Landlords taking advantage of college students (Tallahassee: apartment complexes, renters, attorney)

[angrynole85]

I live in Villa Lucia which is operated by Student Housing Solutions. They have been doing major construction on the premises since October. The construction includes 5 new buildings, a club house, and of course pavement. The construction starts day break, and ends sunset, 7 days a week. The construction literally starts 10 feet from my apartment. Inside my apartment the construction is so heavy the walls and my furniture shake. I cannot live my life!

That is not the worst of it. Our water has been turned off 42 times since then. When it is on, the pressure produces a stream of about half a dime. Yesterday for example, the water went off at about 10:30 a.m, and didn't come back on until 9:45 p.m. I often can't do my dishes, eat, or even shower. I also question the cleanliness of the water system. Pipes have broken multiple times. I have never in my life gotten pink eye or bacterial infections. Living here, I have had multiple incidents and in response having to spend hundreds for doctors and medication.

The management does not return my emails, letters, or phone calls. I called the city a in February and asked what they could do, and they said nothing since the water is managed by the housing company. My neighbors called last night and eventually an emergency technician came out to help. He said he didn't know what it was, but thought it had to do with the construction.

We really need help here. Student Housing Solutions is a greedy company and they are obviously taking advantage of college students. If anyone has advice on what to do it would be most appreciated. Thank you

P.S I do have video and picture of many water outages and on going construction.

[Strel]

Originally Posted by angrynole85

I live in Villa Lucia which is operated by Student Housing Solutions. They have been doing major construction on the premises since October. The construction includes 5 new buildings, a club house, and of course pavement. The construction starts day break, and ends sunset, 7 days a week. The construction literally starts 10 feet from my apartment. Inside my apartment the construction is so heavy the walls and my furniture shake. I cannot live my life!

That is not the worst of it. Our water has been turned off 42 times since then. When it is on, the pressure produces a stream of about half a dime. Yesterday for example, the water went off at about 10:30 a.m, and didn't come back on until 9:45 p.m. I often can't do my dishes, eat, or even shower. I also question the cleanliness of the water system. Pipes have broken multiple times. I have never in my life gotten pink eye or bacterial infections. Living here, I have had multiple incidents and in response having to spend hundreds for doctors and medication.

The management does not return my emails, letters, or phone calls. I called the city a in February and asked what they could do, and they said nothing since the water is managed by the housing company. My neighbors called last night and eventually an emergency technician came out to help. He said he didn't know what it was, but thought it had to do with the construction.

We really need help here. Student Housing Solutions is a greedy company and they are obviously taking advantage of college students. If anyone has advice on what to do it would be most appreciated. Thank you

P.S I do have video and picture of many water outages and on going construction.

They will not take you seriously, since you are a student, unless and until you get legal with them. They know that you will be gone sooner or later and another sucker will replace you. They have guaranteed renters and this gives them quite an attitude, one that they likely wouldn't pull on a non-student.

Peruse, if you will, this chapter of the Florida Statutes and see what you can find:

Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes :->2009->Chapter 83->Part II : Online Sunshine

Good luck.

[carolac]

I checked out this link, and Villa Lucia has a really, really low rating. People use these ratings to decide if they are going to move to a complex. If you and other residents post the problems you've been having (i.e., water shut off 42 times), Student Housing Solutions may take action, maybe not. Complexes base their success on the percentage of occupancy. They expect occupancy to go down during construction, but if their occupancy remains low, drastic action will be taken, such as getting rid of a manager.

Villa Lucia Apartment Ratings, Reviews, Map, Rents, and other Tallahassee apartments for rent from ApartmentRatings.com

You could also call the corporate office of Student Housing Solutions, let them know the problems you are having, which may or may not get you results, and may even result in you receiving a bad attitude.

Finally, do students get any free legal help on campus? You might check out their opinion about what you can do, if anything.

Good luck. College is hard enough without having to go through this.

[Smalleyster]

Lawyer!

[mattawest]

There are quite a few of these student apartment complexes in my town near the university. I only hear complaints about them. They entice students by offering pools, tanning beds, and other amenities. One of my friends stayed in a 4br and paid $450-500 per month, I believe. These complexes are making bank on students. I could get a REAL 3br apartment for much less than what they charge per room and split the cost between room mates. They have horrible service and never keep the complexes looking nice. When they get old enough, they lower the rent a bit. What's even worse is that many of these complexes are a run by a large company and operate many complexes in different college towns all over the country.

In order to avoid having room mates and living in a dorm, I got a cheap 1br about 15 minutes from campus. Sure, I didn't have a nice pool or billiard tables, but the rent was only a bit more than a student apartment, even with utilities added. No problems from the landlord.

You should have a student legal aid on campus that will be a registered attorney in the state. He/she will be able to give you advice on how to legally pursue the matter and if you have a case or not. The complex should at least reimburse a portion of your rent. I probably wouldn't take it up with the office staff, I'd take it up with corporate office.

[Strel]

If you are willing to put up with the ickiness of a shared bathroom, dorms can be a helluva lot of fun, actually...

[mykee991166]

Also make sure you go to Grade My Landlord so that you can look at the vast amount of properties and landlords at the area near your campus. Once you have lived in a property near campus, you can help others by grading your experience. A website like this is very helpful for future tenants!

[lavender]

my daughter and several friends have been living at polo club apts for the last 3 yrs and they do like it, she is graduating in spring and plans to stay on at the complex for her grad school. The owners seem to be quite good and updating and replacing things. Its hard to make everyone happy but these are really not bad for the money she lives in a 3/3 Everything about college seems to be about making money out of the students and their families, rooms, books, classes, but overall Ithink there are some good room options. I hope you can resolve your situation, I do think taking this up with college somehow would be worthwhile if you can find an advocate for you to talk to them.

[lavender]

uh oh , changed my opinion now it's been taken over by scalpers!