Arboretum, kalamazoo-mi

The office is always helpful with any of my needs including sending out maintenance in a timely manner when necessary, and answering questions promptly whether it be about fees or ordered packages. The office workers are also very understanding when it comes to late payment. The facility is clean with a ton of fun amenities including a pool, a night open field to barbecue, and a pool table. Overall a great place to live affordable, and also a great community to live in for college students and families!

“This complex is in bed with Grahams Towing Company and will illegally have your car towed from your residence, and held hostage until you give them $300 in cash to return it.” “While this place likely isnt the worst in town by a long shot. It surely isn't a great one. It feels welcoming on the outside and when something goes wrong its always your fault as the tenant.” I agree with the above reviews. After having wished my daughter a good first day of class, I received a phone call at 7:15 am the morning of informing me her car had been towed! Being over two hours away, imagine how upsetting this was for both of us! It was with great reservations that we stayed with Arboretum due to how difficult management made a simple year lease renewal. Who would have imagined your own apartment complex towing the vehicle of a tenant in good standing? Having been there a year, she had a parking permit. She thought she was fine. She was not given a new permit when she re-signed. As the above review indicated, management makes this your fault as the tenant. College students are not made of cash, and the parking is free. A paper could have been put on her car to see the office for an updated permit. A warning could have been put on her car. She could have received a group text notifying her. The tow company could have had a list of current tenant license plates so as to not bother them and/or to inform management. This is where I agree with the first complaint above. Is Arboretum in cahoots with the towing company and getting some sort of kick-back? Because, why would any rational company treat their tenants this way? They will lose existing tenants and not get future tenants! NOT smart business! It’s not rocket science; it’s just human decency. What was done to my daughter was unkind and uncharitable! If the new permit was required, then management should have seen to it that she got it! Not the other way around. If the new (different color) permit was not ready/available, she could have been given a (colored) paper to put in her windshield with instructions if necessary… MANY things could have been done rather than to impound a car! And on the first day of class, after a national holiday when she was home with family, and the complex office was closed! We do not entrust you with our children to treat them this way. This practice needs to end! Arboretum can choose to do better or not…

Do NOT apply here. I was originally approved for an apartment under the previous management and paid $80 for background checks for both myself and my partner. When it came time to sign the lease, I was informed that new management had taken over and that I now needed either six months rent paid upfront or a co-signer. After finding a co-signer, I was then told my original application and background check were no longer valid because they had been completed under the old management. I was instructed to reapply and pay $202 per person ($404 total) for new application and background check fees. I was assured that if I had been approved before, I would likely be approved again. After paying the additional fees, signing the lease paperwork, and providing a co signer, I was ultimately denied. Between the repeated application fees, changing requirements, and conflicting information, I lost nearly $500 and spent over five months navigating what felt like endless loopholes and misinformation. My experience was extremely disappointing and frustrating and has left me in an extremely difficult situation. I do not recommend wasting your money here.

My girlfriend and I lived at Arboretum Apartments for over four years, and unfortunately our experience with management and maintenance was consistently frustrating. One of our earliest recurring problems involved the plumbing. We repeatedly had to have the bathroom and kitchen drains snaked because they would back up and spit out foul-smelling gunk. Eventually, our kitchen flooded twice and our bathroom flooded once. Maintenance responded fairly quickly to the kitchen flooding, but when our bathroom flooded, nobody ever came. The water made its way into my girlfriend’s bedroom and damaged a shelf along with books that were on it. Noise and smoking were also constant problems. We submitted noise complaints about our upstairs neighbors, only to learn that previous staff had told those neighbors about the complaints because they personally knew the tenant. Complaints are apparently not handled anonymously. Parties were common, and despite the complex supposedly having policies and fees related to them, we saw little evidence of meaningful enforcement. The same goes for the property’s no-smoking policy. Our hallway regularly smelled like marijuana, and the smell frequently made its way into our kitchen and living room. This was an ongoing issue, not an isolated incident. Our experience with the newer management was no better. I have made rent payments on time through their payment app, taken screenshots showing the transaction ID, and then had the payment canceled afterward while still being charged a late fee. There are also added fees depending on how you choose to make your payment. From a tenant’s perspective, it often felt like there was more effort put into collecting additional fees than resolving long-standing issues. The Property Manager, Loren Parker, was effectively inaccessible during our time there. Despite living at the property for more than four years and dealing with numerous issues, we never once saw her in the office, spoke with her directly, or even heard from her personally. Every issue was delegated to other office staff, and attempts to contact the Property Manager directly would instead lead us to somebody else. One of the clearest examples of the maintenance problems happened during our final weeks there. The interior doorknob to my unit came off the door. I called maintenance and was told that if it was not considered an emergency, it could take a few days. Nobody came. I called again, and someone eventually showed up and told me they would need to order a replacement doorknob. We moved out without it ever being repaired. Then, after moving out, we received additional charges despite hiring our own carpet cleaner and cleaning the apartment ourselves. We were also charged in relation to the same doorknob that I had already reported to maintenance twice and that management never repaired. After more than four years here, I cannot recommend Arboretum Apartments based on our experience. The recurring maintenance problems, lack of communication, inconsistent enforcement of property rules, payment issues, and move-out charges made what should have been a straightforward rental experience unnecessarily stressful. If you are considering living here, document everything. Take pictures, save maintenance requests, keep screenshots of every payment, and communicate in writing whenever possible.

Currently serving National Guard member here. Ever since I moved into the apartment with myself and my girlfriend the only issues I've seemed to have is that the walkway going to my bathroom and the bathroom itself always smells like pot (obviously can't smoke myself being in the military so it isnt me) and the book keeping for the billing is terrible. It was way easier when you could just walk in, fill out your card info/cash/check and call it good, now you cant. The only way to do it is online where it tries to bill you for "small payment" of $17+ if you use your card (as if a lunch at Culver's is a small payment) or you have to put in your bank information. God forbid you want to walk in and pay in person, now you have to jump through so many hoops that its built for you to fail. To top this all off. During my 2 week annual training I was threatened with court for not being able to pay my rent on time (miscommunication on a desk clerk regarding the new rent payment system it was new at the time so I cant blame them)...while I was training...even after I told the billing agent I could make the payment when I got back that same month. While this place likely isnt the worst in town by a long shot. It surely isn't a great one. It feels welcoming on the outside and when something goes wrong its always your fault as the tenant.