The Commons at Olentangy — Attraction in Columbus

I have lived here for a year and a half. I would NOT recommend to anyone.

The empty unit above me was robbed a couple weeks ago by outside contractors the Commons hired to turn over the unit (washer+drier were stollen in the middle of the night). I reported it to the leasing office and police. I even IDed one of the guys that did it with a photo shown to me by a leasing manager, so they knew exactly who it was.

I had ongoing issues last fall from the water drain in the HVAC closet backing up and flooding the unit for 2 months. During that time, I spoke with the leasing manager Mikella, who lied to my face and said that the maintenance team was hired and managed by an outside company and not the Commons. I had to threaten escrow to get any real traction with getting things done (know your tenant rights), and I even sent certified letters to the leasing office as well as the owner company, GoldOller (who are based out of Phillie btw, so they don't care about what happens here in Cbus). I had to use my own wet vac to clean the majority of the flooding as it was happening because there are no after hours emergency maintenance staff available, only a VM line. It was a terrible experience. I was never offered any compensation for my troubles, only continued promises of fixing the problems, which again, took a full 2 months.

I've had repeated leaking issues with my windows and patio door. The windows are old, but the patio door is brand new. I've submitted a half dozen requests since I moved in to address the leaking, and I'm still dealing with it. The patio still leaks, and my bedroom window lets in bugs (including a swarm of flying ants).

Any issues you report, the leasing office completely wash their hands of it and throw the maintenance team under the bus. Meanwhile, they underpay the poor guys and say they can't find anyone that wants to work. There are 800 units in this complex, and they only have 3 maintenance workers. They're required to hit a certain quota of requests completed per day or they get in trouble. Quality of service doesn't matter: they're forced to do the bare minimum in order to close out requests or face the consequences and potentially lose their jobs.

My old AC unit was a mishmash of parts from decades apart (HVAC contractors said that it should never have been installed the way it was in the first place). It iced over inside and outside, causing more leaking. It was finally replaced a few weeks ago, but it is extremely weak, I'm guessing because it's a cheap unit. And yes, I've submitted service requests and had it looked at and been told there isn't a problem, which makes me very nervous for when the weather really gets hot in the coming days/weeks. It can't even keep the temp below 74 degrees inside when it's 70 degrees outside.

The AI tool for the leasing office phone is absolutely horrible. Getting through to a real person is a shot in the dark, and the AI assistant doesn't flag messages correctly (ex: I called and left an after hrs VM about the robbery from earlier, and it didn't flag it to the leasing staff). I shouldn't have to know what keywords to use in order to get the assistance I need reliably.

The rent is too expensive. Why am I paying so much when the office won't even staff and compensate their maintenance team equitably to address issues? Why don't we have 24 hr maintenance when I'm paying $1300+ a month for a unit that needs regular repairs and upkeep because it was built 50 years ago? Why do I have to pay $50 a month per cat in pet rent when I've already paid a security deposit that can cover costs for unit damages? Why am I paying an amenities fee when the amenities are so poor (pool was closed off/on all summer 2024, volleyball court got torn up, when they have food trucks come by you still have to pay for the food, etc)? What does my money actually go towards; profits for the owners?

Do not move here. It's not worth it.

EDIT 5/8/25: Best maintenance guy quit because the leasing office treats the team so bad. DO...

See edit at bottom:

Welcome to the insanity! In case you’re considering moving here, don’t waste your time researching: I’ve got all the information you’d ever want to know right here. This is the most unsafe neighborhood I’ve ever lived in, and they don’t do anything to provide security, so no rules! The parking lots are free for all: free parking, and free cars if you’re willing to get your hands dirty. That’s right! My car was broken into twice and stolen once, and nothing gets done. With lack of security, you can have free range over any vehicle of your choice. If you like being woken up at 5 in the morning after being forced to stay up past midnight listening to whoever, then this is the place for you! Make all the noise you want here because they won’t do anything! Party all day and all night because noise complaints don’t exist here! They work with an electric company that charges criminally high prices. So if you love big bills, then join the fun! There is dog crap everywhere all the time. Don’t worry about leashes either, dogs can roam as they please and go where they desire. Oh! They also are welcome to attack other tenants. Yep, for the price of nothing, you can too be attacked as you walk back to your apartment in the dark from your car! They threaten to fine people here for noise and mess, but they actually don’t, so you can totally ignore the threatening emails. Still incredibly noisy and messy everywhere. There’s always shattered glass in the parking lots. So feel free to leave trash wherever. Dumpsters are optional. :) Guns, fireworks, and dumpsters fires are the pièce de résistance of this whole experience for us. So feel free to practice your second amendment right out in the open. If you’re a flexible, in-the-moment kinda person, then definitely consider it. They claim they give 24 hour notice, but they don’t! So spontaneous! Employees can enter without notice, they can tow your car for you just for fun. Ever want a place that has absolutely 0 amenities? Finally! You found it! Don’t be fooled, the pool is just an illusion. It’s closed pretty much the entirety of the summer. (It’s a trick for the fools that actually want a pool, but it’s really non existent) The gym? What gym? Ohhh the building with a few broken equipment pieces and the bathrooms that are overrun with used toilet paper and no handsoap? So don’t worry, it looks like they have nice amenities, but realllllly, it’s just all for show. You’ll get no amenities, don’t you worry! Helicopter parents, are you worried? Never fret, this place has someone driving around in a pumpkin just waiting to bust those meddling kids. (And by meddling kids we mean people just trying to get out of here..) Sound enticing? That’s only the half of it…

In all seriousness I’ve been waiting for months to post this and was still going to wait until we moved out, because I fear what they’ll do… At this point though, I need others to hear my story and know the truth. I can’t sit back and let others be put through this horror that we’ve lived. I’m sorry for anyone else that’s experienced similar things here, you deserve better.

Edit: I’m guessing they finally got me back. Hundreds of dollars charged for things they couldn’t elaborate to us or prove with sending us pictures. $85 for a stain? Doesn’t it cost $12 for stain remover at Kroger..?? $75 for blinds??? The same cheap ones on Amazon for $22???? Make it make sense, Commons…it’s been 2 months and they’re still sending us charges. RUN.

Expect EVERY dime to be drained from you. When someone moves out, they always replace the carpets and blinds for cleanliness purposes.. But what they DONT tell you is that they’re going to charge YOU for the carpet replacement after you move out. No matter how clean it is during your stay. All I have to say for anyone living there: good freaking luck… and hope you find an extra couple hundred bucks lying around when you move out.. otherwise you’re...

They do not want to spend any money on repairs or replacing broken appliances or things that have any kind of cost.. Here were our issues: The 25 year old fridge gasket broke and the door would not close. A maintenance man couldn’t fix it and reported we broke it (we didn't) and we were told we had to pay $600 for a new fridge, or else they would not replace it until we left and we would be charged the cost of the fridge. When we turned in a notice to vacate form, they sent a rep over the next day with no 24 hour notice, in order to take pictures of out apartment. After, we were hit with 3 violations, including a $150 fine for a grill, which was not a grill. It was an electric kitchen appliance covered with a grill cover so it would not get wet. They spent 3 weeks trying to fix a broken central air conditioner and were in 2 and 3 times a week because they didn’t want to spend the money on a new HVAC. Excessive entry to an apartment to fix an issue and not fixing it is considered illegal. 2 weeks before the end of the lease, I turned in a maintenance request for a leak in the flooring in our bedroom, coming up through the carpet. 4 days later, they hadn’t responded. I turned in another request, updating them the problem was worse and now was also in the hall and spare bedroom in that carpet. Even though the lease was not done and tenants are required to have access to the online portal until the end of the lease, my account was deactivated, I believe, because I submitted another maintenance request, and this is illegal. Next they do illegal things Showing up unannounced and wanting inside for final exit inspection and took photos of my apartment--illegal In the apartment next to us, corporate people work there and this is illegal because the building is zoned residential and not commercial. On the day we showed up to sign our first lease, the rep has us sign a digital signature pad. She then went through and added our signatures and would not let us read the lease. I asked 4 times and she kept refusing. She told us to read it online later, after we hooked up our internet. My husband and I are both disabled. We had a small, plastic and steel wagon in front of our front door, stored under the stairs. It was not blocking access to anything and non-flammable. A maintenance man questioned the wagon and I told him we needed it to get groceries from the car to the house, and trash out to the dumpster. He turned is in and 2 days later, we were slapped with a notice to get rid of the wagon or they would take it away from us forcibly. I submitted a doctor letter for an ADA accommodation. According to ADA guidelines, they are supposed to respond to an ADA request in 10 days and it took them 5 weeks (this is the illegal part). The community is unsafe. We had a car stolen and totaled. Someone shot off a gun literally right outside our front door at 2 am. Another man ran outside with a gun in each hand, shooting it in the middle of the parking lot. A drug dealer lived in the building next door and Franklin County Sheriff’s Office raided his apartment, shot out windows, and damaged the apartment trying to get him. 2 months after moving in, someone tried breaking in through our bedroom while we slept in the bed at 1 am. Then, they went to the front door and tried breaking in that way. A few months later, someone tried breaking in the bedroom window again, and broke the glass with a railroad spike. Teens of tenants were destroying the property, clubhouse, game room, and gym facilities. The final straw is the water leak. Right before moving out, water was leaking up through the floor in the bedroom, through no fault of our own. They sent us a final itemized list regarding our deposit and there is an $850 charge on there to replace the carpeting. Carpeting that needed replaced because of the water damage from the leak they neglected to come inspect in a...