Complaint Review: Wessels Development

We lived in the Colonial Village Apartments for a year in 2012 and the first month was wonderful. Sure no place is perfect, but we loved the space, the layout, and the privacy. After about a month we started noticing bites on our bodies that were definitely not mosquitos. After further investigation we learned that those bites were from bed bugs that were coming out of our outlet in our bedroom. When we reported it the manager blamed us, even went as far as saying I heard you got a brand new mattress, perhaps that’s the cause when it was clear to see when one removed the outlet cover that the bugs were coming from there. When we asked when a professional exterminator would be coming in to take care of it we were then informed that one would not be coming in, but maintenance would take care of it. The next day I returned home from work to find that a bug bomb had been set off in our place with no warning whatsoever. I have asthma and couldn't even breathe! I had to wait until my husband returned home from work so that we could gather our things and go away for a weekend just to escape the fumes and wash ALL of our clothes, towels, and bedding since EVERYTHING had been covered in the bug bomb. Needless to say that did nothing to stop the bed bugs. They bug bombed it again, this time informing us, but to no avail, it did not work. We ended up taking matters into our own hands and using a technique from a neighbor that involved spraying isopropyl alcohol into where the bugs were, then covering it with duct tape. Thankfully the remainder of our stay we did not see any other bed bugs, however that's not to say we didn't see other insects such as centipedes, spiders, etc. When our toilet handle broke, the maintenance worker took a week and a half to fix it. Every time that he has come into our place he has tracked mud in and never cleaned it up. We never got our deposit back due to his neglect. When we requested that our tub be re caulked due to the obvious mold behind the seams, we were informed that we had a no-caulk tub EVEN THOUGH there was caulk on the tub from previously. I have never been so happy to move out of this place. Ironically when we left, there were signs on all the entry way doors telling residents that there was a bed bug infestation that had just occurred. Sorry, Ms. Manager, that occurred over a year ago since it was pretty evident that the bugs had been living there before we moved in. Simply talking to your residents honestly would go a long way towards helping our community, rather than adopting a total business “wall” of delay, deny, deceive. Apparently, that’s the new realtor school of management, at least taught by Bernard Wessels. But, we’re sure his political contributions evident online clearly help his influence with local officials, especially the gradual decline brought on by Section 8 diversity. Congratulations on the new office space, we helped purchase that.