Complaint Review: Park At Lakeside - Houston Texas

This letter is in regards to the appalling way my agreement was handled as we attempted to acquire living accommodations for our family.

We had been searching for a new apartment to live in for quite some time. We needed a place that was centrally located for both of our places of employment.

We had driven by this complex many times and were drawn to this complex because of the beautifully landscaped front and location. We especially noticed the

sign that said "We Love Our Families!" We completed the application and turned it in on Monday, January 29, 2007. We met with the managers and were treated with dignity and respect. We were told that there would be an apartment ready for us on the ground floor and that it was a four bedroom. This is what we agreed to and were looking forward to this new apartment as I am expecting a second child and wanted a ground floor apartment to ease my burden of carrying two young children up and down flights of stairs.

I contacted a moving company and was told that they would be able to move our belongings in the afternoon of Saturday, February 3, 2007. I again contacted the management and was assured that the apartment would be ready to move into. I came into the office to sign the lease on Friday February 2, 2007, how ever I was unable to see the apartment. i was told that I would not be ready until Saturday at noon.

On Saturday, February 3, 2007. The associate I talked to assured me again that the apartment I had inquired about on the ground floor would be ready tomorrow, and that the electricity was turned on until Monday afternoon, which was when it would be turned on in my name. I felt very confident that everything would turn out as promised. However, I was to find out that the apartment on the ground floor was indeed NOT ready and another one on the second floor was.

I signed the lease and was reassured that my move would be successful. Saturday brought a nightmare! The apartment that was promised to us to be ready was NOT. We were willing to overlook the fact that it was not on the ground floor, however the apartment was not move - in ready. There was a disassembled bed in the kitchen which must have been left by the last tenant. The refrigerator seemed cold and appeared to be working, however there were only three light fixtures in the whole apartment that worked. There were holes and cracks in several walls throughout the apartment. One of the bathrooms had tile pulled up and carpet removed. The cement bathroom floor had a hole and cracks in the foundation where a pipe leak had been repaired, but the flooring was not replaced with tile and carpet. Baseboards were missing along one wall.

I called the management and was told that they would take care of everything. I went to meet the movers who were on a tight schedule and we didn't want to pay any extra money for their overtime due to the fact the apartment management had not followed through on the agreement.

The movers that I contracted with had everything loaded and were ready to move our belongings into our new apartment. When I got to our new apartment I found that someone had indeed come to repair my new apartment but all that they had done was to remove the disassembled bed from the kitchen. The bathroom was still not livable, and now the electricity wasn't working. I checked the utility box outside to see if the box was locked and found the wires had been cut, a severe fire hazard.

We contacted the office and left several messages as it was late in the afternoon, on a Saturday. We had all our belongings moved in, the movers were gone, we were exhausted, the temperature was plummeting, no electricity as promised, and in an apartment that was not in a livable condition. Needless to say we ended up having to rent a hotel room for five nights.

After some very terse discussions with the management, contacting the Corporate Office, and living in a hotel for five days we ended up being moved into another apartment. However, there were several things at this apartment that needed repairing. The first thing we noticed was the heating and air conditioning unit was not working. Since it was the middle of winter, it was necessary to expect that to work for our young child to be able to live there comfortably. We have an infant that is under two years old and although he doesn't quite understand what was happening it was very difficult for him.

As I mentioned before I am expecting a child in a few months and I was under extreme distress with this move. My family means everything to me and I thought that this would be a great place to bring my family to since it advertised "We Love Our Families!"

We have met several neighbors and have reservations about the way this complex is managed and tenants are served. One neighbor has had a broken window for several months that has not been repaired. Another tenant has had a clogged drain that has not been fixed. If this is an example of what is going on here, we believe a full investigation needs to occur of the management team.

We will expect to be paid for the hotel bills that we incurred while we waited for our apartment to be in a livable condition. We also expect to be repaid for the food we lost in the move and had to replace from our refrigerator/ freezer. We also incurred expenses eating out for those five days since we were not in our home and able to cook. We also incurred several extra bills concerning our cell phone, as we attempted to call management and the Corporate Office. I would also like to address the stress this has caused myself and my family.

We Lived in this hell hold for four months. In this time frame my two year old son became very sick from the mold in mildew that was never fixed. I had a baby in May, after spending a week in the appartment she became ill too. Managment did fix some of the problems that were listed above, but since they didnt repair them correctly, they continued to break. After speaking to Tiffany and Vicky the appartment mangers, It was aggreed upon to let me out of out lease. We have now moved, my children are NO LONGER ILL and we will never forget the SLUM-Loed like conditions that we were forced to live in.

Larissa

houston, Texas

U.S.A.