Toftrees Apartments — Local services in Patton Township

Since we have moved into Toftrees Cricklewood a year ago, Toftrees management and leasing has acted in a highly unethical manner.

When we were shown our apartment, we were shown a comparable unit to the one we leased. We were sure to ask our leasing agent if the unit we rented would be in the same condition as the one we were shown and we were assured that that would be the case. Upon move-in, we found that our carpets had not been cleaned and that the apartment had rank pet dander odors. Toftrees hired someone to "clean" the carpets, which amounted to basically spraying febreeze all over the carpets, and then when we followed up about the inadequacy of that, they brought someone in to shampoo the carpets, but the carpets could not dry adequately, so now the apartment smelled like pet dander covered with febreeze and mildew. Eventually we convinced them to replace the carpets, but they only acted on this after we had already moved in all of our furniture, and they would not pay for the cleaners to move the furniture, so we had to do it ourselves. The cleanliness of the apartment on the whole was very poor; under and behind the fridge, we found mounds of dog food and dog hair.

Toftrees also has very strict and inflexible terms about lease renewal and charges onerous fees to get out of a lease, terms that were misrepresented to us by our leasing agent. When we first were shown our apartment by the leasing agent and signed our lease, we asked our leasing agent specifically about the renewal terms. Because of the nature of our occupations, we tend to move fairly frequently for work and often aren't certain of where we will be located very far in advance. We explained to our agent that giving 120 days notice prior to lease termination (as the lease stipulates) would likely be impossible. I don't believe that she deliberately misled us on this matter, but I believe she at least inaccurately cited the policy of "convenient relocation" to assure us that if I had to move for work we would only be responsible for 60 days of rent with no damages due for breaking the lease, however this policy would not apply to my situation were I to have to move for work; it would only apply if my current employer laid me off or relocated me. We would therefore be liable for the (remarkably onerous!) damages of $2270 + 60-days of rent in the event we had to break the lease. Toftrees was entirely inflexible on these terms, despite misrepresentation of the terms by the leasing agent and despite the problems created for residents by the pandemic. Instead, they sent out a passive aggressive e-mail to all residents about how, despite the pandemic, they were still legally bound by the terms of the lease (I suspect this left many students and low-income residents trying to get out of their leases in a heck of a bind and I saw no sign that Toftrees attempted to mitigate those problems).

The inflexible nature of these terms has been magnified by COVID-19 and Toftrees' lack of a fair and adequate response to the pandemic. When the pandemic lockdown began in early March, Toftrees wisely closed the clubhouse (including the pool and fitness center). However, when asked about a prorated refund of the yearly activity fee ($300 the first year, $50/adult resident in subsequent years), they responded, "we aren’t considering doing this since we are hoping it to only be a few more weeks." The clubhouse remained locked into May and no prorated refunds on the activity fee were offered to residents. I have followed up on this and have been continually denied. Legally Toftrees cannot charge for services that it cannot tender. This year they are continuing to enforce a mandatory activity fee in the face of abundant wisdom that using fitness centers is not safe and will contribute to the spread of COVID. They are not allowing residents to opt out of the activity; for high-risk residents, this constitutes ableism. And they appear to have no plan for when the semester starts at PSU. They are unethical...

Thought I'd leave a review after living in Toftrees (Cricklewood) for almost a year now as many of the current reviews either seem overly positive or overly negative and don't give an accurate picture of living here. As a grad student, I was looking for a decent place to move that wouldn't be overly crowded but it seems like many of the reviews for places in State College are written by angry undergrads who likely don't pay their own rent or by "paid" reviewers who do not give you a sense of how living in these places actually is. So below is my PRO/CON list for Toftrees and just a note at the end for anyone first moving to State College.

PRO'S: Can easily pay rent online and get reminders if you forget BEFORE the late date.

Maintenance staff is friendly and quick. I've even had them give me advice on a quick fix over the phone so I do not have to wait on them.

Clubhouse is very nice and offers a decent gym, free printing and computer access, and a lounge area.

Is set in a quiet wooded area and if you're looking to avoid loud partying undergrads, this will be an ideal place to live.

I appears like they are continually making renovations. In the time I've been here they've replaced my balcony railing and repaired some outside cosmetic damage and repaved areas of the parking lot with bad pot holes.

CON'S: Apartments are a bit old and dated. The appliances and cabinets need updating or replaced. You can only chalk a shower-head so many times before you should just replace it.

Some of the repairs or painting they have done seem rushed or shotty. The paint in the corners and ceilings of the rooms were bubbling or cracked when I moved in. Also whoever painted was not careful as the doors and cable outlets all have paint dripped on them.

The apartment could be cleaner prior to my move in as well. I had to vacuum and scrub everything a bit too much for just moving in the first time.

Leasing and rent. I was required to renew my lease or declare I would be moving out by April 1st for an Aug 1st lease. These leave very little time to find any other places to move should you wish to. Many other places do not post next years openings until mid April this severely cripples your ability to secure a new place before deciding to move which is rather unfair. Also, my rent was increased for seemingly no reason on the new lease. While I understand it is in their rights to increase rent over time, it seems like a poor way to retain residents by upping their monthly living costs for giving you continual business. Also, you are REQUIRED to pay a monthly fee for valet trash whether you want it or not and you will be charged a monthly "admin" fee for liability coverage (does not include your belongings) that you cannot waive even if you carry your own renters insurance.

All in all toftrees is not a bad place to live. It is in a quiet area about 3 miles down the road from the main campus and along a bus route. While the apartments definitely need some updates, I have had no issues in the time I've lived here with anything major. My biggest grievance is the avoidable little fee's they charge each month and the fact that they do not reward resident loyalty by continually raising rent.

NOTES ON MOVING TO STATE COLLEGE Most places here WILL be full by May/June for leases starting in the Fall. Because of the university, pretty much all rental properties will require you sign your lease almost 3-4 month in advance. Which is pretty much unheard of anywhere else. Additionally, rent here is rather steep for the area because of the school. Comparatively, I have lived in similar quality/size apartments for MUCH less than the rental costs here as well as in MUCH nicer/larger apartments for similar costs. That's just the reality of the area though. So just be...

I lived there for three years. The apartments at the Highwoods are nice and new. The community is pet friendly, which in State College is uncommon for a new place. If you don't have to deal with the rent office and don't mind random increase in rent (see below), it's actually quite a nice place.

The low rating is due to three specific incidents, which over a period of three years might not seem a lot, but they were handled so poorly that really affected my confidence in recommending this place.

They introduced a trash valet service, which got added to the monthly rent and couldn't opt out. The valet wasn't really necessary on my end since the bins were close to the unit and the service was running at specific times of the day, which was not fitting my work schedule.

I had a bird dying in my dryer vent while on vacation and took them weeks to solve the problem. The first time that maintenance came out I wasn't at home despite I asked them to give me a call before entering. They simply looked inside of the dryer (not in the vent) and told me that there was nothing wrong. When I call them back telling them that the smell wasn't going away , they told me that maybe I didn't clean my house before leaving and that it was on me. I was treated very poorly and they kind of implied I was lying... in the meantime I was living with a dead bird in the house and a bunch of flies. I finally convinced them to come back and they found a dead bird stuck all the way to the back of the vent... They just removed it without replacing the duct or even cleanin or disinfecting, I ended up doing that myself. It was not a big deal but one of the reasons I opted for an apartment community was exactly the maintenance service. I was ok in paying a premium for the convenience of having someone that would take care of these things. I asked to replaced the flap outside of the building to prevent this from happening again. They didn't. So the next year I had birds nesting in the dryer vent of my apartment on the 3rd floor. After calling them several time and attaching pictures, they removed the nest, but the birds would come back. Finally, they installed a mesh cover- just in front of my vent...

When I moved out, I returned the keys in May, while my lease was going until June. When I got my last electricity bill for June 13th to July 1st (19 days), I contacted them because there was a huge increase in energy usage compared to the previous bill. They first told me that I should ask Penn Power about it, so I did. And unfortunately they were able to provide me with the daily consumption for my unit. I went from an average of 10kWh/day in the last week of May to an average of 36kWh/day for the 19 days in June with an empty house. I got back to them asking how that was possible and they told me that it might have been a fee that Penn Power charged me because I cancel my utility contract before the end of my lease, which I didn't. So, I turned in the keys in May, there was no new tenant in the unit, but somehow the reading from the meter showed more than 450kWh over 19 days that I have to pay. We are still exchanging emails over this...

EDIT on the bill: after several pointless email exchanges in which they would just try to come up with reasons why it must have been my fault, I had to pay the bill to Penn Power. In my last email I told the office that the bill due date was past and so I paid the amount. I also added that given how they were handling the situation and showed no signs whatsoever that they were honestly trying to help, I was not optimistic about this being resolved in my favor and I was no longer interested in pursuing this further. They responded to me telling me what they would have done "if I only gave them a chance"... Customer Service is...