Autumn Crest Apartments

I lived in two different units at Autumn Crest Apartments for about 3+ years. Initially, I was satisfied with the service I received when I first moved in; however, it only grew increasingly dissatisfying over the course of my stay there for a variety of reasons.
I feel that both the quality of the rental place and the customer service did not measure up to the price that I was paying for the monthly rent. Both of the units (2 bedrooms on the first floor & 1 bedroom on the second floor) had bathroom leaks. I can’t remember how many times we called for service maintenance for the first unit, but at least three times for the second one. It was a recurring problem for both units. Although they did come to fix the problem, it was not easy to get those service maintenance requests fulfilled. They were not responsive to our emails/​phone calls. We had to make several requests before we can get a response from them. They never acknowledged receiving our emails or voice mail messages, but only sent maintenance staff to our door without warning on several occasions. There was one time we had to wait for about a week and we literally had to bring an umbrella with us every time we used the toilet to cover ourselves from the leaks right above our heads. Hence, this was very inconvenient and a constant disruption to our daily lives.
We also experienced pest problems in the 2-​bedroom unit. There were centipedes, spiders, flies, and lots of millipedes. There were also insects which I am not sure what they are but I think they are called earwigs. They crawled on the bedroom walls and have sharp claws. I was bitten by them while staying at this apartment.
After moving out of the first unit, I thought I would give them another shot since I like the neighborhood and it’s close to my work. But I had set myself up for more disappointments. Like the first unit, the second unit not only had bathroom leaks but also the constant loud noises from the footsteps of the people living on the floor above us. We also had this problem with the 2-​bedroom unit but it was minor compared to the bathroom leaks and pest. Keep in mind that both of the floors we stayed in were carpet. I had lived in many apartments around the country, this place definitely was the loudest among them. The loud footsteps woke me up every day around 5:00am and sometimes periodically throughout the nights. Moreover, our neighbors were heavy smokers and we had to endure the cigarette smoke that got into our unit. It was worse in the winter because we could not open our windows.
Although one of the staff was initially understanding and helpful when we first moved in, the customer service only grew worst the longer you stay there. Upon having to leave Autumn Crest Apartments one month before our lease was up due to an uncontrollable circumstance, we thought we could try to negotiate to reduce, if not wave, the one-​month rent penalty since we had experienced so many recurring problems while occupying the units there. While we understood that our request could not have possibly been honored, we did not expect to receive the level of customer service that we thought we would with the head of the management. We felt disrespected and extremely disappointed as customers.

I moved to Autumn Crest because I wanted to save some money. I came from a small one bedroom in a really nice community but paid $ 1350 a month. I moved to Autumn Crest upon a friend’s recommendation and my rent came to $ 1106 a month for a bigger apartment. I felt like I’d made the right decision, but it quickly devolved into the worst.
First off, these Apartments are old. You will hear the neighbor above you walk and even if you’re on the top floor you’ll still hear the maintenance folks whenever they access the storage spaces. And I’m not talking about minor irritants; I mean you’ll hear the creak of the floorboards at every step someone makes. The neighbors to the side of you will hear you close your cupboards and so will you. Piping is exceptionally loud and I love waking up to the sound of my neighbor pooping. Autumn Crest backs up to US 29 and you will hear all the cars, trucks, emergency services, and wrecks you can dream for and if you open that back door to be on the balcony then prepare for it to drown out all sound in your apartment.
The office staff is generally pleasant and helpful. However, the management is confrontational and cold. If you have a problem that is elevated beyond the nice person at the front desk taking your payment, then prepare for a verbal argument. I have known residents to be asked to leave the office because arguments would ensue from the stubbornness of the front office – even though the resident was correct and Autumn Crest acknowledge that days later. I’ve dealt with my own problems in their refusal to help with a power bill of $ 1,000 because the air conditioner ran constantly. Their counter was that I never reported the Air Conditioner to be broken. However, I didn’t know it was broken until I received the $ 1,000 power bill. Before my outrageous power bill, my average utility bill was $ 180 for a 900sqft apartment. In addition, out of the 900sqft the only livable space during the summer was 140sqft in the den. My wife and I lived in only this room because it was free of noise and stayed cool. The air ducting was inadequate to cool/​heat the entire apartment as only the room closest to the air conditioner received cooling/​heating; all other rooms had minor air recycling through them.
Crime was higher than I was led to believe. I asked the office management during my move-​in how the crime was in the area and they told me the community was safe and had no incidents in the past few years. However, I came to find this statement inaccurate when notices were issues to keep cars locked and report the break-​ins; quite a few cars were broken into in my time there. Not to mentioned being woken up at 5am in the morning because twelve police vehicles are descending on your neighbors for nefarious activity conducted on and off the apartment complex.
In the end, my choice to move to these apartments cost me more money. I was trying to save money as I was in a poor situation, but in the end I paid more in utilities than I did in my old apartment. If you are military and looking for an apartment, I highly suggest staying clear of Autumn Crest Apartments. Seven Oaks and the Lodge at Seven Oaks in Odenton are right next to base and while more expensive, will save you money via a lower utility bill and less gas spent on a commute.