Reviews
strange policies
We did not renew a lease because we were moving to a house, so we agreed to a month-to-month rent. When we notified the leasing office of our move-out date, the leasing representative said we needed to give 30 days notice to vacate, and that was what we did. We received a receipt acknowledging that we gave proper notice and would not charged for rent beyond our move-out date.
Unfortunately, that is not what happened. We received a bill for rent past our move-out date. AvalonBay is holding us to a 60 day notice to vacate, because we notified them of our move-out date 1 day before our previous lease expired. So, if we had waited 2 days later to notify them, Avalon would not be holding us to the 60 day notice to vacate. This is a strange, discourteous technicality to try to hold us to, especially since we received an acknowledgment that we gave proper notice. Hopefully, they will do the right thing in the end, but so far AvalonBay is sticking to their decision.
This is all unfortunate, since we lived there pretty happily for 5 years. The grounds and apartments are clean and well-maintained. The on-site staff and maintenance personnel are all very pleasant. Maintenance was very prompt. Grounds are well kept. Entryways were cleaned and vacuumed regularly. Friendly to small-pet owners (we don't have one, but many neighbors had adorable dogs and cats). Perhaps the parking area could use some more lighting, but that might be fixed; while we were moving out, we did see that the management was working on significantly improving the exterior and grounds.
The only problems we had were with the legal/financial end of AvalonBay. Every time we were sent a lease renewal, they tried to raise our rent by large amounts. When we moved in 5 years ago, we were paying $1200+/month. Every year, management would offer a renewal rent rate with a 6%+ increase. Fortunately, requesting a lower rent increase with the on-site staff usually worked as long as we were willing to sign a 12-month lease. They would sometimes say no first, but with a little push, they will talk to the main office for you. Always negotiate!
While we were house-shopping, we did not choose to renew a 12-year lease and instead went to a 3-month lease. That raised the rent from $1400+ to $1900+ (no amount of haggling worked). After the 3-month lease ended, our month-to-month rate was $2100+.
It's a pretty nice place to live, but keep on your toes with the financial/legal end of leasing with them.
Unfortunately, that is not what happened. We received a bill for rent past our move-out date. AvalonBay is holding us to a 60 day notice to vacate, because we notified them of our move-out date 1 day before our previous lease expired. So, if we had waited 2 days later to notify them, Avalon would not be holding us to the 60 day notice to vacate. This is a strange, discourteous technicality to try to hold us to, especially since we received an acknowledgment that we gave proper notice. Hopefully, they will do the right thing in the end, but so far AvalonBay is sticking to their decision.
This is all unfortunate, since we lived there pretty happily for 5 years. The grounds and apartments are clean and well-maintained. The on-site staff and maintenance personnel are all very pleasant. Maintenance was very prompt. Grounds are well kept. Entryways were cleaned and vacuumed regularly. Friendly to small-pet owners (we don't have one, but many neighbors had adorable dogs and cats). Perhaps the parking area could use some more lighting, but that might be fixed; while we were moving out, we did see that the management was working on significantly improving the exterior and grounds.
The only problems we had were with the legal/financial end of AvalonBay. Every time we were sent a lease renewal, they tried to raise our rent by large amounts. When we moved in 5 years ago, we were paying $1200+/month. Every year, management would offer a renewal rent rate with a 6%+ increase. Fortunately, requesting a lower rent increase with the on-site staff usually worked as long as we were willing to sign a 12-month lease. They would sometimes say no first, but with a little push, they will talk to the main office for you. Always negotiate!
While we were house-shopping, we did not choose to renew a 12-year lease and instead went to a 3-month lease. That raised the rent from $1400+ to $1900+ (no amount of haggling worked). After the 3-month lease ended, our month-to-month rate was $2100+.
It's a pretty nice place to live, but keep on your toes with the financial/legal end of leasing with them.
All has been resolved amicably after we sent a strongly worded letter and filed a complaint with the MD consumer protection division. We don't know what was effective in the end. Avalon called to apologize and to tell us they retracted the charges. We just received our refund check in the mail.