Cortland at Falls

Current Resident 804781

Resident • 2003 - 2009

Great place BEFORE 2005

I agree with the reviewers who said this was a great place to live four years ago. Jackie and Lily were great managers and the apartments were a great value albeit older. Now they think that they are a "luxury" apartment building because they have renovated a few units and redone the balconies. I have never seen someone hawk old apartments with NO washer dryer as luxury. They are infested with roaches and mold. I have been laying in bed on more than one occasion and seen a roach crawl across my bed. The kitchen and bathroom os out right infested. The management team is at best unresponsive and at worst completely vengeful morons.

Current Resident 907154

Resident • 2002 - 2007

It Went Downhill

I moved to Roosevelt Towers in June 2002, and for the first three or so years that I lived there, it was wonderful--it was quiet and relatively clean, and the management staff was responsive and nice. In late 2005 and certainly by 2006, things began going downhill and quickly got worse. A new management team came in, and that, combined with the construction, changed my original impression of Roosevelt Towers. And then, cockroaches showed up in my apartment. Despite repeated attempts to have the exterminator come to deal with the situation, the problem continued. And then a month before I moved out, my clothes were stolen out of the laundry room. That was the end of it as far as I was concerned, and I moved out shortly afterward, having lived there for five years.

dan8ny

Resident • 2007 - 2008

Don't Bother

The hallways are very stinky, the elevators are small, cell phone reception is spotty for verizon, and there are a lot of little kids whose parents will complain about noise disturbing sleep at 3 pm. The management staff also tried to convince me there was a $200 "administration move-in fee" which they then said was an "amenities fee". Don't fall for this! I told them to show me this on the lease and they said that it wasn't, so I told them I refused to pay it and then they just backed off and said ok. That's pretty shady/illegal if you ask me. The lobby looks nice, but the apartments are run of the mill to below average and the hallways look dreary and smell of curry. The pool is tiny and worthless for anything but sitting next to especially since rules explicitly forbid anything from floating devices to "ball playing." Might as well sit in a bath tub. The old front desk guy has a huge chip on his shoulder and will treat you like an idiot. If you ask for anything to be done, it will take a long while or it won't happen at all. Make sure you get receipts for your rent, they have told me in the past I haven't paid rent yet but then I show them the receipt they signed before they believe me. Just buy a house if you can, now's the time to buy. Seven Corners sucks in general. Also, utilities are extra and shared among all residents based on the number of occupants and the size of your apartment. I was in my apartment for 1 week in May, yet was charged $75 in utilities for my single occupancy 1 bedroom. This was not brought up in the lease, so make sure you bring it up if you're really desperate to move there.

Current Resident 167895

Resident • 2008

Previous truths continue in 2008

I agree with what other tenants have said about Roosevelt Towers. Add to that that when I moved in, I was told that access to the activity room was free of charge and now tenants have to pay $50/hr for use of the room. Management sites petty issues that are more common sense issues on the part of the people reserving the room or Child Protective Service issues. The other is that I have to walk all the way through the building down the elevator or stairs to let friends in the door because the remote access has worked since I moved in in January 2008. It is now June 2008. The sad truth is that when you call to speak with the management, they are quick to talk over you, are rude, and then put you on hold for way too long. Don't be sucked in my the move-in promotions. I was. I'd gladly pay more money for a more responsive staff at my next residence.

Current Resident 491189

Resident • 2007

WORSE THAN HELL

Like AA I feel a need to confess that I have lived in the Roosevelt Tower Apartments...and it was a mistake. If you're looking for a place to live, there is no need to make the same mistake that I have. It doesn't make much sense to narrate details that have already been listed by other former residents. When I moved into my apartment, it was filthy. The dishwasher had standing water in it. Gas was leaking from the stove. The cabinents were covered in grease. Even the new carpet was already stained. And that's how it began....it only got worse.

Current Resident 574424

Resident • 2003 - 2007

You'd regret it

If you are considering Roosevelt Towers Apartments, let me just say you'd regret moving in. My roomate and I lived at RTA for over four years and the quality of the management staff, their responsiveness, and responsible care of the property has noticeably declined since our first days. Though we have numerous stories to tell, the most recent involved the management team completely ignoring the fact that water was dripping from the unit above us (A/C leak, I think) and down the living room wall. We called them, but they completely ignored the situation for almost a month! By the time they finally came, black mold was visible on the outside of the wall, water stains had crept 8 feet or more across the ceiling and even the drywall on the other side of the living room wall (my bedroom) was stained. This is how bad it was: the maintenance workers had to cut out the ceiling and the wall (which had mold all throughout the backside of the drywall too) and repaint a large portion of the living room. It was awful, they were unresponsive, and this was the second time that we had a similarly severe water damage issue! Oh, and while the local management team finally owned up to the situation and acknowleged that the issue was really bad and that they had messed up in not getting in there more timely, the guys at the corporate offices arrogantly ignored the sitation and offered no help at all. Not even an apology did we receive from them, even after their own people reported in that the ceiling and wall had to come out. We've endured broken down elevators, some type of construction for 2 years, odd smells, roaches, mice, super loud neighbors and car horns at 2 a.m., trash truck banging at 7 a.m., and the list could go on. Another thing, the parking lot is monitored by Pete's towing - if a friend, girlfriend's car, etc. is in the lot, literally not more than 5 minutes after 10 p.m. without a parking pass, it will be towed. This, despite the fact that there are numerous open spaces for residents to use, and despite the fact that it's tough to get to the leasing office for a temporary parking pass. Guests essentially have to park on the street a mile away and walk in. All in, the management team is dramatically under-delivering on their side of the bargain. You'd regret it if you moved in only to find yourself in a similar situation. The positive posting on this site is strangely aberrant. I wouldn't put it past the management team to post here, they're like that.

Current Resident 747590

Resident • 2007

stay away!

The hallways smell terribly; the management is completely unresponsive to tenet needs, and there is a serious infestation problem (which, of course, management does nothing about!) -- stay away from roosevelt towers!!

grossinjustice

Resident • 2004 - 2007

Simple Truth: PLEASE BEWARE

I fully agree with the last 2 reviews. This sums up Roosevelt today. What you can expect: Very good location & parking. But what else you must have are: Miserable maintenance in apartments, non-functioning lifts, waiting for 10 days for fax toner to be replaced, friendly rodents moving everywhere, vermin in houses, now stinking corridors, unreasonable price increase every year, having to high amount of utilities charges ........ And to top it all, ABSOLUTELY IRRESPONSIBLE, misbehaving & racial office staff (except the manager), most of whom may not be fit to work even as messengers in small offices! Beware before even thinking of moving into this apartment.

Current Resident 971714

Resident • 2006 - 2007

Bad Experience

I have been here for nearly a year. It is definitely not the greatest place. My sofa is completely damaged because of the tiny little rodents. I have caught nearly 10 mice!!!! Even the management people are not very helpful. I do not understand how WRIT has appointed them. They do not know how to handle their residents well. We have to contact them nearly 2-3 times to get things done. I prefer going to the maintenance guys directly. The maintenance guys are good and helpful. The rent that you pay is definitely exorbitant when the place is such a mess. Over that we have to pay for the utilities as well. The advantages are its location & parking lot. I am going to get out of this very soon and I would advice you not to move into this apartment.

Current Resident 254310

Resident • 2007

A Dream Gone Sour

If you see the reviews for last 1-2 years, you can understand easily- the dream has gone sour! Last year the ratings were 50%. Today it's 43%. The two new management staff is really horrible, they all ( except perhaps one lady working in weekends) treat you as dirt, once you move in! Only plus point is location, but that's not enough. The callousness of the local managers and zero response from the higher management (WRIT) will wreck your nerves! Is WRIT listening?

Current Resident 761063

Resident • 2006 - 2007

Utility Charges: The Last Straw

I moved into Roosevelt Towers about a year and a half ago. Here are the pros: Location, location, location. Priced on the high side of reasonable but still reasonable for what it is. Plenty of parking. Here are the cons: While they have done lovely improvements to the common areas, the apartments themselves are starkly utilitarian. Mice. They may be cute but I dont want them scampering across my living room floor when I have a guest over, thank you very much. The closure of the balconies for 8 months was ridiculous. The elevators are tiny and are closed every weekend for someone moving in or out. 6 flights of stairs is great exercize; especially when one is carrying groceries. What has me moving out soon (thank God for choosing to go month-to-month -- for a fee) is the new policy of charging me for utilities mid-lease. It's a BS move and increases my rent by $60-70 a month, taking the cost from high side of reasonable to unreasonable. But more to the point, if they had been honest and said, hey, gotta increase the rent next lease period I'd have respected them. Doing it this way feels like I am being raped and I dont appreciate that. So farewell, Roosevelt Towers. You were...ok. But it sure is going to suck having to close down the too-small elevators all day one saturday in order to move out...

Current Resident 813443

Resident • 2006 - 2007

Update

I had posted a review earlier this year and wanted to update it. The rodent infestation has increased dramatically. And managment seems unwilling or unable to address the problem. Extermnators are sent into apartments for tenants who complain and traps placed - but the efforts are sporadic and have had no positive impact on solving the problem. In the past two months we have had mice scurrying around our dining area daily. You can hear them in the walls and see them in the hallways at night. It really is a shame that management isn't taking a more agressive approach to the problem. Overall - the complex is a nice place to live - but sharing space with an increasing number of mice is deffinately not a good thing. And the longer the problem is left untreated the worse it will get. If you are squeamish about mice - think twice about moving in here. We are seriously thinkg about moving out.

Current Resident 37201

Resident • 2004 - 2007

Safe with good management

I've read the reviews from others and I disagree completely. We've lived here for four years and have had no problems whatsoever. The grounds are safe, the only utility problem we've had is a clogged drain and they fixed that the same day, there's ALWAYS available parking, and we never hear noises from any neighbors. The balconies did have construction on them recently but it never bothered us b/c we work full-time jobs. I would recommend it to any of my friends.

Current Resident 555044

Resident • 2006 - 2007

Charging for utilities

Starting in April 2007 they will be charging for utilities based on your square footage and the number of people occupying the unit. This is ridiculous. When I moved in the utilities were included in the rent.

Current Resident 382804

Resident • 2003 - 2006

vermin infestation

Our apartment from the day we moved in had cockroaches. After two years they went away.<br>Now we have mice! And they stink. Our apartment has been stinking to high heavens for two days and they tell us to wait two more days. Even then I know nothing will happen. Violating health codes doesn't seem to bug them that much.

scammed81

Resident • 2005 - 2006

Disaster

This place is awful. I had my doubts going into it, but it has certainly exceeded those. We moved in mid-December and nothing about the balcony construction was mentioned. Two months later it was blocked off and we were told we wouldn't have access until June. Early July rolls around, I ask a worker how much longer, he tells me another week or so. Mid-August rolls around, I call the leasing office, they tell me tomorrow. Two weeks later after every balcony except the ones below me and above me have been opened up, I call again. Now the inspector has to come and check things out. After this, they have to fix the balcony so that it is level! In September. Mid-September, I finally gained access, a good four months after we were told. That means of the 13 months I am forced to live here, 8 of those are without a balcony which was a reason I chose this dump. On top of that, no screens, they do yard work early saturday mornings, obnoxiously loud trash pickup every Tuesday? Kids running around barefoot? Five days to make a simple repair on the toilet This has been ridiculous, and I look forward to leaving, although I'm sure that will be tedious as well.

roosevelt77

Resident • 2006

It's def. Better

I've posted a complaint before on here. Although at the time I was mad, people have to understand that these are written in the heat of the situation. <br><br>During the rain, I flooded, the management took care of it, I even talked to the property company who took our concern VERY seriously, fixed the problem fast, and COMPED us rent money. Our problem was rare, but they handled it well and without us pressuring them. <br><br>Yes, there is some consrtuction-- but it's over in a few months. Would you rather live somewhere that never upgraded? It's making the building a much better place to live and attracting better renters!

Current Resident 914233

Resident • 2005 - 2006

DON'T DO IT.

The management makes this place suck. The manager is incredibly rude & everyone else in the office (except the African-American girl that works weekends) could care less about you. It amazes me the polarity of treatment I received by the management before I signed my lease versus after. <br><br>And I haven't been able to use part of my apartment for 5 months due to construction they didn't tell me about when I signed the lease. And they refuse to comp me for it.

Current Resident 324733

Resident • 2004 - 2006

the endless constractions

Constractions has been continuing for the second year. A lot of noise and dirt and no progress at all. Contractors work very slowly, they do not work every day, so there is no visible progress, everything just being destroyed (people have no balconies now and the doors are sealed, which meens no fresh air during spring (you can open only small windows) and noone cares to make this awfull period shorter. It could be done in two weeks if contractors were WORKING and owners of the building care about tenants. And the rent of course keeps going up. And all of this after we have survived last year constraction. The only good thing is closeness to metro. The point is-do not expect pleasant, carefree and comfort living at Roosevelt Towers.

Current Resident 341099

Resident • 2004 - 2006

Livable But Not Luxury

First of all, given the relatively low rent cost for apartments in this building considering the area, no one should be surprised that the building isn't perfect. Thinking otherwise would be sadly naive.<br><br>What we consider to be downsides of living here:<br> - No washer/dryer in units.<br> - Ongoing construction with no compensation/discounts/incentives for residents that lived with the less-than-ideal conditions. (Although construction is now mostly completed.)<br> - Insects. We've lived here almost two years and have just recently started having problems with roaches.<br> - Noisy neighbors above us. We call them The Stampeders.<br> - Chintzy appliances and carpeting. Obviously, don't expect a Viking range and stain-resist berber carpeting, but at least some sort of brand name on the stove would've been nice.<br> - Older windows and sliding glass doors that are drafty and don't keep out sound from parking lot.<br> - Too many poorly behaved and unsupervised children at the pool. Possibly a function of grievance cited below:<br> - Some tenants of, um, lower social caliber or poor upbringing.<br><br>Good things about the building:<br> - Mix of tenants: young professionals, some older folks, many different cultures, mixed ages. Reflects the DC metro area. If you want a homogenous living environment, this is not the building for you. We like it.<br> - Nice, generally very quiet and respectful people on our hallway.<br> - Plenty of parking. We've never had any problems finding parking spaces for our cars. Watch out for door-dingers, though.<br> - We've had only positive interactions with the management, but this is only our experience.<br> - Brand new equipment in the exercise room.<br> - LOCATION. Near metro, 66, 7 and 50.<br> - Pool. Landscaping around it is nothing special, though.<br> - Common spaces recently renovated. The construction was a real hassle for tenants, but it does look a lot nicer now.

Current Resident 631569

Resident • 1996 - 2005

if you're thinking about it, think again

Don't let the renovations fool you. They are a band-aid on a festering sore. First, the management company replaced the building manager over the summer and the new manager is unpleasant and unresponsive - many of the longtime employee/tenants that made Roosevelt Towers bearable were in the process of leaving when I finally moved out. Second, the building was so overrun with cockroaches that I was constantly cleaning their droppings. The management will exterminate your apartment if you ask, but because there is no building wide pest control program in place, all that really happens is that most of the cockroaches run away when the exterminator comes & return when it's safe. I had a serious mold problem in my HVAC units and the management did not fix the problem. Soundproofing on the upper floors is horrible - I could hear every noise from the bedroom next to mine - snoring, alarm clocks, talking on the phone at normal voices, etc. The pipes are uninsulated & if someone turns the shower on in an apartment above or below you you will hear it. I could also hear my upstairs neighbors flush their toilet and run water in their sinks. I could them run their dishwasher (both water and other noise) & pretty much any other loud appliance. I may as well have been roomates with all these people. Also, don't expect your security deposit back & don't expect the management to comply with the laws that require them to provide an accounting of the deductions. Don't forget to ask about security in the parking lots - there isn't any and break-ins happen.

Current Resident 3133

Resident • 2003 - 2005

like vandalism? live here!

We've lived here for over 2 years. In that time, we've had trash dumped outside our apartment door, holes punched in the hallway walls, and both of our cars vandalized multiple times--once so severely, the vehicle was undrivable. Many of the residents act like trash, they let their kids run around in the parking lot, and I have been personally threatened by two men who probably ought to be leashed. We just can't sink low enough to belong here.<br><br>The maintenance staff is great--they are the reason we haven't left. Period.

Current Resident 459484

Resident • 2004 - 2005

Good for the money, but some serious issues...

I have mixed reviews about this place. <br><br>Positive comments:<br>Nice management<br>Excellent facilities workers<br>Cheap rent<br>Access to metro (about .8 miles walk)<br>Utilities included<br>Unlimited parking<br><br>Negative comments:<br>Construction has been going on FOREVER. They have been working on fixing the place during my entire stay here, which has been rather unpleasant at times with the noise, dirt, dust, etc.<br>My roommate and I have also had a huge problem with cockroaches on the fifth floor. We started out having ants as well. We've complained to managment a ton of times, and they don't seem to care about that issue. That seems so weird to me, because they are on top of everything else. I think they know it's a problem, but don't know what to do about it. Either way, it's really disgusting. My roommate and I are pretty clean people, so I don't know where the cockroaches are coming from. We find them mostly in the kitchen, sometimes even in the dishwasher. GROSS!<br><br><br>All in all, I would recommend this place as a "starting out" place for young students or something like that. I wouldn't want to be here for more than a year though (we are moving out in a month.)

Current Resident 983694

Resident • 2002 - 2005

Probably Okay for a year if you get 1 month free

Eventhough the metro is about 0.8 miles from apartment, there is no bus to go to the metro. No fitness center. Need to go for a long walk to the school bus stop.<br><br>They raise the rent every year drastically. They will not give you the special they offer to the new residents. <br><br>

Current Resident 148180

Resident • 2004 - 2005

maybe you should, maybe you shouldn't

First things first...<br><br>I'll start off with some positives. They charge a reasonable price relative to the area. Maintenance has been prompt whenever we've had problems. The other tenants are decent people, there haven't been any problems there. The building is close to the metro and shops, restaurants, etc. <br><br>If you have problems living with those oh-so-pesky 'ethnic' people like some of these other posters seem to, this will not be your ideal location. yes, there are SEVERAL different cultures living under one roof. Who would've thunk it, especially in an area with a population of over 3 million people?<br><br>now, on to some actual problems. <br><br>Where do I start? <br><br>The hallways, especially on the 1st floor, smell like trash. The fact that there is trash in the hallways sometimes might be the cause of that.<br>The elevators finally work most of the time, but the repair job took two months, during which neither elevator worked. They are mostly fine nowadays, but watch out if it rains, the elevators may shut off unexpectedly. <br>The walls are ultra-thin... you can hear everything going on next door, and sometimes, even above. <br>I'm not sure if this is a problem for all of the units, but for mine, the water pipes are in one of the walls in the master bedroom. If somebody on any floor sharing your pipes is taking a shower, you will know it. This has woke me up several times.<br>And speaking of waking up...<br>There's been construction going on inside and outside of the building for two months now. I wake up every morning (at 7 a.m., sometimes earlier) to the lovely sound of jackhammers, power saws, hammers, you name it. Several residents have asked the property managers several times if they could at least get the workers to calm down and respect the fact that people are paying good money to sleep under their roof. They've told me they'd ask the workers to cut back the louder jobs until 9 a.m. Of course, nothing has actually happened.<br><br>the construction has also cut off access to the pool, game room, gym, and many of the other 'amenities' (calling them that was a stretch to begin with) that the management charges extra for. The halls are full of dust from the construction. Half of the parking lot is cut off, and there are certain doors you can't use during certain times of the day. None of these problems have been reflected by a change in our rent.