The Fountains Apartments — Local services in West Des Moines

Resident since 2022, will not be Renewing Lease for a 4th time. Relocating soon due to Steady down slide of negative changes with property & onsite management. My view of the Pond and ALL of its Inhabitants Aquatic, Avian and Furries use to bring me such Peace & Joy...until very Disruptive & Disrespectful people who may or may not be tenants began to Loiter, Hangout & Sit directly below my balcony and bedroom window which looks directly onto the Pond, with loud playing music and loud mouths, sometimes profane...with blankets and chairs even, as if it were a Public Park setting! Property is not gated or secure from public access. Management notified several times over a span of nearly 4 years, nothing ever done to rectify situations or safety concerns. Police notified, often come out to disperse person(s). I like to consider My Apartment, My Sanctuary, My Home...but that feeling changes when it's invaded with disruption and no assistance from on site management not to mention the constant harassment from the not so stable downstairs neighbor who likes to BANG on his ceiling and YELL Obscenities whenever he hears you walking and the floor creeks, requiring Police Intervention. Grounds keeping leaves a lot to be desired. Maintenance of units 😆🤣 Asking Rent is too Expensive for what is and what is not offered...bring your own toilet seat! The pictures that are continuously posted on Property Rental websites and Google Reviews are Very, Very Old/Outdated...both of the property and the units. Three Words/Verbs I have come to know while living here: Excuses, Attitude and Retaliation. The Only Way I ever get any Resolution, Compassion / Understanding is by contacting The Property Corporate Office. 10/01/2025: Moved out 09/04/25, took a very detailed move out video. I did not know just how much negativity we were going through living at The Fountains and how much it was affecting me health wise, until now, living in a Total stress free environment. I am resending my comment about the properties corporate office as the person I was dealing with at first seemed compassionate and willing to assist us through the move out process, however, that was not the case. By law The Fountains have 30 days to give ex tenant The S.O.D.A., Pictures of Alleged Damages needing repair/replacement and copies of receipts of replacement items/services rendered as well as Closing Utilities and any outstanding rent due.

First S.O.D.A. I received was SO INACCURATE, the $Numbers did Not add up, no pictures, no receipts. Notified them of the errors. Was told it was sent out in error, that their accountant is working on it.

Upon follow up, I was told an updated S.O.D.A. with pictures was sent via email. I never received it. It was then 'resent', pictures are horrible quality. Still NO copies of receipts or a list of standard charges. I was told, Most of the labor was done in house...so there is no standard list of charges...I was told they didn't charge me the full cost of a bedroom door that had damage so they bought a new one, but charged me $10 less then what they paid, though NO RECEIPTS provided.

So I guess ex-tenants are suppose to just take their words and numbers as accurate & honest without any receipts or standardized list of move out fees/cost.

ABSOLUTELY NONE OF MY CONCERNS/REASONS for deciding to relocate we're really Truly addressed or rectified. Out of a $1250.00 Deposit I only Received $641.00 back with NO LEGITIMATE DOCUMENTATION OR RECEIPTS PROVING COST OF REPAIRS/REPLACEMENT/SERVICES that were Deducted from My Deposit.

So, all I can say is RENTERS BEWARE. Im SO much Happier living where im at now and now know what a Legitimately Managed Property by knowledgeable and honest management and maintenance team is like...if you are looking at The Fountains Apartments to rent at...I would advise checking all the faucets, toilets, water turn off valves, ac/heat unit and DOCUMENT the unit prior to moving in...DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING while living there, you'll need...

The office staff seemed nice and friendly when we first moved in, but after being there a few months it seemed everyone just had a sour attitude towards you about everything. They're very rude half the time. I originally signed the lease with 1 other roommate, and after a few months we added 1 more roommate to the lease. After having the 3rd roommate on the lease for a couple months, his car has a nice, big orange sticker on it for parking without a permit. When we confronted the office about it and pointed out he had been on the lease for a couple months, they blamed us for not having a parking permit when it was their job to provide us with one. Also they 'require' everyone, residents and guests, to have a parking permit. Well my example there goes to also show just how often they check these permits, it took them two months to even do anything. I've seen several other cars parked everywhere with no permits too and get nothing done to their vehicles. Also parking is a complete nightmare. Good luck getting a parking spot near your apartment. I usually have to park way on the opposite ends of the parking lot when my apartment is in the middle. Also the walls are very thin. I can hear my neighbors quite often, it's very weird, and awkward. Also we had water damage in the kitchen, and when the maintenance guy came he just chipped away the paint from where it damaged it, and just kind of left it like that. They fixed the roof a few days after we told them about the leak, but the huge chipped paint area is still the same as it was when this happened back in February. Oh and also in the winter time, there was a lot of cold air leaking into the apartment. I could feel cold air even coming through the outlets sometimes. And one morning they hadn't put sand down on our steps yet and I literally slipped down a flight of stairs on the ice. Was not fun. Also we will randomly get previous tenant's mail, and when we bring it to the office to let them know about it and to forward their mail, it seems they don't do anything about it as we will still get this person's mail nonstop. It's very annoying.

Only good things about this place are when the staff occasionally decides to be nice with you that day, and also the location is pretty cool too with how close it is to everything.

I still would not recommend this apartment complex to anyone though. My roommates and I are counting down the days until we move out. Just a couple more...

While living in this apartment complex, our puppy tore up an 8-foot section of carpet after she escaped from her kennel while we were gone. We addressed the issue with the Fountains Apartments requesting a quote for the cost of repair so we could use our renter's insurance to cover the cost. After talking with the Fountains Apartments (specifically Melanie and Sarah), they had their preferred vendor come out and get a quote on the carpet. The Fountains Apartments refused to give us the information on the cost of the quote therefore, we were not able to use our renter's insurance to cover any costs. They did inform us that the living room and hallway would have to be replaced, which we are more than happy to pay. However, when we received the move out bill, they charged us to replace the carpet (and labor costs) for the entire unit besides the kitchen and bathrooms which are laminate (totaling to $1629.93). This is unscrupulous and unconscionable by charging us to replace the entire units' carpet as well as labor costs when it was only discussed we'd be paying for the living room and hallway. They took our entire deposit ($1415), as well as demanding an additional $795.94. They threatened to send us to collections if we didn't pay this amount in 7 days. We also requested a walk-through of our apartment with a manager prior to move-out to get an itemized list of potential charges to prevent any suspicious charges--which they also refused to do. We are willing to pay the cost of carpet replacement for the living room and hallway as discussed before, but not the entire unit. We did our part in notifying the landlord of the damages, ensuring we remained in good standing; however, the misleading emails/information and wrongful charge is fraudulent and concerning for current and...