TGM Vinnin Square Apartments

Experience here was horrendous. Parking is always full, requiring us to park further from the house, the apartment is mediocre, at best, for the nearly 2000 $ a month I pay in rent. Maintenance is non existent. Thirteen calls over the course of two months yielded one return phone call during WORK HOURS stating that «The contractors that came to fix my issues were turned away because I was not home». Upon asking I was told that I could not receive any kind of notice as to when the contractors would arrive to fix the problem again. Basically I was supposed to quit my job and sit at home for months until someone came to the house to fix the issues, if I wanted anything to be fixed at all.
This community might be worth it if it had less than half the price tag, but not for what they’re charging.

THE HORROR THAT IS TGM VINNIN SQUARE! I have rented many places in the 35 years of my life, and it is the first time I have had such a HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE. Save yourself the headache and find yourself another place to live. Hopefully my experience will tell you why.
MY husband and I moved here from NYC and we picked TGM apartments because it seemed like a good community to live in. We asked for a one year lease starting Sept 1^st 2013, however we were told we could not get the apartment till the 8^th of Sept. I am a transfer student at Salem State University, and my classes started on the 4^th of Sept. When we mentioned our situation to our leasing officer, we were told to find ourselves a hotel or a B&B because they absolutely could not give us the apartment before the 8^th because they need to clean and prep. So not only did I have to extend my lease by two weeks in NYC, I had to stay with friends in Salem so I wouldn’t miss classes, then go back to NYC and move my things. So when we finally moved into the apartment on Sept 8^th, and got the lease agreement it states that the contract is from Sept 8^th 2013– Sept 30^th 2013 which is a 13 month lease instead of 12. When I brought up this issue with the management I was told:
«I understand you may have wanted your lease to start earlier for whatever reason it did not. Regardless of the reason if the lease does not start on the first it ends the end of the next month.»
This became an issue when we decided to break the lease and move out early in July, because we purchased a house. Now not only were we stuck with a 13 months lease but we had to pay $ 3442.75 (One and a half months rent + 85% of your rent as reletting charges) just to move out! I contacted everyone including the Community Director to the Regional Manager, even the COO of TGM Associates. They completely ignored the fact that they coned us into signing a 13 month lease, but I was also told I cannot sublet or reassign my lease– Not for any reason. We even offered to search for new tenants to take over our lease– provided they pass all of the credit/​background checks by TGM, but they did not even consider it. So I had to cough up that money that I had saved up for my next semester tuitions just to move out of this place 3 months early, so that they can re-​rent this place during my lease term and make more money out of it!
And of course I didn’t get my security deposit back either!
Do not fall for the amenities when they take you in the golf cart and show you around. The pool is too shallow to swim in and is open only for 3 months in a year. And the PARKING IS ALWAYS A PROBLEM. Being a resident, I have had to park in the visitors parking may a times and walk home, and it is not a short distance mind you, especially if you are carrying your groceries/​luggage. After living here for almost a year I have realized there are many good apartment complexes/​houses for rent Salem and Swampscott for the same price range. Check them out.
In spite of reading this if you still want to rent here, this is my advice:
· Ask for a copy of the lease before you move into the apartment. It is 18 pages long so take your time and go through it carefully; get a legal opinion if you can. The leasing officer will tell you that it is a standard lease — IT IS NOT! If they call you back after you have moved in and tell you the reletting charges/​lease break fees has changed/​increased– do not sign it! DO NOT let them rush you through the process.
· If you are paying that extra $ 150 for basement parking then check out your parking spot before hand, cuz the spaces are so tight that many residents have damaged their cars trying to park there.
· If you get a chance talk to the other residents before you move in, cuz everyone has their own share of horror stories. Even if you have been a very good tenant TGM has no consideration for you situation so be smart!
Despite what they claim, TGM Associates really does not care about their customers. In the end it’s all about the money. I have dealt with a good number of unethical people in my life, but this has been by far the worst and the most expensive. I have anyway lost my money, but I am using this review to let people know the true colors of TGM Associates, so that someone else will not go through the same horrible experience as me. Hope it helps!

Not only is the management at this complex useless, they are also unethical.
I signed a 15-​month lease with them in November 2011 for their largest townhouse. I didn’t really want to since I didn’t like the property manager on sight, but we needed to find a place to live, so…
From the beginning there were problems. First, we kept coming home to find our «designated assigned» parking spot occupied by other cars. Complaints to management fell on deaf ears until about May or June when finally a no parking sign was installed.
Second, with the warm moist summer came the fungi growing in our apartment! For over $ 2000 a month, why am I picking mushrooms in my house?
In the space of 15 months, one of the toilets broke and flooded the garage twice. I couldn’t use my garage for days, during which I had to park outside. During that time, my car was damaged to the tune of $ 1500.
Finally, when our lease came up for renewal in December we were sent a letter in which we were informed that they would be upping our rent by $ 400! No joke. Even though we had been assured when we first signed the lease that any increase would not exceed $ 150. But that’s not the worst bit.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to stay an extra month. The lease renewal they sent us in December told us for a month to month arrangement, the rent would be $ 2715. So why in the middle of March have I been sent a voided rent check and a shakedown letter demanding $ 2880? The company is now attempting to force us to pay extra rent, after we have already stayed in the apartment. This is actually ILLEGAL, not that they care.
March 25 — The management has now sent me a 14-​day notice to quit dated March 18. It showed up in my mailbox this morning. Interesting thing is, there is NO POSTMARK on it. I asked the mailman, and he told me «yeah, they gave that to me and I put it in your mailbox.» So, TGM Vinnin management has now backdated an eviction notice, stuck a stamp on it, then had the mailman shove it in my mailbox without ACTUALLY MAILING IT!!! I’ve filed a complaint against them for tampering with the US mail.
Addition as of April 24, 2013 — TGM Vinnin has now brought in the «big guns». Their liars have now sent me a letter of fabricated details concerning their treatment of me and have ordered me to remove all negative postings on all websites, OR ELSE! Well, not gonna do that…

Lived at this place for several years. They keep raising the rent, and when I say raise the rent, I mean serious money. Over the last 2 – 3 years we were living there, they raised our rent almost $ 400! They don’t have enough parking for their tenants. So, be prepared to park in the guest parking and walking even though you’re paying big bucks to live there especially when coming in at night. Bottom line is they don’t care about their tenants. They don’t care about the fact that they are forcing you and your family to move due to them raising your rent by hundreds of dollars a year. By the way, they won’t tell you that when you move in even if you ask them directly. They tell you what they think you want to hear just to get you to sign the lease. The kicker comes when it is time to renew your lease … that’s when they got you. Also, yes the pool is a joke unless you’re an 8-​year-​old kid. It’s only 3 feet deep all the way across the pool, and they do not allow any toys of any kind in there for the kids. BORING for the kids! No playground for kiddos. So, you have to drive to a park. Run don’t walk as fast as you can away from this place!

ZERO STARS! The ABSOLUTE worst place to rent from. Management is unprofessional and ignorant to say the least. The apartments aren’t worth the money they ask for even after their «DISCOUNTS». The plumbing problems are the best; I LOVE showering knee deep in dirty water, forget about a clean toilet leave it over night and it’s FILTHY in the morning. Management and maintenance (we won’t get into him). DO NOT stand by anything they say. No such thing as peace and quiet in this place if tenants aren’t fighting in the hallways, cops are coming for domestics, dogs are obnoxiously barking, or leaf blowers are at your windows at 7AM. If you live in the other apartment, make sure your home by 6PM to get a parking spot, if not you’ll be walking from the main road, safely in an unlit area right by section 8. FORGET having visitors, no place for them to park either. I could go on forever. Bottom line is this place is a JOKE.

If I could rate these apartments 0 stars I would. Luxury apartments? I think not. That’s like saying a Ford Pinto is a luxury car. The apartments are fairly new, that’s about it. Don’t let the cookies in the office fool you.
This place is one of the worst complexes I have ever lived in. The office staff are rude and incompetent. They also lie to you when you move in. They charge hidden fees which are against the law in Mass. Landlords can only charge you rent, deposit, and key fee but here they nickel and dime you and you don’t find this out until you move in. They attempt to lure you in by lying and inflating apartment rates and then act like they are giving you a discount. The rent here is outrageous for the area and what is provided.
Maintenance is very unreliable and if and when they fix something they do a terrible job. They couldn’t even fix my kitchen cabinets, I had to do it myself. Since I moved in my tub floods and they never fixed it. I can’t take a shower without being knee-​deep in dirty water. I called TGM because the office wouldn’t help me and they were even more incompetent and rude! Be warned, TGM believes they can enter your apartment at will and does do it even though it’s against the law except for cases of emergency. Don’t expect any privacy here. Almost once a month they find reasons to enter your apartment.
Living here in like living in a retirement community, probably because nobody under the age of 70 would be stupid enough to live here. 90% of the residents are over the age of 70. This is bad because not only do you have handicap vans constantly blocking the parking lot but you have firetrucks and ambulances pulling up at all hours making noise. I have even seen a resident die here and we had to witness them taking him away.
The noise here is unbearable. The landscaping crew starts very early, usually about 7am with their leaf blowers, lawn mowers, and gas powered tree pruners. They use this equipment right underneath apartment windows. Not only is it noisy but the cheap windows don’t shut correctly so all the gas fumes leak into the apartments. The residents fight. Almost on a daily basis I can hear residents screaming and arguing down the hallways.
There is a gym but who cares? Why pay inflated rent for the use of a gym when you can get a gym membership at Planet Fitness for $ 10/​month? The pool? Don’t even get me started. It’s like 3 feet deep. It’s a wading pool.
You’ve been warned. I wish someone would have warned us. Don’t find this stuff out when it’s too late and you already signed a lease.

WORST PLACE EVER TO RENT FROM! Unprofessional phony Management. They reel you in with promises, baked goods, fun work shops, and a beautiful model to view. They request you make a certain amount of money to live there, meanwhile you are living in a broken down apartment next to Section 8. And broken down I’m talking about problems with the washing machine, dishwasher and not to mention plumbing problems. This place is a JOKE! BOTTOM LINE!