Apartment Review for Abbey Lane - Columbus, OH

After a short notice move from Dayton, Ohio to Columbus, Ohio; Abbey Lane apartments was chosen primarily due the financial costs as well as the proximity to local establishments and transportation (e.g. schools (Westerville), grocery, shopping, I-71, etc.). My family of four has lived here for several months now. I was in the military and have lived and have had temporary lodging in several major metropolitan areas in the United States as well as overseas, so I have a pretty good idea as to the different environments one may have to reside. However, I have never seen or been associated with a rental property which has the level of filth/trash, crime nor the magnitude of inept and apathetic property management as this. First, the sheer amount of roaches in the apartment complex is beyond imagination. The complex has an exterminator who comes every Tuesday to leave roach baits. We have had to even perform our own exterminations (for which we were never reimbursed). The roaches are throughout every building. Secondly, several residents’ automobiles have been burglarized (including mine, one month after moving to Abbey Lane), residents repeatedly using firearms during the day and evening. This terror is only eclipsed by the fact the property management will issue a warning letter to the offenders (instead of calling the police), promising to evict them after the third shooting incident. One resident who was a habitual offender of this action was shot and killed by police in February 2010. Also, just last evening the police were called to break up a fight between two groups of teenagers. Shortly after the police left, someone felt the need to commit the act of arson, which left the dumpster area of one building completely destroyed, as well as the electrical pole, surrounding trees and privacy fences of the neighbors next door. Lastly, the managerial staff is in a constant state of flux. In January 2010, the entire staff quit to find other employers. In May/June 2010 the entire maintenance staff quit. They quickly hired three people to cover the maintenance duties of a complex of over 300 units. When our lease is up (very soon), we will never come back to this place and I can only do what I am doing now – warning any and all potential Abbey Lane residents to stay away and never step foot on this property no matter what the property management promises.