For 5 months in we rented a lovely 3 bedroom apartment in this well-advertised gated complex, which is on Baseline Road and 46th Street in Phoenix. Rent was a little high, but we liked it and it was very close to my husband's work. The grounds seemed nice and parking was fairly easy (not marked). Our front door opened onto a kind of greenbelt area and we made friends with several neighbors across "the way."
After about a month, new neighbors moved in upstairs. Actually, more like an extended family, we saw after a few weeks. First were a mom, maybe her sister, and her two 8-9 year old kids. No problem - we had to ask them politely a couple of times not to hold gymnastic meets over our heads at 10pm, however. They seemed friendly and understanding.
A couple of weeks later came the young males, 5-6 of them (although we could not keep track as the faces seemed the change every week); probably high school age and into young 20s. Oh boy. For nearly 3 weeks, we endured what sounded like a herd of HUGE angry elephants - for days we all lost sleep - my 10 year old was awakened 3-4 times nightly (mostly on school nights!)- there was dog urine dripping down from their balcony onto ours (they had a Rottweiler - a restricted breed in the complex, supposedly!)...
Finally, we respectfully asked them to tone it down, especially on week nights. The boys also seemed to understand and stopped — but for one night only! We dealt with this for almost a week and then requested that management speak to them. Again, silence for 1-2 days... But then came the parties! Up and down the stair the herds would stomp; marijuana fumes would enter any open window; drunk teens were all over the place - and "mom?" was nowhere to be found. The young kids were, though.
My husband, who worked nights then, finally, a bit more assertively asked them to be a little more quiet and tried to explain his schedule and the problems with sleep our daughter was having, etc. Again, lipservice...
Now, readers must know that we are VERY easy going, tolerant, good neighbors. We had NEVER experienced this kind of noise from ANYONE we had lived near. So... Please know, as you continue to read, that we are not persnicketty (sp?) jerks who complain about others if we can hear their music or TV. That said:
FINALLY, we called the "Onsite Foot Patrol" guards that were around the complex at night. We made formal complaint with them and showed them the problem (had them come in a hear for themselves). They suggested we appeal again to management. Unfortunately, my husband became angry one sleep-deprived evening he had off and called management begging them to help, being a bit too forceful with his "demand" they act "or [he] will come to the office and let them have it..." Just anger - not a threat, please understand. Know this: we had called the office for assistance with this over a dozen times by now.
We received a call back from management the next day requesting a meeting. When we walked up to the office, a Police Officer aked if my husband was [his name], and walked us into the office! The management had told the Officer that my husband made physical threats against the staff!!!
The Officer listened to us for about 20 minutes and left, saying only that my husband needed to be more careful in how he worded demands. The meeting went on with management remaining unwilling (unbelieving) to act on our behalf with these out-of-control tenants above us. So, we requested to move to another comparable apartment. Surprise! None were available. We tentatively agreed to take a 2 bedroom unit; but we were not allowed to see if first. Right.
In the mean time, (and to make an already very long story shorter), we endured escalting violence by the folks above us. They cornered me alone in the parking lot and threatened to "hurt" my husband. Dog feces were thrown onto my daughter's windows. Overt threats were made to my husband: "we need to take this to the streets to settle up, Homes..." All incidents were reported to the night Guards. Management was silent.
We gave legal notice (quoting Arizona Statutes), and terminated our lease early. We moved out. But, guess what we found in our mailbox 8 MONTHS LATER: a collection notice for $1,980.70 from "Collections U.S.A., Inc." of Glendale, AZ!!! Needless to say, I have sent letters of dispute to both Brookstone and the collection company. We will see what happens!
IN SUM: watch it with these highly advertised, great deal, "communities." They are often not at all what they seem. We were literally afraid for our safety and our daughter's emotional welfare. Still, the management retaliates. We have since heard of other deplorable incidents in Brookstone since we left. From a family glad to be out of there!
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