Independence Place Apartments - Prince George — Local services in Hopewell

i lived here 2020-2021. i always try to write honest and respectful reviews. everything i expand on is just what i myself would like to know prior to moving into a new apartment.

just a few things i didn’t prefer here:

-bathroom: the light and vent functions are combined (when the light switch is on, the vent is always on in unison). this is really just a 70’s retro trend - but i am not a fan.

-living room: has a transparent door to the patio; no blinds are provided. i rented a furnished place suite - which is supposed to provide the basics for daily living (just like a hotel) and for me, privacy is essential to my daily needs. i had to go out and buy something in order to have total privacy.

-miscellaneous: there is a list of guaranteed items inclusive with the place suite, along with the promise of the “exact furniture” seen in the facebook virtual tour. 24 hours before move-in, i was told the previous tenant took a few things from my apartment and that these things would be replaced shortly. upon arrival i cross-checked the aforementioned list; the number of missing items was extensive. i did eventually receive all of the items after i repeatedly inquired about them. i really didn’t like that i waited weeks (for some things) and still had to pay full rent price sans the items included in that price. for the furniture - i wasn’t provided the exacts from the virtual tour. i only had part of a sectional couch for my whole stay (an entire seat section was missing: see picture). i brought it up and was told that the missing parts would be replaced, then eventually, was told nothing could be done. there was no action taken for me as the renter to make up for the fact that i paid full price for an incomplete and inaccurately described apartment. lastly, when i moved in, i could tell the place was put together last minute. i.e. the wax job on the floor was still sticky with various crumbs, hairs, and unknowns waxed into the floor. i am one of those weirdo “clean freak” people who notices every little detail, and it just looked a little gross.

-lots of parking spots, but none assigned. it was a stressful experience trying to rush home early and get a spot near my own apartment. it seemed like half of the parking lot spaces were taken by visitors. at some point, the complex sent a notification that they were receiving this complaint, and that parking tags would be enforced. this never happened while i was there.

those were really all of the major things that stood out to me as annoyances. i attached some pictures of what i described; i also added pictures of what the place looks like without being fluffed up by the virtual tour, where it’s made to look much fancier. one thing to note (not a complaint, just informative) is that there is only one trash dumpster for the entire complex. if you don’t live near the complex front, you have to drive your trash over or just carry it a long distance.

i DID overall have a smooth stay here. some positives i really, really liked:

-any maintenance order i submitted was met with response within a few hours and fixed completely on the same day. i felt like a priority with this.

-this is a very pet friendly place! during my stay, there was a substantial amount of waste disposal stations installed throughout the complex. it really helped keep the place clean and provided high convenience for disposing of my dog’s poop on potty breaks!

-the employees are friendly and respectful. i had the most exchange with Courtney - i genuinely enjoyed talking with her! she always tried her best to help with anything i needed, and she is an absolute lover of fur babies; most importantly, she is a genuinely kind person. if you are moving here and you’re not sure who to talk to or who to trust, i stand by the fact that Courtney will take care of you.

overall, i was quite happy with my stay here! i hope this can be helpful to any future renters. thank you to the management for having me and...

On June 14, 2021, I entered into a lease to rent a furnished, one-bedroom individual suite in the Independence Place Apartments – Prince George County, Virginia. I elected to pay the surety bond of $175 in lieu of $500 in a security deposit.

Unfortunately, at the time of move-in, I had to purchase my own mattress as the one provided was in poor condition, as noted on the move-in inspection. Shortly thereafter, on July 11, a significant rainstorm resulted in water damage that spanned the entire living area. Multiple seams across a 20-foot section of water-damaged drywall fell onto the floor. Despite submitting a work-order to address the problem, the water-damaged drywall was never fixed even through my departure from the suite on November 19, 2021. A maintenance person did come and look at it but did nothing but encouraged us to sweep up what fell. This is very concerning given that water-damaged drywall can result in mold build-up and clearly an inhospitable/unfit living condition for the tenant in violation of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act § 55.1-1220.

Additionally, on November 1, 2021, a member of Independence Place entered my suite to make a repair on a damaged toilet seat that was cracked upon move-in and finally gave out. Independence Place replaced the toilet seat AND changed the locks on my door without ANY discussion with me, simply leaving an automated email saying the work order for my toilet and door was complete. When I was finally able to take time off work to address this with management on November 4th after FOUR DAYS hearing nothing from Independence Place but an automated email, as I was “in the field” for the week, the manager informed me she had called the wrong person regarding the lock change and recognized the error, yet still made no effort to call and inform me or any responsibility for wrongdoing. Their justification for changing the locks was that since I moved in, they did not have a spare key to access the unit and needed a copy. After asking if they were taking $50 or $100 off my rent for the FOUR DAY “inconvenience” and asking why they couldn't wait two weeks until I moved out, why they didn't do it before I moved in, or couldn't have asked me for a copy of the key, she laughed and went so far as to harass and taunt me and ask if I wanted my new keys or not. The unlawful change of my locks amounts to a wrongful eviction and another clear violation of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.

Independence Place emailed me shortly after move-out requiring me to pay a $115 cleaning cost, which management says was outlined in the move-in agreement. It is truly suspicious that Independence Place allows residents to choose a $175 surety bond option – an exorbitantly high surety bond cost for coverage – while also requiring a “cleaning fee” upon move-out. If $115 is the typical cleaning fee they charge, residents should be expressly informed that they typically will spend close to $300 electing the surety bond option, as opposed to, $115 total deduction from the $500 security deposit option. Independence Place’s practice in this regard seems particularly suspect.

It was my desire to resolve this matter amicably. I had hoped that they would waive the $115 cleaning fee given the many issues addressed above. After outlining these issues in an email from my lawyer sent on December 3, 2021, they failed to respond within one week as outlined in the email. He called and gave them another week to respond and failed to address the water damage, locking out of my apartment, and insisting to pay the $115 cleaning fee for a mattress in disrepair, which I did on December 18, 2021, after three “Pre-collections notices” for the bill due a month from move out.

Don't waste your time here on their...

Added update! Scroll down! 👇🏽 Original review: We like the new property manager, Sarah. She is diligent and listens to our concerns when we have called. I can tell that under her management, this place is going to be doing much better! The leasing office staff have always been very helpful and kind. The first person we met was Morgan, who also gave us our tour before moving in. We enjoy seeing her when we visit to use the printer or other facilities in the clubhouse during the day! We would like to see the company hire more maintenance crew employees so that they’re not stretched so thin and less use of third party companies for certain things like painting inside the apartments after move outs. Maybe get rid of the vendor used altogether since it seems to be that any parts given to them for the pool always seem to break. These apartments have a lot of potential under Sarah and I look forward to seeing the changes she brings with her!

2/22/24 update: If you have noise complaints, they won’t do a thing. Nope, they’ll just allow ur neighbors to keep you up all night or wake you very very early in the morning and they’ll just tell you to “keep calling the cops”. The leasing office knowingly put people above us with a large puppy despite knowing we have an infant. The puppy clearly has anxiety and barks for hours and runs back and forth through their apartment while the owners are gone. Even the Prince George officers told us it was inconsiderate of them to do knowing we had a baby and tbh it felt like they did it on purpose considering the lack of empathy they had about it. They really didn’t do a thing to enforce their lease unless it had to do with something they can tack fees on you for. For example, you better make sure you don’t have a bulb out because the apartments will charge you for that if you “fail to notify them”. Apparently, I should be staring at my kitchen light on the ceiling to make sure BOTH fluorescent bulbs are working(even though I can’t even see through the cover as it’s frosted) 😒. Get real, leasing office. They even tried to charge us a $500 fee for having geckos. We asked the front desk if we could have them before purchasing them as it says in the lease we needed permission and we were told by someone in the office that it was fine and we didn’t need written permission. Then maintenance goes through our apartment and takes photos of the geckos and they tack on an “unauthorized pet” fee. As I said, all they do is try to charge, charge, CHARGE for any and EVERYTHING, but clearly they aren't using these fees to fix these apartments up. No, instead, we get a pool that’s always got a broken pump, trash all over the entire property, a crappy trash compactor that’s constantly jammed, email warnings sent to residents that are never enforced when it comes to trash left at the dumpster and not placed in the compactor, etc., etc. And the cherry on top, these apartments really wanted to up the price of these 2bd apartments from $1560 to $1673. WTH?? Never in my entire apartment living life, have I ever had my rent raised by more than about $20-$50 every lease. These apartments already aren’t worth what ur charging but to try and make them nearly $1700?! 🤣 Trust me when I say you’d rather live somewhere else, anywhere else, but here because what I’m telling you in this review ain’t even...