Vantage — Local services in Philadelphia

I have lived here for 2 years, but have been visiting the building 2 years prior (so 4 total). Over the 4 years that I have seen, the safety of the area and the appearance of the outside has declined. Starting with safety.

Safety: Northern Philadelphia isn't safe; I get that. But that doesn't excuse the feeling when you see teenagers posturing near 5 Guys or leaning over the railing at the Chase bank leering at you. You can't help but feel like they're trying to be predatorial.

Additionally, people often choose the landing outside Vantage's apartment building as their loitering spot. Some things wouldn't be accepted anywhere but Philly. For example last semester, a bush in front of the building was lit on fire in the middle of the night, it was a 12-foot tall blazing tree lighting the entire block. This isn't my definition of a "luxury apartment".

With this said though, as soon as you walk into the front doors there is a forced interaction with a security guard. They are all stellar and show care for their jobs and the safety of the building. Specifically, I adore the older gentleman who is always trying to enrich our days by putting up quotes and greeting passers-by.

Cleanliness: As I said earlier, I do appreciate those that do their best to maintain the building. The garbage room is always empty and tidy, the garbage cans are always emptied, and the windows are clean - not to mention the extremely professional and timely maintenance team that works here, hats off.

But there is a pitfall here, and it starts when we leave the doors. I am unsure if outside of the front doors isn't Vantage's property, but it's pretty disgusting. Old gum, blackened by time sticks to the pavement, pavers are shattered and cracked in more than one instance, likely from (I'm sure) a hilarious joke, and the garbage sprawled around the floors and spilled out from overfilled garbage cans. All of these things indicate to me that the outside of the Vantage (front/main entrance) is free of prosecution and allows anything to fly... Oh also, the words “Jamaica" are spray-painted on the sidewalk RIGHT in front of the main entrance, very classy indeed.

Cost: Let's say that you're a prospective renter, and you are hoping to rent out a room for yourself this upcoming semester. Well, there is a funny system at play here, you have to pay the month of August's rent on the 1st of the month, to then be able to move in on the date that they tell you is acceptable (the 15th last year). That is half a month's rent worth of time that I am not allowed to step into my house. This is extremely disrespectful as I am forced into losing half of the month of August if I wish to lease here.

I renewed my lease back in December, with the intention to change apartments within the same building, I did so on my lease. It was this past Monday (June 12th) that I was sent an email about transferring. In this email, there was a stipulation that if I wished to remain in my current apartment, I would be required to pay $350 by Thursday June 15th. If I didn't wish to pay, I would be forced to move out of my apartment completely, and wait until the official move in day with everyone else.

Let's unpack this:

Firstly, why was I given exactly 3 DAYS to come up with this "transfer fee" at the threat of accruing late fees. I had no choice but to put this tab on my credit card, and take the additional fees.

Secondly, The idea of this boggles my mind, without consultation nor explanation, they decided that a $150 hike in the transfer fee from last year would be completely acceptable.

Finally, My understanding of a renters agreement is one where I pay rent and I am allowed to live on their grounds. Why am I being forced to pay $350 to remain in my apartment for a month of rent that has been paid in full, and on time?

I urge you all to take my opinions as just that, this information is not meant to be detrimental to Vantage, I mean to inform those that are willing to read about my...

The girl that lived one door down the hall from me all of last year (13th floor) was a frequent user of something that rhymes with beth. As in cryst4l beth. I wasn't aware of this situation until she had moved out and I was helping my friends move into her apartment. The cleaning people were there the entire day, even though move in was supposed to be that morning. When we finally got access to the room, the girl's door was locked and the entire apartment wreaked of something beyond rotten.

I texted the girl's roommates from the previous year, who I knew, asking if she was sketchy. Turns out they had reported her to Vantage (they were random roommates with her) months before and the people in the office apparently said they were aware of what was going on. Yet they were dismissed??? Their other roommate moved out early on 1st semester. What I heard was her pillow turned yellow from residue in the air vents. AKA the girl was sm0king .... beth.

That same day I spoke to the people at the front desk, the ones managing the move in process, about the hazardous apartment and that a beth user had moved out days before. They told me we should discuss this later. My friends stayed in that apartment for 48 hours, until we received videos from people who had been in the girl's bedroom. N33dles in water bottles, a jar of paint laying on her floor, a black blanket covering the window that had turned white from smoke, her bathroom mirrors smudged with ash. We forwarded these findings to Vantage.

Only after my friends were relocated to a different floor without any explanation did we also find out she had her non-Temple girlfriend living with her...with an INFANT. I never once saw a child or that girl's girlfriend walking in the hallway.

Vantage never explained the situation, apologized, or offered an explanation to the videos we sent.

To sum up my review, I spent an entire year living across the hall from an active beth user. Vantage denies that this student was ever reported and they covered up whatever they found in her room on the day of move in. I literally smelled burning tar coming from that room on several occasions and assumed it was the trash (she often left trash bags in the hallway).

Vantage has the nerve to add me and my roommates to a groupchat to ensure we don't leave our apartment after catching COVID, then falsely accusing us of leaving our room during our quarantine, but didn’t bother to contact anyone from the 13th floor to address their "potential" exposure to this girl's dr4gs. There are now people living in that same apartment. The air vents were completely reinstalled, the carpet replaced, the walls...

What my roommates and I thought would be perfectly inspected, safe, and working is far from the truth. Living at Vantage, an Asset Campus Housing Building, has been an experience to say the least. We have been paying full rent on our brand new apartment since August 1, 2019 and were not allowed move in until the move-in days until Aug 18-22. We have all lived in our apartment since August 22, 2019 in which we have had nothing but trouble and dysfunctional utilities and amenities. The electrical and plumbing crawlspace was left open upon arrival and is extremely dangerous with supply and wires in the open, leading us to believe our room was never inspected. The maintenance staff has come to our room 5 times in the 17 days we have lived here. The contracting and engineering on this building was rushed and quite honestly, sub-par. Between the 4 of us living in this apartment, nearly $10,000 has gone into our 901 square foot apartment, for the 17 days we have been living here, that is undoubtably unfit for living. The water supply and plumbing has been causing issues every day and for the 4 maintenance requests that have been put in, there was a different part that needed to be replaced every single time. I should not be inconvenienced with changing my schedule and having my privacy invaded 5 times in 17 days for continuous problems that have yet to be completely solved. My roommates and I also should not have to deal with no water in our showers and our showers turning off halfway through. Today, September 7, 2019 our kitchen sink flooded and there is ZERO management in the building and maintenance has off for the weekends. This was an emergency that took 3 hours to be attended to. After our kitchen has been flooded, countless items need to be reimbursed and replaced , we come to find out that the washer to the sink broke. NOBODY has lived in this room before me, so why is everything breaking? Why are the filters to the shower extremely filthy and aerators broken? Why are we investing thousands of dollars to be inconvenienced and treated HORRIBLY??? I want answers. I want a solution and to be reimbursed. This is...