The final straw at Thornberry Park was a $570.62 bill for carpet replacement and "pet seal" after…read moremanagement pulled up carpet and found staining underneath. The areas they identified were the hallway and living room--not the guest bedroom where my cats' self-cleaning litter box stayed in one fixed location throughout my tenancy. I never found urine anywhere in the apartment outside the litter box, including in the guest bedroom, and I never spilled liquids on the carpet. Much of the living-room area was also covered by my sectional and a rug.
My cats' self-cleaning litter box stayed in the same spot in the guest bedroom throughout my tenancy. It had a suspended tub and sat on protective pads covering the carpet beneath it. I never found urine anywhere outside the litter box, including in that bedroom. Even if there had been an odor near the box, that wouldn't explain staining in the hallway and living room--the areas management identified. I never observed a leak, but even hypothetically, I would expect any leakage from that setup to have been minimal and confined to the immediate area. The box was never moved.
The carpet was already two years old when I moved in, and I documented carpet burns on my move-in inspection. I know that surface spot predated my tenancy; I couldn't see underneath, but it gives me a concrete reason to question when the backing stains occurred. Had I known I'd later be held responsible for staining beneath that carpet, I would have requested replacement immediately. When I asked them to produce my move-in inspection form where I notated a burn on the carpet indicating that there was already some sort of damage that wasn't repaired from a previous tenant, they produced a digitally signed copy with no damages reported signed two weeks before I had even moved in. When I informed them that I specifically remembered turning in a handwritten inspection indicating damage less than 48 hours after my initial move-in date, they said, "nope, we don't have it, you must have been mistaken." I had a whole conversation with them about what I found when I turned it in.
Management first told me that a urine odor prompted them to lift the carpet. Later, they said inspecting underneath the carpet is standard procedure after every move-out. When I asked for photos or documentation establishing its condition before my tenancy, they said they don't photograph carpet when there's no damage. Yet I documented burns on my move-in inspection. I was clearly given damaged carpet, so how does "we don't photograph undamaged carpet" answer my request for records about this carpet? I still haven't received the prior inspection records I requested, and I'm not willing to accept that every stain they found underneath must therefore be mine. Those explanations leave serious questions unanswered. Their answer about replacing every carpeted area was that it's property policy. After I mentioned counsel, they stopped discussing the charges directly and referred me to their attorneys.
This followed a year of a refrigerator that repeatedly iced over despite repairs, a noise complaint that went unanswered until I followed up weeks later, and a forgotten $400 pet fee billed months after move-in. When I missed the notice deadline, my monthly rate increased from $1,245 to $1,619 while I was already paying for my new place. Management refused a payment plan and warned about eviction for unpaid rent and collections afterward.
I also work remotely in IT and was told I could buy Greenlight fiber alongside mandatory Spectrum. Instead, I got resident Wi-Fi without a dedicated modem, preventing required network testing and use of wired work equipment. Greenlight was enthusiastic about installing service, but management initially refused the construction, and I never got the connection.
A few of the maintenance guys were very friendly, and I had no issue with them personally. Most of my frustration came from dealing with the office staff and management. I was always cordial and polite with them and was a quiet, pretty boring tenant. No neighbor complaints were ever brought to my attention. I was occasionally a few days late with rent because I had to procure money orders for each payment, but otherwise I kept to myself and didn't cause problems.
That's why dealing with management felt so discouraging: I found them curt and unhelpful even when I was politely trying to get an issue resolved. Being handed a carpet bill I believe includes prior tenants' staining was the final straw. I wouldn't rent here again and would advise anyone interested in renting here to look elsewhere - much better apartment complexes right across the street.
