All 15 tenant reviews.

“FIRST DOGS OF NORTHWEST CORNERS Please keep away from this complex(Name was changed to THE CROSSINGS) this is a very dangerous place to live, there are many robbery/burglary crimes, there are infestation of roaches,rats. bed bugs, flees, many dogs and cats, the administration do not take care about it, there are no pest control, the manager named Carmen Febrés and her assistant are a very bad and rude persons, and each renewal your rent payment will be increasing $100. PLEASE KEEP AWAY if you do no pay your rent on time your apartment's door will be blocked until you pay, PLEASE KEEP AWAY from this ugly complex.”

“This place could easily equal some time in hell for you that will only end when your lease does. Do you really deserve that? I didn't think so. The absolute worst thing about this apartment complex is the roach infestation. I know that we are in Houston and a couple here and there is normal. What we have here in First Oaks is far from normal. Have you ever watched the movie Joe's Apartment? Well that's a mild preview of the roach infestation here. We cannot put our drinks or food down for the 3 minutes it takes to pay attention to a youtube video or there will be roaches in it. The only saving grace has been diet drinks which they don't seem to touch. They are in our silverware drawers, crawling all over our glasses and dishes, making their way into the fridge and freezer, nesting in computers, etc. We have used as much borax in the apartment as we can get to the floorboards. This issue has been presented to the apartment management team on multiple occasions. The reason it gets so bad is that when they spray, they only use about 4-5 squirts of what appears to be raid, and they only spray one unit at a time causing the roaches to flee into the adjacent unit. At that rate why bother with the effort? Just lipservice. This process goes on and on. The next big problem with the place is that our fridge is way too cold and we cannot get them to repair it. It ruins our vegetables and eggs and freezes juice and milk even when set to the lowest setting in the fridge AND freezer. It wastes our money when we are already running low. Finally all of the other little problems: Noise: The ceilings are paper thin, we can hear our neighbors stomping, scraping, sliding around at all hours of the night. We have gotten used to this by now, however. This is the barrio so there are guys who will park their cars in the fire lane or in a visitors spot and blast crappy repetitive, high pitched songs up to midnight or later. Grounds: Burr patches everywhere. I am always stepping on burrs while barefoot, it is more painful than stepping on a lego by FAR. The complex does nothing to manage the horrible burrs but they don't hesitate to have Paco out mowing and blowing the grass all over our patio. There are plenty of parking spaces, which is a plus. None of them are covered, however. The management decided to remove the covers about a month ago and I haven't seen any sign of them repairing/ replacing these things yet. Our gangsta co tenants like to hang out in groups in the parking lot and I have seen them breaking beer bottles into the lot and laughing about it because we have ZERO lot secuirty. The lots are therefore constantly full of glass and trash. Speaking of the lots, everything is YOUR responsibility, even if other residents damage you or rob your vehicle. There is no gate security, no cameras (even fake ones), no security guards have been hired to patrol on a regular basis. The grounds entrance has a 1 foot drop after you drive in that could easily tear up the bottom of your car. I encourage you to sue First Oaks for damages if this harms your car because we live here and pay a lot of money to live in filth and deserve a safe place to drive into/ park. The great thing about this is that when the tenants are blocking your car in while leaving their cars parked illegally in a fire lane feel free to dent up the other tenant's car while trying to wedge yours out. Nobody cares here. The pool is non existant. There is no pool. Don't believe their lies on their website and while speaking to them. There is a sort of pool but it has been empty for many many months and only contains broken ceramic and concrete. The only real amenity I can think of that they have are the washer dryer hookups for some units. This is a lifesaver because I'm sure my clothes would have been stolen from the public one. The outdoor lighting is dim, but it is overall ok. There are no problems with overgrown shrubbery or trees. You can basically see everything. Just bear in mind the 1' drop at the entrance and the glass on the ground and the frequent breakins and you'll be ok. There is a bus route right outside the complex gate, so busing shouldnt be a problem for you. The complex is right off of 290 as well and by Bingle and Hempstead. There are a few restuarants but most of them are greasy fast food. The only grocery store within walking distance is Joe V's which is good for basics but doesn't have any sort of a selection as it's mainly intended for the desperately destitute. There is a Randalls down 35th street which is good if you have a car, but this location is really terrible if you don't drive. Maintenance has not fixed any of our major complaints including electrical (ungrounded switches, electrical devices overheating so hot that fixture plastic has melted, broken fixtures) issues. Our water gets to about 75-80 degrees at best even during off - peak hours, which is warm but not hot and not awesome for cleaning things. They can fix very simple or cheap things like garbage disposal but they make a paltry effort to stop the ant and roach infestations or to fix windows. If you tell the staff to schedule a maintenance appointment make sure that you see them doing it, or they won't do it and once you've left the office, they will go back to aol news and PerezHilton.com .”

“please pass these apartment up, the manager is fake, the parking suck, the maintenace is bad they half --- do they job,the manager and the the towing company is working together to make sure they rent is payed, she have him towing people car for no reason, and then they half the money among each other, they want residents to pay 30.00 a month for a parking space so the manager, and the towing company can pay their rent, and car note and what every else they have to pay, that'a bad to be treated like they so that's why im speaking out on this renter's web-site so eveyone can be aware before they start renting an apartment here, they have a group of mens living in the old office building for free, just to work on the property, you live rent free, they need to get that manager out the door, and take her fake tow truck company with her asap!!!!!”

“If you're looking for a cheap place to live, this is the place. The location is less than desirable but only a short drive away from a better part of town, the tenants are questionable, the apartments are pretty ugly (atleast mine is) and out-dated, but I have lived here for a year and haven't had any problems with pests, safety, noise, or cleanliness. Apparently someone has bought the place finally and has plans to renovate. I hate to say it but hopefully with the renovations the rent can increase & therefore some of the tenants can find housing elsewhere. Also, I hope the new owner starts enforcing limits on the number of people that can occupy certain apartments. For example if you are a family of 4 adults and three kids, you probably should not be living in a 1 bedroom apartment....I also hope the stray cat problem is taken care of soon. Cats pee on my door and the smell bothers me. There are lots of cats roaming the complex, and although they don't bother anyone, it could become a health and safety problem eventually if they aren't spayed/neutered or vaccinated. There are laundry facilities on site, but the idiots who use the machines wash clothing with oil on them, metal shards, glass, etc...so I personally don't use the laundry facility. This is just one example of how the community would be a better place if the tenants were more respectful and had common sense.”

“Dont fall for the manager attempting to garner applicants by lying on a review site. Pictures speak alot louder then typed words. They refuse to let me post more then 6 pictures. but this place is horrible. Dont fall for the okey doke I took these pictures 12/13/12. Why is there still Hurricane Ike blue tarps on the roof? why is this building still nasty from a fire that happened in 2010? sure they tore down the severely burned section but this place is still bad. they didn't start fixing anything until 3 months ago. this is from stuff that happened 2 to 3 years ago. DO NOT GET SUCKERED IN”

“I have grown up in this area of town most of my life and I have seen many changes with the influx of immigrants and the collapsing economy. First Oaks of Northwest Corners has definitely seen better days, and I remember those days when I was younger and came to visit my friends here which is what brought me and my daughter back to the community when we relocated back to our home town. I had my doubts and concerns when visiting the property but after being shown around the property, viewing the type of apartment I was looking for and speaking with the manager, who lives on-site along with maintenance staff my doubts were erased. My daughter and I feel completely secure here. Definitely more secure than the property we just moved from which had much better reviews and all the amenities a tenant could want in a much more upscale neighborhood. She and I only lived at that property 17 days, only to come home and find our front door kicked in and having everything of value stolen out of it. That's something most would expect in a property that from the outside looks like First Oaks. But I have learned you can't always judge a book by its cover. First Oaks is a very quiet property. Sure there is the occasional disturbance but that is to be expected living in an apartment complex. The floor plans are very roomy and the pool area is probably one of the best I have seen for a property in this class. All the floor plans he showed me had two tone paint, new carpet and tile. Counters were resurfaced with a granite look and they even took the time to take notice of the details like all the fixtures and hardware we updated to brushed nickel. I could tell by the floor plan I looked at that the manager really cares about the property, in fact he said the way he looks at it is if he wouldn't live in it why would he expect anyone else to. He said that this community is more than just a job this is his home. You won't find that anywhere else in the apartment industry. And if by chance you do, I can guarantee the property is not managed and taken care as well as this one. My daughter has felt so safe here that she is now preparing to move into her very 1st apartment, here at First Oaks.”

“this place has a known crack house. tried speaking to the manager. has his head in the sand. i haven't seen a positive review about this place in years. i'd like to know his definition of "safe". my grandaughter is missing and we've heard she's there. first building off 43rd. police out there last night. couldn't get any cooperation. every little meth head in the area knows about this place.”

“When I first moved in it was a great place to live. Ever since Orion Management took over everything went to hell. Nothing is getting fixed. Office management doesn t care about the safety of the residents. Still have blue tarps on the roof from Ike (shredded)/ Access gates are broken for over a year. Cars being broken into allot more since the gates have been broken. Lights for the parking area are out but nothing is being done about it. Maintenance staff is shorthanded but they are not hiring anyone to help out or hire a contractor to fix the problems. I had a neighbor that one of the maintenance staff (Denial Mata) stole from him twice and the office turned a blind eye until he contacted the corporate office and was threatening to sue and they keeped that person still working at the complex. Luckily that maintenance person quit a few months ago and I don't have to worry about him coming into my apartment and stealing my stuff. Office management doesn t care since it is not there vehicles being broke into. Office staff knows that drugs are being sold on property, (suspect some of the office staff doing drugs themself.)Every time you go into the office to complain are seeing if anything is being fixed, management is either talking on their cell phones or surfing the internet instead of doing their jobs. There is a burned out building that is not secured. Homeless drug addict was found living in the building. You almost need a an off road vehicle just to drive around the parking lot due to pot holes that have not been fixed for years. The grass does not get cut on weekly bases. Have to walk through tall grass until they get around getting it cut. This has increased mosquitoes, gnats, and other bugs around the complex. They have canceled their contract with their exterminator to save money. Management does not walk the property to see the condition of the property that they are making people live in. Pool is green. Every time you go and complain the management gets mad with you and tells you that nothing is getting fixed because the owner hasn't sent them any money. What do with all the money that they collect for rent? They don't spend it on getting things fixed and keeping their residents safe.”

“If you want to be robbed weekly, shot at, doors kicked in, by robbers, police and ambulances too often to count; if you would like to be woken up nightly by over sensitive alarms, people's windshields busted out, people held up at gun point and raped on property and then when you ask management about it they say, " to my knowledge no nothing has ever happened on property"; If you like nothing ever fixed in the complex -- and when they do make the attempt to fix something it is always half --- or ------ rigged so it breaks again in a week; if you like being over charged by a complex that still has Ike damage, a different manager of the complex every month, bedbugs, roaches, rats, and fleas; if you love to be lied to about every perk this complex is supposed to have but really doesn't, including no security, no gate around the complex and management that will lie to trap you in a lease; if no lights on at night throughout the complex, and the complex forgetting to pay their electricity bill so you don't have hot water for a day. If walking outside a night with a weapon and someone watching you with the phone ready to dial 911 just in case something happens is your idea of a wonderful place to live then Please move here. If not -- run, and run fast!”

“When we first moved into the apts. I'm not going to lie, they were way better than the ones next door. But this year OMG it's been a total nightmare. First issue: Car break-ins/broken windows. Especially if you're on the side where Lang is. The teenagers from the neighborhood behind walk on Lang and throw rocks across the fence until they hear the bang and they run. They do it every other week for no reason. Management has not done anything about it. Second issue: A/C totally sucks in the apt, in the summer I had the ceiling fan, fan, and the a/c was on and still it was hot. Third issue: Faulty circuit breakers, I can't even vaccum my apt without the electricity going out. When I blowdry my hair they go out. It's a big pain and dangerous. I even think that's how the fire started in one of the buildings, which still no work has been done on them. Third issue: The driveway is horrible. So many big pothole when exiting. They never have done anything to fix them. Basically once my lease is over, I'm out of here. I do not recommend no one to live here.”

“Yes it is true, we should take the initative and reassure our safety and other personal issues. However, that is the essence of living in an apartment. Really, when living in an apartment, you rent for someone else to do those things for you. Naturally, there are things that are beyond their reach, but just like your rent is expected every month certain accomadations or lease related benefits are expected as well. So, my question is just because the world is unjust, not safe or fair should that be a guideline for a company. Especially one that gets paid for a service or should they give their customers/tenants better and offer great service. Lastly, I have notice that there is a sign that says there is a security patrol in the complex.... so where are they????? Don't advertise what you don't have. Just like the parking stickers, there is never enough parking yet it is suppose to be mandatory for tenants to have the decal and others to park in vistors spots. The carports are still not fixed and the driveway is horrible. I just had to get my front end fix from the big hole that has been make shift fixed with dirt and gravel instead of cement. How much is cement$10 a bag. That barely a 150 to 200 dollar good repair compared to a $500 plus car repair(for how many tenants).----Know when to cut corners.”

“- The owner of the complex lives in California and has a management company run the complex. However he has turned into a slum lord. - Bedbugs; there have been 3 instances of bedbugs within the last 6 months. They have not done a mass fumagation of the complex to ensure the problems are solved. - Fire in a building and no work is being down on it, they just fenced it up, boarded it up and then have left it sitting there. - Break ins -- Yes there are back windows being broken into for pure sport -- but I seriously doubt it's teenagers tossing rocks, and so does the police officer who came to inspect my vehicles. They don't have to throw it from there, they walk in the complex and then hop the back fence. - Motor off the front gate was stolen in DAYLIGHT, and so rather then mostly broken with a few times of it working it is now broken ALL the time. Anyone can walk on the grounds now. - A Neighbor was robbed via gunpoint at the mailboxes -- When the thief found he had no money he was then pistol whipped by the robber - Neighbors fix their cars on property. - One night 8 windows were smashed into by vandals in one night - Cars have been stolen off the property. - There are still blue tarps on the roofs of the complex. - The few good tenants they did have are in the process of leaving; some have even moved in the middle of the night to escape the issues they are having on this complex. - This complex is getting worse and worse. - The fire was an electrical fire. - My house is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. - Because the complex is really really old and they have NEVER updated aanything -- Not the plumbing, not the electrical NOTHING. They just patch stuff up which is why the pipes in the corner apartment keep bursting. Now Maria is the manager; I am happy she is HOWEVER, she inherited a property that is standing on it's last leg, with the many code violations this complex is breaking it is time for them to just do an all out teardown.”

“I would recommend this complex to many of my friends - just because I think if you have the right people in one place then you can actually improve it. The place used to be great thanks to the previous owners. We still have some very nice staff left from before, but it's true the Orion corporation is not really doing its job, like most big corporations who own apartment complexes around Houston. So if you feel unsafe, get adequate protection like we did. Be smart. The law does not even require cops to protect every person out there, simply because they can't be everywhere at once. How can we expect a corporation to protect tenants? Lately there have been kidnappings right in the center of River Oaks. You really aren't safe anywhere if you're not prepared for almost everything. It's up to us to make sure trash gets inside the trash and not end up all over the parking lot. It's up to us to get to know our neighbors so we can look out for each other. It's up to us to write a petition and get things done around here. We can't expect other people to take care us if we don't give a damn about anything ourselves.”

“I lived here for a year and half. The staff, being Maria is very friendly, and will assist the residents the best they can. Maintenence is prompt, and attentive, in other words, they are professional, and know what they are doing. Management is sure to alert the residents if there is an incident on the property, even a small insignificant incident. This is a family oriented property, so lookout for kids playing. Felons, section 8, and the unemployed are not allowed to live here. The parking is decent, and everyone living has a job, that is a good thing. Many of the apartments in this area of 290/43rd. are not very nice, and should be avoided at all costs. Things to consider, its best if you have a washer/dryer, as the few machines are ok, and always in use. The residents are decent people. If you don't like people playing music, drinking a few beers with a little noise on weekends, then not for you. I expect this in apartments, because everyone has to unwind every now and then. Very quiet during the week. If you don't like children, you won't be happy. The building is well insulated, so utilities are not too expensive, free basic cable. Orion management will nickel and dime you for your deposit if your place isn't spotless when you move out. Overall a decent place for the money, without worrying about your property being stolen, or damaged.”

“My truck was broken into for a 2nd time this past Saturday. At 1st I was angry & ready to move the heck out of here. I got the window fixed & bought an alarm...something I should have done a long time ago. I drove around the area writing down names of apartment complexes, then checked this site for reviews. What I found was that even the places that charge more for rent (for less space) were having the same problems we are with vehicle vandalism. Some of those places have security that do drive bys and yet they still have vandalism. So I used to think that management should do more, but now I realize that there may not be much they can do either. I wish there was money in the budget to fix the problems with the parking lot. I wish people would stop breaking into our cars. I wish Houston were safer so that I could go out at night with no worries. But rather than focus on the negatives, here are some especially good positives about this complex........ 1)Reviews for other complexes say that management is rude. Debra & Maria in the office have never been rude to me and they make sure that all tenants know they are welcome to stop by & visit. 2)Free analog basic cable 3)Free water 4)We are a small community. I like that I know so many of my neighbors & we look out for each other here. 5)While I haven't always felt my truck is safe, I do feel safe in my apartment. 6)This complex does NOT accept Section 8/housing vouchers. 7)Reasonable rent & according to Rentometer.com, the 1 bedroom rent is average for the area & that website does not include the extras like free water & free cable. One of the residents suggested forming a neighborhood watch. That is a great idea. If we work together, I know we can make this an even better place to live.”