Devon Properties purchased the building I was living in at the time (250 Oswego). They took away access to garbage chutes, and immediately brought in construction workers who worked from 7am-7pm Monday-Friday, and sometimes appeared on weekends. When I asked my landlord about this, she said that's legally permissible and showed no empathy for the 0 hours of sleep i'd been getting (I work nights with vulnerable populations/ social work). This was when COVID-19 became serious, yet construction continued in the building. No masks, gloves or protective equipment were being worn by the workers. When I told my landlord about this, she said they were wearing protective equipment, even though she was not living in the building and was hardly ever around. I proposed breaking my lease, something I have NEVER had to do before, as I was paranoid that the constant in and out of workers through the building could get me sick. As I previously mentioned, I work with vulnerable populations (immuno-compromised), and was not willing to risk infecting any of my clients. After explaining this to her, once again, no empathy and a response of, 'well it'll be $700 to break your lease because you're breaking a contract'. I could go on about this, but the lack of empathy DP shows in the name of quickly renovating and jacking up the prices of their rental units is gross, and quite slum-lordy. They put residents health at risk, and not to mention renovating this building and tearing out walls is sure to create an asbestos problem. Now to them breaking the law... I gave a months notice and I found a new place where my new landlord empathized deeply with my situation, and allowed me to move in free of charge half way through the month (before my lease was up with DP). This gave me 15 more days to move out, and when I went back to my apartment before the month was up to grab some final boxes, DP had started construction on my unit. They had illegally entered by unit while I was still contracted to it, and had began renovations (WHILE MY STUFF WAS STILL IN THERE). A few weeks after this, my landlord contacted me asking me to do a 'walk through' with her to see if i'd be eligible to get my damage deposit back, I told her I wouldn't be doing this as there was no way to tell the state of my apartment when I left it as construction workers had entered the unit. She told me she didn't know this was the case (which I doubt, but even if that is true, that's incredibly unprofessional). She told me she'd return my damage deposit, and I type this 3 months later having not ever received it.
ICING IN THE CAKE: a man got arrested in my building, (google 6-hour stand off in james by apartment), after terrorizing myself and other residents for 6 whole hours.. Devon Properties asked for police statements after the incident, but did nothing to prevent further incident from taking place, and left many residents feeling unsafe in the building as the man stayed for a few weeks. The day I was moving out, a construction worker asked me why I was moving out and if it was because of the construction. I told him, yes, it was because of the construction, but also the trauma I had experienced from the stand-off and living in fear in my personal space for so long... he told me 'Ya that crazy dude? he tried to attack me December 21st'... This was the day before the stand off took place, and the construction worker had reported it to devon properties yet they had not made their residents aware someone dangerous was living in the building, and look what happened.
Devon Properties does not care about the safety, well-being, or comfort of their residents. They care about money and money and money. I am warning you, do not rent with DP! read more