Blanco Oaks Apartments — Local services in Blanco

We enjoyed living here in Blanco, the apartments were quiet and our neighbors were friendly! We unfortunately cannot say the same for management. Maintenance, Issac, was spectacular and very kind. We had some issues with appliances and he was always quick to remedy them.

When our lease was ending, we had asked Jody Lewis, the Community Manager, if there was any chance we could see a decrease in our monthly rent charge as an incentive to stay since the unit worked for us and we were willing to renew if our rate was dropped. We always paid on time and never caused any disturbances. We were told via email that is was against fair housing regulations to allow us to pay less than what others are paying for the same unit- which we understood! We responded giving them proper notice that we would not be renewing our lease. Jody called me the next day (note that she CALLED, there’s no written documentation of this 🤨) that they wanted to keep us as tenants and would be happy to give us a rate that is $50 less per month. We had already committed to a new home and declined the offer, but it was strange that they were unable to do anything about it due to fair housing laws until we actually told them we were not renewing. I would like to add that we were charged incorrectly for rent, late fees, pet fees, and pest control while living here as well. They really, REALLY care about money.

When moving out I requested some sort of move-out protocol via email to ensure we were doing things correctly on our end. I was given a cleaning sheet which outlined what they expected us to have cleaned before we moved out. I took 2 days off of work to clean the apartment, following the list to a tee. I bought industrial cleaning products in preparation to ensure everything was done thoroughly.

Fast forward to today, we have been charged a $125 cleaning fee. We emailed Jody in an attempt to gain some clarification about the cleaning charge since we cleaned so throughly. We got no response. We received an email reminding us about the balance we owe and finally called her. She claims that this is just “what they have to pay the maids that have to come clean”. Nothing of a generalized cleaning is outlined in our lease, and she refused to provide an itemized list of what had to be cleaned. She even said if she were to itemize it, we would be charged more!!! We will pay the fee to save our credit, but be aware that these apartments are money hungry. We suspect that the first apartment manager was stealing, we were charged for 3 cat rents for months when we only have 2, we were charged an $85 late fee when we got a second cat and asked to pay the deposit, and when we disputed them they only responded by saying they would credit it towards next months rent. No accountability has ever been taken. We paid monthly for pest control that we did not get often.

Below are pictures of our unit that Jody sent me to “explain” why we were charged a $125 cleaning fee. The mark in the bottom of the toilet is from hard water, we could not get rid of it and I have doubts...

We needed a comfortable apartment to rent for the year it took to build our home. Blanco Oaks exceeded our expectations in that it was so quiet with friendly neighbors and we were treated as valued tenants by the owners. Rajeev and Tamara truly care that their renters feel at home and always treat everyone with kindness and respect. The apartment had been remodeled with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances...very nice! This was a great place...

If you're looking for a place that will try to drain every penny they can from you, you found it. I lived here for 3 years and during that time the complex changed owners. The new managers suck, they care more about the money they can suck out of the tenants than the tenants themselves. I'm still trying to get out of the lease. Bad deal altogether,...