United Dominion Realty Trust [UDR]
Reviews and Complaints

I asked "many" questions before applying for the unit in rancho cucamonga. Now I was told the holding deposit refundable within the 72hours. When applying online, it came back with conditions. I had to pay one months rent for my deposit. So the rep did contact me. He sent me what items where needed before move in. Which was find but he placed in the paperwork that I had to pay their "regular" deposit plus one months rent. I didn't understand and wasn't willing. So I said I didn't want to go through with it. Now please keep in mind that its wasn't even 12hours how the fu%* isn't my holding deposit refundable and might I add he said would you like to proceed with the process... Are you serious? This company has many complaints but I never believed that they do something as this. I applied at 3am @work, was contacted by 9:30a and cancelled at like 10 minutes after he contacted me so how is my holding fee non-refundable? Wow you've been warned...

My husband and I moved in to Bella Terra apartment Huntington Beach California last spring
It all seemed so great when we first started to move in that very day. Everyone Ineeds the office was so friendly and nice. So there was a lot to remember with all the passes and keys and rules. But ok this was a new experience
So my husband had a spot on the Fithian floor on a waiting list for a parking space on second floor. Got to the truck the next morning it was towed. Shocker come to find out. My husband forgot to put the pass so it was visible. They would not pay the fees to get the truck out . We told them it should matter if the pass is visible the parking is assigned to his truck. Well that was the start of the Bulls hit
I waited 2 months to get a key to store our bikes Orlando told us to put them in front of my car which was conveniently on the second floor close to our apartment I wasn't sure about that but he reassured us that they will give us a key whining a few days. Time passes they gave us a key. We go back talk to them and say there is no room for two other bikes in that bike storage. Again they tell us they will check into it. One night I get home I'm by myself and as I park I see my husbands bike missing. I called them in the morning told them I had called recunity who told me to call the cops cuz they couldn't do nothing about it. Wow some security we have there. Chey at the office was very sorry they told me all that things I needed to do and they would look into the cameras blablabla months went by nothing end result cops did not help they didn't care. At this point there was way too much going on otheright tenant had many of their own complaints friends we met there moved they complained on how they got screwed out of money. So here we are we moved after we bought our home in Jan. Our bill and fees came out to be1535.50. What the hell for. Ok for the carpet they needed to replace. WHAT we did nothing to the carpets. They accused that our pets soiled them. No not true. My pets are well trained. Not to mention. I'm a clean friek
They had come to my apartment for various reasons like so thing broke as things broke a lot and I even invited onemail of the girls from the office in after she opened the door for me cuz I locked my self out. And they all s as said my apartment is so clean looks like a model home. Not they say the carpet look like crap. Then I get pics with out explanations of refrigerator counters cabinets walls. And they say issue no description. I left that place every cleaner then when we moved in. I have pics too. I guess I'm not very trusting. And I filled that long inventory list stationgoes all the issues. So no yhis is wrong. We shouldn't have to pay for this. And now they want to send us to collection. What can we do sirously I'm in shock to see how bad UDR us with everyone

What a horror show. Do NOT live at any of these apartments, it has been nothing but a nightmare. The apartments may look nice but the management is literally the worst. They do nothing to help you with issues. Everything breaks and they don't bother to fix it. You will be assessed fines for everything. This company is a bunch of crooks and I can't wait for them to be shut down.

I lived in Newport Village (https://www.yelp.com/biz/newport-village-alexandria) for over 2 years. Newport Village comes equipped with a rude leasing office staff, an inexperienced and hardly ever available maintenance crew (that I am pretty sure they pay under the table) and a horrific parking situation. And that is just on the outside. Inside of your apartment you will find rodents, insects, old and outdated appliances, a heating and cooling system that hardly ever works AND a shower/tub that is falling apart. Please see link above for more comments on the rodents and insects that are not ever treated.

When moving out – I was introduced to United Dominion Realty Trust, Inc. (UDR). This is the unethical management company that "runs" Newport Village. After 2 years of paying rent on time, every time, and giving the ever changing leasing office director (I think there has been at least 3 in the past year) early notice of my plans to move out - I was finally free, kind of. 2 months after moving, l was suddenly hit with BOGUS invoices and charges for things that were literally never discussed during the move out inspection - or ever really. After receiving my "corrected invoice" (the first invoice I got right after moving out said everything was fine) 2 months later - I requested to do a walk through to see the claimed damages (since during the first walk through when moving out was deemed fine) as well as an invoice or receipts for the materials/labor and time stamped pictures of the damages. I deemed that this okay to request since they were demanding over $2, 000 dollars’ worth to repair these damages.

After I made this request, I was answered by silence for a solid 2 months. Just a few weeks ago, I finally received a phone call from an extremely rude UDR "professional" demanding that I pay the invoice or that I will be sent to collections immediately. Again, I requested the evidence listed above and also requested to schedule a walk through. She then barked at me that the damages had already been repaired, a tenant was already living in the apartment and that I just needed to pay up. Moral of the story, I am now seeking legal to get myself out of this hellish nightmare.

The reason I am writing to WJLA is because this apartment complex is utilized by a lot of low income or immigrant (possibly illegal) families that are just trying to stay afloat. I am sure I am not the first nor the last that they will try to pull one over with very costly late damage charges without presenting the proper evidence. However, as a young Washington-DC professional, I do not believe it is fair nor right to request this amount of money from any resident without providing full, undeniable proof. So far, UDR has provided me with zero evidence of these damages and has now sent my invoice to collections – which I am prepared to fight. However, a lot of these families that live in this apartment complex are not equipped to do so. I will admit that even I have thought about just paying UDR due to the intimidation that has come from them as well as the threat to damage my credit score with collections. I can only imagine how many single mothers, single fathers and families that have lived at Newport Village have given into these threats just to avoid the repercussions.

This unethical apartment complex and management company has mistreated and has taken advantage of its residents for far too long and it is time that it is investigated for fraud.

1.0 star rating 6/15/2016
awful owners ripped me off for 2, 300.56 for early termination.. That's no bad enough then they belittle you when u inquire as if your an idiot for asking..she never asked if I was paying. I paid the bill as I always do...she told me she was turning me over to collections before the 21 day time period..what a nasty lady.. Thank god for social media so I can save others some problems.. I have to sue em to get my money back.. unless u know for certain that there will be no life changes a yr at a time. do yourself a favor they are a big bigripppp offffff!

I'm finally leaving this apartment complex, thank god. The management is mean, rude, unprofessional. The apartments are noisy, bugs, my dog has gotten fleas, dog poop everywhere, trash in the walk ways.
The worst thing though is the overcharges and if you are late paying them, ten days, for any reason, they evict you, leave an eviction notice on your record even it was a mistake by your bank and the second you found out about it you paid everything due! This practice keeps UDR from preventing you to be able to rent anywhere else for at least six months.
They make millions per property with this over charges. That is why they have had several class action lawsuits that they have lost against them.

San Mateo, CA

Hi Courtney,

Thank you for meeting with me this afternoon at 12:30 on Saturday February 20, 2016. I want to follow up on our conversation because I am realizing that verbal communication has not been recorded previously and I have made myself very clear of issues related to this unit from the day I did my “Walkthrough” with Krystal before she left for Mountain View.

Apparently because I never sent in the for maintenance per the portal per Kourtney statement today "policy and procedures", this is considered a non-report, primarily because of no record keeping. Fortunately, I am a forensic analyst and behavioralist, I document everything and have objective information that can be provided to UDR Management Team located at 1745 Shea Center Drive Suite 200 Highlands Ranch, Colorado 80129.

I obviously deal with the court system on many levels and my background as a PhD in dissertation focuses on Public Policies within the healthcare system. Housing authorities whether Federal, state or county all have a very rigorous and definitive statement about mold. Mold a spore comes in numerous varieties. The most toxic is Stachybotrys chartarum which is the type of mold often called black mold, and it does produce allergens and irritants. However, many types of mold can produce allergens and irritants. Treat any mold with caution – stay out of affected areas and don’t touch or disturb the mold.

Mold can be easily cleansed by using bleach but if the mold is unable to be removed by usual and customary residential cleaning, these matters must be handled by a Mold Specialist. The EPA, the department of health and several California Statutes are definitive about the keeping people safe.

#1. On signing the walk through with Krystal June ninth, 2015 I showed her water damage in my garage. There is a "chronic" leak in the ceiling/walls of Hallway 3133 D108. Obviously, there have been attempts to cover up the leakage with paint (multiple applications) and this has not been sufficient. I drive a 2015 Mercedes C250 and my car sits in this unit 8-16/and or up to 24 hours daily doing forensic work on "causes of death" that is not related to me.

My job in San Francisco is not to live and stay here but to conduct business and finalize a case for deposition going to trial. I have no intentions of wanting to litigate USR because I know what this means a long and hard battle of Subject Matter Experts (SME) on both councils, physician reports, architectural/soil testing and the list is massive and I do not want this to be my case.
I have pictures, discoverable evidence, and human resources who I reported to verbally before I found out that the only way to communicate was through the portal. I did not sign any waiver saying that I opt out of face to face apartment complex resolution or remediation.

#2. I reported this to the person who lived above my garage to stop watering and damaging my garage who was at the time the Hispanic Female Maintenance Technician. This was June 10th and 15th because my key to my garage did not work to the hallway and the lock was on backwards. The 15th was when she gave me the master key because the secondary key needed finagling to open the entry door (not garage door). Krystal was aware and apologized for the key issue but the water ceiling damage was strange but I swept it up as an old building needing repair, but later I found out that CitySouth was actually recently renovated.

#3. Third attempt was when I asked the Caucasian Male Technician who lived prior in Texas and we talked in great length about Texas and the water damage. He asked me to show him. I showed him and said someone would look into this matter. At that time I also asked for paint for my baseboard in house because they were swelling up from moisture. He brought me paint next day, but no follow-up on water leaking.

#4. Fourth time another maintenance man came in because I was at work fixed the heater would not turn on (this is documented in portal) and I asked the office again about the swelling of the baseboards and I claimed " the possibility my upstairs neighbors was causing the baseboards to get wet" which is outside the bathroom. After further investigation on my part, the gradient near the W/D to bathroom has a decline not incline from the washer/dryer to bathroom so these two are not interchangeable and no toilet was leaking.

5. Fifth Encounter was 2/17/2016 and received service 2/19/2016 @ 1:30pm by a new employee of two months. He claimed that there is only a 10% humidity/dampness range on the walls but I know as a scientist mold does not grow in 10% and why is there water all over the floors and now the toilet, tube, baseboards have all been soaked. The technician called me at work and said he needed to order parts. He ripped off all the sealants and parts of the baseboards. I would like those baseboards back for testing. He was very kind but the solution was an industrial floor dryer to dry the bathroom out. Keep in mind my apartment is less than 600sq. feet and this type of drying unit is used in hotel lobbies after shampooing the carpets.

Ordering parts is fine. What is not fine and I am claiming negligence and failure of the CitySouth Apartment Management is not follow UDR Policy and Procedures on Mold and potential toxic mold. As an agent who works with carcinogenic and carcinogenicity I am aware that mold of any type is highly hazardous to health.

Since my move in post approximately August of 2015, I have felt highly dizzy, nauseous, disoriented, fatigued, and even sustained a concussion because I am neurologically impaired due to loss of balance. I have medical records from Stanford University ER with CT and X-Ray and they could not find out why I fell other than just stumble/ falling. I recently had a car accident recently because my response time seems lagged and my judgement in peripheral vision seems not the normal baseline prior to me moving into CitySouth Apartments. Please keep in mind this is not my first case on death related to mold hazards, I understand the pathophysiological effects of mold fumes as an irritant and lethal immune loads.
My lease expires June 26, 2016 but my litigation case I am working on will keep me here in the Bay Area, CA. I am requesting an immediate transfer out of CitySouth for my health protection with no penalties. I want to move into any other UDR unit not in CitySouth or any other property management subsidiaries that are inclined to have a tenant that pays on time every month and has been compliant with all laws and regulations.

I told the Assistant Manager 2/20/16 that my personal and professional advice is to move me out immediately. But if you would like to do MOLD TESTING and the results show proof of mold, I cannot let the people of building 3133 live here because they may also be affected and need me as a subject matter expert on human hazardous conditions where they are living. If you just let me out of my lease, and let me go to a safe place with no MOLD of any kind, your mold testing results will be an internal issue and you can carry out a plan of action that is best suited for your business model and keeping this property safe from public scrutiny about mold negligence.

I am hoping you can see the risk versus benefits in this email. I have pictures and those pictures will remain confidential and not be shown to anyone other than myself, family and CitySouth. I have not touched this mold. I am in a profession where my home is immaculately cleansed and dry. I had a personal assistant of 12 years and house keepers who can be deposed if necessary on my lifestyle on how I have to see order and cleanliness in my living quarters. I have tried my best but though Krystal, Tina, Courtney, and the absolutely rude (screaming) Melissa (she was reported to Tina by myself because I was with a client) that I no longer wish to further this breach in contract per your team here at CitySouth.
I will copy headquarters in Colorado and hopefully a full remediation of my health will be reconciled within 42-72 hours.

Regards,

I'm a Southern Cali former tenant. If you rent at any of their properties in Southern California you will regret it. They constantly buy buildings and then turn around and sell them within a couple of years. As a tenant, you will receive a letter "after the fact" that the building has been sold. When this happens, all records, leases, deposits, pending work orders, documentation is lost through the change of hands of new management because UDR doesn't care enough to communicate anything to new management. Why should they care? When you move out good luck trying to collect your security deposit. The new management company will tell you take it up with UDR Corporate Office but when you contact them they will tell you to piss off. Great business practices UDR. They are a heartless, greedy company with no soul. You've been warned people.

Be careful and make sure to write your apartment # on your check or M.O. when paying rent or your rent will be applied to someone else's account and you will receive a 3 Day Pay or Quit. Too many new faces, high turnover of staff in their leasing office. Also, make sure you get a receipt for paying rent. Even if it's a copy of your rent check and have them sign and date it. You really do need proof that you paid or you will get screwed. They will not believe you that you paid, they assume EVERYONE is a liar, just like them.

Summary of Facts as to Claim & Explanation of Damages
I would like to begin by saying that I have never refused to paid rent owed as entitled and outlined in the leased. The reason why rent has not been paid as of January is because I again requested to be let out of my lease and compensated for damages in part the plaintiff acknowledges as my concerns or habitability. The plaintiff would not accept a prorated amount of rent as previously presented by myself. The plaintiff feels that I should have to pay full rent for a non-working heater and accessible access for my disabled mother. Even despite management acknowledging defective non operable equipment.
• The Plaintiff was notified in August of 2014 that My mother who is a party on the lease; needed to terminate the lease due to grave illness
o As a result; I contacted the leasing office and was told that there would be a $3000 lease break fee despite the reason for the lease break is due to medical necessity.
o As per the initial conversation with management; I attempted to contact the corporate offices of UDR for assistance with discussing the termination of the lease as per ADA compliance.
o I was told by UDR corporate offices; that the lease break fee would still apply and that I can either stay the remainder of the lease or pay the free despite a medical necessity as such.
o By the end of August, my mother’s condition became so bad that she was hospitalized and upon release from the hospital, she could no longer climb stair without exhaustion and she could no longer operate a motor vehicle.
o At this time, it was explained to the plaintiff that there was a need for the defendant to fix the elevators in the building as well as make a reasonable accommodation to the parking area to allow my mother access to our apartment. Management said they would look into the concerns and get back to me. I did not hear from anyone for several days until I attempted to call back and spoke to a receptionist at the leasing office. The receptionist informed be that they were still working on the matter.
o Per my last conversation with “Andy” in August; I have attempted numerous times to contact the management office for follow up and most importantly a resolution; to no avail.
After several months of unanswered correspondence, and wasted visits to the leasing office, I experienced the following issues:
 My Heater in the apartment does not turn on or respond to the switch
 My kitchen sink garbage disposal does not work, leaks water and traps black water in the sink
 The sink in my bathroom often become clogged and cannot maintain consistent water pressure
 The fan in the bathroom does not adequately clear steam as there is only one window in the apartment. As a result; the paint in the bathroom is pealing and cracking. There are also signs of rust and mold as a result of this poor ventilation system.
 The blinds of the only window in the apartment continue to fall off; thus limiting my privacy.
 Security Personnel often takes longer to respond to noise complaints that often carry on until 3 to 5 am in the morning
 Common areas of the property can often times be covered with discarded remodeling materials (Such as nails, rusted pipes and sharp ended tools)
 Common areas can often be see with drug paraphernalia and hypodermic needles.
 The police are often present due to obscene and unruly resident and guest behavior
 My front door of my apartment was vandalized; brought to management’s attention and never repaired.
 Clothing totaling $500 in value was stolen on 2/4/2015 as a result of management not replacing a faulty lock or installing monitoring equipment.
 Security Staff used racial terminology to refer to me as a resident as a “Black Idiot”
 The Handicap accessible lift has been left inoperable several times over the course of several months. Additionally, the equipment is rusted and unsafe as such.
After months of calls not being returned and emails unanswered; I finally contacted the leasing office and had a horribly exchange with the staff which resulted in my communication with Mark who is the new community director. Per my conversation with Mark; I have expressed by grievances as well as my proposed resolution for compensating myself and my family for the damages sustained. Mark Acknowledged the items addressed as well as acknowledged defect in the handicap accessible equipment that we were repeatedly invited to use. We have yet to reach a resolution; nor at the very least has by heat been fixed. In light of the Defendant’s negligence, I sustained damages which I am requesting to be compensated as follows and for the following respective reasons.
 $2000 in traveling expenses and costs incurred personally as a means of providing alternative arrangements for my mother’s when she should have had access to her residence she shares with me.
 $8000 in rent paid in good faith while requesting to have concerns of habitability
 I am also requesting punitive damages awarded due to the egregious negligence of the plaintiff on the poor maintenance of the properly, the request of a lease break fee and not following the guidelines of ADA in their request; as well as emotional damages sustained in this unnecessary and lengthy process to address basic and simple issues.
 Finally, I would like a written letter of apology from the UDR corporate office citing and acknowledging my concerns and apologizing for my distress as well as the dress of my mother due to their cruel, hostile, and negligent behavior.
I also would like to point out that aside from these clear issues of habitability, I have a huge problem with the way that this property and management company entirely misrepresented the community, response for service as well as the overall condition of the property. The property, can be seen photographed in marketing materials entirely different from the true state and condition of the property. Also, based on my experience, it is apparent that even parts of the property not shown on tour; are deliberately not shown for a deceptive purpose. Moreover, I was blatantly lied to by leasing staff when I asked about the noise level of the surrounding area that had led to additional distress and damages stemming from their omission of facts about the property when specifically asked.
My mother has “End-Stage” Heart Failure. For the defendant to subject my mother as well as myself trough such an inhumane unnecessary legal process in this unwavering time of grief; is absolutely cruel and should earn appropriate sanctions by the court as such.

This apartment management company uses high pressure techniques and very wordy documents (such as their lease) to get you to sign as quick as possible. They do not give you sufficient time to review the documents and once you do review them, they do not provide you with copies upon request. For their properties, they have a low quality of standard for maintenance of the apartments and grounds surrounding them. During summer sewage and garbage can be seen seeping up and piling around garbage areas. During fall leaves pile up so bad in the parking lot that you can not safely drive or park your vehicle because you can not see the street lines and boundaries. It would take up to 3 weeks for the areas to be cleaned even after multiple requests by tenants. Their leases are also very sneaky with hidden fees and unclear requests for specific methods for notifications, such as for vacating premises. The staff are very rude and threatening, and will use scare tactics to push unsuspecting tenants into paying enormous fees. Everything is an additional fee, from garbage, to all utilities, to use of pool and gyms. Maintenance and staff come and go as they please throughout the buildings and tenants apartments without proper notification and also will leave lobby doors propped open. Repeated requests for this stopped have gone unheard, as well as any type of complaint against bugs, apartment mold, noise, or any other disturbances that are found to be questionable. There is a high turnover of staff as well as tenants, which I suspect have fallen prey to the immense fees, but find it worthy of vacating the property. They also claim to be military friendly but have no sympathy for military members and their dependents when it comes to receiving orders for movement. This apartment management company should not be allowed to enforce such fees for the low living standard they uphold as well as the lack of customer service and loyalty to their tenants.

I worked for UDR for 5 years and paid for benefits (LTD). Since the Hurricanes in Texas I was exposed to bacteria and molds that would cause anyone sickness. I was told to enter a building with our staff to save anything that we could, that had been sitting in bacteria, no power, lights, blown out windows - with protective gear we went up three flights of stairs. I got a staph infection in my nose, other employees got rashes, headaches, etc. I had to get a 16 week IV to kill the staph treatment. A letter was given from my doctor to my boss and corporate headquarters that that building was unsafe to work in at any time, and that even if repaired would never rid the bacteria completely. My company was very cooperative and sought another sight for the health of our employees immediately. At the time I respected that considering they had a lease o. The building for another year they still had to pay. I thought that was a selfless act and putting their employees first. I went throughout the 1st 6 weeks of treatment while I was working, which was not easy. Then when the 1st treatment of building my immunity back was due, the doctors infusion clinic almost killed me with an overdose of epinephrine and I was hospitalized for several days. I was then unable to have the treatment at all because it messed up my Atrial. 6 months passed and then had to have an Atrial ablation which should have never been in the cards for me. In the meantime, we moved our office into one of our local properties which was built out as an office. It was lovely. However, little did we know, this too would soon be a nightmare. It was no more than a couple of months when I smelled mold. I am very sensitive to this smell since it seems to be so e type of "cryptonite" to my body. At first everyone thought I was joking but I was not. It began to make me weak and feel very sick. I told my co-workers, "Theres mold in here behind that wall right there". Within a couple of day, my boss had someone taking the wall out and, surprise...there it was. She sent me him to work out of my home while the repair was finished. We bought an air machine that was helpful. When I returned it was better. In a couple of months, there it was again, and again, and again! The last time it was so bad, I felt so sick I could hardly get off the floor. I told her there was mold behind that was and this time it was real bad. She listened right away and I do appreciate that! She had someone out the next day. When I got back from lunch, she turned me around and said go home. I will go in and get what you need out so you can work from home. They bad torn our the same wall, but this time three stories high. It was the worst thing I had ever seen and I have been I. The apartment industry since 1989. I thought I was having heart trouble and went ahead and schedule a leave of absence for a second ablation, but the surgeon said it was not my heart that was causing my problems. I had begun to have seizures. So I didn't know what to do. After my short term disability was over, my Long Term Disability should have kicked in and "Surprise" it didn't! Prudential whom hold UDR's Long Term Disability Policies said that since it was my heart, that I was disqualified for LTD. I have since had to appeal, now on my third appeal. The Cardiac Surgeon told them it was NOT my heart. This left UDR's employee finically devastated. My boss had no idea this would happen, nor did I! When in reality, I would never have had to have the chemo-like treatment or the ablation in the first place if I had not had to enter the bacteria infested office site I. The first place, this should have been a Worker's Comp. Case from the very beginning! Now, after almost two years of ridiculous medical treatments, Neurologists, seizures, etc., we have found it all stemmed from Silent Migraine Seizures and Hyperacustis. I would have never had my Atrail Ablation, a staph infection, nor seizures if it had not been for saturated exposure to bacterial infestation and overexposure to mold toxicity. I am hoping that Prudential does the right thing due to this is my final chance to appeal, then my only right is to sue. That is not my desire. However, I do believe that if I had know then what I know know, I would have saved myself a lot of physical torture and medical nightmare. Certainly, finically would have know this was Workers Comp ., and would not have had to suffer financially also. I hope someone at UDR will read this and handle this in the most professional manner as documentation was given at the time of the staph infection by my doctor, and I'm sure documentation was made on the many repairs on mold remediation in the Houston office #413. Thank you for your assistance!