Sky Vue Apartments, bellingham-wa

They did not honor their $250 rent concession for September that was offered to tenants who renewed their lease. Then had the nerve to charge late fees on that $250 because they were negligent in crediting it on time. Impossible to get it straightened out with them, despite the rent concession being in writing and management confirming in email that I will be getting it for September rent. Hard to get a hold of, and they keep saying they will fix it but don't. This is how they treat good tenants. Beware.

Sky Vue has basically terrible customer service in the Leasing Office, for a week and a half we were without hot water and working electricity and they ignored the entire buildings communications to them for a week until saying they would fix the problem the following Friday (then didn’t actually fix it until the following Tuesday). The maintenance team enters your home without notice (they’ve walked in on me undressed). The building itself is falling apart, with constant need for maintenance in the apartments and the side panel of the building recently just fell off? Also saw some reviews stating it was “clean”… The stairways are notoriously smelly and dirty with spills and dirt. Not worth it for the price.

Here goes nothing: My roomates and I did a lease takeover with Landmark at the beginning of the year. That process was hell but at least we were able to get a decent place in Bellingham at an affordable price when split between the 3 of us. We were able to have our pets with no issues and maintenance requests were slow but at least processed. We get news in April that Pacific properties and WWU living are taking over management and that our apt will be rented out by room at a ridiculously high rent. Approximately 750 for a mini master and then appox. 740 for a single room plus 30 per person for water. The unit was originally 1050 total and included most utilities. I’m sorry I have never in my life paid more that 30 for 3 months’ worth of water services so 90 a month is a scam. The property is right next to the I5 on ramp so if your unit faces west, you’re going to have interrupted sleep like no other, also the appliances and entire building is outdated. I know WWU has said they are “upgrading” the units however new office style carpeting in the halls and a lurid paint scheme don’t justify the obscene rent hike. Another change implemented is no double occupancy so even if the price hike wasn’t enough to make you go insane my roommates and I wouldn’t have been able to stay as they were a couple renting the mini master room. As mentioned by others WWU Living communication leaves something to be majorly desired. Their emails aren’t clear and are often sent out WHILE the project is happening. This occurred while they were cleaning balconies and painting the exterior of the property. The great mailbox vandalism of 2019 may not have been their fault directly, but they could have communicated sooner that our mail was going to be rerouted to an offsite location and kept us updated. It is their job to contact the appropriate outlet and relay the info to the tenants. There are only 10 reviews including mine but the mass exodus of units over the past 3 months should speak for itself.

The management here is horrible. My daughter rents an apartment here and they almost never give notice before entering her apartment. Her first roommate was brought in to view the apartment without notice and while my daughter was sleeping. Her roommate later told her that whoever was giving the tour said they knew she was in there and that they really weren’t supposed be doing this. Today they entered again while she was at work And left all the lights on so she knew they were there while she was gone. While I was talking to her in the phone she told me that the maintenance guy just came in again, unannounced, with no warning, and not even a knock on the door. She peeked out of her bedroom door and saw him and he wasn’t even wearing a mask. She is terrified to leave her room now. I called the management and of course I get no answer, I just left a voicemail. I feel like they take advantage of young college kids and think they can get away with this kind of thing. Steer clear of here if you want any privacy.

EDIT: I posted this review a few months ago and I wanted to update with things that have happened since then. My lease ended on August 9th, but we had to deal with several more problems from property management. Despite the fact that our lease ended in August, we were still charged for September rent in our online portal. My roommate had to call several times to even get an answer, and was simply told "oh that happens sometimes, but you don't have to pay it". I then emailed them about the issue through the online portal because I wanted that in writing, and I received no response. Finally, after several weeks, the charge was removed, but not after quite a lot of complaining on our part, and if we hadn't said anything, I'm sure we would have been expected to pay. As other reviews have stated, our mailbox was broken a couple months back and we were not notified for a week. A whole week went by where our mail wasn't being delivered and we were not told. It also took over a month to fix, which may or may not have been their fault, but communication was lacking either way. Additionally, while this didn't happen to me personally as we cancelled our internet before this, I've heard from several other residents that they couldn't cancel their internet plans before moving out because, with no notification, Pacific Living Properties merged all tenants accounts into one controlled by them, so tenants didn't have control over them. Again, this was done completely behind their backs and I'm not even sure how it's possible, but it happened. Right now we're just waiting on our security deposit (which we were told we'd receive within 3 weeks of our lease ending, but I'm honestly skeptical) so we can finally be done with this place for good. Absolutely do not rent from Pacific Living Properties, WWU Living, or Sky Vue if at all possible, despite the fact that they're now so desperate for tenants they're offering discounts to current residents to entice them to stay, and continually extending the deadline for lease renewals in the hope of getting more people. It's not working, and it isn't worth it. If you're looking for an apartment in Bellingham, look elsewhere. I've lived here for two years and it's decent, but it was recently bought by a new property management company, Pacific Living Properties, and is absolutely no longer worth it. They've increased the rent on my 3 bedroom apartment by almost $700 (from about $1500 to almost $2200) for the next leasing period. The amenities advertised in their listings are exaggerated at best and a straight up lie at worst. They advertise a community game area and a resident center with free printing, for example, but neither of those are actually on site, they're at other apartment communities managed by PLP. I've already had more issues with this company in the month they've managed the property than I had in two years with the previous owners. Again, the apartments are in alright shape, but are absolutely not worth the $700+ per person you'd be paying for them. You can do a lot better for a lot cheaper, so save your time and money.