Alta Shores Apartments — Local services in North Charleston

Many hidden fees and serious issues with Alta Shores to be aware of.

Background: I moved from out of state. I was selling my home and needed a temporary apt in SC quickly during closing. Alta Shores looked good online, but after living there a year I found numerous issues.

Hidden Fees (as of 2025): • Application fee: $125 • Admin fee: $200 • Security Deposit: $1000 “refundable” — expect to potentially lose $200–$500 regardless of how well you clean, due to excessive move-out requirements. • OR $175 “Sure Deposit” (non-refundable bond) that doesn’t cover normal wear/tear, so additional move-out charges may still apply. • Non-refundable pet “deposit”: $500 (welcome letter calls it a deposit, lease calls it a “fee” so it WILL NOT cover pet wear/tear). • “Pet Screening” fee: $31.80 per pet, renewed annually, must manually deactivate or they may keep charging.

Monthly Charges: • Pet Rent: $50 + $25 each additional pet • Trash: $32 (compactor only, no collection/recycling) • Pest Control: $7 monthly — they came only twice in a year to spray my apt.

Maintenance & Service: • Legally 48-hour notice to enter, but seemed it was often less. • Every 2–3 months they change air filters AND do “cleanliness checks.” One maintenance worker even had a phone ready to take pics “if needed.” • I was charged $25 for blinds replacement after one of these checks.

Parking: • Permit fee required (can’t recall cost). • Guest parking very limited; towing company patrols aggressively. • My car was towed for being slightly on the line — cost $250+ to retrieve - and got ants from towing pick-up location.

“Safety Officer” & Noise Complaints (Major Issue): • The “Safety Officer” can be called for noise complaints. Apts are 3 stories, and noise and smells carry very easily between apts (especially if below neighbor smokes). I was on 2nd floor. BE AWARE: The “safety officer” carries a gun and CAN call the police on you over noise complaints. • Example: At 7am I received a noise complaint (my cat knocked over a bar stool while I was on the phone and about to walk my dog). Safety officer was called. I stepped outside to prevent pets from escaping and personally did not feel comfortable with him entering. BE AWARE: “Safety Officer” can take advantage of the fact you’re outside of your apt to technically get you charged and arrested for Disorderly Conduct. I was thrown down on the ground by police and and arrested. I stayed in jail somewhere between 24-48 hours (while only wearing a tank top and pajama pants). I have no family locally since I moved from out of state, but thankfully had a local friend I could call. Pets went unfed; my dog had an accident on carpet that cost me $200+ for carpet removal even though I wet-vacuumed clean. I have NEVER received a noise complaint or have been arrested before in my life — no priors, and NEVER been treated so poorly before. I have permanent nerve damage in my wrists and hands due to how brutally I was treated by police. I had to go to court just to try and get this off of the record I now have (which I am still in the process of fighting).

Eviction: • I was ultimately evicted over what seemed a minor noise complaint, despite no prior issues. Thankfully, I moved into an apartment complex closer to downtown and beach that is overall a much nicer community, and I pay less for a 2 bedroom now, than I was paying at Alta Shores for a 1 bedroom.

Office Management: • In my experience they had little empathy, poorly handled situations, and seemed more focused on fees than residents. • I work remotely managing R&D studies and was shocked at how poorly managed this community felt.

In short: Be very cautious about the upfront fees, lease terms, vacating instructions, and what is in scope for how management/maintenance/safety officer can operate. Also know your County Ordinance laws — they exist to protect you. I will also be sending this information to their corporate office in hopes of changes for...

The apartment we rent is clean and updated. The apartment complex is fairly well-manicured. The size of the 2br/2ba apartment is decent, as is the kitchen, especially when compared to many other apartments. There is a lot of cabinet space in the kitchen, as well. The master bathroom has a fair amount of counter space, too. A few complaints we have:

1. maintenance requests are slow to be responded to, and sometimes not at all. Either the requests aren't being forwarded, or they are too inundated with other requests. Either way, it sometimes takes a long time to complete.
2. The dog park is: -VERY small -Rarely to never maintained (overgrown), which is a deadly snake hazard! -The fence is extremely SHORT! Any medium-sized dog could leap right over (which has happened to several owners I have spoken to). -The fence is not attached at the bottom and dogs regularly escape by pushing right through, especially on the bottom corner of the door. -Tennants, ourselves included, would enjoy a larger park, with a much taller fence, well-maintained and safer for both dogs and owners
3. Noise from apartments above is transferred extremely well, especially since all floor levels have hardwood flooring--this means that every footstep, every push of a chair, every movement, really, is not only audible, but rather loud and startling! If the above tennants drop something, just pray that you don't have any heart issues, because it could startle you right into an M.I. Not only are movements, drops, falls, and footsteps audible, but voices are, as well. Conversations are usually muffled, but if I spoke Portugese, they would actually at times be discernable! Noise and smells also seem to travel through the vents. We can smell cooking sometimes, and voices and other noises are even more audible in the master bedroom, as it seems it travels through the vent there. We can always hear their baby cry, and their talking to the baby to console it, as well as when their kids have a tantrum and they are talking to them. We have also had, much to our dismay, the unpleasant experience of hearing them... well... make more children... right above us.
4. When signing a renewal of the lease, the rent goes UP 3%. One would think that you would get some sort of loyalty discount or something, but instead, it almost feels as though you are penalized for staying. Makes us WANT to leave.

Though I wrote a lot of complaints, the apartment complex overall is not bad. It's definitely a much better choice than some of the beat up places we saw. This one is not beat up and the tennants are generally friendly, as well as the office staff, which are very friendly and helpful. We really would LOVE to have the complaints addressed, though. I mean, hardwood floors should not be placed on any story other than the first floor. That can't be helped at this point, I'm sure, but if anything, we would mainly like the issues with the dog park addressed. Hopefully they do something about it--the fence height, security, general size, and lawn care. 2 stars mainly for the noise issue from above, which is at...

I lived at Alta Shores for a year and had a very positive experience. I would highly recommend this place to anyone who needs a clean, safe apartment in the Charleston area. It's about 18 minutes to downtown Charleston. I've rented apartments in DC where landlords and leasing companies are always out to get you and can make your life a living hell, totally not like that at Alta Shores - great staff and they're reasonable/willing to work with you.

Positives: -Great location, easy access to I-26, malls, restaurants, shopping, & downtown Charleston -Clean apartments -Nice swimming pool -Plenty of parking -Front-office staff was pretty reasonable/easy to work with -Prompt response from maintenance dept. -Free wifi in the clubhouse and even a printer for residents

Negatives: -We had a ongoing issue w/ palmetto bugs (aka roaches). (warning: if you've never lived in the Lowcountry/Charleston area, palmetto bugs are a normal thing, don't freak out if you see one ocassionally). However, we had several every week and would find dead ones under furniture/couch, etc. even though my boyfriend and I kept a spotless apartment. The bugs started once new neighbors moved in next door. Again, it wasn't awful or anything, just a minor inconvenience every couple weeks. When I complained to front office they had an exterminator come by at no charge to me. -The toilet handle did not work very well, had to hold it down several seconds when flushing, even after toilet was completely reconstructed -The "fitness center" was basically one working treadmill, a bowflex-like machine, and 2 exercise bikes. One of the treadmills was constantly broken, and there were no free-weights. Not a major issue b/c there's sidewalks out front and a planet fitness 5 min away that's reasonably priced.

It's in a very quiet neighborhood next to medical offices and a retirement home, so if you're a young college student or party animal you should probably look downtown. I never felt unsafe...