Camden Farmers Market Apartments — Attraction in Dallas

Ignore the 5-star reviews. Especially the recent ones. They were incentivized. Do not move here. You may come and view CFM because of the lower rates and location, but you have no idea the trade-offs if you do.

I moved in a couple of months ago and it was a horrible experience. My leasing agent, though fairly new to the job, didn’t really prepare me for certain things like how to get into the building, so I ended up adding time to my moving service. I was told my keys would be left inside my apartment and I could just walk in (contactless due to COVID), but that wasn’t true. When I finally got help to get in (from another resident), the door was locked. When I received my keys, one of the keys was incorrect. When I got in the apartment, the bedrooms were carpeted. I was told it’d be hardwood throughout. They offered to put me in another unit but WHO would do that after changing their address everywhere and with a moving service charging out the wazoo?

Fast forward to me trying to explain the situation to one of the staff (she only made excuses and did not care), I lodged a complaint with corporate via Twitter. They hopped right on it and the manager compensated me for the money I lost waiting around. I forgave the incident since proper amends were made and would not even mention it if the rest of stay here wasn’t proving to be a total nightmare.

When I moved in, in addition to the carpet I didn’t want, I noticed drops of paint on the floor. Whoever touched up did a horrible job. The place was only quickly cleaned even though you have to pay for professional cleaning upon moving out. Clearly, they’re robbing folks. It was hard to set up the mandatory cable and internet and you pay $100+ for only basic internet and cable. I moved into a 2-bedroom with kids that will learn from home and where I will work from home. Basic internet isn’t even enough to support two TVs streaming with cell phones and laptops so I had to upgrade and pay more on top of the technology package payment. It’s my fault really. These are things I should have inquired more about before I moved in but I’m letting you know anyway. I called AT&T for assistance with setting everything up and they said if you want to watch TV in another room away from the main cables, you either have to run cable (YOURSELF) or pay for a wireless access point even if that’s the only TV using the service. Also the service is shoddy OFTEN even though I pay for the best plan. I’ve been kicked off conference calls, experienced buffering issues when streaming, kids can’t play their video games, etc.

Since moving in, I have filed 10 service requests.

Master bedroom closet door, broken. It’s one of those outdated sliding doors. Refrigerator was freezing my food even on the recommended and lower settings. The kitchen faucet was spewing water randomly instead of in a steady stream or flow. The oven range wasn’t centered and was rocking back and forth. Pest control. Centipedes and beetles (are still) in the bathroom. Second bathroom sink fixtures loose. Another pest and refrigerator complaint and they finally replaced the fridge.

I don’t know who inspected the place when the last residents moved out but the job was far from thoroughly done. I get it, COVID-19, but STILL.

Last, the thing that makes this place unbearable are the other residents. Clearly, not all of them but many. Many do not clean up after their pets. One consistently brings her child into the common areas, hallways and courtyard to cry endlessly. I asked her if she could take the child inside and she gave me attitude. Whatever. Neighbors above me clearly don’t sleep and stomp all day and night, slam cabinets, run the bath constantly. I’ve filed noise complaints but they’re not evicting anybody. Neighbors abuse the parking system with their guests, host pool parties like we’re not in a pandemic, steal your packages. I could write a book.

DO NOT MOVE HERE. I’m in a lease until 8/2021 and the only thing that will make me renew is if I just don’t have the time and energy to pack again and go...

If you have mild to high standards, do not move here! Things were alright when we rented the "townhome unit." It was in building 5 (the safer side) and on an upper level. But we didn't need the space so we moved to a 1bd unit to save on electricity--the townhome electric bill could get up to $400.00 and when the AC goes out (which is every summer, maintenance does not have enough parts or temp AC units to go around so you will BURN). Ours took five days to fix and it was on the hottest weekend and the longest weekend because it was Memorial Day. But, to be fair, the 2 stars is for the maintenance crew. Cassius is freakin' awesome and goes above and beyond but he can't carry an entire complex, hence the rating.

When we moved to our 1bd things were great. It was an "updated unit" which means they placed contact paper on the cabinets and floors--honestly, the floor had small indentions from where the furniture was (real hardwood does not do that, not even laminate). But then our neighbors moved in above us and it was HELL. They got away with EVERYTHING! They had a 2bd room unit but there were 2 adults, 2 children, 3 dogs in cages and 1 business in that place. The noise was from 4:30 am to past midnight. They constantly threw dirty water outside their window thereby dirtying ours, they were mean and rude and yelled at the leasing office--public display of disrespect--and the leasing office still dotes on them. The maintenance crew came to look at the ceilings because the leasing office tried to blame the noise on the pipes. It wasn't the pipes. Maintenance confirms. We even had audio recordings of the noise. But all of that wasn't enough. Instead, the leasing office encouraged us to move out. It was so rude of them, it was hurtful.

That aside, there are so many other issues: You will not receive all your mail. And I'm not just talking about packages, I'm talking about regular mail. The office will blame it on the carrier and the carrier will blame it on the leasing office. Your mail will be opened or returned to sender. It has happened to us more than a handful of times. Packages are hit and miss. Sometimes you might get them, other times you will not. The carriers will leave them in a hallway or stashed behind bushes. Or, since security is next to none, they will get stolen. Your bike will get stolen. Plants too. Car break-ins are frequent and there is nothing you can do about it aside from call the police as Camden does not have cameras and their 24-hour security person is a unicorn. No, I retract, I've seen him once coming out of the gym when it was still open and getting in his car and leaving at about 6:30 a.m. Thieves know Camden residents are easy targets so even visitors get their cars broken into. One person had their side mirror stolen. Just. The. Mirror. If you live here, try to stay in building 5. It has it's own parking garage facing Cesar Chavez and is safer. Gates left ajar is common. Parties, weed smokers and noise is common. You like weed, you're good :) People do not pick up after their pets nor are they reprimanded for having dogs off leash. I've informed Camden twice of a neighbor who did not keep his aggressive dog on a leash but if their response was that I had to call them so they can see it. I suppose they expect me to George Zimmerman the person? Which brings me to my next point, If you can't prove it, Camden will tell you it's "he said, she said." Over and over again. If mediation needs to happen, they will not fault the other party for not showing up as agreed upon. Leave your unit in mint condition because they charge a $100 cleaning fee, and for anything they consider a repair. You will pay for valet trash. Valet trash will not always pick up your trash Camden does not reimburse for closed amenities like other complexes are doing. You have to use AT&T and it is so spotty and expensive. If you hate it here, say that you do, and instead of fixing problems they will push you to move out.

Good...

Not a good place to live at all! I have lived here a year now & wish I did not sign such a long lease. But overall if you are thinking of moving here RUN AWAY! None of the “pros” of moving here out weigh the “cons”. It is VERY unsafe! In the one year I have lived here neighbors in our building have had people break in & attack them. I’ve had my vehicle stolen twice (once from the parking garage, second time from right in front of my building). There were cameras both times right next to my vehicles & the apartment & DPD said there was nothing they could do about it. Not to mention getting your packages stolen is very common as there is no package room. There are three elevators I can use to get to my floor/building and the entire time I have lived here only one has ever been functional. However other residents will often let their dogs use the bathroom in the one elevator or in the hallways. It is very disgusting around the complex in general. Lots of stains in the hallways and animal feces constantly left by other residents and it stays for days in there! The entire complex is “smart” which means it functions through an app. It is a great concept but often I can not get into my apartment as the keypad just doesn't work & when my phone dies I just straight up can’t get into the garage or my apartment. I wish they would give us keys or fobs. Randomly they will close the only access to your floor from the parking garage without telling you ahead of time and just cut off access for weeks at a time. They force us to use their valet trash service for an additional fee which I don’t mind but it means that there is usually piles of trash left in the halls for days. Cars are constantly getting broken into so the garage usually has glass strewn about the floors. Your car will get broken into or stolen if you move here!!! Mine was stolen twice and broken into once. (in one year!!!) The only pro of living here is how convenient it is to walk to Deep Ellum or the Farmers Market. But it’s not worth it unless you work there or like to go to those places very often (like daily or every other day). The staff laughed at me when I complained that someone had left multiple hateful letters on one of my vehicles. They also had a hot tub which was one of the only reasons I picked this complex over another one. The first month I moved in they filled it with gravel and fake grass. The view from our apartment is decent at least. But after fees we are paying close to $1700 for a studio in one of the worst parts of town. Huge waste of money, the apartment itself is not bad but not worth the money to have to be on alert every-time I leave my apartment. I wish I would’ve read these reviews before I signed my lease 😭 I also found a used needle in the parking garage on two seperate occasions. I definitely don’t recommend moving here if you live alone or with children. Definitely move here if you want to feel like you are in NYC with overpriced rent, rats & trash, or don’t mind potentially getting robbed at any point. It doesn’t feel like they care about the residents here past getting them to sign the lease. :(

EDIT: 2 stars to 1 because if the above doesn’t convince you to run far away from this place. The fire alarms will go off LOUDLY & randomly for up to 30 minutes at a time in the entire building. Late at night, early in the morning, weekends & week days. Don’t move here if you like to sleep or work! The staff is very hard to get a hold of. They made us register our vehicles on a separate company website just to tell us that they can’t even see it on their side so your vehicles are at risk of being towed by the apartment even if you register them how they ask. Was also harassed by a leasing agent over a dent on my car?? They don’t allow damaged vehicles per their lease agreement so you aren’t allowed to park in the garage if your...