Pinewood Station — Local services in Hillsborough

I am new, 4 months as of July 2024. There is a "Do as I Say, Not as I Do" property management style here. Am I surprised? No. It pretty much follows the same philosophy at every apartment complex. I wrote a complaint to Pegasus, Alpharetta Georgia, aka Property Owners. Do I expect a response? No. Below is my complaint letter. If you don't want to read the whole thing, then just know you have to bombard the staff here with emails and phone calls to get an answer.

COMPLAINT LETTER:

Incident #1: Length of Time to Fully Approve Residency and Overlooked Retirement Income Statement

I waited 3 weeks to hear from Pinewood Station about my application status after paying the application fee and administration fee. A lot of money most other complexes are not charging upfront until the application is approved. After 2 weeks I secured another apartment at another complex as “backup” just in case. I received the “Pre-approval pending approval by the Property Manager” email from the Texas Office. I posted all my income documents online upon submitting my application 3 weeks before. I relinquished the “backup” apartment after the “pre-approval”. I had to resubmit supporting income documents again because of lacking enough income. Finally the Property Manager ‘found’ my second income statement and said “It was hiding” behind my first one online. She also said, “We don’t usually take savings deposit accounts as income”, my 3rd source of income. The Leasing Agent admitted she had not processed a Retirement Income application before.

Incident #2: Notification of Entry to Apartments to Inspect and Replace the Vent Hose/Duct behind Dryers

I received an email about the Dryer Vent Hose/Duct inspection, replacement, and cleaning, if necessary. It was insane to schedule such a service for the contractor, Vent Prevent, during the wet, rainy hurricane aftermath. I was prepared with cardboard laid down over the carpet and the wet contractor’s entry along with maintenance. I waited and waited. No one ever showed up. I email Pinewood Station about my anger over the situation. I never heard back about what happened.

Incident #3: Renters Insurance Confirmation of Coverage Not Posted in Time to Avoid $25.00 Fee

I barely had a chance to submit my new Confirmation of Coverage upon payment and update by my renters insurance to avoid a scathing email. I submitted my Coverage Letter 4 days afterward to Pinewood Station via email, and never heard back from them. No notice of a $25.00 'Renters Protection' fee to be charged. I was told “It is your responsibility to make sure insurance renewal is in place before it expires”. I cannot post additional documents to my account using the Pinewood Station portal, aka, RealPage.com. The Pinewood Station staff has to do that. I was threatened with a “One Time Courtesy” credit of $25.00. I was also threatened with a “Pay or Get Out” 30-day-notice letter once the credit was posted and the total rental amount due was back to its original...

Where to even begin...

The Office Staff & Maintenence Christine is the only person in the office that I enjoy talking with, or asking any questions. She goes out of her way to help. Emily on the other hand, is downright disrespectful to tenants, rude, and acts as if you are bothering her. She definitely needs better people skills, especially with current and future tenants.

Maintenence is not bad. However, Dewayne (the maintenence supervisor) left and he was the one person we felt as though knew what he was doing. Anytime you had a question or concern, he knew how to answer it and helped anyway he could to help find a remedy to the situation. I'm not sure why he left, but they lost a great employee!!!! The other two guys we rarely see out doing any work.

The Property Itself... has changed hands/owners several times along with the office staff in the past several years. We all believed once the new owners took over, things would change and get better. Some things have been fixed (slowly but surely) but other things have not. There is a huge flooding issue on the grounds and makes walking to your car a huge challenge when it rains. They installed "drainage" but it does absolutely nothing. They said that tree triming happened right before spring, but it doesn't look like it. Several cars have been damaged by huge falling tree limbs. The lighting of the parking lot and the grounds overall is terrible. They may have fixed a few lights here and there, but it's definitely not lit up enough to feel safe at night. There are several homeless people roaming the neighborhood asking for money. There are even drug deals that go on near the playground and in a couple of the parking lots. SEVERAL cars have been broken into (again, not enough lighting). Cops are here ALOT!!!! The bugs are insane. Giant water bugs have always been a problem in the summer, along with mosquitos. The plumbing is HORRIBLE! And our water was shut off 5 minutes after we received an email stating that a water main needed fixing. Not everyone checks their email. There needs to be a better way to communicate that. This wasn't the first time. This was the third time in 5 days. And at 6:08pm an email was sent stating we would have water back shortly. It's now almost 1am and still no water. It's been 12 hours. I'm sure there will be an increase in our water bill due to this, just as we all have started having to pay a "community fee" that is not itemized on our utility bill. Supposedly this is to pay for amenities, maintenance of the grounds and buildings, but isn't that what our rent is helping pay for? Seems like another way to squeeze money out of tenants.

I'd say if you want to take a chance and rent here. Do so, but only at...

Bugs. I have to pay a fee for pest control anyway . “Pest control” will come and spray if you request” but it’s like they just sprayed sugar water cuz the bugs just won’t leave.

Fees unexplained by management despite multiple attempts. I don’t own a pet. I get charged for it; will not fix.

A/C unit breaks and stinks of formaldehyde . The fix was basically Flintstone -grade. Still smells like formaldehyde, they didn’t replace the (useless) vent pane on the kitchen wall, they left a square hole in the wall and broke. a $200 LP.

Gerry-rigged everything. Mainten Is super responsive but unfortunately the result is always a temporary bandaid. Sliding door won’t open with ease because entire casement is sagging and uneven. Holes in the wall. Mold. Leaky fixtures and unstable oven/ range.

Wont drink the tap water. Pool was closed most most of the summer last year. Still paid for it.

The apartment shows its age. Despite having been a professional cleaner, I can’t work with all of this. The rusty plumbing and warped cabinetry from water damage.

I’ve become disabled since moving in. Requested an opening for an apartment I could deal with. No response into years. There’s a slope leading to my apartment. No real handicap access. I keep slipping and falling; hurting my already taxed body on the roots, rocks, leaves just to get to my apartment which I am finding hard to call home.

Maintenance does its best but management is unresponsive. Maintenance is friendly, helpful, responsive but can only do the bare minimum because they are required to follow directions coming from management.

Rent has gone up more than $300 since moving in 3 years ago with never any reliable numbers backing up the changes nor any warning, so it’s difficult to make decisions regarding signing a new lease.

Also, my new car was stolen from the parking lot and used in a drug deal. Gang related I think. Car was ultimately found in Durham - no longer drivable.

Juvies (so names not revealed; get a slap on the wrist and promptly released) were manipulated into making the break-in, stealing the car and transporting whatever to earn street cred. I spoke to the Magistrate who basically told me that if I pressed charges, I’d get shot in the street.

So that’s cool.

Never heard from management regarding safety measures, etc. despite many calls.

Otherwise the neighbors are mainly good, hardworking families. The only reason this review gets a 2 instead of a one.

Update: 2/11/25 Thank you, Pinewood Station For your thank you note which I have heard 1 million times. Time will tell if you put my money where...