Southern Stove Lofts

Good Morning, On behalf of Southern Stove Lofts we are responding to the multiple complaints submitted to the Revdex.com by resident [redacted] ***We would like to address each complaint individually so we may express our perspective and attempts for resolution where we have felt possible: Resident stated we failed to make emergency repairs within an acceptable amount of time when her heat went out during the snowstorm earlier this yearWe would like to share the reply that we gave to Ms [redacted] in March when she expressed frustration to us:“We are very sorry that you didn’t have heat for days especially during such frigid weather and as new residents none the lessWe by no means would have wanted that to be your first experience with us and wish we could have prevented this from happening all togetherUnfortunately we couldn’t control any of what took place from happening and we did our very best to respond as quickly and safely for our staff as possibleMost of the city was shut down including major state buildings and collegesThe mayor advised for people to stay off the roadsWe even still had our maintenance techs out in the weather trying to safely get to emergency locations to help our residentsI am sorry that in your case there was no one who could safely get to you who was certified to make the repairThe snow in general (as well as rain) would have prevented any HVAC tech from being able to repair your outdoor unit regardless but getting you sufficient temporary relief was still a focus for usWe were robbed of out of your days due to the weather to take care of your heat and although this by no means compensates or excuses the frustration and discomfort that you experienced it is important to us that you don’t feel it was neglect as much as it was a forced inability to handle things differently.“Resident stating the community was not being plowed after the snowstormOur response to this: We did indeed plow the community once the snow stoppedIn addition to plowing our staff also spent hours of shoveling sidewalks and attempting to help residents remove snow from on and around their vehiclesWe were very touched by the outpour of residents we saw helping each other with snow removal and appreciated their understanding of the additional efforts such a massive amount of snowfall required of everyoneWe ourselves were not anticipating as much snow as we ended up receiving and we definitely used the last storm as a growing and training experience for us as a whole for any future situations or inclement weatherResident is stating there is an exposed electrical wiring stapled to ceiling which they believe to be “not up to code”Our response to this: I checked Ms [redacted] account and this concern has never been reported to us prior to nowWe will place a work order right away to take a look at thisWe do assure our residents however that we have successfully been in business at Southern Stove for the last years and have passed all needed inspections and code requirementsResident stated the gate entrance has been broken for weeksOur response to this: Our front entrance at Southern Stove is without controlled accessOur rear entrance is with a controlled access gate armWe have unfortunately had residents hit the gate in a month periodAlthough it may seem the gate arm repair has taken months to address, we have unfortunately repaired it more than once only to be damaged againThis final damage caused need to replace the entire motor in the entry system and we do apologize that this has definitely taken longer than we would likeWe cannot control residents damaging the gate but we can assure you we are working as diligently as possible to make repairs expeditiously whenever this happensResident stated that the pool was locked for part of the weekendOur response to this: The gate was intended to be unlocked by one of our pool attendants which we hire for summer assistance of monitoring our pools to ensure enjoyment for our residentsOne of the pool attendants unfortunately did not show up for their shift which was reported to us on the next business dayConsequently, the pool gate was not unlocked until the evening attendant arrived and noticed what had happenedThe attendant who failed to show up for their shift was let go and we have since hired a replacementWe are not happy that this happened however we feel we have handled this appropriately to remedy the situation from hopefully not happening againResident stated that SSL tows tenant’s cars with proper decals from the parking lot without warningResident is also stating that our parking spaces are not within standard size and she believes the city gave us special permission to make them smallerOur response: Ms [redacted] had her vehicle towed from the Southern Stove parking lot in March of Although she did have her decal, she was double parked preventing another vehicle from being able to park next to herMs [redacted] expressed her frustration stating she believed we should be responsible for paying her tow billThe following was the response we gave her when this took place:“We understand being towed is never a pleasant thing to have to deal withThe towing however is in place to ensure that our residents have a place to park when they get homeFor the most part people appreciate the towing being enforced since as long as all rules are followed it serves its purposeWe do not monitor the tow company nor do we contact them for towing ourselvesThey are contracted by us to come through on their own schedule to be sure all parking rules are being followedThe parking addendum you signed explained that towing was enforceable on all property of Southern Stove Loftsand not just one particular lotTowing in the lot where residents park actually helps serve its purpose best since that is where residents will need most assurance they have a place to park when they get home.”In regards to our parking space sizes, we would not have been allowed to pass all regulations and codes in order to open as a residential business if we did not have city approved sized spacesI am not sure where Ms [redacted] is gathering her information regarding us receiving special permission by the city for smaller spaces so I cannot speak to that accusationWhat we can assure is that our spaces are standard approved sizes and out of almost residents, the majority have no trouble parking within the allotted spaces provided.Resident stated that the leasing office prevents tenants from speaking to upper managementOur response to this: We are not a corporately owned companyWe are a hands on locally owned company which deals with all issues no matter how large or small right here within our leasing officeThere is no “upper management” but rather a very capable staff which includes a team of floating managers overseeing communitiesWhen it comes to helping our residents, we are not motivated by title in our organization because the same efforts and restrictions exist regardless if you deal with our administrative assistant, leasing specialists or our managersYou spoke with our assistant manager who oversees our Southern Stove locationHe is who was given authority to make the final decisions regarding any issuesTo be clear, anyone you speak to within our management team would advise you of the very same policies and limitations our assistant manager gave youWhat we do for one we must do for all and although many of your requests have not been something we could reasonably accommodate, we still feel we have treated you with as much understanding and empathy as possible when explaining to someone why we cannot do the things they would like for us to Resident stated noise from train crossing unacceptable and makes living here uninhabitableOur response when this was expressed by resident in a former complaint:“We in no way or form withhold any information about our communities with our residents or prospective residentsThe train is something that we also cannot hide and anyone that moves in surely would have seen the crossing area and tracks located just outside of the entry to our communityWe would assume renters complete their due diligence in investigating their surroundings before making a decision of where to liveDoing so would have led you to seeing the railroad tracks and trains that are on no schedule and pass at any time of the day or nightMy point in making this known is that we couldn’t hide the presence of the trains if we wanted toIf you would have asked if you could hear the trains we would have told you that you do hear the trains and each person’s tolerance varies since we have even heard some folks say that the train sound is something they grew up with or even find soothingOthers would rather not hear it but none the less, I am surprised by your statement that we could possibly have deceived you by the noise of something like trains We initially attended numerous city meetings as advocates to make this a quite zone (three years to be exact) and eventually they dismissed these requests all togetherAlthough it doesn’t keep us from having Southern Stove stay full, we do wish that things would have resolved differently with the city’s decision to continue to hear us out on this matter.”In conclusion, resident [redacted] requested to be contacted by the Manager to have a discussion about these issues and to be able to get out of her lease without penaltyPer the lease signed by Ms [redacted] and her significant other, there is no termination of lease option and none will be offered to Ms [redacted] as an exceptionWe discussed the option of finding a sublet to Ms [redacted] and her significant other and we have record they have been actively attempting to exercise this optionWe will continue to process any sublet applications that are submitted for Ms [redacted] apartment both expeditiously and with priority as we understand they are no longer wanting to reside in their apartment We feel the issues reported to us were not due to negligence of any sort by the Southern Stove Lofts team and we have handled every issue brought to us both professionally and empathetically regardless of outcomeMs [redacted] has already spoken with an authoritative manager on staff and no further options are available to be discussed regarding being able to terminate their lease earlyThank you very much for your time Fredrick D [redacted] *** *** [redacted]

RevDex.com: I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 1. The issue with our broken heater had nothing to do with the outside unit, it was a capacitor under the stairs inside our apartment . I was informed about the dimensions of your parking spaces directly from Richmond City's Zoning Administration. We signed a lease with your community under the agreement that certain amenities would be provided to us, and they have not been. Regards, [redacted] ***

We have read and heard your concerns and wanted to respond to themFirst and foremost we do apologize for your obvious and valid frustration with the building alarm systemThe alarm panels were replaced entirely on December 11th and we have not had any incidents reported sinceYou may have
noticed that the panel in your hallway has been deactivated entirely and therefore the beeping panel should no longer affect you or your neighbors. We are painfully aware of the fact, we had quite difficulty in diagnosing and repairing the issue that caused the alarm panels in your hallway to beep so randomlyWe have brought in more than one professional business with their experts on alarm repair to help determine what we needed to do to resolve the panels from falsely going in to trouble mode causing the beepingPlease note that we not only have over clocked hours of attempted repair over the past several weeks but we also placed some of our staff on third shift “fire watch” so we could silence the alarms in the evenings and weekends whenever possible to help alleviate the inconvenience the alarm panels beeping may cause. Our on-call maintenance techs do not live on-site and as explained upon move-in, it can take them time to get an emergency call and make their way to the issueWe apologize if this took longer than we would have liked on any occasionThe hours you are stating of the panels beeping will need to be further investigated with our after-hours answering service and maintenance team but regardless, this is not acceptable and we are so sorry you and your neighbors had to deal with such an annoyance. Our entire community was affected by this situation including all of your neighborsAlthough we have been very grateful that only very few people expressed frustration, we still understand that this doesn’t lessen or disqualify the fact you all have had to deal with this annoyanceI do understand that our Property Manager has approved for you to move out two months early per your requestWe are regretful you will be leaving but are happy to have been able to make this rare accommodation. Thank you, The Managemenet Team at Southern Stove Lofts

Good Morning, On behalf of Southern Stove Lofts we are responding to the multiple complaints submitted to the Revdex.com by resident [redacted]. We would like to address each complaint individually so we may express our perspective and attempts for resolution where we have felt...

possible: Resident stated we failed to make emergency repairs within an acceptable amount of time when her heat went out during the snowstorm earlier this year. We would like to share the reply that we gave to Ms. [redacted] in March when she expressed frustration to us:“We are very sorry that you didn’t have heat for 5 days especially during such frigid weather and as new residents none the less. We by no means would have wanted that to be your first experience with us and wish we could have prevented this from happening all together. Unfortunately we couldn’t control any of what took place from happening and we did our very best to respond as quickly and safely for our staff as possible. Most of the city was shut down including major state buildings and colleges. The mayor advised for people to stay off the roads. We even still had our maintenance techs out in the weather trying to safely get to emergency locations to help our residents. I am sorry that in your case there was no one who could safely get to you who was certified to make the repair. The snow in general (as well as rain) would have prevented any HVAC tech from being able to repair your outdoor unit regardless but getting you sufficient temporary relief was still a focus for us. We were robbed of 3 out of your 5 days due to the weather to take care of your heat and although this by no means compensates or excuses the frustration and discomfort that you experienced it is important to us that you don’t feel it was neglect as much as it was a forced inability to handle things differently.“Resident stating the community was not being plowed after the snowstorm. Our response to this: We did indeed plow the community once the snow stopped. In addition to plowing our staff also spent hours of shoveling sidewalks and attempting to help residents remove snow from on and around their vehicles. We were very touched by the outpour of residents we saw helping each other with snow removal and appreciated their understanding of the additional efforts such a massive amount of snowfall required of everyone. We ourselves were not anticipating as much snow as we ended up receiving and we definitely used the last storm as a growing and training experience for us as a whole for any future situations or inclement weather. Resident is stating there is an exposed electrical wiring stapled to ceiling which they believe to be “not up to code”. Our response to this: I checked Ms. [redacted] account and this concern has never been reported to us prior to now. We will place a work order right away to take a look at this. We do assure our residents however that we have successfully been in business at Southern Stove for the last 10 years and have passed all needed inspections and code requirements. Resident stated the gate entrance has been broken for weeks. Our response to this: Our front entrance at Southern Stove is without controlled access. Our rear entrance is with a controlled access gate arm. We have unfortunately had 3 residents hit the gate in a 4 month period. Although it may seem the gate arm repair has taken months to address, we have unfortunately repaired it more than once only to be damaged again. This final damage caused need to replace the entire motor in the entry system and we do apologize that this has definitely taken longer than we would like. We cannot control residents damaging the gate but we can assure you we are working as diligently as possible to make repairs expeditiously whenever this happens. Resident stated that the pool was locked for part of the weekend. Our response to this: The gate was intended to be unlocked by one of our pool attendants which we hire for summer assistance of monitoring our pools to ensure enjoyment for our residents. One of the pool attendants unfortunately did not show up for their shift which was reported to us on the next business day. Consequently, the pool gate was not unlocked until the evening attendant arrived and noticed what had happened. The attendant who failed to show up for their shift was let go and we have since hired a replacement. We are not happy that this happened however we feel we have handled this appropriately to remedy the situation from hopefully not happening again. Resident stated that SSL tows tenant’s cars with proper decals from the parking lot without warning. Resident is also stating that our parking spaces are not within standard size and she believes the city gave us special permission to make them smaller. Our response: Ms. [redacted] had her vehicle towed from the Southern Stove parking lot in March of 2016. Although she did have her decal, she was double parked preventing another vehicle from being able to park next to her. Ms. [redacted] expressed her frustration stating she believed we should be responsible for paying her tow bill. The following was the response we gave her when this took place:“We understand being towed is never a pleasant thing to have to deal with. The towing however is in place to ensure that our residents have a place to park when they get home. For the most part people appreciate the towing being enforced since as long as all rules are followed it serves its purpose. We do not monitor the tow company nor do we contact them for towing ourselves. They are contracted by us to come through on their own schedule to be sure all parking rules are being followed. The parking addendum you signed explained that towing was enforceable on all property of Southern Stove Loftsand not just one particular lot. Towing in the lot where residents park actually helps serve its purpose best since that is where residents will need most assurance they have a place to park when they get home.”In regards to our parking space sizes, we would not have been allowed to pass all regulations and codes in order to open as a residential business if we did not have city approved sized spaces. I am not sure where Ms. [redacted] is gathering her information regarding us receiving special permission by the city for smaller spaces so I cannot speak to that accusation. What we can assure is that our spaces are standard approved sizes and out of almost 500 residents, the majority have no trouble parking within the allotted spaces provided.Resident stated that the leasing office prevents tenants from speaking to upper management. Our response to this: We are not a corporately owned company. We are a hands on locally owned company which deals with all issues no matter how large or small right here within our leasing office. There is no “upper management” but rather a very capable staff which includes a team of floating managers overseeing 15 communities. When it comes to helping our residents, we are not motivated by title in our organization because the same efforts and restrictions exist regardless if you deal with our administrative assistant, leasing specialists or our managers. You spoke with our assistant manager who oversees our Southern Stove location. He is who was given authority to make the final decisions regarding any issues. To be clear, anyone you speak to within our management team would advise you of the very same policies and limitations our assistant manager gave you. What we do for one we must do for all and although many of your requests have not been something we could reasonably accommodate, we still feel we have treated you with as much understanding and empathy as possible when explaining to someone why we cannot do the things they would like for us to.   Resident stated noise from train crossing unacceptable and makes living here uninhabitable. Our response when this was expressed by resident in a former complaint:“We in no way or form withhold any information about our communities with our residents or prospective residents. The train is something that we also cannot hide and anyone that moves in surely would have seen the crossing area and tracks located just outside of the entry to our community. We would assume renters complete their due diligence in investigating their surroundings before making a decision of where to live. Doing so would have led you to seeing the railroad tracks and trains that are on no schedule and pass at any time of the day or night. My point in making this known is that we couldn’t hide the presence of the trains if we wanted to. If you would have asked if you could hear the trains we would have told you that you do hear the trains and each person’s tolerance varies since we have even heard some folks say that the train sound is something they grew up with or even find soothing. Others would rather not hear it but none the less, I am surprised by your statement that we could possibly have deceived you by the noise of something like trains.  We initially attended numerous city meetings as advocates to make this a quite zone (three years to be exact) and eventually they dismissed these requests all together. Although it doesn’t keep us from having Southern Stove stay full, we do wish that things would have resolved differently with the city’s decision to continue to hear us out on this matter.”In conclusion, resident [redacted] requested to be contacted by the Manager to have a discussion about these issues and to be able to get out of her lease without penalty. Per the lease signed by Ms. [redacted] and her significant other, there is no termination of lease option and none will be offered to Ms. [redacted] as an exception. We discussed the option of finding a sublet to Ms. [redacted] and her significant other and we have record they have been actively attempting to exercise this option. We will continue to process any sublet applications that are submitted for Ms. [redacted] apartment both expeditiously and with priority as we understand they are no longer wanting to reside in their apartment.  We feel the issues reported to us were not due to negligence of any sort by the Southern Stove Lofts team and we have handled every issue brought to us both professionally and empathetically regardless of outcome. Ms. [redacted] has already spoken with an authoritative manager on staff and no further options are available to be discussed regarding being able to terminate their lease early. Thank you very much for your time.  Fredrick D[redacted]
[redacted] [redacted] [redacted] [redacted]

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's offer.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I have never had so many issues with a leasing company and I have worked with many. In such a competitive area, customer service can go a long way.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.1. The issue with our broken heater had nothing to do with the outside unit, it was a capacitor under the stairs inside our apartment . I was informed about the dimensions of your parking spaces directly from Richmond City's Zoning Administration. We signed a lease with your community under the agreement that certain amenities would be provided to us, and they have not been.Regards,[redacted]

Good Morning,
 
font-family: arial, sans-serif;">On behalf of Southern Stove Lofts we are responding to the multiple complaints submitted to the Revdex.com by resident [redacted]. We would like to address each complaint individually so we may express our perspective and attempts for resolution where we have felt possible:
 
Resident stated we failed to make emergency repairs within an acceptable amount of time when her heat went out during the snowstorm earlier this year. We would like to share the reply that we gave to Ms. [redacted] in March when she expressed frustration to us:
“We are very sorry that you didn’t have heat for 5 days especially during such frigid weather and as new residents none the less. We by no means would have wanted that to be your first experience with us and wish we could have prevented this from happening all together. Unfortunately we couldn’t control any of what took place from happening and we did our very best to respond as quickly and safely for our staff as possible. Most of the city was shut down including major state buildings and colleges. The mayor advised for people to stay off the roads. We even still had our maintenance techs out in the weather trying to safely get to emergency locations to help our residents. I am sorry that in your case there was no one who could safely get to you who was certified to make the repair. The snow in general (as well as rain) would have prevented any HVAC tech from being able to repair your outdoor unit regardless but getting you sufficient temporary relief was still a focus for us. We were robbed of 3 out of your 5 days due to the weather to take care of your heat and although this by no means compensates or excuses the frustration and discomfort that you experienced it is important to us that you don’t feel it was neglect as much as it was a forced inability to handle things differently.“
Resident stating the community was not being plowed after the snowstorm. Our response to this:
 
We did indeed plow the community once the snow stopped. In addition to plowing our staff also spent hours of shoveling sidewalks and attempting to help residents remove snow from on and around their vehicles. We were very touched by the outpour of residents we saw helping each other with snow removal and appreciated their understanding of the additional efforts such a massive amount of snowfall required of everyone. We ourselves were not anticipating as much snow as we ended up receiving and we definitely used the last storm as a growing and training experience for us as a whole for any future situations or inclement weather.
 
Resident is stating there is an exposed electrical wiring stapled to ceiling which they believe to be “not up to code”. Our response to this:
 
I checked Ms. [redacted] account and this concern has never been reported to us prior to now. We will place a work order right away to take a look at this. We do assure our residents however that we have successfully been in business at Southern Stove for the last 10 years and have passed all needed inspections and code requirements.
 
Resident stated the gate entrance has been broken for weeks. Our response to this:
 
Our front entrance at Southern Stove is without controlled access. Our rear entrance is with a controlled access gate arm. We have unfortunately had 3 residents hit the gate in a 4 month period. Although it may seem the gate arm repair has taken months to address, we have unfortunately repaired it more than once only to be damaged again. This final damage caused need to replace the entire motor in the entry system and we do apologize that this has definitely taken longer than we would like. We cannot control residents damaging the gate but we can assure you we are working as diligently as possible to make repairs expeditiously whenever this happens.
 
Resident stated that the pool was locked for part of the weekend. Our response to this:
 
The gate was intended to be unlocked by one of our pool attendants which we hire for summer assistance of monitoring our pools to ensure enjoyment for our residents. One of the pool attendants unfortunately did not show up for their shift which was reported to us on the next business day. Consequently, the pool gate was not unlocked until the evening attendant arrived and noticed what had happened. The attendant who failed to show up for their shift was let go and we have since hired a replacement. We are not happy that this happened however we feel we have handled this appropriately to remedy the situation from hopefully not happening again.
 
Resident stated that SSL tows tenant’s cars with proper decals from the parking lot without warning. Resident is also stating that our parking spaces are not within standard size and she believes the city gave us special permission to make them smaller. Our response:
 
Ms. [redacted] had her vehicle towed from the Southern Stove parking lot in March of 2016. Although she did have her decal, she was double parked preventing another vehicle from being able to park next to her. Ms. [redacted] expressed her frustration stating she believed we should be responsible for paying her tow bill. The following was the response we gave her when this took place:
“We understand being towed is never a pleasant thing to have to deal with. The towing however is in place to ensure that our residents have a place to park when they get home. For the most part people appreciate the towing being enforced since as long as all rules are followed it serves its purpose. We do not monitor the tow company nor do we contact them for towing ourselves. They are contracted by us to come through on their own schedule to be sure all parking rules are being followed. The parking addendum you signed explained that towing was enforceable on all property of Southern Stove Loftsand not just one particular lot. Towing in the lot where residents park actually helps serve its purpose best since that is where residents will need most assurance they have a place to park when they get home.”
In regards to our parking space sizes, we would not have been allowed to pass all regulations and codes in order to open as a residential business if we did not have city approved sized spaces. I am not sure where Ms. [redacted] is gathering her information regarding us receiving special permission by the city for smaller spaces so I cannot speak to that accusation. What we can assure is that our spaces are standard approved sizes and out of almost 500 residents, the majority have no trouble parking within the allotted spaces provided.
Resident stated that the leasing office prevents tenants from speaking to upper management. Our response to this:
 
We are not a corporately owned company. We are a hands on locally owned company which deals with all issues no matter how large or small right here within our leasing office. There is no “upper management” but rather a very capable staff which includes a team of floating managers overseeing 15 communities. When it comes to helping our residents, we are not motivated by title in our organization because the same efforts and restrictions exist regardless if you deal with our administrative assistant, leasing specialists or our managers. You spoke with our assistant manager who oversees our Southern Stove location. He is who was given authority to make the final decisions regarding any issues. To be clear, anyone you speak to within our management team would advise you of the very same policies and limitations our assistant manager gave you. What we do for one we must do for all and although many of your requests have not been something we could reasonably accommodate, we still feel we have treated you with as much understanding and empathy as possible when explaining to someone why we cannot do the things they would like for us to.  
 
Resident stated noise from train crossing unacceptable and makes living here uninhabitable. Our response when this was expressed by resident in a former complaint:
“We in no way or form withhold any information about our communities with our residents or prospective residents. The train is something that we also cannot hide and anyone that moves in surely would have seen the crossing area and tracks located just outside of the entry to our community. We would assume renters complete their due diligence in investigating their surroundings before making a decision of where to live. Doing so would have led you to seeing the railroad tracks and trains that are on no schedule and pass at any time of the day or night. My point in making this known is that we couldn’t hide the presence of the trains if we wanted to. If you would have asked if you could hear the trains we would have told you that you do hear the trains and each person’s tolerance varies since we have even heard some folks say that the train sound is something they grew up with or even find soothing. Others would rather not hear it but none the less, I am surprised by your statement that we could possibly have deceived you by the noise of something like trains.  
We initially attended numerous city meetings as advocates to make this a quite zone (three years to be exact) and eventually they dismissed these requests all together. Although it doesn’t keep us from having Southern Stove stay full, we do wish that things would have resolved differently with the city’s decision to continue to hear us out on this matter.”
In conclusion, resident [redacted] requested to be contacted by the Manager to have a discussion about these issues and to be able to get out of her lease without penalty. Per the lease signed by Ms. [redacted] and her significant other, there is no termination of lease option and none will be offered to Ms. [redacted] as an exception. We discussed the option of finding a sublet to Ms. [redacted] and her significant other and we have record they have been actively attempting to exercise this option. We will continue to process any sublet applications that are submitted for Ms. [redacted] apartment both expeditiously and with priority as we understand they are no longer wanting to reside in their apartment.  We feel the issues reported to us were not due to negligence of any sort by the Southern Stove Lofts team and we have handled every issue brought to us both professionally and empathetically regardless of outcome. Ms. [redacted] has already spoken with an authoritative manager on staff and no further options are available to be discussed regarding being able to terminate their lease early.
 
Thank you very much for your time.
 
 
Fredrick D[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
1. The issue with our broken heater had nothing to do with the outside unit, it was a capacitor under the stairs inside our apartment . I was informed about the dimensions of your parking spaces directly from Richmond City's Zoning Administration. 
We signed a lease with your community under the agreement that certain amenities would be provided to us, and they have not been.
Regards,[redacted]

Review: Southern Stove lofts' failure to uphold certain parts of the lease contract.

Failure to make emergency repairs within the acceptable amount of time

according to Virginia tenant rights. Suffered 5 days without heat during

snowstorm. Property was not plowed either so tenants could not get out.

Exposed electrical wiring stapled to ceiling not up to code

Failure to maintain secured premises. Gate entrance broken for weeks,

Failure to provide tenant's access to community amenities - pool locked for part of the weekend.

SSL tows tenants car's with proper decals from the parking lot without warning. Parking spaces are not

within the standard size (although they got special approval from the city to make them smaller), some tenants

are forced to double park.

Leasing office prevents tenants from speaking to upper management.

Not able to get the manager's (not assistant manager) contact information to discuss any issues.

Noise from train crossing unacceptable and makes living there uninhabitable.Desired Settlement: I would like to be contacted by the Manager to have a discussion about these issues- and to be able to get out of our lease early without penalty.

Business

Response:

Good Morning, On behalf of Southern Stove Lofts we are responding to the multiple complaints submitted to the Revdex.com by resident [redacted]. We would like to address each complaint individually so we may express our perspective and attempts for resolution where we have felt possible: Resident stated we failed to make emergency repairs within an acceptable amount of time when her heat went out during the snowstorm earlier this year. We would like to share the reply that we gave to Ms. [redacted] in March when she expressed frustration to us:“We are very sorry that you didn’t have heat for 5 days especially during such frigid weather and as new residents none the less. We by no means would have wanted that to be your first experience with us and wish we could have prevented this from happening all together. Unfortunately we couldn’t control any of what took place from happening and we did our very best to respond as quickly and safely for our staff as possible. Most of the city was shut down including major state buildings and colleges. The mayor advised for people to stay off the roads. We even still had our maintenance techs out in the weather trying to safely get to emergency locations to help our residents. I am sorry that in your case there was no one who could safely get to you who was certified to make the repair. The snow in general (as well as rain) would have prevented any HVAC tech from being able to repair your outdoor unit regardless but getting you sufficient temporary relief was still a focus for us. We were robbed of 3 out of your 5 days due to the weather to take care of your heat and although this by no means compensates or excuses the frustration and discomfort that you experienced it is important to us that you don’t feel it was neglect as much as it was a forced inability to handle things differently.“Resident stating the community was not being plowed after the snowstorm. Our response to this: We did indeed plow the community once the snow stopped. In addition to plowing our staff also spent hours of shoveling sidewalks and attempting to help residents remove snow from on and around their vehicles. We were very touched by the outpour of residents we saw helping each other with snow removal and appreciated their understanding of the additional efforts such a massive amount of snowfall required of everyone. We ourselves were not anticipating as much snow as we ended up receiving and we definitely used the last storm as a growing and training experience for us as a whole for any future situations or inclement weather. Resident is stating there is an exposed electrical wiring stapled to ceiling which they believe to be “not up to code”. Our response to this: I checked Ms. [redacted] account and this concern has never been reported to us prior to now. We will place a work order right away to take a look at this. We do assure our residents however that we have successfully been in business at Southern Stove for the last 10 years and have passed all needed inspections and code requirements. Resident stated the gate entrance has been broken for weeks. Our response to this: Our front entrance at Southern Stove is without controlled access. Our rear entrance is with a controlled access gate arm. We have unfortunately had 3 residents hit the gate in a 4 month period. Although it may seem the gate arm repair has taken months to address, we have unfortunately repaired it more than once only to be damaged again. This final damage caused need to replace the entire motor in the entry system and we do apologize that this has definitely taken longer than we would like. We cannot control residents damaging the gate but we can assure you we are working as diligently as possible to make repairs expeditiously whenever this happens. Resident stated that the pool was locked for part of the weekend. Our response to this: The gate was intended to be unlocked by one of our pool attendants which we hire for summer assistance of monitoring our pools to ensure enjoyment for our residents. One of the pool attendants unfortunately did not show up for their shift which was reported to us on the next business day. Consequently, the pool gate was not unlocked until the evening attendant arrived and noticed what had happened. The attendant who failed to show up for their shift was let go and we have since hired a replacement. We are not happy that this happened however we feel we have handled this appropriately to remedy the situation from hopefully not happening again. Resident stated that SSL tows tenant’s cars with proper decals from the parking lot without warning. Resident is also stating that our parking spaces are not within standard size and she believes the city gave us special permission to make them smaller. Our response: Ms. [redacted] had her vehicle towed from the Southern Stove parking lot in March of 2016. Although she did have her decal, she was double parked preventing another vehicle from being able to park next to her. Ms. [redacted] expressed her frustration stating she believed we should be responsible for paying her tow bill. The following was the response we gave her when this took place:“We understand being towed is never a pleasant thing to have to deal with. The towing however is in place to ensure that our residents have a place to park when they get home. For the most part people appreciate the towing being enforced since as long as all rules are followed it serves its purpose. We do not monitor the tow company nor do we contact them for towing ourselves. They are contracted by us to come through on their own schedule to be sure all parking rules are being followed. The parking addendum you signed explained that towing was enforceable on all property of Southern Stove Loftsand not just one particular lot. Towing in the lot where residents park actually helps serve its purpose best since that is where residents will need most assurance they have a place to park when they get home.”In regards to our parking space sizes, we would not have been allowed to pass all regulations and codes in order to open as a residential business if we did not have city approved sized spaces. I am not sure where Ms. [redacted] is gathering her information regarding us receiving special permission by the city for smaller spaces so I cannot speak to that accusation. What we can assure is that our spaces are standard approved sizes and out of almost 500 residents, the majority have no trouble parking within the allotted spaces provided.Resident stated that the leasing office prevents tenants from speaking to upper management. Our response to this: We are not a corporately owned company. We are a hands on locally owned company which deals with all issues no matter how large or small right here within our leasing office. There is no “upper management” but rather a very capable staff which includes a team of floating managers overseeing 15 communities. When it comes to helping our residents, we are not motivated by title in our organization because the same efforts and restrictions exist regardless if you deal with our administrative assistant, leasing specialists or our managers. You spoke with our assistant manager who oversees our Southern Stove location. He is who was given authority to make the final decisions regarding any issues. To be clear, anyone you speak to within our management team would advise you of the very same policies and limitations our assistant manager gave you. What we do for one we must do for all and although many of your requests have not been something we could reasonably accommodate, we still feel we have treated you with as much understanding and empathy as possible when explaining to someone why we cannot do the things they would like for us to. Resident stated noise from train crossing unacceptable and makes living here uninhabitable. Our response when this was expressed by resident in a former complaint:“We in no way or form withhold any information about our communities with our residents or prospective residents. The train is something that we also cannot hide and anyone that moves in surely would have seen the crossing area and tracks located just outside of the entry to our community. We would assume renters complete their due diligence in investigating their surroundings before making a decision of where to live. Doing so would have led you to seeing the railroad tracks and trains that are on no schedule and pass at any time of the day or night. My point in making this known is that we couldn’t hide the presence of the trains if we wanted to. If you would have asked if you could hear the trains we would have told you that you do hear the trains and each person’s tolerance varies since we have even heard some folks say that the train sound is something they grew up with or even find soothing. Others would rather not hear it but none the less, I am surprised by your statement that we could possibly have deceived you by the noise of something like trains. We initially attended numerous city meetings as advocates to make this a quite zone (three years to be exact) and eventually they dismissed these requests all together. Although it doesn’t keep us from having Southern Stove stay full, we do wish that things would have resolved differently with the city’s decision to continue to hear us out on this matter.”In conclusion, resident [redacted] requested to be contacted by the Manager to have a discussion about these issues and to be able to get out of her lease without penalty. Per the lease signed by Ms. [redacted] and her significant other, there is no termination of lease option and none will be offered to Ms. [redacted] as an exception. We discussed the option of finding a sublet to Ms. [redacted] and her significant other and we have record they have been actively attempting to exercise this option. We will continue to process any sublet applications that are submitted for Ms. [redacted] apartment both expeditiously and with priority as we understand they are no longer wanting to reside in their apartment. We feel the issues reported to us were not due to negligence of any sort by the Southern Stove Lofts team and we have handled every issue brought to us both professionally and empathetically regardless of outcome. Ms. [redacted] has already spoken with an authoritative manager on staff and no further options are available to be discussed regarding being able to terminate their lease early. Thank you very much for your time. Fredrick D[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.1. The issue with our broken heater had nothing to do with the outside unit, it was a capacitor under the stairs inside our apartment . I was informed about the dimensions of your parking spaces directly from Richmond City's Zoning Administration. We signed a lease with your community under the agreement that certain amenities would be provided to us, and they have not been.Regards,[redacted]