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ParkWild Apartments
January 8, 1998
Manager
ParkWild Apartments
1801 ParkWild West Road
Council Bluffs, IA 51503
To whom it may concern:
In December 1996, I moved to ParkWild Apartments and in December 1997, I
vacated that apartment. My experience with the complex has been as follows:
· On moving day I found that the apartment had not been cleaned after the
prior renters had moved. There were leaves and dirt covering the carpet,
heavy black marks on the linoleum floors, cobwebs, dead bugs, and a few nail
holes in the walls. The office was not open and I had all of my belongings
had been delivered there by movers, so I had no choice but to complete the
cleaning myself.
· Despite being assured by the complex manager that ParkWild Apartments was a
'nice, quiet area', I endured many nights of disrupted sleep as my next door
neighbors enjoyed loud music when coming home at 3:00 am off of their night
shift. After 2 months of repeated telephone calls from others and me, the
four young men were evicted.
· Despite being assured that ParkWild Apartments had no reported problems with
rodents and insects, I found myself constantly battling spiders, tiny
worm/caterpillar-type insects, and crickets.
· Every two months on average the toilet overflowed resulting in my time and
effort to mop the floors, wash the drenched towels, and make repeated
telephone calls to have someone fix the toilet.
· After receiving two phone calls at work from the apartment management to
verify my garage number, I returned late to the complex that night in a
surprise spring blizzard to find that my garage was loaded with someone else's
furniture. After repeated telephone calls, I found that the manager (Carrie)
had been discharged and the new management had double-rented my garage. I was
re-directed to an absolutely filthy garage for the evening, but was assured
that my garage would be vacated promptly. I was asked to call in 2 weeks.
I called in 2 weeks and was told that the furniture had been removed from my
garage, but that the garage door needed to be replaced before I could reclaim
it. I was asked to call again in 2 weeks. When I did so I was told that the
door had still not been replaced, and that they would call me when it was
ready. I called again in another 2 - 3 weeks and was told that my garage was
ready.
The door had not been replaced.
In fact the next morning when I opened the garage door, the locking bars fell
from the door and barely missed hitting my car and me. A maintenance man was
just coming to work and saw the accident. He removed the bars and assured me
he would get them fixed. They had still not been repaired by the time I
vacated the garage.
· The morning that I was to leave with friends for a summer weekend, a
downpour of water came through the ceiling of my walk-in closet. (I resided
in a garden level apartment with 3 - 4 apartments above me). I had several
towels to clean, buckets of water to dump, clothes to dry out and boxes to
move before soaking clear through. I also had a fire hazard as the water was
coming straight through the electrical light circuit. I had to cancel my trip
at the last moment and spend several hours cleaning. I was told that the
water was caused by the air-conditioner on the roof and was fixed. I invested
around $50 in suit protectors just in case.
· The apartment above me was rented to young women who gave not only my
building, but the building next door a sleepless night with a balcony party
complete with off-key Garth Brooks serenades. This time they were more
promptly asked to leave the complex.
· Two months later I was cleaning in the closet and found that two boxes in a
corner were soaked and moldy and other boxes were damp. $180 dollars of
Christmas decorations were ruined along with ornaments made by my deceased
Grandmother that can never be replaced. As the deductible on renters
insurance was $250, the insurance company did not reimburse me and the complex
made no offer for compensation. I spent over $100 for Rubbermaid tubs to
store my non-clothing items in the closet. I was told that the leak was again
from the roof only this time it had entered my apartment through the walls.
· A little over two months later, another downpour of water came through the
electrical light circuit in the closet, and through the bathroom ceiling. I
again had the clean up to perform, but at least having been prepared by the
two prior incidents, my clothing and belongings were encased in Rubbermaid. I
was told that this leak came from the up-stairs neighbor's toilet overflowing.
(She may have been on the every-two-month schedule also).
· The same day I gave my notice of not renewing my lease I received a letter
(Attachment 1) that said that my lease would be renewed until August 30, 1998
unless I came into the office within 3 days of receipt of the letter to
'sign'. This is in violation of the lease agreement (Attachment 2).
I left a letter with my keys the night I completely vacated and cleaned the
apartment, requesting contact as soon as possible if there were any problems
with the return of my deposit. Despite this, it was the following week before
I received a settlement sheet through the mail (Attachment 3) notifying me of
a $40 withholding due to cobwebs, and an unexplained withholding of $50. (See
Attachments 2 and 3).
It has been almost a month since I vacated the apartment and even a partial
return of the deposit has not been made.
It was written on the security deposit settlement sheet that my reason for
moving was "moving out of state". Actually, to be more correct, I fled out of
state - across the river and back to Nebraska - where my prior 16 years of
apartment dwelling has been a pleasant experience. For the courtesy copy
going out-of-state, let me make it clear that Elkhorn is basically a suburb of
Omaha, NE, right next door to Council Bluffs.
My year with ParkWild Apartments has been my shortest time as a tenant, but
has felt like the longest. My reason for moving was simply bad management and
poor living conditions. I have told my family, friends, and even some
strangers about ParkWild Apartments, but did not intend to take things further
until this final insult of withholding my security deposit.
For purposes of the Better Business Bureau, I am asked to supply an acceptable
solution to my dissatisfaction with ParkWild Apartments. At minimum I would
like my full deposit returned ($505.00); however, let me make it clear that if
I am forced to take this through the legal system, I will ask for the full
damages incurred during my residency with your complex.
Sincerely,
Venita L. Spier
CC with Attachments: Better Business Bureau
Pinnacle Realty Management Company, Stan Harrelson
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 09:00:51 EST
To: [email protected]
Subject: ParkWild
As an update:
The complex sent me a check for the unexplained withholding of $50.00 saying
that it was an oversight. They also sent copies of some of their maintenance
records.
They are still retaining $40.00 for cobweb removal.
Venita L. Spier
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