didn't leave one piece of furniture there and I left never to return. Its Unit 1217 in case you're moving in soon! So, I guess I'll be "temporarily displaced" AKA Homeless AF till I find a new leasing agent to sell me lies. Thanks Michelle and Rachel!

Hello. I moved to Villages of Briar Forest in 2014 of February, while dealing with a terrible marriage separation and loosing my Mother to Cancer at the same time.. Moving to Villages of Briar Forest has been wonderful for me, thanks to the staff always being Professional and Caring to me while I am trying to Rebuild my life again.. Rachel, Michelle, Lori and Ricardo are Wonderful and Caring.. I Love my one bedroom and i always feel the Staff at Villages of Briar Forest always get things done.. Thank You;) ?? Naisha Richards