Silvertree Communities

We lived here for three years, never missed a rent payment. Move out time finally came. We asked the office staff if we needed to paint after we patched the holes in the walls from the shelves we put up, and we were told we didn't have to worry about it. Lo and behold, my wife and I were both individually charged $340 for a "paint touch-up fee" along with a $175 "cleanup fee," after we spent an entire day cleaning the apartment and leaving no garbage behind. I even submitted photos that the… apartment was left clean, but I was told the clean-up fee was for the wall repairs, and then nobody could tell me what the clean up fee covered.

After the first year, we were forced to move buildings so they could renovate the unit we were living in, which forced us to move from the third floor of one building to the third floor of the building across the parking lot. The renovations were cheaply done. Part of our brand new faux-wood floor started peeling up after only a month or two. They also sealed over the skylights in the third-floor units, and the square in the ceiling where the patch job was leaked water if it rained heavily. When we submitted a repair request, the fix was sending a guy with a bucket to catch the water.

After the second year, they implemented a new sudden fee for internet service, adding $20/month onto the base rent charge, EVEN IF you already had your own router or modem / wifi service through another provider. They also increased our base rent, even though when we first moved in, we were told our rent would never go up if we signed the renewal lease within a certain window, which we did.

During the third year, we bought a house out of state. We were then informed we could not term our lease early, and that our only option was to find a subletter to live in our unit to take over the remainder of our leasing term. They offered no help in actually finding a subletter, telling us the best option we had was posting an ad on Facebook.

Also, even though water is a covered utility, expect to pay an extra $200/month or so in the summer to cover the electricity bill if you like having your AC on.

They kept finding ways to tack on increased or new fees, then spent that money on "community-building" events nobody asked for, like having a free catered meal once every few months or hosting basketball "tournaments," where you can sign up to play basketball to win paltry rewards. Read More