MAA Preserve — Attraction in Raleigh

Even if you pay on time, every month, for the last 2 years. They can and will attempt to ruin your life, play ignorance when told that several conversations were made throughout the year that you were leaving at the end of your lease. They will charge you rent AND A HALF for not letting them know via hand-written letter using a quill pen and sealed with a wax stamp bearing the name of the royal family, as constantly reminding the staff at the front that you are leaving is not enough and "Let us know two months before" is apparently really clear and concise information to rely to your tenants. I was made to sign a printed paper stating that I was leaving on August, AFTER I was charged month a half for "being out of contract", since one of the people couldn't sign it via email since she was no longer living there with me, but that was most definitely not possible to print that paper when I was there in January, or May, or June, or two weeks before moving out. The money I saved for the moving truck before quitting my job in order to move away, gone, had to ask for money to move while I got charge 2x rent price and was basically threatened that I was going to get charged $375 if the house was not Professionally Clean. I paid someone to throw away the old furniture about $400, and I paid someone to professionally clean and steam the carpet around $100, and still received an email with miscellaneous damages for about $800 AND an additional month of rent "out of contract" price for leaving without saying anything. I've been calling a call center in Mumbai for the last month as I was told "I dunno know, look up the number online or something" if I wanted my money back by the staff. I have not spoken to anyone in any office in America while I keep getting told by MAA's customer service that they will "call me back". Now on top of that I have that last $2500 bill sent to collection since I told my bank that I was going to go after them if they allow a single dollar to come out of my account by MAA, since their fraudulent attempt to take the money out on 9/1 failed, I have to deal with a collection agency on top of everything else going on in my life. I wish the staff all the best, I cannot imagine being in your position working for a person unable of rational thinking, emotional intelligence or any will to help someone with a problem you are mainly responsible for.

New management changed and the renters were not even made aware, other than maybe a Facebook post or something irrelevant nobody ever looks at. This management does not care about anything, they will attempt to siphon as much money as possible and appear to be squishing every penny out of their tenants while it lasts. The local news apparently has reporters investigating similar cases, most of them are related to MAA properties, I told one of them I was not able to share my story with them and to go look for someone else, I just want the money that was stolen from me, so I can pay back the money I had to borrow to move away. I will keep calling Mumbai, and will do so until someone from Tennessee or whatever the HQ is calls me back. For everyone else, make sure you document everything if you are unfortunately rented there, and if you are thinking about going in, just be careful, the initial photos of every single drawer being painted over messed up wood when I moved in couldn't even be used because I "did not submitted them". Make sure you submit everything via email, save those emails and every single piece of paperwork you sign. You are renting yourself in a snake pit and they will bite you if you relax...

Update and response to the MAA comment: I have already reached out to you multiple times but you didn’t bother to respond. Check your emails and you will find my email sent to you on Sep 14th. Looking forward to your response!

This apartment complex has several advertised amenities, but many of them fall short of expectations. They claim to have two pools, but for most of the year, one is always out of service. There is only one gas-operated grill, which is often broken, and the other charcoal grills are difficult to use, especially since they are not in a covered area, making them impractical during North Carolina’s frequent rain. The gym has a persistent odor and seems rarely cleaned.

In addition to poorly maintained amenities, the management is constantly looking for reasons to charge tenants extra fees. I moved in on June 20, 2022, and my experience quickly went downhill. Right before Christmas, a pipe burst on the third floor of my building, flooding every floor below—including my first-floor apartment. Water was dripping from the ceiling, outlets, and walls, ruining my furniture. A firefighter even recommended we move out due to the likelihood of mold growth, especially in winter conditions. Heads up to anyone living in 8510 Brittdale Ln, apt 101, 201, and 301; you are probably living in units with a tone of mold grown inside. Despite the evidence and warnings, the apartment manager, Nicole, argued that everything would dry out, and they simply brought in two industrial dehumidifiers—running on my electricity, which I was forced to pay for. The staff’s only other response was to paint over the water-damaged areas. Workers would come in and out of my apartment without notice, leaving doors open, which put our pet at risk. Once, we even thought we had been robbed because the door was left open.

Even after mold started growing, Nicole initially refused to move us. It was only after I documented the mold that they agreed to relocate us, but insisted on us paying a new administration fee and security deposit. After much argument, they allowed the move but offered us an older unit with outdated appliances. The dishwasher never worked properly, the washing machine made excessive noise, and despite placing multiple work orders, the issues were never resolved.

As if that wasn’t enough, nearly every major appliance broke down during my stay: the dryer stopped heating, the heater broke in the middle of winter, and the AC failed in the summer. Maintenance was always backed up, and it took weeks to get even simple issues fixed. At one point, I had to use a washing machine in a different building for days because mine wasn’t repaired in time.

The final straw was during my move-out process. My lease ended on August 20, 2024, and on August 19, we were still in the process of moving our belongings when we found that maintenance had entered the apartment and ripped up the carpet—without any notice or permission, while I still legally had the unit. Despite leaving the apartment in excellent condition, they charged me for 60% of the carpet value, over $1,100, falsely accusing me of causing damage. I provided video evidence that the carpet was removed by maintenance, but management has yet to respond, and the charges remain.

Overall, this complex has been a nightmare. The poorly maintained amenities, frequent maintenance issues, lack of professionalism, and constant attempts to charge extra fees make this a place I would not recommend to anyone. Save yourself the hassle and...

Had to delete my previous review to edit my score and update my experience, since I have now been living here for more than a month and things have changed. In short, a beautiful unit and great nearby area for shops and quick highway travel but with lackluster maintenance responses and poor communication from the office and maintenance teams following signing of the lease.

While the team at the leasing office is still very kind and my current experiences do not take away from the great initial leasing experience I had, nor the fact that the units are beautiful and spacious, I am struggling to rate the group well because of the maintenance team and other communication issues I have had in the past month. The landscaping/maintenance team(s) do an excellent job keeping the complex clean and enjoyable to walk around when they are available to do so, but due to staff shortages and other issues reported by the maintenance team to me, it has become increasingly difficult to get maintenance teams over for any sort of non-emergency issue. I have been told this is due to the high volume of emergency and move-in maintenance requests, but I still have move-in maintenance requests of my own that have not been satisfied! So, do I not fit that category then? While I get that hiring and training can take some time based on my experience with corporate America, with how strong our job market is and the fact that it has been over a month of the complex knowing of their issues of short staff, I would expect a large group like MAA to have a way to address this issue in a more timely manner.

Additionally, I have trouble receiving feedback from the leasing representatives and the maintenance team when it comes to email communication about these maintenance requests, such as a recent fire alarm and sprinkler test that, despite multiple email communications about the dates they would occur, still happened on unexpected days for multiple times that did not align with the email. Calling over the phone usually leads to short responses and rushes to hang up as well, which is not reassuring to promises made during our move-in inspection regarding the care for tenants issues. I also received a notice about water rate increases (nothing MAA can do about that, I understand) a month and a half late for a month that had already passed. These examples and others have solidified my opinion that The Preserve focuses heavily on getting people to sign leases with good communication and then their attention drops off precipitously once the tenant is in unit.

While I appreciate all the various amenities and general closeness to all the shops and places of Brier Creek, driving in this area is a bear, especially at night when there are so many rowdy drivers up and down Brier Creek Parkway (again, not something MAA can do about, I understand). I add this to the review for those reading and thinking about moving here, rather than to detract from the score. Other further issues that I couldn't know prior to moving in that may be worth knowing about that don't detract from my score are loud neighbors at atypical hours, occasional issues with close parking to our unit because it is free-for-all style parking, and the pool just can't seem to stay open.

I am happy to remove and update my review again following further discussion, but I felt compelled to post my experience more publicly because I was not getting adequate attention and response from the Complex themselves regarding my issues...