Saddlebrook Apartments

Today, we received a complaint from your agency, in regards
to Mrs*** *** *** ***, who resides at *** *** Saddle Brook
DrApt. *** *** ***
The following is in response to all of her concerns, and how
they have been addressed by the management and
staff of Saddle Brook
Apartments. Attached, you will find
maintenance work orders and correspondence between Mrs*** and *** ***, Saddle Brook’s manager during that time
Please review
attached email correspondence. Our
community is on a monthly pest control program with *** to keep pests
under control. I have also attached
copies of completed work orders. Our
community has a resident portal on our website, available for them to submit
work orders, or they can simply call the office and we submit it for them. We do our best to complete all work orders in
a timely manner
Every fall, the
management and maintenance staff perform an annual inspection of all
apartments. We do this to determine
needed repairs and capital improvements, to assist us in preparing our annual
budget for the following year. All
residents are given a hour notice to enter prior to the inspection. The instance in which Mrs*** refers to,
mentions that her guest was present and not her. She may have failed to inform her guest of
the inspection. Her concerns about
someone trying to enter her apartment with a key, on more than one occasion,
was rectified by maintanence. Please
review attached work order
Mrs***
contacted the office in October for information on how to break her lease. The property manager, Mrs***, discussed
the options with her via phone and email.
The “lease break fee” is an option we offer to residents that relieves
them of the responsibility of the full lease term. By paying the fee, the resident is no longer
liable for the rent on the unit even if it is not rented. If a resident chooses the re-rental option,
they pay a cost of re-rent(advertising) fee not to exceed $500, but are still
liable for the rent on the apartment until it is re-rented. Mrs*** sent her a detailed email
explaining our lease break optionsI have attached it for your review. We currently have an application pending for
her apartment, for January
As for some of the other issues, in most cases, we were not
made aware until she contacted us to inquire about breaking her lease. She has an issue with it being too hot in her
apartment. Each apartment controls their
own heat and air conditioning. They also
have a programmable thermostat. If she
needed information about how to use it, maintenance would have been happy to
give her a tutorial. The disconnected
smoke detector she mentions, would have been taken care of much sooner than the
two week timeline she claims. We have
our hallways cleaned weekly, and it would not have gone unnoticed, or have been
left on the floor. Large abundances of
shoes in our halls and bicycles blocking the entrances are, again, something
that our staff would have notified the manager about. She also refers to living in a “smoke-free”
building. This property has no such
building. Smoking is allowed in
apartments, but not in common areas.
Hallway odors are difficult to control, but we do our best by regularly
cleaning them, and using automatic air fresheners (mounted on the walls); in
addition, all apartment doors are fitted with a door sweep that encompasses the
bottom of the door, to help to insulate and seal out odor
Regarding her issues with her washer and her leaky toilet,
there is no record of a work order for themI have observed maintenance and
office staff closely when it comes to work orders. The office staff generate and print them out
immediately after someone phones or emails one in. It is recorded and monitored by our leasing
software, to ensure work orders are done within hours. The only exceptions being backorder
materials, or the need to call in an outside contractor. Our company practices a hour maintenance
guarantee. I find it highly unlikely
that work orders would not have been generated for those two issues, especially
any water leakage with potential to cause serious damage to our building. I have spoken to several different staff
members, including the manager at the time, and all state that the office was
not notified, nor were there any work order requests, by Mrs***, until
lease break options were given to her.
Lastly, she claims she filed several complaints with the
police department in Pewaukee. There
have not been any complaints filed.
However, the police were called to Mrs***’s residence in September
of this year, by a neighbor complaining of a disturbance
Please feel free to contact me if you need any more
information, or have any questions regarding this matter. I would be happy to assist you, and would
like to resolve any issues as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
*** ** *** ***
Property Manager
Saddle Brook Apartments
*** *** *** *** ***
*** ** ***
***
***

Review: After moving in to Saddlebrook apartments, everything seemed fine. The major problems started about three months into the lease. After killing 4-5 spiders per day, pouring out a centipede from our rice box, and going to the doctor to treat swelling bug bites that were painful to the touch, and lasted for weeks, we had enough. Although these aren't reasons for breaking a lease legally, I wanted to mention them so that the customer service side of saddle brook can be transparent in this complaint. Heat would pour out of the vents at night, heating our apartment to 75-78 degrees in some cases. The drains were so plugged up that, after $100 in draino and multiple complaints to the staff, we gave up. The washing machine was broken for 3 months before somebody felt the need to fix it. It actually ruined some of our favorite clothes. Between the screaming children running up and down the hallways, disgusting smell in the halls, and constant yelling in the hallway, we grew extremely frustrated. We complained yet again, and started to get mocked by the staff. Yet, these are still problems that aren't grounds to break a lease legally. I just wanted to share those with you as well. Now, I will start with the real problems. Saddlebrook left a smoke detector sit in the hallway (on the ground) for TWO WEEKS before somebody fixed it. We even told the staff, and they did absolutely nothing about it. After complaining to higher ups, we were told that we "complained incorrectly" for that matter and were told to basically go away. In addition to this, a day-care was being run across the hallway for all of the children. We complained and the staff ignored it. Screaming children running around the complex freely. Shoes in the hallway that we tripped on multiple times, and bikes (literally) blocking the front door to the point where we couldn't even get inside without moving 4-10 bikes. After complaining, the staff did nothing. The residents that were smoking in the hallways, parking garage, and inside their units were not told to stop when we complained multiple times. We lived in a smoke free building. It was disgusting. We woke up at least 10 times with standing water in our bathroom due to a toilet that was broken. They came to inspect and left a note that read "We flushed your toilet and it isn't broken." After our apartment was entered (without any notice) by a staff member while my boyfriend was sitting in the kitchen, we had enough. This staff member saw him, turned around, left the door unlocked, and quickly walked away. We complained and they told us that it was not their staff member and that they would change the locks. They changed the locks, and it happened AGAIN. After notifying them, they laughed at us, and told us that "nobody on their staff would do that". We have ethical and legal means to break the lease without penalty, and they forced us to stay an additional two months, and pay the fee. We filed several complaints with the police in Pewaukee, DO NOT RENT FROM SADDLEBROOK!Desired Settlement: Refund the $925 lease break fee and additional one month of rent ($925) out of the two months of rent that we were forced to pay for a total of $1,850.

Business

Response:

Today, we received a complaint from your agency, in regards

to Mrs. [redacted], who resides at [redacted] Saddle Brook

Dr. Apt. [redacted]

The following is in response to all of her concerns, and how

they have been addressed by the management and staff of Saddle Brook

Apartments. Attached, you will find

maintenance work orders and correspondence between Mrs. [redacted] and [redacted], Saddle Brook’s manager during that time.

Please review

attached email correspondence. Our

community is on a monthly pest control program with [redacted] to keep pests

under control. I have also attached

copies of completed work orders. Our

community has a resident portal on our website, available for them to submit

work orders, or they can simply call the office and we submit it for them. We do our best to complete all work orders in

a timely manner.

Every fall, the

management and maintenance staff perform an annual inspection of all

apartments. We do this to determine

needed repairs and capital improvements, to assist us in preparing our annual

budget for the following year. All

residents are given a 12 hour notice to enter prior to the inspection. The instance in which Mrs. [redacted] refers to,

mentions that her guest was present and not her. She may have failed to inform her guest of

the inspection. Her concerns about

someone trying to enter her apartment with a key, on more than one occasion,

was rectified by maintanence. Please

review attached work order.

Mrs. [redacted]

contacted the office in October for information on how to break her lease. The property manager, Mrs. [redacted], discussed

the options with her via phone and email.

The “lease break fee” is an option we offer to residents that relieves

them of the responsibility of the full lease term. By paying the fee, the resident is no longer

liable for the rent on the unit even if it is not rented. If a resident chooses the re-rental option,

they pay a cost of re-rent(advertising) fee not to exceed $500, but are still

liable for the rent on the apartment until it is re-rented. Mrs. [redacted] sent her a detailed email

explaining our lease break options. I have attached it for your review. We currently have an application pending for

her apartment, for January.

As for some of the other issues, in most cases, we were not

made aware until she contacted us to inquire about breaking her lease. She has an issue with it being too hot in her

apartment. Each apartment controls their

own heat and air conditioning. They also

have a programmable thermostat. If she

needed information about how to use it, maintenance would have been happy to

give her a tutorial. The disconnected

smoke detector she mentions, would have been taken care of much sooner than the

two week timeline she claims. We have

our hallways cleaned weekly, and it would not have gone unnoticed, or have been

left on the floor. Large abundances of

shoes in our halls and bicycles blocking the entrances are, again, something

that our staff would have notified the manager about. She also refers to living in a “smoke-free”

building. This property has no such

building. Smoking is allowed in

apartments, but not in common areas.

Hallway odors are difficult to control, but we do our best by regularly

cleaning them, and using automatic air fresheners (mounted on the walls); in

addition, all apartment doors are fitted with a door sweep that encompasses the

bottom of the door, to help to insulate and seal out odor.

Regarding her issues with her washer and her leaky toilet,

there is no record of a work order for them. I have observed maintenance and

office staff closely when it comes to work orders. The office staff generate and print them out

immediately after someone phones or emails one in. It is recorded and monitored by our leasing

software, to ensure work orders are done within 24 hours. The only exceptions being backorder

materials, or the need to call in an outside contractor. Our company practices a 24 hour maintenance

guarantee. I find it highly unlikely

that work orders would not have been generated for those two issues, especially

any water leakage with potential to cause serious damage to our building. I have spoken to several different staff

members, including the manager at the time, and all state that the office was

not notified, nor were there any work order requests, by Mrs. [redacted], until

lease break options were given to her.

Lastly, she claims she filed several complaints with the

police department in Pewaukee. There

have not been any complaints filed.

However, the police were called to Mrs. [redacted]’s residence in September

of this year, by a neighbor complaining of a disturbance.

Please feel free to contact me if you need any more

information, or have any questions regarding this matter. I would be happy to assist you, and would

like to resolve any issues as quickly as possible.

Sincerely,

Property Manager

Saddle Brook Apartments