Awful. The landlords will schedule maintenance for “apartment improvement” like painting the entire place etc. while tenants are living there, with no regard for scheduling with the tenant or health issues like asthma. They also don’t do anything about mold problems, bugs, drafts, etc. No safety precautions and the place is disgusting. No elevators or accessibility. Rent is insane for what you get. Just another company ripping students off and taking as much money as they can get, giving nothing in return. Do NOT live here. ...

It was fine my first year, but then a new management team took over at the same time switched roommates. The new office staff does not care about the tenants. They do not talk to each other. You could talk to each one about and get different answers, none of which are helpful. It seems that they just pretend to write something down so that you will go away. We even handed them lists of maintenance issues and they would not be put in. We did not have a screen door and had to ask at least six times over months before we were given one and even then it was not installed correctly. It was the same story with many other maintenance issues including my roommate’s broken bedframe and changing the locks both of which were safety issues and should have been fixed the day mentioned. The dishwasher has never worked and was disgusting inside. After maintenance looked at it several times, we just decided to hand wash the dishes. The dryer has to run twice no matter how small the load is (that’s good for the energy bill). The balcony door was leaking and the third time we told management after about a month, a maintenance man came up. He was there for about ten minutes then left. The next time it rained we took pictures of the puddle on the floor to show the office. It was then fixed and my roommate and I dried it ourselves. However, later I lifted something that was near the window and mold was on it. We told the office there was mold but nothing was ever done. Our giant list of maintenance (including the screen door, the bed, the locks, and the dryer) was only completed after my roommate’s mother drove hours up and said that if this were not taken care of, we should not have to pay the entire rent price. That got people to our apartment. Even then the dryer still took two times and the screen door was not installed properly. I lived on the top floor and twice a bird got stuck in an interior wall of the apartment. We talked to the head maintenance guy the second time and he had not heard about the first incident. How does something like that not get to the man in charge so whatever hole it came through can be found and closed? The first rent is paid on the first but you are not allowed to move in until the fifteenth supposedly for cleaning. But no cleaning is done by the apartment complex. It is all luck as to if the previous tenants clean when they leave. The walls are too thin. You can hear everything said in the hall (extremely annoying in the middle of the night) and every time someone comes or goes or the neighbor beside us closes a cabinet door. The office will not do anything that the lease states that they will. Nothing is ever done about loud music even though the lease says multiple complaints will result in a fine. A dog barked for a week straight and the office refused to do anything, again the lease states there is a fine for a pet’s excessive noise or abandonment. On several occasions a sickly, sweet, smoky smell from another apartment, that we were sure was marijuana based on the smell and time it arrived, wafted into our apartment. The apartment should no interest in our complaint even with the prospect of illegal substances in their buildings. Residents are given parking passes and ample parking space is given in an adjacent parking lot for guest. The lease states that cars without passes in the resident parking lot will be towed. This is never done. One evening after parking almost in the visitor lot, my roommate and I looked at ten cars. Six of those ten (60%) did not have passes. When it snows nothing is done in the parking lot or on the stairs. Climbing up and down the icy stairs becomes dangerous. You have to dig out your car because of the pile of snow pushed up by the plow behind the cars. Of course people in apartments do not usually own shovels and although I asked there was not one to borrow from the office or maintenance. You are on your own. Good luck getting to class. Before signing a lease you are told that there are two computers and two printers for you to use. For months neither printer was working and one eventually disappeared. Then after the remaining printer was fixed, the computer would not allow you to insert a flash drive. Microsoft documents would not open from the Internet. Because of these two issues, a functional printer is basically useless. The apartment does nothing for the safety of the residents. Many steps are broken and crumbling. One day a tree removal service parked in the exit of the complex, forcing me to drive out the entrance, where many people speed in, to get to my class. It would have gotten my roommate and I in a head on collision if I was not ready on the horn expecting the problem. We told the manager that afternoon about the situation and they said the tree removal was an independent company. I feel that they should have been upset about residents being endangered and something should have been said to the company. Another issue we had was with the maintenance men coming in during school breaks. The notice was always put up after everyone had left. Because of this, residents would not now about anyone coming into their apartment until after the fact. I was bothered by the part of the notice that stated the apartment was not responsible for any pets when they entered. I feel that if something where to happen to my pet, a paper that I did not agree to, or more importantly sign, does not relieve them of responsibility. After on break, when I returned the two rugs I kept at the front door were missing. I went to the office and was told that a cleaning company was hired during break. I was never compensated for my missing items. Nor did I ever agree to the company entering my apartment. The main issue with maintenance during breaks involves electricity. Early during winter break, they raised the temperature in our apartment. During spring break, they left a few lights on and based on the notice, they were in our apartment on the Tuesday. Those lights were left on for almost a full week. This upset my roommate and me because we pay for the electric and feel that they have no right to touch our thermostat. It was just careless and inconsiderate of them to leave lights on. Paying rent means that I legally have “a reasonable expectation of privacy”. Because of this the police cannot enter without a warrant or invitation. If the police cannot legally enter than I don’t feel that the apartment staff should be able to let themselves or others in without my permission. I rented from fall 10 through spring 11. ...

I rented from fall '08 through fall '09.

Never rent from McCormick Place! They get you to come there promising the great life with a pool (that’s rarely open for swimmers due to constant dumping of chemicals) a tanning bed (that’s been broken then entire time I lived there) and a 24 hr gym (that only has one of anything and is constantly missing pins for the weight machines). Rent prices are increasing to $999/ mo for a one bedroom next year! That’s the price of a small house mortgage! I had problems with my dishwasher producing some kind of beige crust inside the appliance making dishes dirtier after being washed than before. The office employees never know how to handle a problem and just tell you they need to talk to the manager who is only there once a week, and never when you have a concern. The fire alarm in my building would somehow go off about once a month at night for an hour or so until maintenance could walk over and turn it off. Plus your either going to have to drive to campus everyday or wait for the bus that is constantly off schedule. Overall, with the rent as high as it is, you should be getting a way better style of living. I rented from summer '08 through fall '08. ...

Landlords charge $75 late fee for just being 3 days late. You are then charged $10 a day till additional late fee is paid. They are not nice I rented from fall '06 through summer '08.