Inspire Atlanta — Attraction in Atlanta

Inspire charged me a $500 fee for moving out early, a fee I very strongly believe is in violation of my lease.

The lease that I signed notes that there is a $500 relet fee for early move-outs to cover the costs of them finding a new tenant, but has a section explicitly stating that the relet fee is not to be charged if tenants find an approved replacement tenant themselves (which I did). When I appealed this fee, I was not given any justification for why it was charged despite this exception in the lease. But I was still told it would not be refunded unless I pursued legal action—Inspire effectively withdrew money from my bank account for a reason that seems, to me, to have been made-up, and is now trying to use the burdensome nature of legal action to make me let them keep it even though they cannot explain why it is legitimate.

If anyone else was charged this fee, you may not be aware that your lease does not allow it—I encourage you to check, as you, too, may be able to take legal action to recover it. But unless Inspire can provide a resolution to this issue before I have to do so (in which case I will gladly delete this review), I encourage prospective residents to think deeply about whether they truly want to live at a place that may, at random, remove money from their bank account and refuse to return it because they know it's hard for you to retaliate.

Additionally, prospective residents should be aware of the following things I noticed during my 3 years here:

• While maintenance was otherwise good about responding to issues promptly, in one rather egregious incident, they caused my toilet to overflow and flooded my bathroom with contaminated water. They did nothing to clean this extremely hazardous mess. I was shocked that this was seen as an acceptable level of care.

• A building-wide key fob issue left numerous residents locked out of the building last August; I personally was stranded in the summer heat waiting almost two hours for security (who refused to even estimate when they'd arrive) because it was outside leasing office hours when I first was affected by this issue.

• Noise levels in the building were a constant issue. The vents outside my unit would repeatedly open and slam shut in the wind, creating loud banging noises that could reach up to 80dB (measured from my bed) and disrupt my sleep or work at any hour. Several residents have complained to the leasing office and I don't think they ever resolved this. I could also hear every event at Bobby Dodd at nearly full volume.

• The pool is only 3ft deep at most, unheated, and usually filthy, making it effectively unusable. The saunas, to my knowledge, were nonfunctional for the entirety of my stay.

• The elevators are slow, sometimes taking several minutes to arrive, and inspections appear to be out of date on the one nearest to my unit, which is a safety hazard too.

• The high rating this building has is extremely inflated because they incentivize reviews after tours from people who never lived here; look at the reviews from past residents and they tell a very different story.

I had a lot of things about this building that were already annoying, but directly and brazenly stealing my money is over the edge. I hope this review helps others make an informed decision about living here, a decision I certainly wish...

Living at Inspire has been one of the most disappointing and frustrating experiences I’ve ever had with housing. Please, if you’re considering living here, think twice.

Their processes are painfully slow, they constantly go back on their word, and they hide behind the phrase “everything is subject to change” whenever they mess something up. For example: my original apartment assignment was not honored because of an employee’s mistake, and instead of simply moving me (which they easily could have done, since assignments are “subject to change”), I spent WEEKS chasing them down with calls, emails to corporate, and endless follow-ups before they finally fixed it. That should have been handled right away.

Most recently, my roommate and I were assigned a parking spot, had the passes, and were set on the floor we wanted. With their new garage system, they reissued passes with updated barcodes, but when I went to pick mine up, I was told our spot “may have changed.” Why? Because THEY deleted a spreadsheet and, instead of reaching out to residents to confirm assignments, they just used whatever records they had left. The inabilities to problem solve in a way that puts their residents first is deeply disappointing. So we lost the spot we had been given months earlier and were placed on another floor. When I asked for it to be honored, the front desk told me unless it’s an “emergency,” they wouldn’t change it because it’s “a lot of moving pieces.” In other words, they mess up, but won’t put in the effort to fix it.

To make matters worse, Inspire has a habit of tacking on hidden charges at the end of your stay. I was billed $100, $50 for damages $50 for "deep cleaning". The "damages was one small chip on the wall from regular ware and tear that happens when you live in an apartment. In addition, when I moved back into the exact same apartment and NOTHING looked deep cleaned. After pushing back, I got the cleaning charge removed, but only because I fought it, and I still am trying to fight this damages charge. This is a pattern of nickel-and-diming students who often don’t have the time or energy to dispute things.

Yes, the staff themselves are friendly and this is nothing against individual members and they are not solely responsible for this. But the system is broken, the excuses are constant, and the technicalities they lean on feel like they’re taking advantage of college students who might not question it. It’s exhausting and ethically questionable.

If you do choose to live here, get everything in writing, record conversations if you can, and never assume they’ll honor what they told you. Honestly, though? Save yourself the stress and...

Inspire was a great deal and was very nice when I moved in, but it became worse over the course of my lease. I referred Inspire to 7 friends who all ended up signing a lease, and I see myself as a very considerate tenant.

Less than a month after move-in, they were asking me to sign for next year at a rate $150/mo more than my current rent. I reached out in December about leasing my room again but discovered they had already leased it to someone else a month earlier.

The utilities were originally advertised as $30-40 to most residents. However, my normal utilities cost is over $60, and just before writing this, they emailed all residents saying they have been undercharging us for utilities, so the price would be increasing even more.

24/7 access to amenities was advertised, but a restriction was placed due to parties happening on the weekends. This restriction is a curfew of 10 p.m. and a fine of $250 for anyone found using the amenities past then.

Overall, they advertised a best case scenario to sign as many rooms away as possible.

Update: My points still stand. College students generally don't know exact plans 11 months in advance, so the October 29th deadline was ridiculous. Also, that makes my regular utility costs over $67/mo (which is right around the prices other tenants pay for utilities, so it isn't just my usage).

Update (way later): It is a nice apartment complex (the gym was kind of small). My rent ($1025) and a sublease made last year equivalent to living in NAV in terms of price because of the deals I got, so it was 110% worth it.

However, I got left after they said they were going to raise my rent so much. For basically the same rent as what Inspire told me this year, I am at the Standard with a much better management experience so far plus a better gym, better pool deck, and TV with Roku. The utilities are cheaper, too. You just have to weigh what you are paying for, and I think I have done really well so...