Review History for bartylby

Beware.

To Whom It May Concern: We're moving! We re fortunate enough to have the funds and means to get the hell out of The Park at Hermitage (The Park). I fear many families and people are not so lucky once they re suckered into moving here. They either suffer the business practices of The Park, because they can t afford to move, or, they end up homeless for not being able to afford a 20% increase in their rent. They are potentially ruining lives and, more than likely, putting some families out in the street. Disgusting! I am so displeased with The Park that this is my second negative letter. I will be sending a copy to The Park staff, MAAC Corporate, the Better Business Bureau and the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA). I don't know whether it's the staff here at The Park, MAAC in general, or, all of the above, but the business practices here at The Park are deplorable. The mode of operation for The Park is to get the maximum amount of money out the residents without a single shred of concern for their wellbeing and peace of mind. The entire staff and company should be ashamed of themselves. The grounds are beautifully kept, but, with wicked intentions to lure unsuspecting renters into the office. They spend a fortune in seasonal landscaping pulling up this and planting that. During spring and summer the crews are here twice a week with very loud blowers and mowers that start up between 7 and 8 AM. It was even told to me, when I complained, that the 8AM daily gas blower used by The Park staff was to keep the office clear of leaves and pretty for prospective tenants. They deceptively show a nice apartment as where you ll be living that then gets rented the very day you re ready to sign your lease. The apartment we originally looked at was gone the day of our signing. We accepted another unit at a higher rent per month. Once we moved in to the different apartment, we discovered water damage on ALL the walls and there was a smell of musty mold coming from the back closet that lasted the first 3 months. The dead-end-vents in the bathrooms had moldy and sticky filters in them which we quickly threw away. The buildings in general seem to be sick . I have had more respiratory issues living here than ANY OTHER PLACE I VE LIVED. It s scary: after I spend just two days away from the apartment with family, breathing got easier and feelings of illness abated. When I returned, the symptoms also returned. People with poor immune systems and respiratory problems should be VERY WARY of moving here. In hindsight, we should have seen the warnings and moved elsewhere. However, it s difficult once you ve narrowed your choices and the first of the month doesn t wait for suspicion. Once you ve signed your lease, you re screwed. The lease is strictly written to defend The Park s retched business practices. After seeing how the staff and MAAC operate, I m sure we re in for a fight over wear and tear issues even though our vacuum continuously sucked up the nastiest crap out of the supposed new carpet. I ve even heard from friendly strangers and former tenants of The Park when chatting at local stores, businesses and gas stations stating that the same horrible business practices were inflicted upon them as well. Wow! After suffering through a summer of intolerable, incompetent construction and contractor workers and having to threaten opening an escrow account to get anything fixed in our apartment, The Park has decided to raise our rent by almost 20%! That's right folks, TWENTY PERCENT! Outrageous! I could possibly understand the increase if there were amenities or renovations worth that price, but there are none. There are two very small pools that are overrun with children. The exercise room has old and even dangerous equipment. The tanning booths look like Petri dishes. The laundry room has no hot water for whites and the dryers often smell moldy and dank. The monthly payment structure with items like included cable, separate water bills, and exterminators fees that go directly to The Park, means your bill is NEVER the same. The way the rent is set up, you can t tell if you re being ripped off. It s ludicrous! A $650 base rent turns into $700 one month then $750 for another all the while using the same amount of utilities. Even more: when The Park decided to hire the Keystone Cops of painting contractors to repaint the outside of the buildings, they PAINTED OUR CARS! We had to make a claim on our insurance to the tune of 10,000 dollars to repaint both of our cars! After trying to work with the people responsible for getting the brown paint on our vehicles, we came to the conclusion that the contractor was an idiot and The Park staff was not going to help. To top it off, we re out 1000 dollars for deductibles! and they want to raise our rent 20%!? The Park at Hermitage has been the most difficult, frustrating and infuriating place I ve ever lived in all of my forty years! To conclude: 1) DON T MOVE HERE! The Park at Hermitage utilizes serial practices of greed, deception and even barely legal extortion . 2) Everything looks pretty on the outside to start with. 3) Bait and switch tactics and used car salesman routines are used. 4) You sign your lease. 5) NOTHING gets maintained in your apartment while twice a week landscaping wakes you at 7-8AM and covers your cars in grass clippings and dirt. 6) They raise your rent the next year by 20%. 7) When you move out due to the outrageous increase, intolerable noise, or some asinine procedure, they try to charge you with, what one of the strangers I spoke with called, an insane 1500 dollars for wear and tear. 8) Repeat to the next sucker that rents an apartment at The Park at Hermitage. Help spread the warning about MAAC and The Park at Hermitage. I hope that the copy I send to the Tennessee Housing Development Agency may help initiate changes to protect families from this predatory, ultra large, rental company that abuses tenants for profit. Sincerely, Jason S.