Where do I start when revisiting the memory of The Park Apartments? (near the U of M campus) Perhaps I could start at how they tricked us into renting an apartment we couldn't afford? Or an unexplained fire? Or vandalism? But, I think will start at one of the first major things they ever did to upset my family and I.
When we moved into our apartment we asked the landlords if it would be ok for us to live there once our child was born, they said yes. A couple weeks after our baby was born we were given a letter saying our apartment was not lead safe and we had to move. Not only was this bad enough, but we had to move up 5 flights of steps with no elevator. I had just given birth and had to haul stuff up the steps. We were given no choice. This also is an example of how they communicated; they hid behind their notes that were cowardly slipped underneath your door.
Well, we decided to get out of The Park Apartments because we no longer trusted them and we needed a bigger apartment. We gave them notice but were told we were 1 day late in giving them notice. We couldn't move to any apartments that they didn't own. We found a bigger apartment that was well out of our price range, but took it anyways.
We had decided not to pay the $60 to park in the unpaved, unlit parking lot because it didn't seem worth it. Eventually we did because we got sick of spending many hours looking for parking spots; and what we thought were gang members were damaging cars. We eventually went back to parking on the street when not even the cars in the lot were protected from these vandals. The landlords didn't even care vehicles were damaged on their property.
I wish this was all I had to say, but it's not. Our neighbor's had an unexplained fire that frightened us all; and they conveniently forgot to slip us our rent paid affidavit underneath our door. When we asked for it we had to pay $20 for it because we supposedly lost it. One afternoon (before their office was supposed to close) the front door of the building wouldn't open. We called and called but no answer. We eventually paid for a locksmith because the back staircases are steep and dangerous. They refused to reimburse us. We were out more money due to their greed.
Then there was the young mother who lived below us. Her electricity stopped working one wintry night. She had no heat and lighting. The electric company could do nothing without permission and our landlords had no after hours numbers to call.
Then one day we found out the buildings had been split between the children of the man who had owned the property. He had died and left it to his children. The one woman I actually liked that worked there didn't seem to take it too well. I would call and ask to speak to her and her brother would tell me I wasn't allowed to speak to her and she and I had no choice in the matter. That scared me beyond words. One day she was out in the parking lot, that she no longer owned, fighting with another girl over a man. They were screaming and hitting each other. She told the other girl to leave "her" property. The funny thing is was that it wasn't even her property anymore.
I could go on, but I think that this gives a pretty good idea of what The Park Apartments is like. Don't move there unless you like being swindled and scared.
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