I wish I could give zero stars. This place is so incredibly slow to respond. We have had rats living in our ceiling and the smell of rodent urine permeating our living room for months on end (over a year, actually) and we are just now getting a competent exterminator. A "quarterly" inspector came out and was appalled at the state of our house. I put that in quotes because that's the only inspection we have ever had. So here I sit, rats above my head actively rooting around in the ceiling, the smell of urine in the air, and no word from our supposed manager Sarah whom I've never met and who was supposed to call me a week and a half ago. This business should be shut down for good and the Bethlehem Housing Authority should see to it that they fix every issue with every property they oversee. They should really be sued for everything they've got for the horrible response time and condition of their properties as well as their unwillingness to fix them.
Update:
One exterminator was sent to fix the rat problem and he was a better businessman than almost anyone I'd ever worked with. Multiple specialists? Yeah, that exterminator was a good enough person to be ten good guys, but no, he was only one. He also didn't fix the issue, but he knew his stuff and I'd recommend him to anyone just because he was so professional. And no, none of the issues I reported to the inspector, who, by the way, was, as I stated, appalled, were addressed besides the rat issue. None. Not a single one. So after the hassle of living with live and then dead rats in the walls, we were offered rent concession for our last month, but never got that. Turns out they miscommunicated what our landlords intended and they were offering that if we stayed. Why would we ever stay? Then they told us that we would not be hassled about moving out because we all worked opposite shifts and it was nearly impossible to coordinate moving out.
Ultimately, we had to pay $50/hr (cash... seriously?) to access the property to finish getting what little was left and didn't get a chance to clean. Understandable, but where was it in the lease (that we never got a copy of) that this would be the case? Where was our written move-out date that was extended via verbal agreement? When we got to the house (early), Sarah showed up (10 minutes late, but only after calling the office, at which point she left to come over) with the agreement to get in and didn't bring a copy for us... said she'd go back to the office and return with it as though it were a hassle (she should have brought a receipt in the first place) and never returned. She was very rude about it, too, and sassed my room mate when he asked if she could initial the agreement to make it official. He was very professional about it, saying he was just trying to follow the rules and make sure everything on paper was correct. Then, when our hour was up, Shawn rolls up in his BMW SUV wearing a Rolex, won't let my room mate cross the threshold to get what was lined up in the living room, and shouts, "You paid for an hour. An hour's up." It was a rude approach, much like the approach he made the previous day when my room mates originally went to get the last of their things. How about a few people skills, self-proclaimed owner of this company? How about spending less time on Yelp defending yourself and more time learning how to run a business that cares about its customers? Your website is a smattering of false advertisement, and any claim that you were losing money as a result of not being able to show our property is nullified. The entire place has to have its walls and ceilings torn down by contractors in order to be rid of rat feces and urine and whatever electrical and internal damage they've been doing.
I'm glad that businesses can't pay to have their reviews altered or removed. Just look at the evidence here... it's all the same, and it's all honest. I told my landlord that for the sake of his tenants, he should hire someone else. I can only hope that he does. I'm so thankful we found a better place to live. After dealing with all we dealt with, we should not have felt like we were being evicted. We were good tenants, paid everything on time and in full, and respected the property. The rats did more damage than we ever could have done. It's not like a fresh coat of paint will fix that. Oh, and you might want to get the dead mouse in the basement.
And now they're selling the place.
So if you're looking to buy a townhouse on Monocacy Street in Bethlehem from these people, make sure you get an inspector and an exterminator to check any possible wall access for Norway rat feces. There's still a hole in the ceiling of the living room to patch up where traps were laid and it smells crazy like rat urine when going up and down the steps. If you must rent/buy from Equinox, go ahead, but you've been warned, and definitely don't rent that property. It's not worth it. read more
