Apartment Review for Whitehall Park Apartments - Columbus, OH

I moved into Whitehall Park in July, and moved back out in September. Part of the reason I moved so quickly is because I lost my job in Columbus, but I didn't even really look for another in the area because I didn't want to stay in the apartment. The problems started literally the DAY I signed my lease. I visited the complex several times before I signed the lease. Each time, I told the property manager/leasing agent that I would be dropping off half my belongings on July 3rd, and the rest on July 6th, as I was driving to Cleveland from Dayton for the holiday. I called on the 2nd to ask if the apartment was ready for my stuff to be dropped off, and was told that it had been painted and cleaned. When I got there on the 3rd, it wasn't clean at all! The bathroom was disgusting and the toilet didn't even work. The kitchen was also beyond gross. The fridge had old, crusted residue from whenever the last person moved out. I decided to hold off on leaving my stuff so the apartment could be cleaned. I also decided to turn on the AC, because it was a 3rd floor unit, and hotter than hades. Also, I knew it would be hot work (re) cleaning the kitchen and bath, and arranging my furniture, especially after carrying it up the open stairs. Well, the AC was completely burned out. Not only was it not blowing cold air, it was blowing HOT air. Like, warmer than the air outside. I told the managment about these problems, and said that I would be back on the 6th. I was assured that everything would be fixed when I was ready to move in. It wasn't. I lived there for a week with no AC, and temperatures into the upper 90s. And my apartment faced the front, so I got sun ALL afternoon, so my apartment was always super hot when I got home from work, even though I didn't get off until 9pm, and had to catch the bus from downtown, so didn't get home until 10:30 or 11pm. And speaking getting home late at night, as a female, I felt EXTREMELY unsafe being in the parking lot alone at night. I called my boyfriend and made him stay on the phone with me until I was in my apartment with the door locked, every night. Then, I always put a chair under the doorknob with pots and pans stacked on it, after my first night, when someone "accidentally" tried to get in my apartment. I also slept with a baseball bat next to my bed. My brother in law suggested I get a gun when he and my sister visited. It was extremely loud ALL day. I don't know if they took Section 8, or what, but it seemed as though a good number of people in my building didn't work, because when I'd leave for work at 8AM, they'd be in the lot messing with their cars, blasting music with obnoxious bass, and they'd still be there when I got home. Complaints to on-site management were met with blank stares, despite the "noise policy" mentioned in the lease. Additionally, I found roaches a few days after I moved in. I offered to spray/bomb myself, but they said no, they'd do it. They came and put bait out in ONE spot in the apartment. It didn't help, because the people in the apartment next to me were disgusting, and also garbage-picked their furniture. So when I "had" to leave, it was a blessing. I told the property manager that I had to move because I had lost my job, and couldn't find another. When I did leave, I asked that they re-rent my apartment so I wouldn't be liable for the rent for too long after breaking my lease. After being gone a month, I hadn't received a bill or an invoice for anything, so I called the office. I was told that my apartment had already been re-rented. I asked if there was anything that I owed for anything else, and the property manager told me no. But then, right after Christmas, I received a notice from a COLLECTIONS AGENCY that I owed $800 or so to the company. I was livid. I still have not been able to find out how my account got referred to for collections before I got a single bill *from* the company. I am in the process of disputing, because it's on my credit report now, and it'll look bad if I try to rent another apartment or house. Right now, though, I'm not even trying to move out on my own again. I had moved in with my dad and my grandmother while unemployed, but I've stayed because this experience scarred and scared me that I'm not interested in moving out on my own anytime soon. Maybe not even until I'm ready to buy a house.