Cortland at the Village — Local services in Smyrna

I’ve lived in The Village since 2015 and everything was great until the beginning of The Arbors construction back in July of 2017. The office has done a terrible job at proactively communicating updates with us, the residents. I’ve reached out multiple times via email, phone and in person but getting concrete answers is like pulling teeth. For the past few months I’ve been ashamed to have guests because I’m living on a construction site, siding ripped off most of the buildings and trash containers everywhere. This year will be my 9 months old's 1st Christmas and I won’t be able to decorate or have use of my living room bc I have a living room full of patio furniture. We were notified a month ago that everything had to be removed from our patios and still haven’t been given an update on when we will have use of our patio or living room space again. To make matters worse, we were told about a roach infestation last week. We have to clear everything from our kitchen drawers and cabinets for a weekly roach treatment. So, instead of spending time with my son this evening, I get the fun job of tearing my kitchen apart. As compensation, we’ve received a $100 rent credit for the month of December. This is next to nothing as compensation for 6 months of continued inconvenience and ruining my son’s 1st holiday season. If you’ve checked the rates online, rent here is anything but cheap so $100 is next to nothing.

1/8/18 UPDATE

I just saw the response posted by The Village Team and while I appreciate the attempt to clean things up publicly, the offer to store my patio furniture NEVER HAPPENED. I'm not sure if they have me confused with another resident of if this is a flat out lie. As of 1/8/18, I still have no idea when renovations will be completed.

2/6/18 UPDATE

Updating my rating from 1 star to 3 stars. After making my concerns public, The Village has made a nice effort to be more proactive about updating the residents on what's happening in regards to the community construction. I've been working with Donna in Resident Services and she's been doing a good job. My rating is still pretty low because we're quickly reaching the 1 year anniversary of when construction started in July 2017 and things still look pretty crappy in my area BUT I do appreciate the office staff finally addressing my concerns.

**3/21 UPDATE The saga continues with the construction. My building still isn't completed. I've had to put in 2 service requests due to water leaks. Maintenance confirmed with me yesterday that the leaks are directly related to the construction not been finished. Each time it rains, my living and dining room carpet end up getting wet. The only solution offered so far is to place these large commercial blowers in my unit for several days to dry the carpet. The blowers are extremely loud and blow everything that isn't bolted down in my living room all over the place. I reached out to the office for a construction update yesterday but I haven't heard anything back yet. I will continue to update my review as things change.

**5/1 UPDATE 7 months after construction started on my building and 10 months after construction started in the Arbors community and construction still isn't complete. We are rolling into Spring and I still don't have use of my patio. The Village sent out contractors to clean my dining room carpet after rain water leaked in so that was a plus but , I'm still living in a construction zone. The exterior of the building is still in a mess with insulation exposed and building materials and dumpsters all over the parking lot. I've been dealing with this for 10 MONTHS and I don't anticipate things being completed anytime soon. I honestly feel like I've been cheated. While the many apologies I've received are appreciated, I'd appreciate a completed building even more. Still no date has been provided for construction completion.

**6/21 UPDATE- Photos from this morning

**7/12 UPDATE (Final)- I was able to end my lease early w/no penalty & I'm finally free. Construction was still ongoing when I...

Alright ya'll - I don't write BS reviews. So let's get to it.

I have only been here for a week. I will update this review over the course of my stay. I have a 1bd 1bath non-renovated unit.

Front office people are nice. They work with you. Solid crew.

The location is nice. It's out of the way of the Battery traffic, but the roads in and out are a bit tricky.

The complex itself is nice. It's big, its got a gym good enough that you can cancel your gym membership if you make it work. It's got a good trail for walking. It is also active! There are always people walking around and using the amenities. The gym has people, the pools have people, the courts have people, people are out walking. It has the feel of a suburban neighborhood damn near. You could have a solid community here.

The apartments themselves are good. Bit small to me, but it's a solid apartment. I have the 'worst' floorplan. They offer upgraded ones (pay attention to this, cause the differences are major), but I chose a much cheaper rent over the upgraded apartment. The AC in the building is strong. Like the vent feels like a fan from across the room. I enjoy that, you may not. the light switches are stupid. For example, 2 light switches in my apartment are dedicated to turning on/off a specific outlet each. ??. I imagine they would be for the ceiling fans though had I chose an upgraded option. The kitchen light switch is located in the back of the kitchen and in the middle of the counter. Meaning to turn the light on, I have to go all the way into the kitchen and then lean over the counter. This seems minor, but think about all the time you spend in the kitchen and how often you turn the light on. Also, the kitchen peninsula lights (like a bar table situation) are eye level. Turning them on is like shining the sun in your eyes unless you remember to look away. The closets on the porch are utility closets, so don't bank on using those. The top floor units have higher ceilings I'm told.

Moving in - the hallways are too small for large furniture. I had to flip my couch vertical and at an angle to just barely fit it in. I would recommend movers to figure this out for you if you got a lot of furniture lol.

Now for the potential hold ups.

They change the price of the rent here by day. Yes, day. So when you are looking at a rent price, that price is for a specific move-in date. If you want to move in either a day earlier or later, the rent can and will likely go up by $100-$200. I threw a fit about this and got the original advertised rent, because the fact that this is even a thing is mind blowing to me. I have never encountered it before.

The fees are noticeable. Add about $85-$100 on top of the rent for what you will actually pay per month. They charge $32 for valet trash and you cannot opt out of it. They have a deal with Xfinity here that will run you $40 for internet at the cheapest option. I have it and its good. I wouldn't say its scammy or anything, but just plan for it.

I have yet to make a maintenance request, but the guy seemed very nice.

No bugs so far. Occasional spider but its Georgia. No signs of bugs or rodents. Condition of the apartment wasn't too bad. Wear and tear on the unit and appliances. It was lived in but there's nothing crazy wrong with it. I did have to clean it before moving in, whatever cleaning they did beforehand was not to my personal standard. Cobwebs, dust, stains and the like.

They have an app for literally everything, which is a tad ridiculous and a bit overwhelming at first, but once you get it down its fine. They let you switch to another apartment for a $200 fee during your lease, so if you want to get a cheaper unit at first and upgrade later you can. The cost to break the lease is 3 months of rent + any concessions. For me that was $4500 to leave early on a 15 month lease. Consider that if your living situation or job situation...

I lived at Cortland at the Village for almost two years. Things were fine—until I gave notice to move out. That’s when I saw the management team’s complete lack of urgency, professionalism, and overall care for their residents.

I had to break my lease early due to a family emergency (a terminal illness in my immediate family) and a work assignment out of state with both situations overlapping around the time of my lease ending. My roommate is a truck driver, often gone 2–3 weeks at a time, and only home on weekends—when the leasing office is closed—so I was left to handle everything. We had already planned to move somewhere more affordable, but these events pushed us to act faster.

I spoke with a leasing agent in early April and explained everything. I told her I wasn’t sure of the exact move-out date yet, but I would let her know as soon as I secured another apartment. During that time, I was also dealing with a major water leak in our unit. Water was seeping from the hallway and bathroom floors, and at one point, it poured from the ceiling vent in the bathroom due to a leak from the unit above us.( I will attach a photo and video.) Maintenance came out, but only did patchwork repairs. Mold developed, and the entire hallway and master suite began to smell. A maintenance tech told me they would inform management so I wouldn’t be charged—but, again, nothing came of it.

We found a new apartment quickly, and I notified the agent that we would be moving out on May 1st. When I returned to the office to confirm, she acted completely unaware of the situation—even though she was the only one I had spoken with. She handed me a lease-break form and said I owed $6,556.07: two months of rent plus 34 days of charges for “insufficient notice.” (I was aware and ok with the two month rent charge but I was unaware of the insufficient charge after looking over my lease agreement several times.) I explained that the lease I had been sent didn’t mention that. She pulled up a completely different version of my lease agreement on her computer and told me the one I received was sent in error and that they were going by their version anyway. My concerns were dismissed completely.

It didn’t end there. My new apartment complex couldn’t move forward because Cortland never responded to their rental verification request. A whole week passed, and when I went in to follow up, an agent casually said, “Oh, I couldn’t open the PDF so I didn't respond to it.” No one attempted to fix the issue. Later, Cortland told the new complex that I moved out “without notice,” which delayed my move-in again. I had to send screenshots and emails myself just to prove I followed proper procedure.

After I moved out, Cortland sent the final balance of $6,556.07, giving me and my roommate only 45 days to pay in full. There was no way my roommate and I could afford that. I reached out to the settlement team, only to be told the rep was out of office. I emailed—no response. A week later, I followed up again. When I finally spoke with the rep, he told me three times that they’d take 20% off only if I paid in full—which I had already said I couldn’t do. After repeating myself several times, we agreed on a 12-month payment plan. He asked when I could make my first payment, and I scheduled a call for that Friday. He never called. When I followed up, I was told he was out of the office again.

This company is disorganized, unresponsive, and dismissive. They don’t care about tenants—just the money. From maintenance issues to shady lease practices and poor communication, this experience has been exhausting. I will never rent with Cortland again, and I strongly suggest anyone considering this complex...