Berkley House — Local services in Upper Arlington

I lived at the Berkley House for a year, and I am advising anyone looking to move in NOT TO DO IT! The apartments look great from the outside and they are pretty on the inside, but for how much one pays to live here it is not worth it. I could hear everything my upstairs neighbors were doing (including having sex) because the walls are so thin and the structure so cheap. The complex does not follow the dog breed or weight restrictions it has in the lease, or any of the posted rules for the onsite dog park. They state that the pool is heated all year round, but it is just heated enough for the water not to freeze. They make you believe the water is heated enough to swim whenever you want, which is a TOTAL LIE! There is also a HUGE problem with dog waste around the property and in the dog park. I spoke to the front desk staff and the manager multiple times about the dog waste. It would be cleaned up for a couple of days, and then all clean-up efforts would stop again. The waste was so bad that my dog got sick from bacteria in the dog park, and I had to pay over a $400 vet bill. When I informed the front desk of this issue, they still did nothing. Since my dogs illness there have been several other dogs that have caught similar bacterial infections from the dog park. I understand it is a tenant’s responsibility to clean up after their pet, but when the problem leads to the point where it is making the pets sick the landlord should take responsibility for it. When I moved out the apartment was spotless and the carpets steam cleaned. A few weeks after I moved out I received a bill for out light bulbs, carpet replacement in the whole apartment, and a water bill. I had replaced all the light bulbs before I moved out, but still got charged for light bulbs. The carpet I did have a dog, but the pictures they sent to me had stains in places my furniture was sitting. Plus, I don’t understand why the carpet got ripped up in the first place. They claimed the management saw a stain, smelled it, and it was pet urine. That was impossible because my dog had not been in the apartment for at least 48 hours before I dropped my keys off. Plus the carpet was steamed cleaned 24 hours before I handed the keys in. They ripped my carpet up because they knew I had a dog, which is discrimination against dog owners. The water bill was $100, which water was never that high there for multiple months, let alone the one remaining month I was billed for. When I questioned the apartment complex about this they stated the amount was incorrect and was a mistake on their part. I’m still confused as to why they billed me for water in the first place as I had also received a bill for the same time period from Central Ohio Water Distribution as I had every other month I lived at the Berkley House. I e-mailed the corporate office (the leasing office will no longer deal with you after you move out) and left two messages to call me back. I didn’t receive a response until over a week later by e-mail. I did however get a past due notice of my damages charges in that time period though. I have been disputing the charges with Preferred Living’s corporate office and they will not budge. I have to get them a receipt for the light bulbs and the water bill I paid to the water company. In conclusion, you pay way too much for what the apartment complex is. They charge you a $350 nonrefundable pet security deposit and $35 a month just for the privilege of having a pet there. None of these fees apply towards damages that may be caused by your pet. This company is only out to make money and do not truly care about their tenants. The complex management lied to corporate and told them I only complained once about the dog waste when I complained multiple times and have witnesses that were with me. Aside from all of the stuff I mentioned there have also been multiple auto break-ins there within the last few months. I have never written a post about an apartment complex, but this one is bad enough were I had to. They make me sick with the way they...

I am editing this review almost after 1 year of my previous review. I will leave my first review in parenthesis on the cowry bottom for everyone to compare to. When I first moved into Berkley house, it was under the best management. They used to be called live preferred. Everything was great and I had no complaints, I was 100% satisfied. They had plenty of events within the complex for everyone to get to know each other within the complex and the front desk was the best. Then sometimes around January or February of 2021, live with champion took over that is when everything started to go down the hill. Their events for everyone who lives in any of their apartments not just Berkley house, and it was kind of rare for any events at Berkley house. I started smelling weed in my hallway, which I could smell in my kitchen, so I complained to the front desk, and they said they can’t do anything without proof. “Hmm, should I catch the smell in some ziploc bag for you at 11pm when I start smelling it? “ the hallways starting smelling kind of bad. And their security system sucks. For an apartment complex that charges that much for rent every month, they only plow the snow up front, by the main entrance they rest is up to the owner. 85% of the time, you just had to walk in snow, and when they did plow the snow, half of it pushed again your parking spot, so you have to shovel it off to get your car out of the parking spot. When I asked them about it and said I pay fee every month for the maintenance of the facility, they said they have a bucket with salt at every door for us to use. One of the girl I became friends with at the complex got bitten by a dog at the entrance close to my apartment, and when she complained at the main desk, they said oh we don’t have camera on that end, and without proof we can’t do anything. She had a physical proof, and exactly what the dog looked like, and the owner and everything. But they needed proof which they can’t provide. There were a few people who expressed their concern of their own safety and their pets safety they sent out an email asking of anyone knew who this was, and asked the dog owner to come forward. The apartment complex should not wait to get that many concerns before doing anything about an incident. And after I moved out, they charged me a whole months worth of rent and my security deposit to fix the damages that I myself could’ve fixed for less than $300. If I would’ve know that I would’ve fixed it up myself. The neighboring apartment complex that they own also has access to Berkley houses amenities, so you see people that don’t live there coming in all the time. Which is a big safety concern for me, as a female living there. They don’t have specific front desk employees just for Berkley, so you see different faces all the time, and they just didn’t have the best interest in the place. They were more worried about other apartments and money. I would not recommend this apartment to anyone as long as live with champion is the management team. My rating went from 5 stars to 2 stars.

This is my first apartment by myself out of state. I was so worried about moving out here by myself, but Berkley has been so awesome. I've made so many friends out here, and is pet friendly. They have atleast 2 events every month to meet other residents. Very covid friendly, and so so many amenities. And we have the best front...

Would give Zero stars!… .After being bugged for months via email to leave a review for Berkley house for the entirety of my time living at this property I waited until we moved out and wanted to hopefully have changed my views on this property, but sadly that didn’t happen. I will start with the positives. Maitnance is great they responded in a timely manner and were always pleasant. The newly remodeled front entrance was very nice. The front desk staff were always courteous and helpful. I found the manager to be very very scripted and passive but she is doing her job. Now the not so great. They did not communicate at all truthfully about happenings in the community. Our vehicles were broken into 3 separate times and berkley house swept the crime under the rug as cops were doing door pulls and noticed vehicles unlocked. Not true. The kia boys were stealing vehicles from the parking lot. The ua police office on site told me this. Police presence was 6:30-10 at night basically he sat in his car and ate lunch and left. All of the amenities (pool, fire pit and grills, movie theatre and roof top)except gym CLOSE at 10 pm. And they actually have a couple that lives on site enforce it. And they enforce it only on residents who aren't their friends. We had my sons birthday party and were told His little friends had to leave by the rude blonde, but then we saw them having a birthday party for her daughter in the movie theater. There is no community area to have friends and family in… And the guy just very rudely walks up turning fire pit off as you sit around it with others basically treating you like a child and yelling at the grown adults. Mind you he is 28-30 years old. The pool heater is adjusted to make the water comfortable for their small daughter on weekends. You will be told to leave and they will wait until you are gone. Its a running joke at 10 pm that its “berkley bedtime” 9:45 be prepared to be kicked out ! Nighty night! nothing like paying for amenities and be limited to usage if you work evenings. And the feeling of being baby sat and watched.the amenities close at 10 but they are down kicking everyone out before so they can go to bed. This is the reason everyone leaves this property. Atleast make it midnight on weekends and let residents have family over in club house by reserving it out or allow this in movie theatre. It goes unused Tons of dogs live on property and owners do not pick up after their pets. Nothing happens. They seem to want to be family friendly boasting about their dublin schools location but we did not feel it was family friendly at all. The amount of marijuana smoking at pool and on property in front of children was ridiculous and again nothing was done! They will not tell you up front that you as a resident can only have 2 guest at any given time in the amenities. Any guest over the limit of 2 will be asked to leave again by couple living on property to monitor everyone. The rules are ridiculous and over the top. Just some insight for...