University Meadows — Local services in Union Charter Township

Poor apartment complex. Workers have been coming in our apartment constantly, whether we like it or not. I have lived here for just over a month, and they have woken me up at least 15 times, including today. I've called and complained that I need sleep because I work all night, and their words to comfort me were, "they're almost done". They are literally in my apartment right now with a NAIL GUN, and I am clearly unhappy about it. The apartments are small. I like the fact that the bathrooms are connected through the bedrooms, but your roommate is more than likely to wake you up throughout the night. This is especially awful if you have different schedules. Also, if you have people over, they will always need to go through your bedroom to get to the bathroom, which is terrible at night. A community bathroom would be preferred. They don't accept cash. They don't work with you much, either. They act like they have everything under control, but when I moved in, they gave me the wrong keys 3 times in a row (they kept saying I was in apartment A, while I know I'm in B, I told them plenty of times and when I went to pay my THIRD months rent, they still thought I was paying for apartment A). The internet here is horrible, also. You have to share a connection with so many people that everything you try to do has a lag to it... And there is a $20 "convenience" fee for paying your rent online. Most places I've lived at wouldn't charge you for paying rent online, while they won't even accept cash. Not to mention they are tow-happy at "owners expense", if you miss an email and don't switch your parking pass, your car will go missing. Everything you try to do is a hassle and most of the time requires large amounts of paperwork. I couldn't even pick up a package for my roommate with his I.D. while he was at work and couldn't get to it before they closed, even though he called and sent an email approving it. Finally, finding a sublease was a nightmare as well. I even found a friend of mine to take over my lease. I still had to pay an extra $200 to fill out one page of paperwork, and he had to pay an extra $80. None of which would have been paid if I had just continued to live there. They gained almost an extra months worth of rent in the process. When I found a sublease at Deerfield apartments, there was no charge whatsoever and they even helped me find a sublease. Every single roommate in our apartment had to get a co-ed agreement for a second time (because there were male and female roommates) signed by their PARENTS and NOTARIZED, which is ridiculous and was about a 2 week process! On top of that, each roommate was 25 years old! You also have to have a guarantor which includes more paperwork and a credit check, all of which I went through when I initially moved in and went through a second time to get my friend to move in. In the end, I moved out about 10 days before my sublease moved in (10 days before the 1st of the month), I returned my keys, parking pass, completed ALL necessary paperwork, and emptied the apartment. Well, they wouldn't let my sublease move in until the 6th when he was supposed to move in on the 1st and they charged us both for the month's rent. I called and asked about it, and they said I have to pay it, late fees, and I wont get a refund for maybe 30 days! This apartment complex has been the worst experience while living in a laid back college town. I'd definitely consider another complex and/or house, most of them are more fun, closer to the school, less expensive and...

Hated it! I would never recommend. I thought this place was going to be great! The day I moved in I instantly regretted this decision. We had a beehive in our vent, the place was FILTHY. We had to shower else where for about a week because the tub was horrid. We couldn't do anything because of the bees flying around! When I went to the front desk, the lady had an attitude and said bees make nest that's why we had them. That told me a lot about U Meadows character and how much they cared for their company and their people. The apartment cleaners should have walked through before each and every move in. On top of that our bathroom had mold!! Yes MOLD! All they did was paint over it! Melissa who works for U Meadows is the best thing that has ever happened to them. Without her, I'm positive this place would have plenty lawsuits. She was the only worker who actually came and did her best to get rid of the mold. Even knocked out walls to find the source. She should own this run down motel. When they finally came to clean our bathroom the man cleaned with Windex. Not bleach or tub cleaner, Windex.Then I found a big pet rat that seems to have gotten away (I assume because of the color) on our porch and running in my roommates wall! I have pictures and videos that I wanted to post on here but of course they don't want me to do that. Then the manager at the time wouldn't let us move into a new place! They sent a man he looked on the porch and said I don't see anything and left! Then she finally agreed after weeks of complaining about a RAT in the walls but she wouldn't let us see the new place until we move in. So we got legal with her. She thought she could through a couple of big words at us and take it. Sorry we are 4 intelligent young ladies and you're a liar. The people above us sucked! They had rockstar parties every night and the one time us 4 had a girls night together we got a noise complaint. They had kids and dogs running around like crazy people at all hours but yet still had drinking parties? When we finally moved we thought the madness was over but of course there is always something with U Meadows. The unit above us decided the middle of the night is the perfect time to take a bath. The bath over flowed and our apartment turned into the rain forest and had water stains everywhere. As soon as the summer hit just about everyone had fire ants all over! Parking is stupid. They are like a nagging wife. They find anything to cry about! Our blinds were messed up the day we moved in and we were charged for them. I'm very confused on the charges they have on the paper. When I say they charged for everything but the foundation of the building I mean it. This place sucks so hard its crazy. My friend is paying almost $500 for that place in a 4 bedroom and has to bring her own furniture. We were in a 4 bedroom with their furniture and payed $389 why is she being over charged, especially for that sucky place? Good luck to all the new leasers and the new management because University Meadows is...

Definitely has it's problem. Let me put it this way, back in August, they were quite understanding about me having to rely on my student loan refunds to pay my rent and they allowed me to pay late without incurring late fees (which are a quite expensive waste of money if you do get them) because I had to wait til a couple days after classes started to get the refund. Now for January, one would expect the same treatment as back in August. But no, now they don't allow it, and I am basically penniless for at least a week because I managed to scrape the money together to pay on time to avoid paying $100+ in late fees.

Another issue is the work orders. Last year it was fine, you went in to the clubhouse and a CA assisted you with filling out a work order form, and you would have someone come and fix your problem usually no later than within a week. This year they switched to digital and you'd think that would be even more efficient, but nope. I put in a work order to get my dryer fixed at the beginning of December, and it is now January 3rd and the thing is still not working. UPDATE: This is new for February 26th 2012. My boyfriend has come over to visit me at least once a week since the beginning of January. Now, usually he parks in one of two visitor parking blocks, and has never had a problem. Last night he came for a visit, but didn't park in the usual spot/s because there were no spots left. The two blocks that he usually parks at are marked with white lines, and a couple signs, and are physically separated from the regular residential parking spots. When he parked last night, he had to go to another spot he'd never parked at before, where there is a row of about 15 or so parking spots. About half are marked with white lines that are very faint, and were covered with snow. There was one sign. The other half are faintly marked in yellow that were also covered in snow. So, my boyfriend parked literally 2 spots over from the last "legit" visitor parking spot, not realizing he wasn't in a residential spot because he expected that this row of parking spots (which by the way are not in front of a building) was also physically separated from the residential spots like the other spots he normally parks at. Low and behold, he wakes up this morning, leaves, and has no car. $155 down the drain just for a car that was towed across town and stored over night. This is unacceptably outrageous. I'm a resident here so I understand the other residents' concerns about wanting to have parking spots closer to their buildings, but I mean really? This was not fair. The spots were faintly painted, covered with snow, and there was ONE sign for the entire row that makes it seem like it is just another blocked off visitor parking area like the others. Oh and one more thing, we have hard water that absolutely sucks for the dishwasher unless you buy expensive Lemishine dish detergent, and when you take a shower every day here, expect to have itchy skin and dandruff like flakes in your hair....