Crystal Flats — Local services in Washington

Short version: I highly recommend Crystal Flats and Abrina Muhammad (the Leasing Agent) is fantastic!

Long version: I had an application in at Altaire apartment community (down the street from Crystal Flats) and after about two weeks of hearing nothing, I put in an application at Crystal Flats. I explained to Abrina Muhammad, the leasing agent at Crystal Flats, that I had a hard deadline because my mother would be moving to the area from out-of-state to live with me. Even though I applied at Altaire in plenty of time, I found myself with no time to spare after having not heard anything from Altaire for two weeks! (I even followed up with them in person only to be met with a rather dismissive attitude telling me not to worry)

Abrina started an application immediately and followed up with me regularly throughout the application process. She explained that the DC background check was taking much longer than expected (apparently DC was backed up) but that once they received the OK from that check, they would move ahead with my application.

During the course of the wait, I finally heard from Altaire that my non-standard name was causing a delay. The application was approved, but it needed an additional, manual approval from their management.

As promised, as soon as Abrina received the clearance from DC, she let me know about the issue with my name (apparently, they also use Rent Cafe for the rental application process so the same problem with my non-standard name presented itself). However, unlike the Altaire, their manual override by management took a day, not more than a week.

Once Crystal Flats approved my application and initiated a lease for me in the Rent Cafe system, the Altaire suddenly called me to say that they, too, had approved my application and had sign-off from their management now. Of course, by that time, I was thoroughly impressed with the staff at Crystal Flats, especially Abrina Muhammad. Just by keeping me in the loop regarding my application, I felt more secure that I would have a home for my mom and I. Abrina did a lot to calm my nerves and ease me through a difficult process. That kind of care and feeding of a potential tenant is important when there are complications.

Now, I'm in my first month of living at Crystal Flats and, of course, small things have surfaced...and all were handled with professionalism and grace. Crystal Flats have one online portal for maintenance requests, payments, concierge, etc. It's an efficient system. For example, the first day I had four maintenance requests and all were completed by the next day. Also, I have an extreme cat allergy. I asked about flooring when I was touring the community and was told that the flooring could be changed out during the change-over process. Because my application presented with so many issues and delays, everyone, including me, was focused on those issues. When I finally moved in, the carpet (which was only in the bedrooms) had not been changed. I let the front desk know and Teona, the property manager, had the carpet changed out the next day. During my short tenure, I kindly made many requests and all were addressed quickly.

Crystal Flats is truly a community that cares about its residents! Almost any time I need anything, I just ask nicely, and they address it. I can't ask for a more responsive team and the property is lovely, as well. I'm definitely where I should be...Crystal...

This review doesn’t 100% apply to the building but Dweck properties who owns it.

My partner and her flatmate lived in Crystal Towers - the building next to this one. The two buildings sort of share one community. The leasing officer there has a clear mind but works to disgust the residents. Before moving in, my partner signed a form saying that there would be 4 keys given - supposedly 2 mailbox keys and 2 door keys. When she arrived she received 4 keys - 3 door keys and 1 mailbox key, but the officer handing the keys said that was the correct set. For a whole year she and her flatmate had been sharing 1 mailbox key without complaint.

When they moved out, they were charged for “the missing mailbox key”. Surely, that sounded ridiculous to the two residents because there had never been a second mailbox key. In fact, since the move-out day was still within the lease, the office could have corrected the mistake - by providing the second mailbox key, even though the two residents would no longer have a chance of enjoying the convenience of having two mailbox keys that they supposedly had. But the officer did the opposite: insisting in charging the two residents. In addition, the officer said: “according to the rule, the officer handing the key on the first day must have counted the keys in front of you so there’s no chance such mistake could happen. [but the fact is that the officer mistakenly gave 3 door keys and 1 mailbox key] It doesn’t matter that you returned 3 door keys instead of 2 - the third key could have been one that you made outside, but you still have to be charged for the mailbox key.”

We then provided the chat history during the move-in as evidence for only receiving 1 mailbox key, but the officer said that the form is the only legit evidence.

Eventually my partner was charged 100 bucks, which was not a huge deal, but the experience was disgusting. We were accused of making an extra key and our evidence was silenced. We were not just made to pay for the officer’s mistake during move-in, the officer’s mistake was not even acknowledged - instead, it became our mistake that we didn’t check the 4 keys one by one to make sure they match what the form says.

Congratulations Dweck for having a worker who doesn’t just sell his labour to you but wills to act from your capitalist and rascally perspective. The living experience was fine, but I have to rate 1 star for Dweck.

Also, we were almost charged 300 for the cheaply made rubber band (which can be easily copied) used as a sign to access the pool, but luckily...

UPDATE: after this review was posted, I got an email from the management, in which they explained the $160 fee. The fee was not on the lease. It was a new fee implemented some time in January by Dweck. The said an email was sent out in Jan with details about the fee. I did not receive/find that email. Maybe it was routed to my spam and got deleted. Anyway, I think it’s a fair response from them and I’ve already paid the fee. I’ve removed all names previously mentioned in this review since they showed me their willingness to communicate and I appreciate that. BUT, it’s still bad that Dweck decided to charge you additional fees that was newly implemented and not on your lease. Future tenants be aware of that.

They charge you random fees.

Every apartment building is decent until you have to deal with the management office.

I’ve been living in Crystal Flats for more than 2 years. At some point it was sold to Dweck, the current management. Recently I’ve decided to move out. I sent out the move out email and filled out the notice to vacate form. During this process, I was told that I would need to pay a $160 cleaning fee, for cleaning up the apartment after I move out.

This was the first time I had ever heard about this fee. I tried to look for it on the lease but didn’t find it. It wasn’t on any official document/contract.

So I sent out multiple emails asking about the purpose of this fee and where was this fee documented. After a couple follow up emails, I’ve got no answers.

Another member of their staff repeatedly stated my responsibilities upon moving out, including removing all furniture, etc. As for the $160, nobody gave me any answers.

I’ve made very clear that I only needed an explanation. If the $160 fee was documented on the lease, or any official contract that I had signed, I would happily pay it. If not, why would I pay anything? You can’t just randomly charge me fees.

I’ve been renting for many years and I’ve been a good tenant. I always make sure to clean up the apartment when I move out. But I’m not going to pay some random fees that they refused to give me a reason for.

Hopefully I will get an answer. If not, I will pursue legal approaches. I’m saving all copies of our emails...