Falls at Settlers Walk — Local services in Springboro

Overpriced and poorly managed. Recommendation is to avoid this facility. Go to the newly built Meribel behind the Falls and Settler's Walk for a new build apartment. Back in August/September 2023, I was wooed by the exterior charm of the facility and moved in during October 2023. I initially gave a 5 star review as part of a rent promotion and could not ethically leave that review for future prospective tenants. The initial support from the property staff was excellent, until it came to signing our lease, moving in and living in the unit.

We unknowingly signed for an ADA accessible unit. We felt uncomfortable taking that from someone else who might need it in the future and the staff agreed to move our lease to a different unit. However, while we were touring the new unit, it was leased under our noses even though we had a verbal agreement after viewing the place. Notice was not provided that we did not have that unit for an entire week. We ended up having to upgrade to another unit that cost about $200-300 more a month. After verbal confirmation that we could have the 2nd new unit for the same price, management went back on their word and charged us the full price anyway (no ownership taken by management to make it right).

The unit was not in proper condition for move in. The washing machine water line was not hooked up and the dryer vent not ducted out. One of our two toilets was not working properly and the carpet was not completely cleaned per procedure. While the unit was livable, the inconvenience took a month to fix due to the properties inability to properly staff the maintenance team. Maintenance does great work, but they are overwhelmed by requests in a poorly built facility that looks nice on the outside. The units with lots of windows are expensive to heat in the winter. Bedroom would be 74 deg while near the windows the temp would dip to the low 60's deg F.

Our garage door broke in the winter and wasn't fixed for about a week. We also had issues with our front door staying shut. There was one night we woke up around 2AM with our front door wide open. We had to leave our front door locked and our broken garage door open until it was fixed. Safety is not a priority. Both of our doors again had issues when it got warm in the spring. The front door would not latch and the garage door deadbolt was jammed shut. This was not fixed for a day or two and was not seen as an emergency. Our water heater broke late winter/early spring. Luckily that was seen as an emergency and was fixed that day. Recently we had an issue with ants coming thru the front door and fireplace and it took almost 5 days for a response. In the meantime I had to control the ants at my expense. They eventually sprayed outside, but couldn't enter the property due to the staff providing a 10 minute notice while i was away because of concerns of the pesticide effects on pets. Poor communication! The property staff does not take ownership of mistakes and will hide behind corporate to not make things right.

There are plenty of people in the complex that have had issues with management and the quality of living while others never face any issues. Ask plenty of questions to make sure you you don't end up in a situation like ours if you proceed with living here at the Falls at...

New management is in place, having switched from Miller Valentine to The Connor Group. Upon first impressions, seemed like a drastic improvement in that the new management group has the resources to not only keep maintenance staff on hand, but also to staff the office (previous management was absolutely notorious for basically just not showing up to work). Unfortunately, things are turning for the worst as the new management takes over various policies.

We were recently given a renewal rate for their larger 2/2 apartment - our renewal was an increase of $350/month from our current rate (24% increase). We were informed this was due to renovations that will be taking place. When we asked why we're being charged extra for renovations that would not effect us (since we're already occupying the unit), we were told that they planned on renovating with us in the unit! They have confirmed they will wait until we move out of the unit at the end of the lease term, but I cannot imagine what life would be like with a temporarily torn-apart apartment.

The most recent discovery was a notice put upon our garage informing everyone at the complex that they plan on switching utility billing to a 3rd party (First Billing Services) at the start of 2019, which will include a change from usage-based billing to square-footage billing. This not only unfairly bills us based on a random metric (we're not home half of the month anyway, so our usage tends to be fairly low), but also seems to violate the lease that was previously signed stating that utilities will be paid directly to the utility company. This is something that is currently being discussed on our end with the management. Either way, I would expect extra 'processing' fees from this new billing company.

Overall, I cannot fault The Connor Group for their complete 180 on staffing, which was undoubtedly poor under Miller Valentine, but if you're looking at these units, be very aware that they seem to have little regard to following established practices. Who knows what might change...

The Falls are an incredible place to live. The apartments are beautiful and modern. Very Up to date. The apartments all have large windows for lots of sun to come thru. They have great balconies to watch the sunset. The best part is your own garage that is attached to your apt. WOW! that was really the selling point for me. They also have Walk in closets, Black modern stove, re frig, and dishwasher. Its a great and wonderful apartment complex. Now the bad points. Only one way in so traffic can be hard deal with. I hate the tanning bed. It is old and small. I am a big guy and I can barely get in it. The work out center is like what you would find at a cheap motel. Treadmills and some tiny dumbbells. Pretty bad for a Luxury Apartment. They did just install a dog park so that's good. The people aren't so friendly that live here. I am a single 50 year old man. I mostly see families with kids or up and coming young professionals. They don't talk much During the summer they bring there whole family and friends over to swim. Kids jump off the wall where the water falls are splashing you and the parents don't care.. Huge inflatable air mattress just floating in the pool. Music blaring loud. Because some guy always thinks every one wants to hear his music. Most of the people see this as a transient stop until there home is built then they are on there way out. I have seen some older people don't get me wrong but for the most part very few. This is great place to live but for me. I like a little more social activity like clubhouse parties and they just don't have them. I left Normandy Club and came here. while the apartments are great. The social life sucks for us older people and I miss all the trees and landscaping that Normandy Club had. This here seems a bit cold and...