Hawthorne Groves (Colonial Properties Trust)
Playing games with my deposit to spite me for moving out

Jeez, where do I begin? I had problems with this apartment complex throughout my lease, but once it came time to turn the unit back over to the company they became exceptionally difficult.

My lease was due to expire on July 5th. I already had another apartment lined up and spoke about vacating early with the manager, Tony. I knew I'd be responsible for rent until my lease was up but my concern was getting my deposit back. Tony reassured me that whenever I turn in the keys and do the walk through inspection (to verify that there is no damage to the unit) that I would receive my deposit no later than 30 days from that date.

I turned in the keys on June 11th but we didn't do the walk through until the morning of July 1st (completely my fault). My total deposit was $975.00, and after agreeing on what damages I needed to pay, we decided I would be refunded $728.78. Tony then promises me I'll have my check in 30 days.

Finally, August 5th comes around and no check. I called Hawthorne Groves to find out what's up with the check and they tell me that the refund was not filed until July 7th (a week later) so that I should receive it by August 7th. Well, I give them until August 15th and then I call back. They tell me the check is lost in the mail and that they will issue me a new one. I verify my new mailing address with them to ensure it's being mailed to the right place.

September 3rd I go to the office personally. Tony is at the office but as soon as he sees me he runs to the back and has a girl run back and forth between us telling each what the other has said. They tell me that their mailing center is in Alabama so that it may take some time to arrive to me. I live in Florida, it doesn't take a month to send mail from Alabama to Florida. I confirm my address with them again because I don't understand why I'm not receiving this check if it's being mailed to me. Once again, they repeat the correct address back to me.

So then the girl runs to the back and she and Tony call the central office (Colonial Properties). The girl comes back and tells me that they'll file an investigation and that once the investigation is completed, they'll issue a new check 45 days from that date. Needless to say, I'm livid.

I demanded a phone number of someone at Colonial Properties. She argued with me that I was not allowed to speak with anyone other than the her. I did not settle for that answer and argued until she finally ran back and got the phone number from Tony.

The next day my girlfriend called Colonial Properties and, after arguing with them, they agreed to cut a new check and overnight it to Hawthorne Groves. I would then have to pick it up at Hawthorne Groves (because obviously something was wrong with my address).

When it all finally got sorted out and I picked up my check on September 10th the address on the check had all of the numbers reversed. I, of course, got really upset because they confirmed the address with me several times.

I contacted the woman back at Colonial Properties and she states that they got the address from Hawthorne Groves. It turns out, just to be spiteful, Tony gave the central office the wrong address just to give me a headache. Everytime I would confirm the address with Hawthorne Groves they would read back my correct address to me, but when I had them call Colonial Properties they would confirm that it was being shipped to the wrong address. I heard Tony when he was on the phone, he asked the woman "what address are you mailing it to?" and then he says "yup, that's their address".

Now, Colonial Properties obviously has an incorrect address on file, but when they read it back to Tony he kept confirming that it was correct. And then they try telling me it'll take 45 days when the woman at Colonial Properties Accounting Department said she can cancel the old check and a cut a new one on the same day. Obviously Tony intended to keep playing games with me.

My advice is to stay away form this place. There are all kinds of hidden fees and they will treat you like dirt if you don't renew your lease. Everytime I had an maintenance issue with the apartment, they had a rebuttal for me about how it's my fault. I never got a single thing fixed with arguing. It was a year of pure hell!

Colonial Properties Trust isn't so bad, they were actually very diligent in resolving my issue. But Hawthorne Groves in particular is just terrible.

Company: Hawthorne Groves (Colonial Properties Trust)
Country: USA
State: Florida
City: Orlando
Address: 204 Hawthorne Groves Blvd. (corner Of Good Homes Rd. And Old Winter Garden Rd. )
Phone: 8666728437

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