Renting from Dehaven & Company was by far the worst renting experience that I've ever had. I rented at their Windbriar Apartments for 2 years out of necessity.
Good things:
- Cheap rent. $675 for a 2 bedroom, $575 for a 1 bedroom.
- No pet fee.
- Washer and dryer on site.
- Close to bus line and Belt line.
- Free parking
Bad things:
- Terrible, terrible neighborhood. Police have to be camped out on the corner practically 24/7 because of the drugs/crime in the area.
- Repair concerns took weeks to address. For example, in the height of the summer heat, my air conditioner stopped working. It was never repaired.
- When tenants move out, they do not change the code to the door of the building.
- Dryers are practically non-functional. One dryer had a gash one of the hoses and it was inoperable. It took weeks to fix.
- Apartments are filthy! Carpets are old and dirty, walls have visible dirt on them. Our bathroom wall was caked with tobacco from the previous tenant to the point that hot showers made the wall drip yellow gunk. They say they clean before each tenant enters, but it's very hard to believe with the state of the apartments.
- Backyard is littered with trash and garbage. Other tenants do not respect the fact that apartment living is community living and the landlords do not enforce this. Instead, a very kind and very nice property manager cleans up after everyone like she's their mother.
- Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs EVERYWHERE!
- When trying to get ahold of the landlord, you can expect to call repeatedly before having your phone call returned. When you finally do get ahold of the landlord, expect to have a very unprofessional conversation. There is always the possibility that you may get yelled at, spoken to very condescendingly, or your concerns may even be ignored.
- Renter rights are not upheld unless the tenant forces the landlord to obey the state law.
- Drains to do not drain properly, even after being treated.
- Closet doors fall off of hinges.
- Screens are missing or broken by previous tenants and are left for the new tenants to deal with.
- Some electrical outlets are non-functional or do not tightly hold the plug in place. This is a huge safety hazard!
Overall, that experience was terrible. If you choose to live here, expect to be living in a questionable neighborhood, spend more money than it's worth, and plan on being kept up at all hours of the night by other tenants not following their lease agreements. I would have much rather had paid a monthly pet fee to have my health and safety taken into account by the landlord. I moved to Madison for school and started to count down the days until I could move out of the Windbriar apartments.