Bell Alpharetta — Attraction in Alpharetta

Review Update (August 2019) The level of dysfunction at this apartment complex continues to baffle me... read these two examples over the past month: (1) A message was sent out by management on August 5, 2019. The summary point is that for 850 residents, the apartment complex is going to require everyone to go get a cashier's check from their bank, or a money order from Western Union to pay their rent. What kind of real management company has such an asinine system?!? Obviously, the company could not CARE LESS about resident inconvenience. Here's the message: "Starting August 8th, we be upgrading our software system and your current resident portal will no longer be active. During this transition you will not be able to pay rent, submit service requests or view your account online. Any payments starting August 8th will need to be submitted in certified funds via cashier’s check or money orders. We hope to have the system fully active by the end of the month so that you can resume online payments in time for September rent payments. At that time you will receive an invitation to register for your new resident portal account." (2) I sent a message to management to notify them that I would be moving out early and never heard back with confirmation of receipt. When I sent a follow up message check on the receipt, I received 3 DIFFERENT emails from 3 different management representatives. None of the email communications clearly state processes, or procedures for the early move out. Literally a management company's job is to do one MAIN THING facilitate the move in and move out of residents. The parent company and management of this complex is absolutely DYSFUNCTIONAL.

Original Review (April 2019) First the positive, the staff that work at Avery at Northwinds is fantastic. I can’t say enough about the positive experience I have had interacting in person with anyone here.

Now, the negatives...the complex is owned and run by a corporate real estate holding company that is disconnected to what constitutes a good user experience. For someone who currently lives here, it took me one month to figure out the things that need improvement, and rather than the management company making any positive improvements to the resident experience...there has only been negative changes.

First, they changed to the WORLD’S WORST billing management system, APEX Billing Solutions, LLC. This was a pointless, frustrating move for residents, and the only reason from my perspective was for management to nickel and dime me out of money that wasn’t part of my original contract. Added bill fee, check, added ‘convenience charge’ to pay online, check (why the hell do you call a new fee a convenience fee? That just pisses me off, call it what it is, a service charge, I’m not an idiot.)

The trash dumpers are almost always full and disgusting. Empty them more often, and put security cameras out to fine residents that are leaving their garbage everywhere.

Lastly, it is SUPER OBVIOUS that corporate does not empower the staff here to do their job effectively for things such as maintenance. Exterior lights have been all over my building, and trash has been left in the hallways when unit upgrades are being completed, and while corporate touts all kinds of upgrades coming, these are obvious example of improvements to the complex that should be done now.

Instead of sending out pointless mass, property-wide ‘courtesy reminders’ about things like, keeping your porch clean, or throwing your trash in the dumpster, or don’t leave things in the hallways...just tell the people at fault, fine them, and take care of it. The only people reading ‘courtesy reminders’ are folks like me that already care and are doing the right thing.

Note to management: feel free to comment on this post to fulfill any public relations obligations, but there’s not a need to...

WARNING - DO NOT RENT HERE Unit flooded 2x, no repairs after 75 days, 3 big holes in ceiling, no rent refund, then they put out $124.33 utility bill to debt collections. See email overview below. Lived here for 18 months, then moved out. There are much better places to rent.

March 9, 2023 Bell Alpharetta Team, We would like to terminate our lease early for 48012 Gardner Drive and move out the week of April 10th. 75 days have passed since the unit flooded on 12/24/22, and repairs have not been completed.

UNIT STATUS: Ceiling has three large holes (2 ft diameter each) Ceiling continues to peel off onto our furniture Baseboards are not fixed Carpet doesn't have padding Carpet tacks are exposed Dusty and irritates the skin

Our family with two young kids is paying full rent of $2,486 monthly for these conditions.

TIMELINE: On Christmas Eve (12/24/22), while we were on vacation, freezing temperatures caused the sprinkler pipes to burst, affecting apartment 17 units, including our unit on the first floor

When we returned from vacation that Saturday night (12/31/22), furniture was moved and personal items misplaced; the unit was being dried out with multiple dehumidifiers, peeled-back carpet, etc.

We as Tenant emailed on 1/3/23 (first day after holiday) asking for an explanation, when the repairs will be done, and if there was any remedy. Bell Alpharetta as Landlord said it was not their fault, no financial remedy, and that the repairs would be made

During Jan-23, we were notified by the Landlord that they needed to have the sprinkler system fixed before units could be repaired.

1/24/23 (1 month after flooding), last proactive communication, Landlord emailed that the fire sprinkler company had not completed all of their repairs or released Landlord from fire watch

2/11/23, we as Tenant chased Landlord by email for update, "It's been 49 days since the apartment flooding. We still have 3 big holes in the ceiling and the carpet needs to be replaced. What date will this fixed, please?" Landlord replied same day, "...we are in the final stages of getting repair plans finalized. We are expecting to receive these confirmations any given day now."

No reply since 2/11/23, including when Tenant chased Landlord on 2/19/23, "We got ceilings peeling off daily."

REASONS TO BREAK LEASE: Landlord failed to repair the unit. It's been 75 days since the flooding, as of 3/9/23

Full rent being charged monthly with holes in the ceilings, no paddings for carpet etc. and no reasonable person would rent this unit with $2,486 per month under these conditions, while Landlord claimed this is “not unhabitable” and “we just need to get them fixed” (email quotes from 1/3/23 from Landlord).

Landlord failed to use all channels to communicate the original issue. Only called and tried to leave a voicemail. Did not text or email either of the tenants

Landlord failed to communicate regularly and proactively with the tenant on the necessary repairs and timeline to complete

TENANT REQUESTS:

1. Early lease termination without any penalty or charge of any reletting fee

2. Full release from the lease in its entirety, including any future rent and other lease obligations

3. Full return of the deposit

4. Refund rent for March and rent concession for April until move-out, or a comparable financial remedy

We have been quality tenants for 1.5 years. This is the second time the unit has flooded. We are not looking for any financial remedy beyond the above-mentioned. We hope to have a quick resolution without legal action so that we can move out and you can repair the unit (which process will be extremely intrusive, especially for us, a family with young children) for the...

Relatively clean environment, quiet, and conveniently placed. Never had trouble with the maintenance, but I've had to call them before to fix the same issue twice - no big deal. Only three stars because I wanted to do 2.5; they're definitely not the worst place in the world, but they're not the "luxury" they advertise as.

For instance, I pay $1200 and my appliances are utter garbage. The disposal in the kitchen has to be ran much longer than any other apartment disposal I've had, the washer is not HE - top loaded and requires powdered detergent. It also does NOT run when I select the "hot water" option. The dryer has to be run twice on "high heat" to fully dry clothes, and then they've shrunk. 3-4 times on "low heat". Point being APPLIANCES ARE WAY TOO OLD FOR "LUXURY". (My younger brother rented an apartment that has HE washer/dryer, fridge, dishwasher, Google Fiber, and Nest Thermostat - For a 2 bedroom apt only 5 miles away he's paying 1000).

My other gripe is that when I signed the lease, I was told water/sewer/trash was included. If by "included" they meant I'd have to pay another 50 bucks on top of my rent, then sure, but in actuality ""included" means the rent covers all of that. I was told numerous times that the only things I needed to pay were rent, power, and internet. Which brings me to my next issue: Be prepared to have Comcast/Xfinity. No one else serves the area (RIP to cell service if you use AT&T).

Now, for the reason I write the review now, i.e. my breaking point. I have a bird feeder. I'm not the only person in the complex with a bird feeder (hell, the apartment abut to me has one - I can see it). I get a call with someone in the office asking me to stop feeding the birds because the seed is falling onto the balcony of the apartment below me - which, if the apartment was occupied, I would be cool with. I'd stop or move the feeder because that's the neighborly thing to do. BUT. The apartment below me is strictly a model apartment, as in NO ONE LIVES THERE. So the call in the office was to tell me to stop doing what others in the complex do because they have to show the model apartment and it "looks a bit messy". The woman also didn't want to explicitly tell me to stop, she waited for me to bring up the possibility, which I didn't do. When she realized I wasn't going to play the game with her, she flat out told me to stop. When I showed resistance to that idea, she then told me to MOVE the feeder - but maintenance doesn't come out and drill extra hooks in for you (I guess it's not "luxurious" work), so I'd be expected to do that myself too... And you can bet I'd be charged for that upon move out. I don't recall anything in my lease saying that bird feeders were prohibited (and my leasing agent absolutely okayed it when I asked), and since others have one I can only assume that it's completely allowed in the community... Just not for me because of where my apartment happens to be situated. I was livid after the call, which is what prompted the review.

It's quiet here, mostly - you won't hear your neighbors unless they're bumping some tunes and even then only the bass line. I've never had roaches or water issues, but I still got 6 months on the lease, so we'll see. As of right now it's 2.5 stars rounded up to three. Very unsatisfied with this...