Village at West Lake Apartments

In my opinion, you SHOULD NOT live here. Here's why:

(1) They have a perpetual problem with trash. Although the community designers put in two dumpsters, both dumpsters are exceptionally small and the garbage compressor is almost always down. This results in a lot of trash bags piling up and attracting critters, as well as creating a terrible smell.

(2) They have cheap appliances but will still come after you once you leave for the money to replace them. Their appliances are inexpensive, which... is not surprising, but when you have inexpensive appliances you should expect that they will break more easily. We lived in our apartment for three years and the vent above the microwave dislocated. They tried to charge us $82 to replace the vent--the microwave itself is probably $50. In my opinion, they have no respect for the idea of normal wear and tear.

(3) As much as they pretend to be pet friendly, they are not. They charge close to $500 as a nonrefundable pet fee and also charge $35/month/pet on top of that, but when you move out, they do not credit that fee or any amount to any expenses, including carpet replacement. I'm sure they'll say "well it's in the agreement," but it's difficult to get out of paying the pet fee when you're already move in and then get a pet, as was the case with us. They now want to charge us $800+ to replace and wash carpets--which, again, are not high quality--without any credit from the pet deposit or recognition of the pet rent we paid. What's the purpose of the additional pet rent/deposit? I think we all know the answer.

(4) Following from (2) and (3), I have never been with a landlord--even corporate landlords like the one at Westlake--who have tried so hard to nickel and dime as much as they can out of the residents. We lived there for almost three years and never missed a rent payment and never had any other issues. Instead of showing appreciation for that fact and absorbing a minuscule amount (compared to the company's income) in extra costs to clean up our wear and tear after having lived there for three years, they decide to come after us for just over $900--again, with no credit for any deposits and no sense of appreciation for the many years we lived there without issues. I understand that they're a business, but we have more than supported that business for the past three years, and the response we have gotten is not of appreciation but simply asking for more money.

In sum, DO NOT live here. Read More