The Connor Group — Local services in Miami Township

I never give one star reviews because sometimes people have bad days and things are just not going right. However for the past three years the Connor Group has been atrocious! Today was the final straw. In January of 2023 I had a check returned because the money I had moved into my checking account didn't get there on time. Completely my fault. A block was put on there and I was removed from Autopay. At the time Kim, the property manager, was willing to take it off and let me try Autopay again. I declined because I stated that I had a spending problem and needed to be better with my money. I have been paying with money orders ever since which have cost a dollar a piece. It helps me plan accordingly. Last month one of the leasing agents, who talks down to all the residents and acts superior to humanity(I don't want to name names hoping that one day she'll better herself) said the office wouldn't take my money orders anymore and that she was only taking them as a courtesy. I said that is going to be a problem because I cant put my account on Autopay and the platform charges a two percent fee for debit and credit cards. Also there is nothing in my lease that says you cant take them. The agent said let me talk to Kim and we will see what we can do. Weeks went by no answer. I then noticed that there was a late fee for Resident billing for the month of December. I called and I'm like I cant be late because I have receipts from where you guys take my money orders. The agent is like, "You are right but we will have to talk to Kim to fix it." Kim still doesn't call. I keep calling and they are like we promise we'll let you talk to her as soon as we can. When I was renewing my lease Kim wouldn't stop calling. Today I call, someone hangs up and then I call again and Kim picks up. First tings first she wanted to argue with me about her time is of the essence and she cant be available at my beck and call. This was the most important piece of the entire conversation with her. How dare I think she was avoiding my calls...which she was!! Kim says she will follow up about the late fee credit and hopes that it will be fixed before the first of next month and finally she says she has no solutions about me paying the rent. I just need to pay the two percent platform fee. It would be one thing if Kim had empathy made me feel appreciated as a tenant while discussing these things but it is apparent she has no customer service skills. The only time she wants to deal with people is when she wants renewals. I am a used car salesman and The Connor Group is more pushy then I could ever be and I'm good at my job! I have eight more months left on my lease and then I'm out. I have already started the house hunting process. Just a few other things to note:

My rent is $1799 but with all the fees(not including this two percent fee) is $2100! Don't not believe what they tell you it is.. always more. There are two trash charges which leads to my next point...

The apartment is always filthy. Dog poop everywhere and the compactor is overflowing. Sometimes they don't come pick up the valet trash and it looks awful.

The way they treat my neighbor is outright disrespectful. They abuse her because she smokes and she ask that they fix things like the carpet and the bug problem. All maintenance is in house so she is an inconvenience to them when she makes requests. Kim tried to get her to cancel her lease because she didn't want to deal with her anymore(God forbid if I try to cancel mine). My neighbor made an appointment to discuss cancelation and then Kim didn't even show up.

I had three mice when I first moved in.

The first two summers I lived her the pool was closed.

One of my cars was vandalized. Someone threw a brick through the rearview window. When I mentioned it they were like we don't do anything call the police.

When I told Kim I as writing this review she tried to threaten me with what I think is retaliation. There is nothing you can retaliate against Kim, I am an excellent tenant. I pay rent and pick up...

When I signed a lease and moved into Ashton Brook Apartments in Franklin Tennessee, my children and I were very excited about our new fresh start. Unfortunately, I have to say that this is the absolute worst experience I have ever had renting. I endured living at Ashton Brook Apartments for three years, because I was stuck and felt I had no options. I could not find a less expensive apartment. When I moved into Ashton Brook in September of 2013 I was optimistic and very pleased. Management was amazing and repairs were completed promptly and the jobs were done the right way the first time. That is, until Connor Group took over in that first year. After that, the water bills changed from me getting to pay for the water I used, to me having no choice but to pay community water. My water bill went from $40 a month at the highest, to a consistent $160 a month! Because I lived in a three bedroom (yet only had my children half of the month) I had to divide the water usage up by square feet in my building as well as contribute to the pool maintenance water as well as pay a garbage fee. I still had to take my own trash to the dumpster, yet was paying a fee anyway.

Every year, my air went out at least twice when summer began, and each winter, my heat went out at least twice. It became a joke with my children. The first winter it went out was January 2014 and I had no heat for 3 days. These were hard freeze evenings and my apartment was 45 degrees inside. Management refused to put me up in a hotel while they tried to fix the heat. So not only did I pay rent those three days, I also had no where to stay and had a hotel bill for three days.

When I finally was able to move, Management forced me to stay until July 7 because they apparently had reached their maximum move outs in June and forced me to stay. Well in May thru the first week in June, my air conditioning quit working 5 times! Five times I had no air in the heat of the season. The 4th time my air went out, I called the office on my way to the airport to travel letting them know my air was out and that I would be back in town in four days. I gave her my name and apartment number and upon returning, 4 days later, my air was still not working. It was a Sunday evening and I had my children and because it was weekend, they would not get anyone out to fix it. While the property maintenance manager lived in the complex, she would not come, and they forced a man who lived 30 minutes away to come out, and give me one window unit for my three bedroom apartment. We had to sleep on the couch and in sleeping bags on the floor because the management messed up and did not fix my air. Then next day it was fixed, yet a few days later, it went out again. 6 times in five weeks, I calculated that I was without air conditioning for 11 days! For 11 days I had to pay for electricity bill running my air that did not work. 7 of those days, I had to find a place to stay because I couldn't sleep in 85 degree heat.

Near tears, I resolved to move my moving date sooner and I moved out June 15. I have not been in my apartment since and I will not pay another dime for the 7 days in July they FORCED me to sign up for. Take it out of the days I had to relocate because they would not resolve my air unit the first time. Frankly, It was as if they were just putting "glitter on poop" and never truly fixing any problem.

I had dish washer issues constantly. My garbage disposal broke many times, and I also had many electrical outlets that did not work.

There were months I was out of town more than I was in town and never used water, yet still had a consistent $160 water bill.

Shelli Tripp...

The Connor Group is a real estate investment firm where their website clearly states that their core values is to maximize the return for their investors. There is barely anything that mentions that their goal is to enable the communities that they invest in to thrive through the capital they bring in and contribute to urban development.

What is beyond distasteful is that (a) there is no lease break clause; (b) the property is instructed by the The Connor Group to minimize interaction with the tenant and if tenants choose to back out of the lease, even for the most valid reason that is health related, there is no attempt to talk through the reason for termination. Instead, their immediate MO is to send the person to collections, ruining their credit reports for 7 years. There are alternatives stipulated by NC State Laws where the landlord can work with the tenant to make every effort to re-rent the unit instead of making the tenant owe rent for the entire lease term which in this case is a full 12 months + security deposit + any rent that was paid upfront; (c) Also, there is no military service clause which is so important given the heightened geopolitical environment we live in; (d) their addendum states that the tenant may not under ANY circumstances break the lease where “This includes illness (yourself or another family member)” At the end of the day, they will just punt the case to the collections agencies to hound the sick till the lease is paid in full. The language in the addendums honestly disgust me. It is the norm for apartment complexes in NC to request a lease break clause of two months rent upfront. I’ve surveyed over 25 properties in the area and it is consistent. The reason that has become a standard is because the tenant is merely coughing out the concessions they received upfront.

*Review Edit: That number has been called more than once in an effort to make a plea. A detailed voicemail was left with the District Manager who did not even have the courtesy to return a call. If you’re interested to make right, connect with your employees starting with Colleen Somoles. This team of three arrived brand new after a mass exodus of employees at the property. It is clear that their directive is to give tours all day everyday over helping tenants with their issues such that there’s a constant line out the door. It is baffling as to why The Connor Group would decide to send a tenant who has just been vetted and approved to collections when each employee was giving tours all day at the peak of summer, which was when notice was given. No effort was made to re-rent the apartment. The first line of defense is sending the tenant with a severe health condition to collections where full disclosure has been made that the apartment the tenant is seeking must be able to accommodate the person’s disability. The Group’s Corporate Lawyer is not interested to respond either. If the lease agreement requires an added addendum to further clarify that there is no lease break clause, it stands to reason that this cannot be the firm’s first rodeo at doing the least ethical thing to their revenue stream. Why would a company resort to sending the tenant to collections, depriving them of ever renting, leasing a vehicle or applying for a mortgage in a state that has had a long history of families living below the poverty line? How is paying fees to a collection agency a more lucrative financial option? With two hurricanes having ravaged through the state, how many tenant and/or family members is the Group sending to...