I am a former resident of Regatta Bay Apartments in Annapolis, Maryland. The complex of about 248 apartments was sold in the summer of last year to a company called Stellar Management, operating at multiple location on the East Coast.
[for the record; Regatta Bay is managed by a different company than Stone Point Apartments directly across the street]
The company purchased the apartments and although they knew they were going to convert the apartments into condominiums (they included their intentions in documentation at the time of sale) they did not inform the tenants of their intentions. They managed the apartments for about 6 months until a news reporter called the apartment complex to ask if they had notified their tenants of their intention to convert the apartments. Their jig was up and they sent out a letter to the apartment residents of their plans but, for some, the short notice was difficult to handle. (I am not going to tell you who tipped the new reporter, you can guess that one)
They finally sent out a formal offer to the existing apartment tenants of their plans, including an offer letter with a "discounted" rate for purchase. The discounted rate for the purchase was at least $70,000 more than what they paid just under 6 months before... Without any renovations.
They purchased the apartment complex for an average of $200,000 per unit. I was in the 2nd to the smallest unit at 675 square feet, a one bedroom. Some of the larger apartments are almost twice that size and were put on the market by their company for $375-$400,000 (again, within months of their purchase).
Their offer to me was $243,000, unrenovated, as is and non-negotiable. So, my options were to either pony up the $243K or a single bedroom apartment in a complex I'd lived in since they were built or get out.
Well, I thought to myself. O.K. The Fed is raising interest rates, the economy is slowing down, they aren't offering to make any renovations to the unit, they clearly said "not negotiable" to their price, they just paid an average of $200K for the units and, based on square footage, paid about $175K for my unit.
I submitted an offer of $220K for the unit, based on my review of the market, my discussions with local Real Estate People, My review of the Multiple Listings on the largest MPLS service in the Region, my discussions with other tenants and my knowledge of the Fed's Planned Interest Rate Hikes.
They, again, made it very clear that they didn't care how long I was in the unit, whether or not it was my home or about any other details. Buy or Get Lost.
So, I submitted my letter of intent to vacate to their corporate office in Rockville. The same receptionist, same address and same representatives as the corporate office of the rental office employees. I even e-mailed the notice directly to their director of Operations. After about 3 weeks, I received an e-mail back saying that I was required to file the letter with their "leasing agents".
My lease had ended and I didn't have a contract with them and my old lease said that I just need to send a letter to the company. At that point they told me that my 30 days notice would not be good until I gave it to the rental office. Even after I submitted the letter to the leasing agent, they then said I would need to send it to the Corporate office. I basically got the runaround for about a month and couldn't reach anyone at the company who would take any responsibility for the issue.
I have about 5 more small issues with their company but won't bother you with them... Except for ONE MORE GOOD ONE. After I moved out of their complex and sent them the bill for the move, I received a letter in the mail telling me that my security deposit was used up because of the 30 day notice issue and, on top of that, they were charging me for "spot cleaning" on a carpet that... They are going to replace as part of their mandatory renovation. So, basically they just wanted to steal another $50 from me before I hit the road.
Yesterday, June 12th, over a 40 days after my move, I received an e-mail from their company telling me that they tried to mail me a letter but it was returned. Guess where they sent the letter... Yep... To the apartment address that I DIDN'T LIVE IN ANYMORE. If anyone should know that it is them.
Overall, this company is COMPLETELY INCAPABLE of managing apartments and I can only imagine all the issues, lack of responses and headaches I would have if I decided to over-pay for their unit.
I can only hope that people who do buy the units record everything they do. I am very confident that they will have legal issues in the future.
Good Luck to them.
After bringing it to their attention that they were stealing from me, they did offer to refund the money they were scraping from my security deposit... Illegally.
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