My apartment on Seminary Avenue was my first ever apartment after living on my college campus for three years. For a first (college) apartment, it wasn't bad, but it was also clear that nothing inside of the place had been renovated nor updated in decades (hence the Star Trek: Next Generation and Snoopy stickers inside a cabinet door above the stove--which, honestly, was one of the apartment's redeeming qualities). Really, it was a dingy little place, but I was able to sign the lease without a co-signer and without having a super developed credit history. For me, at the time, that was a total godsend, and I am grateful for having had the opportunity to develop my own, stronger credit without having to lean on my folks (yay independency!). That said, I came to realize that several college students and younger people lived in properties owned by Weyermuller and friends... and I can't help but think it's because they know they can take advantage of young, inexperienced renters who don't understand their rights as tenants nor do have high expectations for their living spaces.
The landlord and leader of Weyermuller Properties, Mark, is a character. He is quirky and well intentioned, but there was often poor communication between he and myself and my roommate--largely due to emails that were poorly written in half-sentences and littered with confusing typos. Also worth mentioning, if you know you cannot deal with this, he is a proud conservative. This doesn't affect how one should judge his character, but it did lead to some awkward conversation at the beginning of the lease-singing process. A nice tenant-landlord moment was Mark refunding me a LOT of quarters after a washer leaked out on me a few days before December 25th. I had just gotten out of the shower, so (after yelling at me through the front door) he left them outside for me and wished me a merry Christmas. Goofy, but a good guy.
More importantly, Mark and his employees (particularly Ronald, my buildings maintenance man) were very responsive towards facility issues and tenancy changes. Clogged shower drain? Someone came that morning. Someone broke in through our kitchen window (yes, it really happened...)? Burglar bars were put up the same day (albeit INSIDE the window--not super ideal, but better than a poke in the eye!). My roommate was gone half of our lease and we had subletters, which Mark and team accommodated readily. I wanted the lease extended a month to accommodate some stuff, and they said that was fine. All-in-all, not terrible.
What really was my biggest issue living in a Weyermuller property came t fruition my last couple of weeks living in one. My roommate set up for two friends of hers to move in once our lease was up. She was leaving two weeks early, so one of them was going to move in then. I wasn't included in this decision and the corresponding communications, and management never thought to loop me in at all. Eventually I was up-to-speed, albeit after the fact, and everything seemed fine. A week before I moved out, however, my roommate, the two new tenants, and myself received a panicked email from Mark saying that their records had shown I moved out already... although that was never meant to be the case at all! There was a flurry of passive-aggressive emails sent from management, and eventually we were told to stop emailing Weyermuller Properties because of "admin costs." And, uh, excuse me... what?? I paid and arm and a leg to live in this building for you to answer our emails and to understand what was going on in our unit! Absolutely bizarre incident, and I have never felt so patronized.
So, Weyermuller isn't all bad. My apartment was ugly and got a bit uglier as our lease progressed, but it did what it had to do and the lack of co-signer made it easy for me to get an apartment and rack up credit. Mark and team are well intentioned, but sometimes seem to lack common sense and can be a bit rude. If you see a Weyermuller apartment you like and the facilities are to your standards and you don't have a lot of credit nor do you want a co-signer, go for it... but get out as soon as that lease it up and treat yourself to a different place! Thanks for reading my essay. :)
PS: they don't change locks on apartments between tenants... which might be illegal in Illinois? Something to bring up before you sign the lease. read more