Portal Place Apartments

TLDR; Stayed here for 2 years - bad experience; rent is high for what you get, water often switched off without advanced notice, elevator regularly breaks down, gym is old and dysfunctional, issues with lease.

First time I'm leaving a review, here goes - I moved into Portal Place Apartments fall of 2020. Kim showed me around and offered a "deal" to get a 2B2B for the price of 1B1B. Before signing the lease I was verbally assured the rent increase would be within reason in case I choose to... extend for another year. Needless to say, that wasn't the case. They increased my rent by more than 30%, and when I took issue and after a lot of back and forth, they agreed to give me the same rent provided they lock the second bedroom, which I agreed to, since I was in no mood to move less than 1 year of signing this lease.

When they came home to inspect, I happened to have a friend visiting, which they somehow construed as a second person living there. They also looked at camera footage to see who comes in and goes out to make sure I didn't have anyone else living in the apartment (I didn't).

Overall, Kim is a good leasing agent and will say things to make you sign the lease (obviously, I know). Learnt the lesson of not taking words at face value. There is often a misalignment between the leasing office and the owners of the building.

Pros:
1. Large Kitchen and Toilets
2. Balcony
3. Covered parking
4. In house washer/dryer

Cons:
1. Elevator and Water shut of repeatedly, often without advance notice.
2. Lease issues (see above)
3. Front side of the building gets a lot of noise, back side has no natural light
4. Gym is dysfunctional and not maintained (eg. No Dumbbell weights over 10 lbs) Read More

Avoid this place at all cost! This company cuts corners in every way possible to maximize profit at the tenant’s expense.

After living here for 2 years to finally complete my training as a physician, I left my apartment in pristine conditions and paid all of my rent and utilities including my last month here, however I was deducted ~$700 from my $1000 deposit for random expenses that make no sense.

They charged me $180 for unpaid utilities when I have a clear receipt and email showing all... utilities paid up until my move out date.

They charged me for “holes in the wall” and “damages to closet door” when I have clear pictures from my move out day without any evidence of damage.

They charged me a total of $145 for cleaning and painting the kitchen and bathrooms when we left all of these areas as clean as when we first moved in and did not have any similar cleaning/painting before we moved in. They even charged me $15 to replace 3 lightbulbs!

In terms of the apartment itself, in the units near the gym, you can hear the treadmill shaking the floor when people use the gym and when people walk in the staircase. The floor is so flimsy you can hear stomping from the tenants above you even with light walking. Sometimes the stomping is so strong the lightbulb shakes. Several units are listed on Airbnb (doors with black boxes outside them) and half the time the people who book them are using the rooms to party and smoke Marijuana, which you can smell in the hallways and garage. Some of the tenants are college students who party until 2-3 AM. With your thin walls, you can hear everything from the units adjacent to you (just hope they’re not having sex and when you do, try not to make any noise). The units facing the road have huge noise pollution during the day from traffic. The units facing the trees have no ambient light at all and need to have indoor lights turned on at all times. The outdoor parking spaces are so small that there are constantly accidents with damage done to cars. My car was hit and I was lucky to have the other person leave a note, some other people were not so lucky. Sometimes your car may get “accidentally towed”. One morning my car was gone from the spot I paid for and I was 3 hours late to work trying to get it back from the towing company this building uses. To save money on electricity, the elevator is turned off on Sundays and sometimes at night. Read More

We are moving out on 15th of the month, and found out that the lease said the tenant need to pay full rent of the last month, regardless how long you stay. So if you move out on 2nd or 3rd, you'll still need to pay the full month rent. Never seen contract like this before.