S & M Communities

I was a resident at what is now S&M communities from August of 2012 to May of 2014. Initially, the place was owned by a nice old couple who treated the tenants like family; they ran the place like a "mom and pop" business, and were extremely friendly and well-liked among the tenants, myself included.

In September of 2013, a few months after I renewed my lease, S&M bought out the apartment complex I lived in (which was formerly High Tree Apartments, and is now S&M's headquarters.)

This is when the downhill trend started, and this is also when my review starts.

S&M's Positive Traits: The housing units are somewhat spacious, and there is always hot water. Apartment ventilation is somewhat poor, so expect to set off a smoke alarm if you decide to cook, but as a trade-off the apartments are well-insulated. There are generally many parking spaces available, so if you live close to campus you will always have a place to store your vehicle. Guests are able to park for 24 hours without needing a guest pass. The residents aren't too loud, and the campus is located just off campus, which makes for an easy commute. Mackinac Hall at GVSU is within walking distance on cold mornings when you just don't want to wait for the bus.

S&M's Negative Traits:

Management is very poor.

Management is very passive-aggressive and has threatened tenants (myself included) with baseless fees, and then will threaten further financial penalties if tenants don't stop complaining. (One notable example of this is provided below.)

Management only communicates by e-mail, and may offer short notice when requiring action on behalf of the tenant that could result in financial penalties if the tenant fails to respond by their due date.

Last year, management failed to plow snow more than once every three weeks in the winter, which resulted me spinning out once or twice in the parking lot and slipping on the unshoveled sidewalks. Management did not plow the sidewalks in the winter, either, and myself and others have had to plow community sidewalks and the parking lot itself in order to travel to and from our homes.

Repairs are slow to come; when I complained to management about a faulty lock on my door, a major security issue while living near a college campus, it took them roughly a month to arrive and fix it. Friends of mine living at S&M had a door that was broken so badly, snow could fall outside the home and blow in through the cracks below and beside the closed door. Management took roughly five weeks to send someone out and get that fixed.

The manager is very pleasant before his tenants sign their contracts; once the contract is signed and there is no presence of parental authority, he will maintain an air of verbal and physical aggression.

The following is a true story from last year which best embodies the prior points I've made: there was an incident last year in which all tenants were billed for a 'missing shelving unit' that was not present in any of the apartment complexes. The shelving unit cost $30/person to replace. The shelving unit was in the building plans, but was not in any of the apartments at the start of that year, something everyone knew about. Several tenants put forth pictures taken of their amenities at the beginning of their fall leasing to verify that the shelves were not in the apartment.

However, management would not take these pictures as evidence; they stated that they would only accept the move-in checklist that tenants had prepared at the beginning of the year, indicating that the shelf was missing at that time.

All of the tenants (myself included) turned in those sheets to the former landlords who oversaw the property when we signed our leases earlier in the year. S&M Management, then, should have had the files indicating that no such shelving unit existed, but coincidentally 'lost' them in the transition of ownership, so there was no way for any tenant to prove the shelf did not exist at the beginning of the year to the satisfaction of the landlord.

When residents protested, S&M staff threatened legal and financial action against those residents. Most of us are poor college students and cannot afford court fees. As a result, a large chunk of change was skimmed off of the top of students' security deposits, and management has yet to replace those allegedly 'missing' shelving units, seven months later.

As a result of the actions of S&M Management, the poor service they provide and the manner which they conduct themselves, I do not recommend this company or any of the apartment complexes it owns to any incoming college students.