Complaint Review: Spring Mountain Apartments

I moved into Spring Mountain (owned by Coleman Family Investments) because it was one of the only apartments in Salem that was pet friendly. At move-in, I was disappointed to see that the apartment was not cleaned and rent-ready. The carpet was dirty, the appliances were disgusting, and the surfaces haven't been cleaned in a while. Chris, the former manager said, "Leave the apartment exactly as you got it and you'll get your full deposit back." That won't be hard, this thing is disgusting. 

The apartment was very loud since it was situated against Wallace Rd., but it didn't hold a candle to the noise level of the other tenants. The apartment above us would regularly hold loud parties through the early morning- the music would blare so loudly that our sliding door would vibrate. We called the cops twice until she finally got the message. The walls are so thin that our neighbor's afternoon "excursions" could easily be heard through the ceiling. Other neighbors and visitors would drunkenly come home at night, screaming, fighting, revving their engines, and one time crying in the parking lot.

Don't be fooled by the pictures on the website of a green, well-manicured facility. Shrubs are not attended to and there's more brown than green grass. The driveways and parking lot are in poor form and visitors comment over the poor maintenance of this apartment complex. 

What finally broke the camel's back was the move out procedure. According to the lease, tenants are to pay for professional carpet cleaning before they move out. We left the apartment in much better condition then we left it, diligently going through the move out checklist and spending the majority of move-out week making sure everything was in order. The maintenance guy even came over to do a walk through and didn't mention anything additional we needed to do. 

Nevertheless, there was a $75 "CLEANING" charge on the final accounting with no specifics involved. The freaking line next to cleaning was even blank. According to Oregon law:

(12) In order to claim all or part of any prepaid rent or security deposit, within 31 days after the tenancy terminates and the tenant delivers possession the landlord shall give to the tenant a written accounting that states specifically the basis or bases of the claim. The landlord shall give a separate accounting for security deposits and for prepaid rent.

There were no specifics involved to what was actually charged. It was only to our imagination that we randomly add up things on the base charge list, of which we used as a guide to ready the apartment. We called and e-mailed the apartment manager, Sheena, to simply inquire about this charge but of course never heard back. The manager never picks up the phone, calls back, or return e-mails. I think this is partly due to the fact that we are now out of state and can't follow up with a face-to-face conversion. 

Despite the poor management and rowdy neighbors, unfounded move-out charges are a rip-off and completely unacceptable, ESPECIALLY if management will avoid your calls/e-mails. Try another apartment complex off Wallace for a better experience.