Element Deer Valley — Attraction in Phoenix

Lived here twice. First time I lived on the right side by the broken gate along the service drive. Second time I was in the back left where the gate was always open. Fun fact, there is nowhere near enough parking so people have to park on the side of the road outside the complex, or behind where you are gonna get mugged by the homeless who hang out there. Other fun fact, they like to bust people's windows. Not much you can do since there is literally no parking and they keep restricting more and more spots as handicap spots.

Other fun fact, they tell you they are going to come inspect your place to check things like the filters for the ac etc, but they don't give you anywhere near 48 hours. I told them we literally got the notice on our door the night before after 10 saying that was our "48hr" notice. I asked them to schedule it when it was actually closer to the 48hrs and not when it was just convenient for them. Especially because I work overnight to morning and therefore I sleep during the day. They still tried to bully their way into my apartment and were complete jerks about it.

The manager doesn't even pay attention to who he signs apartments off to. We gave him the application fees, security deposit and so forth, as well as signed a document locking down our apartment on the first floor which we paid the 100+ difference for. He then decided to sign that same apartment to another couple that was older than us. He decided to tell them they could have it and then told us he was sorry, but that he could give us an apartment on the second floor and knock 50 dollars off the rent for the "inconvenience." We told him we wanted the apartment we had put money down for, and that we needed it because we were moving into it in less than 2-3 weeks. He still refused to give it back.

People have stated this one before, but with good reason, roaches. They try to save face about the whole roach situation by saying they have exterminators. It is offered, but some of the staff clearly tries to turn you away from getting it. I saw an old man who kept saying he wanted to be added to the list of rounds the exterminator makes. The gal that was supposed to be "helping" him kept telling him that if he did so, it was going to get really bad for a while before it got any better. He said that was fine, but she still kept trying to dissuade him by repeating it 3-4 more times which upset him and he kept asking her to add him to the list. The only thing they enforce is rent, because it's money for them.

Lastly, that lady that kept telling the gentleman in the last paragraph that he would have more roaches if he started getting the extermination done every week is literally the worst one of all. At one point, my washer was broken for over a month. I called every day, multiple times, waited after work, and was told almost every day that they would show up for sure before the end of the day. I called even 5 minutes before they closed and told them this kept happening and that I would even call over an hour before close, and that they would just push us off repeatedly. I told them we needed to clean an officer's uniform as well as other work uniforms and I was told by her to go do it at a laundromat. I told her I pay for the washer that has been broken for the second time and the dryer that was overheating the bathroom to the point where it was heating up the entire apartment. She said I could either go do it at the laundromat or wait. She didn't like that I told her she could come get it herself, and do it for me. She doesn't really care because she lived on the damn property and therefore felt entitled as hell to where she was literally yelling at me and wouldn't let me talk.

Honestly, the other places on that same light are better even though they may not look as nice. The people are definitely kinder and they take things seriously.

The only ones living well is that stuck up girl and the roaches.

p.s. good luck getting your packages. They withheld them during holidays and only let certain people pick them up on certain...

Update: 5/14/24 After almost a year here I would like to say despite the terrible first impression this is a wonderful place to live for the following reasons:

-assigned parking/ garage is not ridiculously priced. maintenance requests are fulfilled quickly! -package room is secure and they do not charge an extra fee for it (valet trash makes up for that) -it is kept clean, there used to be an issue with trash over flowing and dog poop on the side walk but they have really stepped it up although some large garbage (old couches) still blocks my garage from time to time it’s much better than it was

Some major concerns: -the people that they hire for resurfacing and anything the general maintenance staff doesn’t take care of are all terrible and do terrible work. When they resurfaced my countertops they left vinyl splatter that won’t come off on the walls, toilet and floor. the gate is not meant for security it’s always opened and we are emailed about it being for traffic purposes so don’t be fooled. -general areas are clean but make sure you get a walk in of THE APARTMENT YOU PLAN ON LEASING

Things I had issues with that you should check: faucets - water pressure- broken mirrors- pull your blinds open and check both sides- all windows and screens- open every cabinet- run the appliances check for leaks.

I plan on renewing my lease because of the kind staff, quick maintenance repairs, no bug issues and general location!

Update: 7/22/23 I spoke with Brandon and Kim the office managers they apologized for the apartment and agreed to show me one similar that is “renovated” as mine is “upgraded” but not renovated. Yes the wording is confusing and no neither look like the model although the model is supposedly a “renovated” apt. They promised to address my major concerns in my current apt being the cabinets bubbling and falling apart, the washer and dryer being old and from the early 2000s, they gave me a voucher for their cleaning service, replaced a faucet aerator and promised to replace the sink countertops.

I did go see another unit with the same layout, they did not bother to have it cleaned beforehand, needless to say it was filthy (there was uncooked food still in the oven).

The staff is super friendly, but don’t let the nice leasing office and the name “luxury apartments” fool you this place is ghetto, they take shortcuts for everything. None of the issues in my apartment have been repaired, i understand they will take time but i haven’t heard anything other than them “looking in to it” for a month. I can’t take a bath in my tub because it’s been “resurfaced” which means they just put regular paint over it and it’s constantly chipping and bumpy, the cabinets get worse with every use the wrap on them is chipping and coming off, the floor will always look dirty because of the paint drops and messy caulking job they did. PLEASE BEWARE when they show u the model it will be nothing like that, ask for a walk through of the apt you’re interested in before signing the lease.

They also make u pay for “valet trash” even if u don’t use it.

Pros: The gate seems to work most of the time and the location near the freeway is great, the common areas, package locker room, gym and leasing office are all beautiful.

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6/22/23 Moved in yesterday, so far a terrible impression. The apartment was said to be “move-in ready” and it was filthy and not at all like the model we were shown. These are not luxury apartments, all of my burners are tilted, the door was coming off it’s hinges, one of the kitchen drawers is off the railing, the ceiling fans were the dirtiest I mean turning my rags black after I cleaned them. Maintenance was very kind, leasing office is very nice but this is a terrible first impression and I am having serious doubts about staying here, I can’t even park in my assigned garage because there is piles of trash overflowing in front of it. Please do not be baited and switched like I was, this place is run down and nothing luxurious about it. I will update if things...

TL;DR Under no circumstance should you move into this apartment complex. Management does not care and will swindle you out of thousands of dollars.

I moved into Element Deer Valley in May of 2022. The headaches with this complex and its management team started from day 1. When we arrived with our U-Haul truck, we were told the apartment was not ready for move in, on the day our lease started by the way, and would be a few hours before we could begin moving in. This caused us to be late with our U-Haul and costing us more money. When I brought this up to management, nothing was offered to us as compensation or even a sorry to smooth things over.

A few months later after one of their many “Bi-Annual” inspections, a maintenance member walked into our apartment unannounced and without any sort of work order from me or my girlfriend. When I brought this up to management, they told us that they put in a work order on our behalf after their inspection and never once notified us of this. We were never told what this work order was pertaining to. This is not a reflection on the maintenance team, who was always helpful. In addition, their “Bi-Annual” inspections happen more than twice a year and feel like more of them trying to catch tenants in a “gotcha” rather than for the benefit of the tenant. I have the team on video walking through the apartment searching for things on a base level rather than fully inspecting the unit and just replacing an A/C filter.

The general upkeep of the complex is abhorrent to say the least. The entrance security gate was fully functioning for a total of two months out of the 27 months I lived there. The amenities for this complex are also always broken in some fashion, specifically the pools. Dog poop is littered throughout the complex, as tenants are not held accountable for this. Additionally, roaches are a common problem throughout the complex. The complex is split into two sides, but both sides have the same apartment numbers, so good luck getting any deliveries.

Throughout the numerous times I interacted with the office staff, not once was I given any helpful information. Any information given is as vague as possible with no real resolutions. Specifically, their most senior member of staff would constantly answer any questions with “I’ll get back to you on that” and then I would never hear from her unless I bugged the office staff for an answer. Which brings me to the spearhead of my problems with this complex and management team. When finally leaving this place, we were given extremely vague move-out directions. “Just do this” or “Just do that” instead of clear, concise directions. Upon moving out of the unit, we were not contacted once by management. 8 days later, we were contacted by a collections agency stating we owed just shy of $3400 to the complex. Confused, I reached out to the complex directly and was told by the representative that they would not speak with us directly and we would need to speak with the collections agency. Upon speaking with the collections agency, we were told we are being charged for replacement appliances (Washer, dryer, stove and fridge) as they were broken. This is absolutely a shock to me as they were fully operational the day we moved. I have a disability and could not clean to the standard of a professional cleaner, but I certainly did not leave things in such a state of disrepair that these items were broken. No itemized list of the charges were provided and the collections agency stated this would not be provided to us, just that we owe this nebulous $3400.

So here I am typing this review to say that under no circumstance should you EVER move into this complex. They will swindle you out of thousands of dollars and over charge you for a small apartment that does not earn the title of “Luxury” as they so proudly proclaim. To the management team, do not respond to this review with your generic “reach out to us” statement. I will be posting this same review on all possible review sites and reporting this whole...