Review History for anonymous

Ruined by new management

I have lived at Brompton Court, in the same apartment, for three years. I came to Houston for law school and picked Brompton because it has a great location and, at the time, the size of the apartments and low rent made it the best deal I had seen. The buildings and landscaping is beautiful and the residents are all really friendly. There are a few families, but there are a lot of students and people who work in the med center. Many patients visiting the med center for treatment will also live here because they offer short term leases. Overall, I loved Brompton Court - for two years, anyway. The last year has been horrendous, as the reviews here indicate. The building was recently purchased by Merion Realty Management, a real estate investment firm that specializes in purchasing "underperforming assets" to make "capital improvements" and "increase revenue" - which is fancy talk for buys up apartments complexes to raise the rent. This wouldn't be so bad if they actually made any improvements (and I've been surprised that my rent was the same for 3 years anyway). Instead, things have gone down hill quite quickly. The old staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. However, they were all fired when Merion took over and replaced with a bunch of kids who just graduated with their business degree. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, except the leasing office staff has been surprisingly unhelpful and at times rude. It's not uncommon to go to the office to ask a question or get a package and sit there waiting for 5 to 10 minutes without even being spoken too. I once went down for package and Jason looked at me, then looked back at his computer without saying a word. Once you're on the hook and paying them rent, they seem to really not care about seeing to your needs unless they have to. Perhaps the worst is the property manager, April, whose attitude I can't describe adequately in polite company. Suffice it to say she has only one purpose: squeeze the residents for as much money as possible. (Example: the complex used to offer a free shuttle to the medical center. The new management decided to instead make people buy tokens to use the shuttle). On top of all this are rising rental rates. They claim they are losing $80k a month, but I think what they mean is that they could be making $80k more if they got everyone to pay more in rent. The complex was at 98% occupancy last year, so this seems to be their last resort. As for those capital improvements, I'm still waiting. Meanwhile, the water main breaks on almost a weekly basis, which means no running water for the whole complex. There has been water bubbling up from a crack in the concrete where I park my car - literally - for 3 months now. And even simple things like repair requests for your apartment can take weeks to get done. At least they're consistent. Don't use the laundry facilities if you like your clothes. For the first two years I was here, I never had a problem. However, in the laundry room I use, I am now lucky if half of the washers and half of the dryers are working. Sometimes you only find out when you return to the washer at the end of the cycle and its full of water. Don't bother mentioning this to any of the management staff, however. They'll simply tell you it's not their problem and you need to contact the contractor who owns the machines. Parking isn't terrible, as long as you aren't coming home after 8 or 9pm. There are covered and uncovered spots, and some of the covered spots are reserved. The new management also increased the price for reserving a spot. Yet, despite frequent requests, they've done nothing to remove an abandoned vehicle that is taking up a covered spot. It has a quarter inch of dust on it, with various messages written, and at least 6 stickers warning that it will be towed. People have started stacking action figures and pop cans on it. One area I will give the new management credit for is hiring a 24/7 security guard. Apparently all it took was several cars and one girl's apartment being broken into for them to realize the need. Of course, this might not be necessary if they didn't frequently leave the entrance gate propped open. Overall, I enjoyed living here for two years. However, the last year has been a total pain in the ---. I'm moving for a job in another state, but were I staying in Houston there is absolutely no way I would remain at Brompton Court. The grounds are nice and I've liked my apartment, but I simply can't stand dealing with the management staff. At this point, I'm assuming I'll never see a dime of my security deposit. If you're looking at living at Brompton Court, you've probably been impressed by the aesthetics and the size of the units. What you haven't been shown is the future and repeated hassle you will have dealing with management. From paying rent, to getting packages, to repairs, to basic property maintencance, to just not being rude - the management here is a total and complete nightmare. Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere.