Avoid renting from RPM at all costs. I'd give them no stars if I could.
I lived in their complex for two years and only after we had signed the lease for my second year did we realize how badly we were being treated.
During our first year, our ceiling around our kitchen fire sprinkler started leaking heavily at about 11pm. My roommate and I had no idea what to do, sent several frantic emails to every RPM email address we could find, called every number including the emergency number listed on the RPM website and Randy (the manager)'s cell phone, and got no response that night. We wound up putting out a bucket and hoping for the best. Later we were told that the washing machine upstairs had started leaking (!), but no one ever came into our apartment to look at the damage or make sure our sprinkler was okay.
That was the only major incident we had in our first year there besides minor annoyances like management taking a long time to respond to maintenance requests.
Our second year is when things got really bad.
At one point (I was not home for this incident but had to deal with the fallout), part of our oven caught on fire while one of my roommates was cooking. The food had not caught fire, this was an oven malfunction. We unplugged the oven, and again called every number we could find. We got no response. We received a response four days later, although the RCW mandates a response within 72 hours. Randy told us he had conveniently been on vacation. When the maintenance man got there, he told us that he had been at a family funeral. So apparently there was no one in the office to take care of the complex. Luckily there wasn't a fire. Oh, wait...
Finally the oven was fixed, which turned out to be a simple replacement part. I will say that the maintenance man, when he showed up, was always courteous and efficient.
Then just a few days later our fridge stopped working. We sent multiple emails, and received a response the next day, but the repair itself took over a week, during which we were without a functional fridge.
My roommate even tried going to the office during posted office hours, but although Randy, the manager, was inside and saw her standing at their (locked) office door, he made no move to let her in or help her. Only when we sent an official complaint via registered mail that mentioned the law that we felt was being broken did we receive a response from Randy. We continued to try to discuss the situation, but felt the need to mention that the lack of an appropriate response was driving us to seek legal counsel through Western, and we got a lovely response from Randy which reads as follows:
"Seems to me that you should for sure stay in school. Learn how to read and understand the lease agreement. Then document our e-mail strings. I think it is great that you have good legal cancel. LOL. May I have the name of your attorney and I will put him in touch with you."
Which is not only the most idiotic email I have ever read, but completely dismissive of a situation that should have been easily handled by the management, not to mention extremely rude and uncalled for.
Thankfully the situation de-escalated after that and we were able to get our appliances fixed.
And those were just the major issues, there were several small ones to top it all off. At one point one of my roommates broke her key, and did not receive a response for over a month despite multiple maintenance requests being filled. An outlet in our bathroom stopped working and was not fixed for over a month as well.
If you do choose to rent from RPM, be advised that you will likely not get your full deposit back either, both years we did not receive the full deposit back despite leaving the apartment very clean (I scrubbed out the windowpanes with a toothbrush but apparently this was not clean enough). This deduction included a $100 "administrative fee", whatever that means. I know of another unit that was subjected to this fee as well. The deposit for 3 roommates went to one of our new addresses (mine), but the check made out to all three of us. Not convenient at all.
There are better, safer places to live in Bellingham. Don't put yourself through the misery of renting with RPM and know your rights as a renter if you wind up renting here anyway. read more