Complaint Review: Village Green Apartments & Townhouses

I could not post this on apartmentratings dot com due to the landlord bullying me with a lawsuit. Please read everything. I feel I am under oath here in order to make this long review stand. I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. This is not a joke with what I have to say.

Management here is sure to respond but whatever response they come up with will be phony. The positive reviews that are written are of people renting large town homes who are just happy about the space and NOT ones who rented regular apartments. I will state the few positives first as this is a truthful review and not something that just trashes these apartments completely:

1.) Very safe area to be in.

2.) Ceiling light in den - rooms/bedroom like rooms without those stink if you have to do your own lamps.

3.) At Christmas, a couple upstairs left on everyone's doorsteps a small gift set of carmel popcorn and a nice card wishing everyone a happy holiday.

4.) Outgoing mail slot in the buildings (where I am now you have to go to the office).

Those are the only positives which are not many unfort. Here is the story:

I rented for a year and 2 months which got shortened to May but moved earlier than that in Feb. My family and I did not look carefully enough before renting. They don't have a 30 day lease exit guarantee if you made a mistake nor do they have month to month rent as well. It was a really horrible nightmare for 3 months with everything going wrong which I will note shortly. The worst thing about Village Green is the people who manage it (Hoffmann Management). Even after moving out, this landlord continues to contact my family which he has been told several times to stop.

I'm considering contacting the police it is this bad! Recently he thought I was making prank phone calls to his cell phone (which I don't even know the number to) so he called my grandfather of all people about it accusing me (he was the one that helped me pay the rent each month and doesn't know my current number thankfully). I know that they did not design this place but the way they handled things was VERY unprofessional and unsatisfactory. Being there was even driving me kinda nuts and even after move out when going to sleep at night I thought "this is over now, don't worry about this."

I was asked to leave because I was listening to music late at night which at all previous places I've lived was not a problem. It isn't even a problem where I am now - in fact I have been listening to music late at night here at the volume level of the other place and no one has complained about it. The walls at the Village Green are poorly insulated - I could even hear someone snoring above and when someone had their television on you certainly could hear it in the next room. This tenant next door complained twice about what really was a normal listening volume just to complain. The residents here aren't very tolerable. The owners of this place have obviously never heard of soundproofing nor does the current staff make any attempts to resolve the issue at hand, other than handing out vacate notices.

Other things wrong that I'm going in detail about:

1.) Basement lights where the storage and laundry is have these stupid timers that go off in less than 2 minutes leaving you in the dark when trying to find something in storage or when trying to do laundry. Multiple emails and phone calls have been sent about this very issue to the landlord but he refused to install regular lights. There has been a piece of broken exercise equipment in the building where I was that never got removed and one of the lights has been burnt out in the entire time I was there.

2.) When I moved in there was bathtub enamel (bottom of tub) wearing away. The only solution when that was noted upon is that I was given a very uncomfortable bath mat which I threw away. Had to buy a better one. There was also a crack in the fruit/vegetable crisper in the fridge and the heat vent had cracks that almost was coming off. Nothing was done about those things when asked either.

3.) The 2nd worst thing was that there was no central air conditioning at all. You can't control it and as a result was either too hot or too cold at random times. Maintenance came in multiple times to look at it but was told there was nothing they could do. Through the wall air conditioning is very unbearable. I could not get cool enough and as a result had many sleepless nights.

4.) As noted previously the management is cold, rude and unfriendly. They are very hard to contact as well. When you call the office number all you get pretty much is an answering machine. In fact from December to late January they close the office making talking to a live person impossible even though maint. still operates. When you do get them they try to talk over you like a child being naughty and the maintenance people acts that way too.

5.) No guest parking and not enough parking for everyone (no garage was even available when moving in). You have one assigned spot which isn't clearly shown to others and as a result you get people who park in your spot. Friends and relatives cannot even park close to the building. That and the small kitchens make a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner impossible. Whoever designed it to be like this should have taken some other line of work because it's just terrible.

Quote (all in large, bold text on the page) word per word on the lease:

"NO PARKING IN ANY PARKING SPACES NOT ASSIGNED TO YOU BY VILLAGE GREEN. ** All tenants will be fined $50 per incident for parking in or obstructing an assigned parking space other than their own assigned space(s). (Underlined here): THERE IS NO GUEST PARKING at Village Green. You will be fined $50 for any of your guests violating this rule by parking in or obstructing an assigned parking space other than your own assigned spaces(s). Any excuses for violating this mandate will not be accepted. Non-compliance of this mandate may result in towing yours or your guests' vehicle(s) at violating tenant(s) expense."

There are also numerous annoying speed bumps every few feet unlike where I am now. I feel that those are unnecessary to have. I'm guessing it's because there was one person who accidentally ran over a child's toy in the parking lot. The staff issues fines if your children are caught playing in the parking lot without an adult (unbelievable!). It says on the lease (bold and underlined) quote:

"If your children/minors are seen in the parking lot without an adult accompanying them to and from a vehicle, you may be fined $50 per child per incident or given a 5-day notice to vacate the premises. In addition, all toys, bikes, or skateboards left in the parking lot will be disposed of immediately."

6.) There is no patio or balcony making you feel enclosed in and can't breathe. There is community green space outside where they could have made patios but they chose not to. Keep in mind these apartments were built in the late 70s and the designer was dumb not to include something like that. You can't even grill out nor are there public places to do so.

7.) No bedroom ceiling lights - only in dens. The lamps you could plug in didn't even turn on by the light switch. Where I am now, I can plug all my wall outlets on the bottom turn on by switch.

8.) No washer or dryer in the apartments. There is coin laundry in the basement where you have to have quarters handy which get stuck at times. It's very inconvenient. $1.25 to wash and another $1.25 to dry.

9.) One of the basement doors was off it's hinges and maintenance never fixed it.

10.) Power has gone off multiple times. The first time was for a couple hours late in the day and then on January 31st, 2012 the power went off unexpectedly for the whole morning and early afternoon (WE Energies people was digging up the entire area next to my apartment at 7 am of all hours and making lots of noise). I thought "oh goodie, they are finally doing something about the basement light timers" but they weren't. There was no letter in advance saying this was going to happen. After I moved out, I got a letter forwarded to my new address from WE Energies saying the workmen were coming back and power was going to be off a 3rd time on Feb. 17th. Unbelievable! I can just imagine the current residents irritated as well about this. This never happened where I am now and not in the previous places I've lived either.

11.) Walls are cheaply made and I got several complaints for loud music that was at a reasonable volume at previous apartment. Neighbors here like to complain for any reason and think that this is a palace.

12.) White metal folding doors in rooms. I took off the doors because they were so hard to open and close. One of the doors was in the front coat closet where if left on there it would have damaged the main entrance door. More details are below in the pictures.

13.) No garbage disposal in the kitchen even though there is a wall switch for it. The genius designer didn't even think about it I bet.

14.) The location of these apartments are bad (also hard to find), not nice as in another review. The closest business is a funeral home. It is very far away from shopping and other nice places. It's really in the middle of nowhere in that part of Menomonee Falls and no public transportation is available either. The only schools that these past reviewers are talking about is high school and under. It isn't near one single college or university. So if you're thinking about going to college, don't live here.

15.) No pool, spa, or fitness center. There isn't even a clubhouse to host parties at.

16.) The kitchens are small and have hardly any counter space (only one drawer available which didn't even fit all my silverware). The kitchen appliances are out of date - from the 1970s. I was lied to saying they weren't and I know this for a fact because I looked up the model numbers of them and it said the 1970s. It has gas stoves instead of electric and if the pilot light goes out, your life is in danger there. That happened once when I was trying to clean it and when I called the office, of course it was when they were closed in those winter months where there wasn't a live person answering. It took over 6 hours to get a person over for that emergency. Maintenance doesn't even answer their after hour service until after 4 pm so a message had to be left. The refrigerator had a crack in it and the dishwasher was old taking detergent that doesn't clean thoroughly enough.

17.) Ugly beige neutral carpeting. But all apartments seem to have this color unfort. which is DUMB! They need light blue carpeting! One spot got printer ink on it and they charged excessively afterwards.

18.) Pets. I wasn't even allowed to have a cat because management claimed this was new carpeting (yes, the UGLY beige carpeting) and that they were afraid of pet stains. They said this despite the fact that they have other residents who have cats AND dogs.

19.) Lots of sewage backup problems. The toilet overflowed several times as a result.

20.) No extra storage available. The basement is huge but that genius designer did not create extra storage lockers despite the large amount of space down there (open and unused space that could be used for storing otherwise). It's a problem where I am at as well but the amenities here make up for it.

21.) Package delivery wasn't secure. Postmen leaves things on your doorstep just itching for other people to steal them. They don't accept packages into their apartment office. After move out I had a package that came there which I never got. Delivery conformation showed it was shipped so either the package got stolen or the management lied about it not being there.

22.) Leasing agent rushed when making a decision moving in. She said "well please be very quick here" and then went on her own busy way. She was nice but just rushed things.

23.) No wireless internet. A cord had to be laid across the floor to the den where the computers were.

24.) No kitchen phone wall outlet (having to buy a different phone).

25.) On the day of move out, they even made it a hard time to move out. A friend who was helping me move told me he had a dilemna with the landlord for parking on the grass to have the truck close enough to get things out. He told me it ended up in a shouting match. One of the maint. staff told us to "make sure your storage door is closed afterward." like that was some big deal.

26.) There are security cameras by the dumpsters for the odd reason to prevent illegal dumping (stupid) but yet, there aren't any by the laundry machines (people have been known to steal clothes).

About the pics uploaded:

Picture 1 is of the heat vent cracking
Picture 2 is of the bedroom closet. Notice here that they made the hanger roll not very accessible all the way. You have to reach in order to hang clothes in the back.

Picture 3 is of the shelves in the den I had. Notice here how they come short of the actual length they could be.

Picture 4 is of the laundry room downstairs. Notice the back wall is peeling and the peeling floor as well.

Picture 5 is of the front of the apt. There was a white folding door of the closet that I took off. When it was open all the way if someone tried to come in, that door would actually be in the way and damage the front entry one. (They charged for the so called damage as well.)

Picture 6 is of the outside of this place in winter. Notice how the door looks. It looks like a prison door. Terrible design!

There are more pics I took but they only you to upload 6 of them.

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Other reviews (not on here but on another site). Number 2's review makes this place sound nicer than it actually is though.

1.) Village Green Apts (May 13, 2010)***
Reviewed by: Anonymous

I have read both the reviews on these apartments. I have chosen not to even go see these town homes because of the negative review. I feel the owners are being discriminatory towards tenants. Tenants have rights, I don t even thinks its legal to give tickets if children are in the parking lot. I am going to further investigate this....Also if theirs mice infestation and plumbing problems I would rather stay where I am at because what I deal with day to day seems so little compared to what these poor tenants are dealing with.

2.)Very nice place to live (August 08, 2009)*****
Lisa

This is place is good value and a good place to live. When we first moved in, they painted the walls white, then there were some spots that were a different color. We called the management and the next day they painted the walls over. This place is near shopping, grocery stores, gas stations and other big places yet in a very quite neighborhood. The neighbors are all courteous and friendly. A lot of children around the complex play together. There are large grass areas children can play and a park very close by.

They gave us all notices that children cannot play in parking lot because someone backed out their spot one day and rolled over a child's toy. They say it could have been a child that got ran over instead of the toy. So, they started to issue tickets to people if their kids were caught in parking lot without parents out there.Which makes sense that they want children safe and parents to watch their kids, especially if there is a parking lot right there. There are also elementary schools within a few blocks and a middle school down the street.

Great place to raise children. Down side is that the pluming is bad. The neighbors below us have complained that our bath tub leaks into theirs. The maintenance crew came in like 4 times trying to get it fixed. With maintenance, they do a very good job. They are very fast and always ask permission before they come in our unit without us there. Our toilet stopped flushing one day and we called the next day.

They came within a couple hours and fixed it. Also, the parking is bad. It is assigned, so there is no guest parking, they have to park on street. If you have more than one car, it will be $15 a month extra for another spot. When you move in just make sure you take pictures of the apartment and turn in the sheet with the things wrong with the apartment. I think these are very good apartments for how cheap they are. Everyone lives here in peace. It is a great community to live in. :

3.) Think Twice!Reviewed by: Anonymous
Review Date: 02/18/2009***

These apartments are in a nice location, and look nice but they do have alot of plumbing problems and in the fall and spring several of the town homes had mice infestations. New owners took over in 2008 and are very nasty. The owners began issuing fines to tenants if their children went in the parking lot without a parent. $50 per occurrence and threatened eviction if you did not pay. They refuse to make timely repairs and are discriminatory towards single mothers they evicted (elected to not renew their lease) 3 single mothers within months all of who paid rent on time and did nothing to warrant this.

This is a nice property in a good locale nice schools near by but the management is the worst! Ask around the tenants will tell you about the management and maintenance staff. Also no-one ever ever got their deposit back for security. Out of 10 individuals who I know moved no-one got a deposit returned and I am sure the list grows! They also raise the rent of people who they want to move but of those they like they keep the rent the same.

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Please do not move in here - you will regret it. It was horrible beyond horrible - I mean it was! This is not a nice place to live - it isn't advertised in the For Rent magazine and doesn't even have it's own website. You couldn't pay me enough to live there again. And get this: Quote from the one newsletter I received. "It is our desire to make Village Green an environment that all people can enjoy." Well I certainly didn't enjoy it and you won't either, honestly!

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