Chestnut Hall

I lost $600 dollars from applying
for an apartment here with my husband. Their application fee was $50 per person (non refundable)so $100 total + $500 as a holding fee (supposed to be refundable).

They are extremely misleading with their “holding fee” ($500), we were told to our face that if we weren’t approved that we would get it back.

After we applied, we got an email and saw it a day late because it got sent to our spam and it said that we were approved ONLY under certain conditions,... like a guarantor, investment statements, etc. We couldn’t meet those conditions so therefore weren’t actually approved right? We were deemed unfit without having those requirements so what else is there to do but back out. So obviously we were like oh well, we tried and asked for the $500 back like we were told we would receive back in case we weren’t approved.

They said that we were too late and they were entitled to that money since it took the apt off the market, I’m sure that 3 days just cost them soo much money..

They already got $100 from us that we were okay with them keeping since it was clear we couldn’t get that back.

They said we were a day late in deciding to cancel, even though we were never truly approved, it got sent to spam and we saw it late because of that, and we took literally only a few hours to see if we could meet those requirements before calling it quits. In total the process of seeing the “approval” and deciding was 2 days. This timeline is so short and I’m sure it’s that way on purpose so you make pressured decisions or they can find a way to keep your money.

I was reaching out for weeks after and when I finally could get in touch they gave us no way to resolve it.

So shady and unacceptable. Stay safe out there and keep your money close, it’s sad but you can’t trust places like this. As for us we’ll be extra careful next time, lesson learned. Read More

DO NOT RENT FROM THEM! My daughter just moved out and they are withholding our security deposit for "Full Paint Studio". She lived there for 2 years and they said there are "marks on the walls" which they consider "damage". They are withholding $469! This is the FOURTH apartment we have rented in Philadelphia Center City / University City and we've NEVER had a security deposit withheld!

Oh, and there are rats in the building...that live and die in the hallway.

When I moved in it wasn’t clean, there was hair in the shower, I didn’t put up a fuss and cleaned it myself. Throughout living here maintenance entered my apartment multiple times without telling me, I would find their tools just in my apartment when I would arrive home. I could never use the heat because the radiator sounded like it was getting hit by a baseball bat when I turned it on, which I was told was normal and nothing could be done. The window was cracked by a maintenance worker and I... was told this would be recorded so I wouldn’t be charged on move out, yet they still kept my deposit and charged me more for painting and “cleaning”. Building has cockroaches everywhere. They charge you for everything (mail, 5 dollars per load of laundry, etc) and you don’t tell you the details of it until you’re already there and moved in. Read More

Place is not maintained, and is infested. Actually saw a rat walking down the hallway. Finally moved out with unresolved maintenance issues and place is keeping deposit and charging me even more to repaint when it was never painted or cleaned appropriately before I moved in. If I could give this place negative stars, I would!

Outdated appliances. No central A/C. No dishwasher. No microwave. The building is so old it's probably a leading greenhouse gas emitter for the city with the amount of gas it burns in the winter. Utilities will be overpriced, expect to pay $150-170/mo. Nothing is included. They will charge for gas, electricity, water, and so many fees that are never consistent but the amount will always be in the same range. Maintenance is unresponsive. Security will not check for ID of anyone going up the... elevators. Packages are usually just thrown around in the lobby instead of being logged into the mail box system that they charge an additional fee for. You'll never get your security deposit returned. The one plus was the donut shop which just closed so there's really nothing left good to say of this place. Stay away. There are so many other UC options that are cheaper or if they are in the same range you'd be getting more amenities. Is it really too much to ask for a dishwasher? Read More