I'm not sure why there isn't a "zero star" option, so don't be confused by the one star rating I'm being forced to give to post my review. If you value your safety, finances, and security, DO NOT rent from this man or any entity of his (he now operates as Noah's Ark something or other)! Unfortunately, I rented from him on North Thomas St in Bellefonte which, other than his blighted property, is a very well kept, quiet, neighborhood. The other tenants and myself have experienced: Raw sewage being pumped into the basement because of an iron pipe that was rusted through. Their "fix" was to put a coffee can in the pipe to block the hole. When we reported it to the borough, he put a lock on the basement door to prevent anyone from getting down there to check. The plumbing in the sink was installed improperly so the smell from the trap filled up the apartment. Not only that, because the sewage was never cleaned up properly, and because the air returns for the furnace aren't installed properly, we had the lovely smell of fecal matter wafting through the entire building for months. He failed to pay the gas bill, so we were all left without heat in the coldest part of the winter. The walls are so decayed that you can actually see daylight under the windowsills in some of the apartments, not to mention the insects and colony of squirrels (and who knows what else) living in the attic that they have access to through a broken window and via rotted mouldings. There are several apartments with black mold growing in the bathrooms, and one apartment had a floor that was so rotted from water damage, the wall buckled and their refrigerator started to sink through the floor. Speaking of water damage, there are no gutters or downspouts on the building, so the bricks that this place is made of are turning to dust to the point where part of one of the walls collapsed. Their "fix" was not to install the gutters and downspouts (which the contractor said he couldn't do because of the termite damage and having, "nothing to nail into") but to smear concrete all over the walls and do a crappy job of stuccoing the foundation (which is also in bad shape), and taking bricks from another section of the place to patch the hole left from the collapse (you can't make this stuff up). Another apartment had an electrical issue so bad that the tenant would get shocked standing in his kitchen from ungrounded wiring that travelled through the floor. Several tenants said they would get out of the shower and find that one of his questionable "handy men" would be in their apartment, unannounced, to "fix" something that wasn't broken to begin with. The lawn was never mowed until the grass was 3-4 feet high, then some yahoo would come and weed wack it all down and leave it laying their like a freshly mown field of hay to be an eyesore, and blow all over the neighborhood. There was ZERO winter maintenance, which led to a tenant falling and being injured very badly. Another tenant fell on the "repaired" concrete steps (i.e. they put a ¼' layer of concrete over a broken spot that lifted up after the first frost). They never clean up leaves or debris from storms so you can't even use the back walkway to bring your trash to the containers. There is an abundance of poison ivy all over the back yard and growing along the sides of the house. The advertised "off street parking" is right across the street on another person's property. Rodney supposedly pays that guy so we could park there, but we had multiple warnings that our vehicles would be towed because he hadn't been paid by Rodney in months and, again, there is zero winter maintenance so many vehicles couldn't get out of their spaces. You'll never see your security deposit, and you'll get all sorts of added charges for cleaning, etc. (which is a joke considering how poor of a shape the apartments are to begin with...you have to clean for days before you even begin to feel like your skin isn't crawling anymore). It's great that he doesn't do credit checks and allows pets, but keep in mind that you'll be dodging piles of doggy doo a foot thick from all of the people who live in the building who don't clean up after their animals, and the smell on those hot summer days, yeah, you can only imagine the stench. Since he doesn't do credit checks you'll also have the shadiest of people living in the building with you. There was a body carried out of the third floor this winter but, interestingly enough, it never made the papers. If you look up slumlord in the dictionary, you'll see Rodney's face looking back at you! The only thing sadder than the condition of his properties and the way he conducts business (good luck getting a return phone call), is the borough of Bellefonte continually looking the other way. The good ole boy network is alive and well here, and he's able to grease enough plams to manage to fly under the radar, at YOUR expense. I feel bad for the neighbors of his blighted property who are read more
