Independence Park Apartments in Durham, NC — Attraction in Durham

I was excited about touring this place. The first person I spoke with on the phone was so warm and welcoming. What a change from the "tour" itself. The woman who was there, Latoya, told me she is the only one in the office today, so I would have to go on a tour by myself. I specifically asked for an agent-led tour because I don't have a car. The property is by no means small, and she gave me the key to see apartments that were much further away from the office. She told me that's why they recommend driving; sorry, I don't have the privilege of my own car right at this moment. Anyway, she pulled out this map and highlighted it. I'll admit, it was definitely my bad that I forgot the map. I guess I've been touring multiple apartments, and I was just used to being guided, not sent off on my lonely to walk around a place I don't even know. Alas, I forgot the apartment numbers. I thought it was VERY interesting that Latoya wasn't doing the tour at all, but she definitely drove herself down the lot to bring the map to me.

I've worked as a leasing agent before on a Saturday schedule. Being the only agent in the office is not ideal, but it's doable. You lock the office and take the scheduled client on the tour they were promised, and put up a "be back by such and such time" sign (I did see they actually do have a clock sign on the office door). I'm not sure what was so difficult about that, seeing as Latoya was willing to lock the office and drive down to bring me the property map that I forgot. It just felt like she didn't want to give a tour and wasn't interested in helping me whatsoever. It all felt very dismissive and was generally such an odd experience.

The apartment, overall, was very nice. Like extremely nice. There was giant dead roach in the bedroom, which... I mean, okay. I decided to go back to the office because frankly, I'd had enough, and I was feeling a bit lightheaded because of walking in the heat, so I definitely wasn't prepared to walk to the back of the property to see the second apartment. When I got back to the leasing office, Latoya gave me an info sheet about the amenities and mandatory $145 package that comes attached to the rent. I guess she couldn't be bothered to provide any further information. Just read the info page, I guess. No tour of anything else, I can tell you they have a gym and a pool. Now, I definitely had an opportunity to ask more questions, but I was fed up at that point and felt I had seen all I needed to see.

The apartments are nice. Great location. The pool looked cute from afar, I guess. Not sure, I didn't get to see it. The gym was okay, a little hot (walked through it briefly to get to my unexpected self-guided tour). The lack of professionalism is not great, though. I'm not sure I'm willing to apply to this place because the tour experience was garbage, lazy, and unprofessional. If that's what I get for coming in for a tour, the living experience there is likely not going to be...

Meredith Thompson is by far the most inconsiderate and rude property manager I have ever had to deal with. She lacks compassion and has a habit of over talking residents especially the seniors that live on this property. My 74 year old mother is a resident here and does not have access to emails, computers, nor does she text. While we live in a world that is suppose to be inclusive to all including our seniors that are moons behind in technology, Independence Park is penalizing our seniors for their lack in technological ability. This property is not inclusive when it comes to the elderly at all. My grandmother was charged $100 for renters insurance because they claim she had a lapse in coverage in February and March. She explained to Meredith that there was not a lapse in coverage and had Geico to email them a copy of the declaration page showing that at no point in time was there a lapse in coverage. The policy went into effect on 2/5/24 which is the same day the old policy expired. Meredith so rudely told her that the computer automatically charged the fee and she blatantly refused to remove the fee. March rent is due by tomorrow and she was charged an additional $50 for renters insurance for March as well. Meredith is in receipt of the policy and there indeed was not a lapse of renters insurance. March's fee has yet to be removed. Meredith lacks compassion, empathy, and professionalism. In addition, she will cut you off and over talk you when trying to get resolve. She rudely refused to take a message for my mom to speak with the property manager and matter of factly told us the call was being recorded and hung up in her ear as she asked to leave a message for the property manager Tameka. Meredith does not listen to understand a residents concerns, yet she simply listens to respond without comprehension. If this is the level of customer service that a person in management embodies I would think twice before living here. Our seniors are on fixed incomes and should not be penalized because they failed to receive an email but still remained in compliance with the rental agreement. The Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 amended the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to address issues that arose concerning exemptions for senior housing and Independence Park needs to make certain that seniors are not being discriminated upon if they lack the ability to use technology yet have remained in compliance of their lease agreement. We are still waiting on communication from the property manager Tameka and welcome communication with their district leasing manager. Independence Park this is unacceptable and our Seniors...

My experience overall as been okay. Unfortunately the apartment complex does not have cameras in their parking lots. They have a security officer who drives through, however they failed to notice my smashed window and I personally don't feel as though they are actually preventing property damage.

Aside from that they have a very aggressive towing policy. One of my vehicles was towed, despite having a permit sticker (which was fine as it was technically inoperable and that in and of itself was not the issue). The towing company "Unlimited Recovery" lied multiple times about having my vehicle and then tried to charge me late fees for picking it up after hours after they realized they did have possession of my car. When I had called during normal business hours they repeatedly lied, refused to check the lot, and were extremely unprofessional. Not only this, but when I went to retrieve my vehicle the towing company had damaged my car including flattening one of my tires, refused to do anything about it unless I drove the car to Raleigh to prove they had damaged my car. They had initially logged the wrong color and year of my vehicle, and refused to have anyone so much as look in the lot to see if it was there. How you can run a towing company and not know the difference between red and blue, I have no clue. This company is extremely unprofessional and this apartment complex is worse off for partnering with them.

How an apartment complex can be so great in the apartment side of things, but blatantly negligent in my mind in areas such as parking I will never know. The staff have been friendly and cordial, but my recommendation for anyone thinking about living here is if you have a nice vehicle and want it to stay that way, DO NOT PARK IT HERE. Every car I have had on the property has been damaged and there is no way to know who did it because they don't have cameras. This completely changed my experience of the apartment complex, and unfortunately I cannot reccomend people live here while this is an ongoing issue.

I have tried to contact the office about this, but they have not been...