Dean Woods Place — Local services in Alafaya

Dean Woods is a small and nice property. Everyone has an assigned parking space so parking for visitors was a hassle. Ironically, there was always cars parked there of people that did not live there. Also, if you don't have an assigned parking space don't worry because it seems to be ok for you to block the sidewalks and stairwells with cars since our neighbors did it all the time and nobody ever said anything. It lacks amenities but it's ok because you will be entertained enough by the resident community meetings often held in your stairwell or in the pavilion which have music, drinks, and smoking. It is a no pet community so if you see your neighbors hiding dogs in the apartments look the other way like management does for certain residents. I will say you really get to know your neighbors through the paper thin walls. We heard many get-togethers, movies, TV shows, video games, arguments, and even fights with our neighbors through our wall since we could hear EVERYTHING. I will say the apartment homes are comfortable, clean, and updated enough. Maintenance was alright (typically a couple days) for major things. However, I moved out and I would have still been waiting for a new closet door, ceiling fan, and carpet cleaning, from before I moved in. Asantewa, the former Property Manager, was the best part of living here. She made the application, and move-in process so efficient. She was super friendly, courteous, and flexible. The new Property Manager, Jaimie, seemed to be ok at first. Shortly after, she was extremely hard to reach by phone, email, or in person. It was so frustrating because if you had an issue, question, or concern who could you talk to if she doesn't answer since the office is always closed and only takes care of you by appointment. She left the big surprise for last though when she racked up our account with extra late charges, carpet cleaning fees, and pet fees. They kept our $725.00 deposit and charged us almost $500.00 on top of our deposit when we moved out. After I tried calling corporate to discuss the final bill, I realized this is how they work. John, a representative from collections, responded that property managers do not just add extra fees to the account so if she put them there it's for a good reason. I told him I had proof the carpets had those stains prior to me moving in from my move-in report. I told him the issue with the pet was resolved prior to Asantewa leaving and if he contacted her she would confirm. I told him I paid the late fee included in the cashier's check provided for the last month's rent. He didn't care to hear any of that. Instead, he threatened with hanging up and sending my account straight to collections. For peace of mind, comfort, and service I would take my money elsewhere. There's so many other apartment...

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. I’m usually not one to complain because with apartments you will never be fully satisfied in the sense that something is always going to break and neighbors will be neighbors. I’m really appreciative of just having a roof over my family’s head and myself. But I just want to put out there that I’ve come across some incidents and I want other people to be aware. It’s going to be alittle long but I’d recommend reading this. So when I first moved in, which was about two weeks ago, the place looked fairly clean and nice, the only problem was when I walked in, there was a strong odor of wet dog. I was walking barefoot after 5 minutes my feet were super black, big no no. Then I had black socks on and when I looked at the bottom of my socks there was dog hair and I’m very allergic to dogs. The moment I moved in my allergies were through the roof. The manager, ASANTEWA THOMAS kept telling us that the previous owners didn’t have a dog (Not that she was aware of) and we sent her pictures and she still wanted to argue and tell us otherwise. We later found out that they don’t vacuum the carpets they just wash them-- which explains the terrible odor. Then we had put some work orders in for some simple things that needed repair, they closed the orders and said the things were fixed but the day maintenance said they came they never did because I was home all day and no one came. So they lied about coming and they lied about fixing the issues. Management never apologized ,once again she argued about it. Like trying to back up her staff when she knows that was wrong to do. Then the other issue we encountered was that when we washed our black clothes they got super messed up because apparently the way they clean the washers is with bleach-- like who does that. A lot of my clothes got messed up, still got no apology and no remorse. So the manager came to my apartment to send pics to her regional manager and I was telling her how frustrated I was getting, all she did was raise her voice and argue with me. Then she told me if I wanted an apology it wasn’t going to happen, then she questioned me by asking me if this was my first apartment , which by the way was super disrespectful, and I told her no and I’ve never had an issue with management at the places I previously lived at. Super unprofessional, no remorse, and did not want to acknowledge her mistakes. She really needs to get fired because I’ve NEVER seen a manager act the way she did. Also I’m pregnant, so I’ve been sick since I moved here and still she didn’t care. THE MANAGER, ASANTEWA THOMAS NEEDS TO GET FIRED ASAP!!! Thank you for taking your time to reading this review. Everyone...

When I moved here in 2020 it was great! But after they switched to the new manager Jaimie everything went down hill. She doesn’t answer emails or phone calls unless I contact concord rents corporate. Jaimie is not a good customer service manager, my account was locked because of the recertification issues, I did my part and now waiting on her to do a tenant drop(I informed her since last year in October) still hasn’t been done. So they kept charging me $70 for not completing the recertification on time(since October) now in January she locks my account because the recertification is still not processed. And because of it being locked I couldn’t make my rent payment on time and now there’s a $95 rent fee( she knows what she’s doing) last year I had issues with the water for over a year! I was paying 3-4x the amount of water. I kept telling her and concord about the issue and they never fixed it until I had to contact Florida consumer, a few weeks after it was fixed no one apologized for the issue and I was never refunded. I also had to pay for an extra parking for over a year because they refused to remove it from the lease. Guess what? Other people use that parking and I tried calling the tow and they asked for proof that I am an actual tenant but yet they towed my car 2x so far, once because of parking in the guest for a week and the other time because I reverse parked.I honestly think she’s scamming people. This needs to stop! I won’t keep quiet anymore and I will have to contact Florida consumer again and/or get a lawyer involved because as a single mother working hard to pay my bills this is unacceptable. Oh another thing they have a sheriff on premises that does nothing but put cards on your windshield for reverse parking. My suv was broken into and they did nothing about it. This is my honest review. Edit there has been some improvements with the manager Jaimie, I pray it continues...