Unique Apartment Homes, ames-ia

I’ve had a really positive experience living at 316 Hayward Townhouses so far! The maintenance team has been very fast, professional, and respectful. One thing I especially appreciate is that they always text or call ahead of time before coming over, instead of randomly showing up at your door. It’s a small thing, but it makes a huge difference and shows respect for residents’ privacy. Susan, the manager, has also been wonderful. She has helped me resolve several issues since I moved in, and she has always been kind, responsive, and willing to help. We can trust Susan! I know these properties were previously family-owned before being sold to Unique Apartment Homes, and I was honestly a little worried that being under a larger apartment management company might mean less personal attention or care. So far, it has actually been the opposite! Overall, I’ve been very happy with my experience here, and I really hope this level of care and quality of service continues forever!

The Mortensen Heights apartments themselves are pretty nice, and the amenities included felt worth the cost of rent. It was easy to add a pet to the lease and work with them to have a sublease for a portion of our term. Their maintenance team was also responsive and took care of our appliances when they broke or needed replacement. They are not responsive when it comes to your security deposit and moving out. Their move-out instructions are multiple pages long and claim you need to complete 10-12 hours of cleaning just to be charged cleaning anyway. We moved in to find literal chocolate chips in our kitchen cabinets, so it was disappointing to be charged for turnover cleaning when we followed the instructions and spent multiple hours dusting & cleaning top to bottom. They then found staining on the underside of the carpet that was visible only after the carpet was lifted and flipped upside down. There was no way for me to see this without lifting the carpet myself, which wouldn't be allowed anyway. Obviously, tenants are not lifting up the carpet upon move-out to see what it looks like underneath. When I requested a second review and sent additional photos, understanding that they aren't required to give me another response, I didn't receive any email reply. It's unprofessional and quite pathetic to just stop responding, even if the answer is no.

Renters Beware!!!! See the email I sent to Mgmt after my daughter didn’t get her deposit back after leaving it VERY clean. They mentioned dust, crumbs in corners of cupboards, residue from oven cleaner - they hold renters responsible for the cost to clean the apartment after they leave - no matter how clean it was (which you know they clean it regardless). I made the effort to contact them twice about the light fixtures in the ceiling and got no response (which is typical for them - we got towed once here too and tried to reach out to mgmt and got no response). Just sharing our experience! The main mgr is impossible to reach and you can tell she trains her staff to NEVER send her a phone call! Here’s the response I sent to appeal their decision to not give my daughter her full deposit back: After reading the lease, it states that “ordinary wear and tear” is an exception from the expectation that the dwelling be in similar condition to when it was rented. Yet, according to the list of items that were cleaned after the vacancy, we are being held liable for things like dust, crumbs, dirt, splatters, streaks & scuffs – ALL of which don’t constitute a violation of the lease parameters regarding the deposit. Also, the day we were there cleaning the apartment after the furniture had been removed, I left a voicemail with your office indicating we couldn’t get the covers off the light fixtures on the ceiling. Not only was that difficult, but we could barely reach them and couldn’t reach the top of the cabinets without a ladder. The expectation that tenants should climb ladders to clean items close to or on the ceiling is ridiculous, and I attempted to discuss this with someone but didn’t receive a return call. I even called a couple of weeks after this and left another voicemail and still received zero response. If you’re going to hold tenants to these standards, then you should certainly be held to a standard as well and return people’s phone calls. We took photos of the apartment when we left, and it clearly shows how clean it was when we left it (see photos included).

Lived at Timbercreek for 3 years. Prepare to get nothing back from your deposit AND be charged upon move out. Also don't expect much regarding your safety! Upon moving in, the apartment was not cleaned whatsoever. Dirty floors, crusty kitchen, mildly dirty bathrooms, several holes in walls & doors, dark smudges/scratches on most walls, among other spots with crumbs and dirt left behind. We contacted them about it but nothing was done. After moving out, they took our entire deposit and attempted to charge an extra $890 on TOP of that for a FULL repaint, FULL carpet replacement, and a cleaning fee. We only left normal wear and tear damage. On top of that, we were told verbally by two different employees that they will be replacing the carpets after we move anyway due to both bedrooms being partially flooded because of leaks out of anyone's control. One would assume, being told this, that it would not be replaced on MY dime. I do not mind paying a cleaning fee, but having to pay for standard repainting and water damage not caused by us is insane. We disputed the charge, and they lowered it to about $235. That itself says a lot about their initial charge. Regarding our safety, for the first 4+ months we lived there, our patio door did not lock. The door was also installed backwards so we could not jam the door shut with a rod as a temporary solution. We lived on the first floor next to one of the main building doors, so anyone could just walk into our apartment. We had to contact them several times over those over four months to get them to replace the door, and the only response we would ever get was "we're working on it" or "the new door is on backorder." The only thing preventing the door from locking was a missing lock bracket. I have several other petty complaints like keeping the building at 90 degrees at all times, constant smoke odor, no screens on our windows, etc, but definitely unfair move out charge and not prioritizing our safety are the big two. Would not recommend any properties owned by Unique.

Really disappointed with how my security deposit was handled at Unique Apt Homes. When I moved in, the walls had stains and the cabinets were greasy and dirty, so I already had to clean the apartment myself. When I moved out, I went above and beyond to leave it in WAY better condition than I received it and I followed the entire move-out checklist. Despite that, they still deducted money from my deposit for cleaning, including things I specifically made sure were taken care of. I was even charged for an air filter, even though the filters had been changed shortly after I moved in and I lived there for 8 months only. It honestly feels incredibly unfair, especially after the amount of effort I put into leaving the apartment in better condition than when I got it. Other than that the apartments itself are nice and maintenance requests are always handled. I didn’t interact with the staff much besides being asked to decide if I want to stay in the apartment 7 months ahead of the lease end date.