Equity Residential
Reviews and Complaints
Living at Mill Creek Apartments
Me and my family moved into the apartments at Mill Creek Apartment Milpitas CA two years ago on 9/28/2018. Since being there we have had problems. We were told that that it was quite there and that there is no smell because of the dump on the other side of the freeway. This was not true, the train comes at 4:00am and blows his horn, the smell from the land field is bad and it gets worse during the summer days. The truth was not told when we first moved in
Then management said that we were late on our rent which never happen. They continue to tell me and my family that we owed them $170.00 for not paying our water and trash. While my wife and I continued to tell them that we have paid this bill and if they would look at the payments they would see.
They then gave us a three day notice and we paid again $170.00 again. Later they went and found that we had paid and that they were the ones that were wrong.
We then tried to transfer and move into another property of Equity apartment at Alborada apartments we were told that all they have to do is transfer you and do a credit check because they do this all the time and your credit is not a problem. We were then told that we did not qualify because of our credit. There was not a problem when we first moved in and our credit has not changed.
I do not believe that it was not because of the credit because we have never been late with our rent. I believe that it is because of the color of our skin and that we challenge them on the money that they owed us. They did not want to be challenged over what was right.
We were told that the transfer would be no problem but again we were not told the truth and now a family may be homeless and we have no one to turn to for help. This is not a place that you can trust or want to live at.
Berkeley, California
Do not rent from them!
They change and rotate staff every 8months to a year to make sure no one is responsible for he crooked late fees, the mysterious missing checks that you paid for rent, and the prolonged late deposits which they will say that you paid late.
They are dismissive, never respond to emails and when they do they just respond for the record but never resolve any issue. They cover up their faults and turn it on you.
This company is crooked and has crooked employees that participate in those practices. No one never knows anything, and they never fix anything
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Verified Reviewer
Current resident Rianna Seattle
I have lived at the Rianna Apartments since May of 2017, when I moved into the apartments I realized I was paying higher rent for an older building but I was close the college and hospitals and was told the apartments were well maintained. I was also told they were secure with cameras on all exits.
AVOID THIS PLACE!
Upon move in I discovered rust around the drain, I was told the glaze had come off but it's okay from maintenance, they also told me they wouldn't fix it. It was to expensive, the washer leaked and they did get me a new one. The carpet began coming up which still hasn't been fixed.
The exterior door locks have been broke. The gates to the secure parking garage. Dog *** and a dirty complex.
The gates to the garages broke for a week and they wouldn't open!
Last weekend my car inside the parking garage was broken into, along with other cars in the garage!
Then my washing machine broke.
The manager told me today they don't have cameras on all exits.
THEY DID NOT HAVE SURVEILLANCE OF ME AND MY NEIGHBORS WINDOWS BEING BUSTED OUT! BUT THEY DID OF THE PERSON PUTTING GARBAGE IN THE RECYCLE BIN!
Ironically a month or so prior management accused me of throwing trash in the recycling bin and sent surveillance footage of that! It clearly wasn't me!
I WAS NOT THE PERSON IN THE VIDEO! I DO NOT KNOW THEM!
AVOID THIS PLACE!
UPDATE
I received an email from the manager Toye stating she read my review. She did nothing to address the issue or discuss the complex adding CCTV cameras of taking other actions to mitigate risk!
Instead I received this:
“After reviewing your Yelp review and prior email regarding your concern for the lack of security cameras available for the garage, I was not sure if you were still interested in parking in the garage. Before I assign you another parking space it's important that I clarify a few things to ensure that we are on the same page:”
Management clearly isn’t interested in fixing or mitigating issues!
Arlington, Virginia
Ceiling is damaged after storm
Our ceiling is damaged because of the recent storm, and their dehumidifiers are working 24/7, we cannot use the kitchen and the management does not provide us with any options and they say your place is “livable”
I work from home and haven’t been able to do anything since Monday.
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Verified Reviewer
What the ***
got kicked out for being to loud at Lincoln site next to LAX,charges for parking,trash and late fees that I never signed up for, Did not follow the law,kept my mail from me and stole my property. I never got one call back ever.
Washington, District Of Columbia
Equity Residential - Corporate Wide Corruption
Our apartment at 425 Mass in D.C. looked wonderful on the surface.
It initially appeared tidy, maintained and clean. After a couple of months however, my wife and I became sick with a series of increasingly alarming symptoms. We experienced everything from mental confusion to headaches and congestion to involuntary body movements and eventual episodes of loss of bowel and bladder control and more. It was awful, perplexing and life altering.
Before long, water randomly developed all over one of our bedroom floors. The overall problem began to reveal itself. There was mold under our carpet, in our ventilation system, in our walls and under our flooring from a leak in the sprinkler system. Equity KNEW it was there likely years before we moved in.
Maintenance had been pulling up the carpet, drying it out and taping in new patches of padding for ages. We found pieces of tape and padding where they had tried over and over to conceal mold, dry old carpet and "make do" while making residents sick along the way. In the end, several TOXIC molds - including black mold - were discovered in our apartment. WE had to pay someone ourselves (we were never reimbursed) to identify the problem, we spent months living in a hotel (WE paid for that too) and lost all of our belongings to toxic mold (no reimbursement there either).
Equity's dishonesty cost us thousands of dollars, ruined our health, ruined our credit and changed our lives forever. They lied at every step. They lied to us, to housing inspectors, to a city inspector and to our attorney - both in writing and in-person. I've since learned that this is Equity's culture of business.
They also have mold in buildings all across the country and have faced lawsuit after lawsuit for it. Please away from them in general and most definitely do not consider 425 Mass in D.C.
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Verified Reviewer
The worst to date
I lived under a unit that had buckets of bird food on the balcony. 100s of birs per hour would swarm it.
After much back and forth, Loren Valentine, Reg Mgr gave me written permission to leave, a promise of refunds on pet deposit and no fees. Instead she went back and kept all my money and put me to collections for 2 months rent +++. I have ger letter in writing, with no expiration.
They broke the law, and did it out of spite. YouTube search "Hanks 7am bird feeding"
Rental Pricing Games
I have lived in Sheffield Court in Arlington, VA for 5 years. Expect them to try to increase your rent $100+ yearly.
If you look at the available apartments online and see your model and floor listed for a cheaper price, they will not match that price when you renew. My current rent is $1435. When I was provided a renewal offer in April 2017 of $1570, my apartment was listed online for $1450. The apartment listed online was available 2 days after my lease was ending (listed apartment was on the same floor and facing the same direction).
After emailing them to inquire about the price difference, I was told there were "different amenities." My apartment dryer looks like it's from the 80's and I've had HVAC issues since day one (see below). As of today, my 3rd floor apartment floor plan is listed for $1520 online and my renewal offer has remained at $1570. This inability to match the listing price occurs yearly. This is absurd.
It's clear that they do not clean between tenants. When I moved in there was cat hair all over the carpet. After realizing this, I requested they replace the carpet. This was an inconvenience after starting to unpack.
They paint over dirty walls. Hair is stuck in the paint on the molding. They paint over mold. I've had brown flakes coming out of my HVAC since I moved in and the fixes have always been temporary.
After cleaning the air ducts several times, they realized that wasn't fixing the issue. They placed screens inside the air vents to catch the flakes - of course with the abundance of flakes the screens will clog and impede airflow. The last fix was placing a wooden board above the HVAC unit to "block" brown flakes from coming in. They're still blowing out of my vents.
Apparently, the HVAC issue isn't considered in my renewal offer. My first studio here was the smallest floor plan (around 350 sqft). The HVAC unit was extremely loud. After 1.5 years, I requested to move into the Adams floor plan.
The studio was larger, yet cheaper because it was not during the summer.
Even though I was moving within the community because of the HVAC noise, I was still charged $500 to move. They will cut every corner possible to make more money.
- Way it was before equity owned the building
- Deceptive business practices
Preferred solution: Price reduction
Silver Spring, Maryland
Security Deposit
I was a resident for Veridian Apartment for a year. I had the best leasing agent named Jasmine Giles.
I really have no complaints about my stay besides how I have been treated since I have moved out. My lease was up on July 29th. It is now August 30 and my roommate and I still have not received our security deposit. I am highly disappointed because I have tried to speak with Andrew the community manager and he keeps saying that he has not received a response from corporate/payroll.
I tried calling corporate and they stated that I could only send an email or contact customer relations and that they don't deal with my issues.
I should not have to go around in circles to get my security deposit back. Great community but the customer service is horrible and I wouldn't expect you to ever get your security deposit back.
- Community
- Management
Preferred solution: Full refund
The worst management and Water leaks
DO NOT RENT ANY APARTMENT FROM EQUITY RESIDENTIAL - EVER. Eight water leaks have plagued my Equity apartment over the 3 years that I lived here.
The office staff lies, does not communicate and is dismissive of the issues and also does not handle the matter in a timely fashion. The latest water leak, caused by faulty building equipment, caused the floor in 200 square feet of my 1000 square foot apartment to buckle. Ruining my area rug and an item of furniture. They are not communicating on when the repairs will be done or what is required.
Most importantly, they are not offering me alternate living accommodations, during the mess and construction. Disreputable management practices, unethical treatment of tenants ESPECIALLY DURING RENT INCREASES.
Preferred solution: Full refund
Charge rent when they were turning over apartment
We ended our lease early with the agreement that if the apartment was rented, we could get out of our lease. It was quickly rented.
The new tenants were to move in at the of May. We moved out the 21st. They charged us rent from the time we moved out until the time that the new people moved in, even though they were turning the place over (preparing it for new tenants) and no-one could technically occupy the apartment. If I knew I was going to be charge for this time, I think we should be allowed to live there.
No, we paid rent, while they prepped for new tenants. This place nickles and dimes you. After we paid nearly 4000-month for two years. Lastly, my mom and I cleaned the apartment top-to-bottom upon move out and they still did not give our deposit back.
My mom is elderly. If I would have known this, I would have left ita mess. We even cleaned the toilets. They are nice to you as long as they are getting your money.
Otherwise. Nope.
Los Angeles, California
Elevator Breaks Every 2 Months
One or both of the elevators in our apartment breaks every 2 months and on top of that it one of the slowest elevators I've ever ridden on. It takes the same amount of time to reach my 54th in my condo overseas, then it takes to get to the 4th floor at Artisan on 2nd.
That's ridiculous. Also, management never bothered to update the elevator safety license even after I messaged them over 2 times. You would think the safety of people be of top priority to management, but they are being a penny wise and a pound foolish.
Seems like management rather save a few bucks than update their safety licenses and fix the root cause of their elevator. It's extremely frustrating having to walk up 4 flights of stairs with groceries and kids.
Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution
Equity Residential - Customer Care Review
Well that confirms it, This company has no idea as how to operate a NYC luxury property. You see they fire anyone who might attempt to instruct or advise them of the NYC codes and regulations.
Believe me they have circumvented every expectation of NYC luxury apartment buildings operations, starting with not hiring qualified persons. If a review would be performed I'm sure that it would be confirmed. That Mostly inexperienced persons remain employees. I could iliistrate this point over and over enough for a short novel.
However let me continue. As stated by many many residents and haveing been confirmed over and over again by the responses from these so called community managers, Are vague and devoid of any meaningfull resolutions, until you get legal help and action. I personally know of one that has no practical management experience as well as no knowledge of the New York City laws and regulations as nessessary to competent residential buildings operations. What Equity Residential does is come in with there money and non NY ideas, makes every effort to disengage the knowledgeable UNION STAFF (they even have illegally changed the BUILDING SUPERINTENDENTS designation to SERVICE MANAGER !
You show me where any New York City agency refers to a Service Manager yet they are getting away with this. Hiring unknowageable and unlicensed personnel on every level. Including the conceairge, have you ever noticed that when your regular concearge or door person go out sick or on vacation.?Your front door is now open to anyone whom shall wonder in to the building as the replacement is hired from a temporary employment agency and could not be familiar with whom belongs in the building and whom does not.
Furthermore why don't they tell you that they will be charging you for water, sewer, and any thing else that they can. They are BRUTAL.
lol
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Verified Reviewer
Changing mail box lock without my knowledge/Sherry Callis
On March 17,2017 when returning home I noticed my garage door was opened without my knowledge. I saw two maintenance staff employees in front of the garage door and when they saw me the immediately went away.
I call the rental office and spoke with the staff about my garage door being open without my knowledge and I was informed that I must have unaware that i opened it by mistake. I mentioned that the garage door opener is located in my unit, so therefore I couldn't have opened it by mistake. Also, I mentioned that perhaps someone may have the same code as my garage door opener and the staff replied that's impossible. On March 18, 2017 I contacted the office to see if this matter ha been resolved and was informed to pick up a new mail box key.
I stated that I never requested for a new mailbox key and there hasn't been any problems with my current mailbox key when retrieving my mail.
I was informed that the mail carrier had problems using the key to open my mail box. I stated the mail carrier has a master key to access all the mail boxes at the same time when delivering the mail and was informed to speak with manager on Monday.
Preferred solution: Deliver product or service ordered
The only thing Equity is good for is platitudes
Use to be a nice place to live then equity bought the place and it went downhill. Massive construction for the last several years and nothing to show for it.
They redid the pool which now looks like a prison, the parking garage, building facade, and now the lobby. That is bad enough but every one of these involved their favorite tool - the jack hammer. Complain to the on-site management all you get is platitudes. Complain to corporate and you get nothing.
Reading the other write-ups on this page it looks like that is their business model.
You look at their corporate website and they talk about home and all those nice words. Lies or as we now call them falsehoods.
- Way it was before equity owned the building
- Lack of management resolution
- Noise from construction
Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution
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I don't know if my last response went through. I'm on top of them.
I have the same issues...exactly! I've done a thorough review/audit of my account and found several...err... issues that I would like to discuss with them.