Merrimack Landing

Current Resident 305511

Resident • 2007 - 2008

Don't move here

At the time I didnt know any better and the ladies in the office were nice so I filled out an application and moved in. Within months of me moving in I started having a lot of problems with my apartment. Plumbing, bugs, and lack of service. Maint. is bad they come when the they come. I went an entire week this past summer during the hottest days without AC and no one in the office cared. Parking is the worse as well. They spend more time and money planting flowers, trimming bushes than they do updating the apartment that were built in 1941. The only reasons someone would move to Merrick is because they are on Sec 8 or they have no other place to go. Oh, ask about the crime rate. You'll get the "I cant answer that cause of fair housing speach". But, just so you know. I mother killed her baby girl in one of the townhomes across the street from the rental office. Another resident got stabbed on a break-in. And several other residents either had their apartments broken into or their cars. But they don't tell you that when asking about the apartments.

Current Resident 556904

Resident • 2007 - 2008

You get what you pay for

I have been living here for about a year with my husband and three month old son. Yes there are a few problems, but the rent is very cheap compared to the area and its really not that bad. Yes there is lead paint on the walls but the staff tells you that when you move in and its like 10 layers down. So just dont chew on the walls... lol.

Current Resident 106124

Resident • 2006 - 2008

Shocked at what everyone says on here...

My husband and I have lived here for 2 years and never have I had the problems that these people above are saying. The staff are all friendly,and maintance is quick and helpful. No one can see you showering even though there is a window in the shower..it is coated well (trust me, I had my husband check). I haven't seen one rat or had any funky smells. The apartments are pretty nice, old yes but nice. We are warned of possible lead paint because the apartments were built in the 40's and I have had no mold problems, because I keep the place clean. I am a small farm town girl and am out here because of my husband being in the Navy. Our safety is the number one thing I look for, because of being a small town girl, and this place is safe. I can go out at night by myself and feel just fine. Parking isn't a hassle, there is plenty of room. Kids play because they are kids and cars get dented because this is a city and it happens. More than likely dents come from the walmart parking lot more than they come from here. You can't really hear your neighbors that well unless you stick your ear to the wall. But you can hear a tiny tiny bit. Its an apartment what do you except? Sorry for those who listened to the others who bad mouthed this place. It isn't that bad at all!

squelby

Resident • 2008

Needs repair

I am currently living here for 6 months since June 18. I had strange symptoms: i.e. watery eyes, scratchy throat and others. I was seen at Navy medical for mold exposure due to my symptoms. My apt has mold behind the walls, and invisible to the naked eye, in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. I notified the apt after I found an independent company who gave me a free written estimate. The manager acted very helpful and now I am fighting for my health here- much to my surprise. They offered to have me moved yet why would I move when I signed a lease for this apt. I will only relocate, at their expense to another place temporarily- and only to hav ethe work done by professionals. The mgr had maintenance came in and did surface things- yet they are not mold remediation specialists which have the infra-red machines and the moisture meters that located the problems that need remediation. I just want them to fix the problem- even the roof is in bad shape. I need professionals- not just maintenance. It's major specialized work that needs to be done and the apt is still in denial about it. They act like they are doing something yet it just doesn't take the mold away because there is definite moisture, as verified by the moisture meters, in the walls. Oh another thing is my cat lived there, until I took her to live with my family in Texas temporarily, and she was sneezing and got an ear infection after just 6 weeks there. She's perfectly fine now that I got her out of there.

Prospective Resident 398692

Prospect • Visited 2007

there is hope

This is to who wrote about the mold you do have a way out call the hotel/restarant mgmt they give out the bye laws of renters and landlords from what i have read i hope you are sueing this company if you cannot find a lawyer that will handel this for you call the lawers bar they will find you one at no cost i wish your family all the best

Current Resident 594699

Resident • 2007

TEAR THIS PLACE DOWN

THE CITY OF NORFOLK SHOULD HAVE NEVER LET THEM RENT THIS APARTMENT TO PEOPLE THEY SHOULD HAVE THIS PLACE DEMOLISHED I HAVE NEVER BEEN ASHAMED OF WHERE I LIVE UNTIL I MOVED HERE THIS PLACE SUCKS NO CARPET,DISHWASHER AND WHEN YOU TURN THE AIR ON YOU CANT HEAR THE TV ITS SO OLD AND LOUD. THE KIDS KEEP KNOCKING ON DOORS BEGGING MONEY FOR FAKE CHARITY ,WHEN MY FRIENDS ASK ME WHERE I LIVE AND I TELL THEM MERRIMACK LANDING THEY CALL IT THE ---- HOLE . DONT BE FOOLED BY $615.00 PER MONTH

wouldntrecomendtoSATAN

Resident • 2007

BIG RATS! Worst place I've ever lived.

My family and I, four all together have lived here for about 6 months. We moved from a different state and found that rental properties were really expensive so we went cheap and now we're paying for it. Any problems that you have maitenance will come, but its not really fixed its just rigged. About three months after we moved in I had a really bad smell in the kitchen and called maintenance, they insulted me by saying that it might just be the smell of my stuff or possibly the trash that was empty. Days went by and the smell got worse. My husband and I were on the verge of vomiting, stayed up until 2a.m. trying to find the source and figured it must be coming from the exhaust over the stove. The next day we called maintenance again and when they opened the vent a HUGE RAT fell out HE WAS BIGGER THAN MY SMALL DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEN THEY PUT IT IN MY TRASH ( AND ASKED TO USE MYYY TOWEL TO CLEAN UP) IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER HEAT SO THAT I COULD STILL SMELL IT UNTIL TUESDAY TRASH DAY, THIS WAS SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!! The people in the rental office used to be nice, but they are now all new, and rude. The type of tenants have changed, and there are WAY too many people hanging out day and night. Although cheap it is NOT close to any decent shopping areas. The paint is horrible, you can barely put a tac in the wall to hang anything, the water smells funny, people can see you bathing through the bathroom window. .... AND THE FLIES OMG!!! They are probably from all the dead rats and rodents in the trash cans. YOU CAN HEAR EVERYYYYTHING your neighbors say and do... eeew. Parking is super sucky, some kids scratched the letter p on my car, I several dings on my once nice car because of carlessness when people open their doors. They have a washer hook up but no appropriate outlet for dryers and their dryers are FUNKY AND STANK... so unless you want your clothes to smell bad and be covered in other peoples hair and pet hair don't use them.... also the main playground has painted equipment that is painted just as well as the apartments.. .crappy. The stove and refrigirator look like kid or midget appliances. We keep being harrassed my notes saying they are going to charge us $15.00 for not pulling our trash cans to the back, when we do. The air conditioning barely gets upstairs because it's sooo old. The air is dry and there is RUST in my shower. SOOOO many things are bad about this place... the government should use it for target practice and just blow it up since its so close the the base. Reconsider if you think about renting here, you will regret it.

Current Resident 331879

Resident • 2007

Confirmed TOXIC MOLD, Asbestos and lead paint!!!

We moved in after getting married and after only two weeks of living in the apartment we started having severe health problems. My husband had to go to the ER 9 TIMES IN A MONTH!!! He had the worst symptoms ranging from headaches ,excessive vomiting , diarrhea , nosebleeds, slurred speech , loss of motor abilities , memory problems ,weightloss ,night sweats ,subnormal temp and fatigue. I had a skin rash I STILL can't get rid of , trouble breathing , chest pains , sneezing coughing , running nose and fatigue etc. (Symptoms vary from person to person.) After his 9th trip to the ER I got fed up and was trying to figure out why my husband seemed like he was being slowly poisoned. I had noticed a patch located in the living room that seemed very odd it looked like a bad repair job on some type of water damage. It had just been slathered with drywall and repainted. I cut a hole in the ceiling where the patch was located it was COVERED in black mold!!!!I sealed the hole with a trash bag and duct tape shut off the a/c and immediately moved me and my husband out that same night into a hotel.Next morning we notified the manager that we would like a mold test run and that we had removed a piece of the ceiling. Nothing was done but them repatching the hole!!!So I called a remediation and testing company. When they came out it cost $1230.00 of our own money. All the manager was concerned about was lead exposure which was already a problem due to the paint they use which peels off in the summer. While awaiting test results and still living in a hotel out of pocket I received a voicemail from the manager telling me that there is abestos in the apartment and not to re-enter it!!! I asked her what she would do about providing us with a place to stay she replied "nothing at this time has been confirmed I must speak with the owner in regards to the asbestos." I ran out of money and became literally homeless my husband is military and we reported everything to his cheif. We were able to get temporary barracks but we still had to pay. It was confirmed that there are asbestos tiles in the ceilings but not where we cut like it makes a difference where it is!!! That was not disclosed in my lease ANYWHERE!!! Then I received a copy of the mold addendum located on the last page of the lease stating basically the it was my fault because I didn't clean it!!! How do you clean something inside the wall you can't see!!! If we didn't comply we would be evicted!!! My test results came back positive for black molds (stachybotrys) in my living room and bedroom!!! It was possibly caused by not properly repairing the leak which may have been caused by the gutter at some point backing up into the wall!!! There was also a number of other molds throughout my apartment one being Aspergillus/Penicillium. My husband is deathly allergic to penicillin however his symptoms are identical to toxic black molds. When these results came back and was reported the management there was a whole different tune. Suddenly they wanted to provide us with another unit. Of course I refused because at this point all of my belongings are biohazard furniture , clothing , & shoes to say the least why would I want to live in another unit and without furniture and appliances. I've lost all of my sentimentals my wedding dress , pictures etc. I am still awaiting answers to my questions asked last week regarding us still having to pay rent in an unhabitable place that I'm not living in , are they going to replace my belongings (mold is covered by some not all insurance companies and the ones who do cover it it is seperate from renters insurance. In my case the insurance company does not offer it and it's not covered under my contents do to it being the apartments fault they are liable.) will I be re-paid for all of the hotels , clothes , food and other necessary cost to live that would not have been necessary had this not happened etc. I am very lucky that I am not having to file a wrongful death suit.It was determined that my husband could have died had we stayed.His symptoms cleared up within a week of leaving there. We did not have children but PLEASE especially if you have children elderly , or even animals living with you do not move here because it can be catastrophic to them. It may be close to base and be cheap for young couples like ourselves but , trust me it's not worth it.I still can't break my lease because of my belongings still being in there. I can't find a apartment or rental house that will lease to us without us breaking the ohter lease nor could I afford it since i'm still paying rent and utilities at that death trap I once thought was home. We are in between having to stay with friends and in our car. Trying to find a lawyer that can even take on this case is hard to find. I know we are not the only ones with these problems just probably the only ones to tke serious actions against lawson realty. Just fyi If ound that Merrimack landing alone had 6,246,325 dollars in 2003 provided by the government for repairs among other loans someone isliving nice but it's certainly not the tenants of Merrimack Landing!!! It is at your own risk whether or not you decide to live here but in my opinion it should be torn down!!! Please visit www.saleensolutions.com/Important Facts About Your Health.htm for full discription of health problems.

Current Resident 785207

Resident • 2006 - 2007

run away!!!

The parking is terrible we received decals that are supposed to take of the probolem it hasnt. There is not much noise, the grounds are kept nice but the apartments suck!! The walls look like Ray Charkes splattered them, it's lacquer paint over lead base paint which is a disaster, instead of being really smart and removing the lead paint they tried to cover it which made it look worse. The walls sweat in the summer and the plant bubbles. In the colder months mold grows and you can't do anything about it cause there's a mold add in the lease. Small closet for a bathroom. The only good thing is the location close to base, i-64 and the beach that's it.

Current Resident 238260

Resident • 2005 - 2007

I would not reccommend this community. The staff is very rude and very unhelpful. I thought that when we moved in everything was great, then they had a change in manager and it had gone down hill. There is always trash out on the landscaping. Cars speed in the parking lot and the office will not do anything about it cause they do not care.

Current Resident 324312

Resident • 2006 - 2007

Old with no storage

No dishwasher or normal sized closets. pest problem.

brandienay

Resident • 2001 - 2003

I miss it

great staff, quick matience, fun neighbors, close to everything, i loved my apartment there!