Van Mark Ridgeland

TERRIBLE PLACE, TERRIBLE MANAGEMENT, PLEASE READ ALL REVIEWS ON THIS LOCATION AND OTHER 1ST LAKE PROPERTIES ACROSS THE SOUTH.



I wish I could give 0 stars...



Where to begin... When I first moved in to the complex in October 2014, there was a complete breakdown in communication between the management on site and the electric company about the transfer of the utilities to my account. The apartment gave me the runaround for 2-3 months and I eventually had to take care of the matter myself with the electric company. Luckily I was not over-billed. That is the only good part to this review. Multiple things broke or went wrong in the upstairs unit that I was renting. I reported all of these things and had to constantly bug the office to get someone to come fix them. So my rating as far as maintenance is a negative. Also, the "gated community" atmosphere that I was promised and I was paying for, was only an illusion 50% of the time. The gate only worked after the time, the other half of the time it was wide open. Talk about not feeling taken care of... So my safety rating is negative. Don't let them lure you in with the promise of a new exercise facility either. They have been telling this lie for years now. The worst though, three months after I move out (only signed a 12 months lease and did not renew), I receive a letter in the mail saying that I am being charged $1,400 to pay for new carpet in the unit due to pet damage. Funny story though, I never have owned a pet or was pet ever in my unit. The carpet was spotless the day I handed in my keys to management. I talk to the manager and she tells me there is nothing she can do and that I have to call their corporate office and talk to their collections agent. This is funny though, because she is the one who performed the inspection, signed off on the invoice letter to me and sent the "evidence" to their corporate office. I am currently in the process of pursuing legal action. The manager there, who goes by the name of Alice, is a very rude person and was very adamant about not helping me or getting to the bottom of the situation. If ever there is a place NOT to live, this is the one. If you read other reviews of this property, as well as other 1st Lake Properties, there is a disturbing trend of this very thing happening to multiple people. Please read all reviews before you decide to enter into a lease with these people and this management company. They are very dishonest and will do anything to exploit their tenants.



Other negatives:

They boast about having two tennis courts. However, one of the court's net has been broken for years and the other has foundation issues so bad that you feel like you are playing on the edge of a cliff.

Speaking of foundation issues, in the short time that I was there (12 months) multiple units had to receive extensive foundation repairs.

The floors on the upstairs units are horrible and creaky.

The roads and parking are terrible. Pot holes everywhere and random speed bumps.

Plus all of the ones I listed above.



Bottom line: If you feel like paying a lot of money and not getting much in return as well as the possibility to being charged (large sums of money) for things you did not do, then this is the place for you. DO NOT RENT!!!!

This apt. pays 20.00 off rent for each review a renter completes. Be careful of reviews. We have lived here since 2000. We stayed due to the school district and the location. When we first moved here it was a family oriented safe complex with lots of room for an apt. Things quickly declined 6 years ago when First Lake Properties took over. Do not be fooled by the pool pictures - the pool rarely is cleaned and the chemical balance is always off. The fitness center is dangerous due to broken equipment and drug deals or usage. Also, there is no ac/heat in the fitness center. The staff is unprofessional. They may appear to be polite but when the phone is hung up or the speaker phone is accidently turned on you will find their true side. Maintenance workers are useless and make bigger messes that what you started with. We had mold issues for months, the ac leaked frequently into the guest closet and ruined furniture and carpet. The wet carpet left an odor that never could be gotten rid of.. Outside of our patio there was a muddy bog that made the patio useless and a breeding ground for mosquitos and frogs. It took us years to get the front door fixed to lock. You could use a credit card to open the door. We were told in March of 2013 that the tubs would be completely redone while we were on vacation. As of today, tubs were never fixed. The main reason we had to get out as fast as we could was that I severly damaged my knee and couldn't get into the apt without "jumping a 18-24 inch muddy patch in front of stairs. Of course, the office staff made a rude comment when I called to see when this would be repaired. Asst. manager didn't know she was on speaker phone. The 1/2 room (study) doesn't get cool or warm area making the space useless. We have complained repeatedly about this issue and the fact that a black dust came from all air vents. Also, if you work odd hours be aware that they will turn the water off without warning and it could take several hours to get it back on. This happens frequently and the office staff is rude when you ask when there might be water so you can get ready for work. These apt look decent from the outside and the office staff can sell you based on the size. Don't be fooled this place is falling apart. They do not take care of their renters or the property. If you do move here, the city inspector needs to become your best friend. The only way we got work done was to call the inspector and report issues.