Lynnewood Gardens at Elkins Park — Local services in Cheltenham Township

This place is way overpriced for what you're getting. We've had to call maintenance twice because the door always gets stuck and the doorknob won't work properly. We've also had to call them three times about the shower because it will randomly stop functioning properly. The window in the bedroom is not secure AT ALL. If you want to crack it open, you have to be mindful that it doesn't lift at the top, otherwise you'll have to push it back in. The most recent time, the window fell inwards and broke the shades. We contacted maintenance but since they are not very flexible with your schedule, we had to purchase our own blinds or else we would've been out of blinds for a week. There is also a huge bug problem- specifically lots of house centipedes. We've had to buy dehumidifiers, bomb the apartment, and spray the whole place with some concoction that keeps them away otherwise we'll find them all the time. Lastly, there should really be some speed bumps put in the streets. People speed down all the time and my roommates mirror was taken off and her car was scratched up from someone speeding.

!!!!!UPDATE!!!!!! I've moved out of this apartment finally and really wanted to get every issue that I could think of in this review as a forewarning for those moving in.

1. The bugs continued to be an issue throughout the entirety of our time living here, and when coming back to clean the apartment out once we officially moved, there were roaches EVERYWHERE! That was a perfect reminder of why we left. I wish I had taken a photo of every single bug I saw, but then my camera roll would be filled with them.
2. I'm not sure who they hire to fix the apartments when someone moves out, but they're clearly unprofessional. Every day that they had been working on the apartment above ours, the banging sounded so hard I thought the ceiling would collapse one day- AND IT DID! The ceiling in our bathroom COLLAPSED and we could see through to upstairs!! THIS SHOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE!! For days they just had this wood board up to cover the hole because I guess this wasn't a big enough emergency to fix right away.
3. A few weeks after the above issue got resolved, we came home and noticed a lot of leaking in the ceiling, so we called maintenance. Maintenance found that someone left the shower in the apartment above us running all day (no one lived up there yet, so had to be the people fixing it) and it completely screwed up the floor upstairs and, of course, our ceiling in the bathroom. The leaking still happened randomly throughout the rest of our time there even after they had "fixed" it.
4. DO NOT LOSE YOUR PARKING STICKER!! They don't have this in the lease, but a $5 sticker that costs $10 to replace ends up being $300 if it's lost because they "don't want them to be given to new tenants".. I can pretend like not receiving $5 from one tenant for a sticker -that they don't even check- for is a big deal for a minute (I literally used to park in the parking lot after I lost my sticker and never got towed, no ticket, nothing) and yet I still find $300 to be ABSURD. Dare I say the sticker isn't even worth it in the first place because parking is extremely scarce in the parking lots? If you lose it, just get a replacement so they don't screw you with this diabolical fee.

I'm so relieved to have finally left. IIt was extremely embarrassing to have people come into our home and not knowing whether there would be a bug somewhere, or god forbid they had to use our bathroom for the last 6-7 months of us living there. It could be a great place with better management. Oh well.

I've attached some photos of some of these lovely instances we had to experience. Living where we do now, I see how NOT normal any of this...

7/7/20 - Thank you Jen of the Maintenance Department for reaching out about a recent service request. She makes sure any request is taken care of fully and that no further issues came up. Just wish the answering service people for after hours service requests were like her in making sure that all who enter the apartment wear shoe coverings.

12/19/19 - As always, a big thank you to Dottie and Angelina for hosting another fun bingo event. It can't be fun staying long after work has ended for the day. It's the same bingo game that is done several times throughout the year but they change it up to keep it fun!

And a special shout out to Mr. Hector from maintenance. He came after hours recently because I thought water was leaking from the dishwasher. Though he never showed it in voice or manner, I think I annoyed him with a bunch of questions. As always, Mr. Hector was very friendly. And he is one of the few who waves hello to you if he sees you out and about Lynnewood.

12/12/19 - Angelina, Monica, and one other (I believe she is from accounting but cannot recall her name) - Thank you for wrapping our family's gifts so that I didn't have to myself. Saved me from buying it all and trying to find storage space for it later!

11/4/19 - The annual Harvest Festival - Another fun event hosted by Angelina at Lynnewood Gardens. They really prepared extra treats for the kids especially since Halloween day was kind of a bust because of the weather. They let everybody (young and old) take all the treats they wanted! This was in addition to the treat bags they handed out October 31. Thank you to Angelina for getting the game truck to come again this year. My boys love it! Always happy to see Ms. Dottie in her different costumes too. =)

10/8/19 - As always Ms. Jen makes sure any tech sent to my home takes care of whatever needs taken care of (even if I did not fill out an official service form) and that they all wear those shoe coverings when entering the apartment. I did not catch the tech person's name (I should know it by now since it's not the first time I have see him). Just want to mention he was very nice. Not just professional nice. More genuine than that.

Since google will allow me to edit my review: May 15, 2019. Lynnewood staff gave away breakfast baggies to all who passed the stands. For it being so early in the morning (start time 6:45am), they were some cheery people. Definitely morning people. =) Students whose bus stops were near these stands were lucky since they got a bag of snacks to take to school for snack time. Teacher approved snacks too!

On June 10, 2018 Lynnewood Gardens sponsored an awesome carnival for their residents. When they said "more" on the event flyer, they weren't kidding! Bounce houses, face painting, giveaways, prizes and treats for the kids, balloons! BBQ which included corn on the cob, snacks, drinks, fresh fruit, and even funnel cake!

When it started raining, they opened up the club house so the party could continue indoors. Despite the rain though, my boys had a great time! Thank you to the employees of Lynnewood Gardens for a great time! Can't wait for the next party...

Back with another review. And this time I’ll state names. I would have given this place ZERO stars but Google requires at least one to post a review.

Next up, HEIDI and CARESSA Upon my paying for a one year renter’s insurance policy IN FULL I was charged a $25 fee for renter’s insurance. So, I did the logical thing, I brought it to their attention. Instead of refunding me like a normal complex when you’re charged erroneously, I was given run around and sent passive aggressive messages and quotations to the lease (from Caressa and Esther) that of course I read being as though I did GRADUATE from law school. Fast forward two weeks later I still haven’t been refunded. Instead I received a letter from my account manager saying I owed them $25 and that it would affect my rental history if I didn’t pay. When I inquired, of course your own ACCOUNT MANAGER can’t update the account. So incomes Heidi. After the issues with the my first unit the plan was to move to a new unit. However, the new lease was incorrect. The new lease added an additional month of my stay in HELL. So I requested it be updated with the appropriate date. After that I requested that my account be update to show my credit and not a charge since that was incorrect. Instead of being met with reassurance that it would be taken care of, I was told by Heidi that once I upload my new policy for the new apartment it would be removed. Well those issues are mutually exclusive. When I informed her of this she replies, condescendingly, that I would be credited and would be charged for the rental insurance on the new apartment. Unacceptable. So I asked to speak with the property manager, no response. I expressed that I would rather NOT live here at this point because this has been nothing but a hassle. Of course I get a response to that stating to put it in writing and they’ll let me know the termination fees. What?!?

So a few minutes ago I called. And oh did Heidi do her big one. She refused to relay a message to the property manager. She refused to send an email to the property manager. She claims the property manager is aware of the situation. She said the property manager would not be calling me back (even though he’s the one who called to speak about a new unit) and once I submit my termination in writing they would assess the fees. Fees for your own incompetence? That’s hilarious. I requested that they send me the proposal in writing. What do you think she did? You guessed it she refused that too. I see they didn’t read my application. If a lawsuit is what needs to be filed so be it because this is insane.

Again I’m warning you don’t move here! You will instantly regret it! The sheer lack of human decency is unmatched and their lack of professionalism and competence is revolting. If you want to move to the Elkins Park Projects be my guest but if you value quality living take your hard earned money elsewhere.

It is my hope that I will be released from this fraudulently induced and misrepresented lease unscathed, I’ll keep...