I'm giving Village Realty a 2-star rating, which is designated in Yelp as "Could've been better."
1. Prior to moving in I showed the staff photos that I had taken of the front door that had been damaged by termites. Clearly I thought this would be taken care of prior to my move in date -- it was not. It took almost a year of complaining to get it taken care of. (Later during my time there I again alerted Village Realty -- via their online portal for tenants -- that I had an active swarm INSIDE. No one was ever sent to take care of it.)
2. Condo that I rented was filthy from the get-go. They hired a cleaning person (neighbors saw her), but it was still so dirty that I had to clean every room myself. Maybe this is because (I found out later), that the tenant prior to me was a local drug dealer. So, based on that, maybe the cleaning person did an exemplary job, I don't know.
3. One of the leasing agreements is that you must have renter's insurance (your own -- or theirs). I got my own, because I knew it would be cheaper. What the staff didn't tell me was that I would still have to pay for the rest of the "concierge package." What the heck is that? Oh, it's the air filters that they mail to you, plus "It's how all of this is helping you to get good credit." I never got the air filters and I, by the way, have outstanding credit -- this rented condo was basically a "crash pad" while I was working way from my home in another city! And I should note that it took the Village Realty staff ages to figure out that I already had renter's insurance even though it was ATTACHED under "Insurance" in the Tenant online portal. So because it looked like I didn't have insurance, I was being charged late fees. I spent nearly 10 hours on the phone and writing people to get this nightmare straightened out.
4. After 1 1/2 years of paying in a timely manner, I needed to move out early. I asked questions -- via email and text -- of staff and explained that I was technically giving 3 months notice (to move to another part of the state for work because my local position had been eliminated) and it would be nice if I didn't have to pay for the final month left on my lease. I was verbally told and sent written answers from staff that led me to believe that I did not have to pay the final month, so off I went. Unbelievably, Village Realty took my "security payment" out of escrow to pay off the final month AND sent me to a Collection Agency! Not so much as a phone call after a year and a half of being a model tenant, just off to a Collection Agency! I called the Collection Agency and sent written documentation to indicate that I should no longer owe anyone any money -- I included screen shots of the texts and emails from the Village Realty staff. Comically, when the Collection Agency sent my dispute paperwork back to Village Realty, they agreed to take off the $150 carpet replacement/repair...uh, ya mean because there was no carpet in the condo to begin with?! Thanks Village Realty. Bottom line, I will pay the Collection Agency because I have no more time to waste on this.
There were SO MANY THINGS that Village Realty could have done better -- much of this had to do with their constantly changing staff members.
PLEASE BE SURE TO ALSO READ THE COMPLAINTS AT THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. You will see one very similar to my #4 (early termination). read more
