created by:
atlantisak
11/15/2010 10:06PM
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Lobos management. Where to begin?
I have lived at 604 Shaw Avenue in Mckeesport for about 3 years now and it's had it's ups and downs. In the end though, we want to move out as soon as possible.
First, the apartments aren't bad for the price I pay per month. A 1 bedroom/1 bath for us costs about $385 not including the other utilities. I've seen many much worse places for higher prices. They need to work on continued maintenance though.
Unfortunately, this building is being neglected since Lobos took over management a few years ago (told to me by an older tenant) and it's wear and tear is starting to show through more and more.
1: The elevator is ancient and breaks down often. It takes Lobos days, sometimes a week to repair it. During this time, I feel bad for anyone moving stuff or who is elderly. The elevator looks gross and has had a splatter/smear of something resembling feces on the roof since we moved in. In our time here, I've (as well as other tenants) been trapped in the elevator at least 5 times. 3 of those times someone (my boyfriend/his friend) was there to help me get out safely. The other times, thankfully I knew (from previous experience) how to get the door open from the inside, which is nearly impossible. There is no handle/emergency door open button. It's amazing what you can pry open when you're getting scared and desperate each time the elevator lurches. I hurt my shoulder trying to get out one of those times. It's a death trap that I avoid at all costs unless necessary. Lobos will not come up with a permanent fix to this.
2: Fire alarms. I have one that we set up in our apartment ourselves, but the ones in the hallways outside our apartments barely work. Last fall we smelled burning rubber from the (locked) electrical room area and called the fire dept and pulled the alarms. The basement alarm didn't ring, so I was concerned and went up the stairwell (I know, you aren't supposed to go into a possible situation like that, but I had to) to make sure they were ringing on the other 6 floors of the building. Only ***1*** floor out of these 6 + basement were actually working and I had to go door to door to warn people that there was a possible fire. The fire dept came and checked on everything and got it under control. A fire -would have- broken out if we hadn't called them. I believe it was a short somewhere. But what if it had been a raging fire and I managed to pull the alarm and just ran out without checking on people? No one would have been aware and there would likely have been deaths.
3: Security. We don't have security guards and that's fine. We do have two locked doors that lead into the building. The lobby security door is often broken and doesn't latch right, allowing anyone easy access into the building. From there, it wouldn't be much more to take an axe to the wooden doors of our apartments. Not good. Mckeesport isn't the greatest of neighborhoods either.
4: Issues not resolved quickly enough. Many issues with this, so I'll try to keep this as short as possible. We have to call MULTIPLE times to get anything resolved. They answer, act rude/interrupt us as we explain the problem, say they're putting a ticket/report in to be resolved and wipe their hands clean of us. We call back when nothing is done and they say no ticket has been placed. Rinse and repeat a few times. We are currently having two problems which started Saturday evening. Our bathroom sink has been 'backwashing' every time our upstairs neighbor takes a bath/uses his water and I've spent the last few days elbow deep in dirty bath water with little/no sleep to try and keep up with preventing a worse mess. We had this same problem about a year ago. Plumber was here today but couldn't fix it. Said someone would be here in half an hour. Didn't happen. Called Lobos and now they say it wont be until tomorrow. More delays. We had the same problem too 4 months ago with our kitchen sink. Our stove is currently on the fritz. It's an old stove from the 70s-80s and it's time has passed. We haven't been able to do anything other than bake in it for the last few days and were told someone can't bring us a new one until Thursday-Friday. This is Monday.
Service: The service people for the most part are rude. They don't place tickets/reports when called, cut you off, throw you on hold without warning, say they can't fix your problem, all they can do is put in a ticket (which never gets put in). So, if your sink is gushing all over the place, then you just have to wait or call (and pay) someone yourself.
Storage: There are wooden crates with wire walls to store our stuff in. Other people have had their stuff stolen, like a bike and kitchen table set. We haven't had anything of ours stolen of importance but our crates have had the locks broken off of them and the stuff rifled through. Thankfully we don't keep anything of importance down there.
Lease: This is a kicker. We were never told that there was an automatic lease renewal if we didn't give them a 60 day notice about leaving. So, no matter what, even if we don't sign a new lease, they automatically renew it. We found out the hard way on our first year here. So, what's stopping them from renewing it even if we tell them 60-90 days in advance? It doesn't seem legal.
Laundry Room: It's just nasty and completely out of date. 3 washers and 3 dryers. 1 dryer never works unless you run the load through 3 times, which you have to pay for. No one uses it anymore so we're down to two working dryers. Washers. Oil/grease has been leaking from the bottom of these and no one has repaired it yet, but they're aware of the problem. Middle washer broke a while ago while we were using it and had to wring clothes out by hand, etc. It was half filled with water and we called (and other people called too) to have it fixed. It sat there ***a month*** with the lid closed. All kinds of bugs and scum gathered in the stagnant water.
Stairwell: We had a terrible rain storm about a year ago and the stairwell received bad water damage. Plaster came loose, water bubbles behind the paint, etc. The elevator wasn't working during this time so we had to use the stairwell. I got hit with some plaster chunks that broke loose. No one has come to repair it or even clean up the mess. It's been reported time and time again. The stair railings on many floors are only attached at one point in places, leaving the rail unstable to grab onto if you slip/need it.
Water: We've had water leaks, breaks, water suddenly shut off without notice for repairs in other apartments, etc. We've seen notices from the water department stating that water will be shut off in just a few days if no payment is received. Lobos always claims they're aware and the notices are placed up if the bill is merely a day or two late. It doesn't look good on them as a company to have these notices -period-. For what some people pay, Lobos needs to use the rent money towards fixing these places properly.
Mold: When we moved in, we noticed the window sills have black mold on them. I bleached them and wiped them up. The mold always returns and I fear it's not a good mold. On the first floor some wallpaper came down in a large strip and was duct taped back up (been that way for a month now, no repairs) and has fallen down a few times. Behind the wallpaper strip is black patches of mold or water damage. It's disgusting. I've had some very dirty jobs in the hospital..so it takes a lot for me to say something is disgusting.
I do like the huge windows and decent sized apartments for the price (although my boyfriend and I are outgrowing ours)..But this place could be amazing if it was taken care of properly and if management cared more about their customer service.
This apartment is decent for people desperate for someplace to stay for cheap. But if you can afford something else, I'd highly suggest looking elsewhere. We're looking already for a new place even though we just signed a new 1 year lease.
I hear all kinds of stories about how no one gets their deposit back without having to go to court over it, but we're hoping it doesn't come down to that. There are things in our apartment which were ruined when we first moved in.
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