finally, some good news

i received an email yesterday from the VP of the corporate office. she said she was very concerned about my emails and to call her today to see what we can resolve.  I called her this afternoon, and she was incredibly understanding, apologetic, and ready to figure out a solution. she said she was in town today, and that she came to the overlook today and had a nice, long chat with the property manager and staff, and basically told them this was all completely unacceptable. long story short, we are meeting with her friday afternoon to try to figure out some solutions, but she said flat out that if we can't come to some sort of resolution she will let us out of our lease. i honestly don't know what sort of solution we could come to, but i think it's great that, one way or another, our problem is going to be resolved.

Really??

We just found this memo on our door:

However, the mess in the elevator is still there... Obviously, they missed the point of the previous email. The point wasn't that this is happening, it was that when it does happen, they should clean it up. Obviously, nothing was solved, so I sent them this email:

Dear Overlook/Willmax Staff,

Based on the memo to residents that I just found on my door, you have undoubtedly received the email my husband sent you yesterday. While I applaud your efforts, you have clearly missed the point he was trying to make.  In the time it took you to write, print, and distribute this memo, one of your representatives could have taken a mop to the elevator and dealt with the problem directly. Instead, in the manner I have come to expect from this establishment, you have done the least amount possible. You have stated the obvious problem to those who have to deal with it regularly, yet avoided actually doing anything to better the situation, ie- cleaning up the mess. You have asked people to behave differently, which is ridiculous considering that the people who would heed your request are the ones who wouldn't make such disgusting messes in the first place. Lastly, you have ensured that we will be spending another 24 hours riding in a sticky, smelly, disgusting elevator because your "cleaning staff has gone home." Stop passing the buck and deal with with the issue at hand. Worry about the cause of the issue when the immediate problem has been solved.

I'm going to start occupying the overlook if they don't get their shit together.

another day, another elevator puddle

While the jury is out on whether this puddle is pee or apple juice, the jury is definitely in on one thing:

The overlook has finally pissed off my husband! He got home from work wicked early, and when he saw that mess, he went over to the office to see what they were going to do about it. Matt, aka one of the five most unhelpful people in the world, and one of the groundskeepers were lounging in the office, and when he told them the issue, they shrugged and said the cleaning people had gone home for the day. he came back to the apartment in a rage, and immediately fired off the following email:

To whom it may concern/to whom will do something about my issues for once,
My name is ____________ and I am a resident of the Overlook at Mile High.  I have only lived here for 5 months now, and this is by far the worst place I have ever lived.  Here is a list of conditions that I find unacceptable here:
1) There is trash strewn about all over the premises, which consists of broken glass.  This is a hazard for my dog, but more importantly this is a dangerous living condition for children who have every right to take advantage of the property their parents work hard to provide for them.
2) Somebody regularly urinates in my elevator, which has remained unattended to for several days on several occasions, even after resident complaints.
3) The Staff at the Overlook is very apathetic towards our concerns and issues with the living conditions.
I am writing this email right now because I am very frustrated at the lack of caring and response the staff at The Overlook has shown to me and my wife over these past months.  I came home from work today to find a pool of what smelled like urine in my elevator AGAIN.  I immediately went into the leasing office to ask someone to clean my elevator.  Unfortunately, the gentleman that "helped" me was Matt, who is the one of the more apathetic and unresponsive representatives at The Overlook.  He was in the office with one of the groundskeepers, and when I stated my issue, both of them shrugged their shoulders and told me that there was nothing they could do because the cleaning crew had gone home for the weekend.  I have a HUGE problem with this.  Now I, once again, have to walk around in what could be urine in my elevator for this entire weekend. 
Where I work, we aim to exceed the customer's expectations, and to tell them "no" regarding any of their issues is simply unthinkable.  When Matt and one of your groundskeepers (who's job it is to basically clean the property) told me that there was nothing they could do about urine in my elevator, I was furious.  If I was a representative of The Overlook and one of my tenants came in with this issue, I would have immediately grabbed a mop and bucket to clean the unsanitary conditions where I work.
The groundskeeper told me that it was apple juice a child spilled earlier in the day.  This proves that they have known about the situation before the cleaning crew left for the day.  Furthermore, if it was apple juice, I would still think that this would be an issue, due to the fact that there are preexisting bug problems at this residence. 
Here are the scenarios I have had to deal with this weekend already, and it is only 5:30 on a Friday night:  
1) Trash and broken glass strewn about the property
2) Urine or Apple juice in my elevator.  If it is urine (a smell to which I have become accustomed since moving here), I have to deal with bodily fluids in a space I pay almost a thousand dollars a month for the "privilege" of using, for the next 48+ hours.  If it is apple juice, I have to worry whether or not ants or one of the other copius insects that I frequently see on the property grounds will catch the scent of the sugar and invade my place of living.
 In conclusion, I am tired of living here.  Moving to this property is the worst decision I have ever made.  *TAKE NOTE HERE*  My wife has already sent multiple formal complaints to both Willmax Corporate and the representatives at this particular Willmax property.  The property manager (Shanna Hernandez) assured us that she will turn these unacceptable situations around for us and everyone else that demands a respectable living environment for the money they put into the place.  This has clearly not happened. Since Matt and the groundskeeper has shown such disrespect and apathy towards me, and also towards everyone else living in my building, I will be contacting the Denver Health Inspector and will begin investigating ways to enforce my rights as a tenant.
Sincerely hoping for a positive resolution,


While I doubt anything will come of this on the part of the overlook, I'm fairly certain he will stick by his claim that he will be calling the health inspector or whoever he needs to call to get our issues resolved, and maybe they'll be able to do something about this shithole.

The only thing i hate more than the overlook at mile high is the trash that lives here

if you're a regular reader of this blog, you've no doubt seen pictures of the elevator - brown, dreary, disgusting.  well, this week, the elevator got a little makeover. just some laminate tiles, but it brightened up the joint, and the newness made the regular stench dissipate a bit. unfortunately, the pieces of shit that live here clearly weren't happy about the updates.

this is just so rude and disrespectful. the overlook tries to do something nice, and the guttersnipes that are unfortunately my neighbors have to ruin it for no good reason.  now i understand why they don't bother doing anything with this place - why try to make something nice if the degenerates that live here are just going to trash it? this puts me in mind of something the great neil peart said:

 ‎"could hell be a place where there is no self-respect? A place where people have no pride in their own existence or behavior, and thus would have none for anyone or anything else?"

no, strange man, i do not want you touching my bed...

 



So, let me get this straight - you want to send people in to my apartment to touch my bed and personal things, AFTER they have been in the apartments of the dirtasses that live in this building?? Are you freaking serious?? How is that legal? and how is it in any way sanitary? i don't have bedbugs now, but i bet i will by tomorrow.  i'm seriously considering paying the fine.  i just can't believe that this is allowed, and that they think it would be ok.  also, the fact that they are giving me less than 24 hours notice is bullshit. i wouldn't be ok with this if i had a week's notice, but it's the principle of the matter. have i mentioned how much i hate this place?

Response to my 2nd letter-

I just got off the phone with Shanna, who I assume is the property manager.  she assured me they are "working on a solution, and trying to find out who is doing this."  additionally, we had a discussion of human vs. dog, and i think i convinced her that it was absolutely a human. She also said i made a good point about the dog poop bags, and she would make sure to keep them better stocked in the future.  It was a lot of crap, i'm sure, but it was nice that she at least acknowledged my concerns this time.  we'll see how it goes, i guess.

2nd Letter to property owners and managers

Here is the email I just sent to the property managers and owners:

Hi Overlook/Wilmax,
I hope you got my last email -- I can't be sure, as I never got a response.  Once again someone has peed in the elevator - please find the picture attached.  I really have to wonder why it is that you don't seem to care about this.  It is unsanitary and disgusting, and it is, as I mentioned in my previous email, unfair to those of us who are not completely revolting.  Perhaps installing a video camera in the elevator would deter the person who does this. It seems to me that very little of the rent I pay to you is reinvested into the property, so you must have some extra revenue that you can invest in cameras.  Incidentally, while we're on the subject of reinvesting in the community, I would like to share my thoughts on the letter that was passed out to residents today - regarding balconies and picking up after our dogs (which I always do) - perhaps if bags were continually supplied at the pet waste stations, people would be more likely to do so.  In the almost four months I've lived here, I've seen bags provided once.  Just a thought. In any case, something really must be done about the urinating in the elevator situation.  I know I'm not the only one bothered by this.  Please get back to me on this matter. I can be reached at this email, or at -------.  Thank you

I highly doubt anything will be done, but we'll see.

another lovely week in the slums

it's been a big week here at the overlook at mile high.  when i last blogged, i had sent an angry email to the property owners and managers. big news, guys! they never responded. go figure.  in the mean time, i had to look at this all weekend:

yeah.... that's not corona.

in other news, i ordered sex and the city:the complete collection for myself friday, because i deserve a treat - being unemployed is hard. anyways, i paid for one day shipping. it wasn't here by tuesday, so i checked the tracking info. it said it was delivered saturday morning at 8:51. i went to the office to see if they had it (and matt was actually not a total prick, for once!), and they did not.  so i called fed ex to see what the f was going on, and they confirmed that the driver left it at my door.  why he would leave a package unattended in front of a door that is in a building that looks like this one is beyond me, but needless to say, some gritbag got themselves a sweet satc box set to sell for meth. as a result, i made this sign for the elevator:

obviously, no one ever brought it back, and i eventually solved the problem with amazon (not fed ex - fed ex has the worst customer service since this place). i left my sign in the elevator, however, to hopefully make the thief feel bad.  yesterday, when i got in the elevator, some dirtbag had wiped a booger on it. i could not loathe these people any more than i do.  this morning it was gone, but there was this delightful note on my door:

how ridiculous is this?? i mean, these dirt asses can't even refrain from peeing in the elevator, how can they possibly be expected to keep their balconies clean? furthermore, not that it matters probably, but more people might pick up their dog's shit if the complex actually provided bags at the dog waste stations. i buy my own because i'm not a grit, but seriously, there have only been bags here like once since we moved in.

finally, lest you think a week went by without a good elevator pee, here you are:

this is the biggest one yet! way to over-achieve, dirt-ass!

i think i've decided to call the health department tomorrow and see what they think about all of this pee. and trash.

so tagging isn't acceptable, but peeing in the elevator is??

I took my dog downstairs to potty a couple of days ago, and noticed some new "art" on the walls. 

This was about 4 or so in the afternoon, the day of the third elevator pee.  The very next day, it was painted over.  The pee however, was still there (and, incidentally, still is).  Later that evening, I got in the elevator and saw this sign:

I liked its creativity, and also the fact that I am clearly not alone in finding this place to be disgusting.  Finally, a bit of solidarity with my neighbors!  About 30 minutes ago, however, I got in the elevator and saw this:

I fucking hate this place more and more every day.  This was the last straw for me, and I finally emailed both the property managers and the property owners.  This is what i said:

Dear Wilmax and Overlook staff,

For the fourth, yes FOURTH, time in three weeks, a resident has urinated in the elevator.  After the third incident, a resident carefully hand-drew a sign asking others to please not pee in the elevator, as it is disgusting and disrespectful to other residents. I thought this was great, as it showed me I am not alone in my disgust at this situation. Tonight, at about 2:00 am, I got in the elevator to take my dog outside and noticed that someone had taken the sign off of and URINATED on it.  This proves that it is not a dog, as was previously suggested the time I complained in the office (not that it matters anyways - if an animal urinates in the elevator, it should obviously be cleaned up immediately by the owner.)  This situation is not only disgusting to live with, but is absolutely unacceptable.  Accidents happen, absolutely - however, this is clearly being done on purpose. I would like to hear from someone explaining why I am paying almost a thousand dollars a month to have to ride in a urine soaked elevator, and what you all plan to rectify this situation.  I am attaching pictures of each incident, as I have been documenting them for you all to see.  Please do something about this - it is not fair to residents who pay their hard-earned money and expect a nice place to live in return. If you would like to reach me, my phone number is ----------. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

I can't wait to see in what ways they blow me off now.  Also, if someone reading this has any idea what I can do legally or who I can involve, please let me know.  This is getting out of hand, and we're moving sooner than later, lease be damned.

third pee's a charm -- or not....

guess what, dudes? it happened again:

i just don't understand who does this... like, what kind of nasty gritbag do you have to be to pee in a public elevator? or any public space, but especially one as confined as an elevator. am i to assume that it's the same gritbag each time? or are there multiple gritbags? how depraved and disgusting must a person be to pee in an elevator and not clean it up? i understand that accidents happen, but when they do, a normal person cleans them up. they don't just leave them there for others to step in and smell. as i said before, i don't give a shit if it's adult, child, or animal. if it happens, take care of it. furthermore, if it is as big of a problem as it seems to be, is there nothing that the management here can do about it? not that they would, and not that they give a flying rat's ass, but theoretically, is there some sort of action that they could take? because you can't really prove who it was, unless they are caught in the act.  i guess this is why one should never, ever live in the city. we've realized that we are suburban and proud of it.  we love to visit the city(although not as much as we love to visit the mountains), and we like all of the awesome events and activities we have access to, but we have definitely realized that we would much rather drive 30 minutes or so to get to them, and live among clean, quite, not-elevator-peeing suburbanites like ourselves.  if no other good comes from living in this shithole, at least we've got that valuable lesson.

Just to give you an idea about the character of our neighbors-

Here is a picture of a poor little unattended baby.  Sad.

9.13.11: A-FUCKING-GAIN????!!!!

Guess what, dudes?! Someone peed in the elevator agian!

This time, I sopped up a corner of it with a paper towel, just to be sure.

Once confirmed, I made a sign:

I fucking hate this place so much.  Is there an agency I can call to report this nonsense?? 

9.6.11 - ARE YOU F-ING SERIOUS????

Why, yes, that is exactly what you think it is.  Some sick son of a bitch PEED in the elevator. Seriously.  I can't make this shit up.  We noticed it around 5:45, so Jim popped in to the office to let them know before they closed so they could get it cleaned up.  Cut to THE NEXT DAY at about noon, I go in to the office to let them know that it's STILL THERE.  Leasing Agent Matt gave me the usual "Oh, we'll get right on it", followed by "it was probably someone's dog."  I don't give a rat's ass if it is human or canine, pee is pee, and it should not be on the floor of my g-d elevator. Finally, it got cleaned up - and it only took 18 hours! Way to go guys!!

Lies!!!!!!!

The day after we moved in, I called the office to see if they had any storage spaces we could rent because this place is way too small to hold all of our stuff. One of the Leasing Agents, Matt (AKA: one of the five most unhelpful people on the planet) said they didn't have them anymore.  Which, you know, fine... if they don't, they don't.  However, a few days later, we go out the exit closest to our building and we see this:

Oh, really? I thought you didn't have that anymore??

Cut to 2 months later.... it's still there. At this point, I've also asked the girl in the office whose name I don't know.  She said the same thing.  LIARS!!!

9.2.11 - 9.5.11

The weekends are always the worst time to live here.  Drunk idiots throw glass bottles off of their balconies, and the shattered glass remains there until Monday at the earliest(we stopped taking the dog outside in the front of the building a long time ago for fear she'd cut her little paws on glass shards.)  They also throw trash anydamnwhere they please (common areas, elevators, lawn, etc.) and this is even less likely to be picked up come monday. Here are some highlights from this past weekend (which, awesomely enough, was a 3-day weekend, so yay for an extra day of trash!)


**My apologies for the sideways pictures - I can't figure out how to rotate!

Random trash in the fire hose area.

Discarded beer bottle and other general nastiness.

Discarded entertainment center that has been sitting outside the door for two weeks now!

Another view of the entertainment center, and a sampling of the random trash thrown over the balcony by the gross people on the 2nd floor. (On the bright side, at least they are drinking cans this week!)

broken beer bottle, back of building. usually this area is pretty much broken-glass free, but today, not so much.

A couple of the signs I made(see below for original) wadded up in the corner of the elevator.

My attempt at getting people to pick up after themselves. (note: it worked for about thirty seconds: now, not so much)

One of our friendly neighborhood cockroaches

As you can see, The Overlook at Mile High is a total shithole!

Introduction

Since moving to The Overlook at Mile High in July 2011, my husband and I have been continually amazed at the complete lack of respect some our neighbors have for our home, and also, by the complete lack of attention that the property managers pay to these matters.  We've decided to begin chronicling the state of our building for a few reasons.  First, for our own amusement. We are locked in to a lease here for the next ten months, so if we have to be here we may as well make light of the situation.  Secondly, if we can save just one person from renting an apartment here, we will have a huge amount of Karmic awesomeness owed to us.  Seriously. A lot. Thirdly, perhaps someone who is a horrible neighbor themself will see this and try to mend their ways. We don't expect anything will change here at The Overlook.  We just want to document how a few really disrespectful neighbors and less-than-stellar property managers can turn what should be a nice apartment in to a slum. 

**Incidentally, after we signed the lease here, I decided to Google our new home.  What I read was enough to make me have second thoughts, but my husband and I convinced ourselves that only the people who have something negative to say write reviews, and that they probably weren't good renters in the first place. We were so wrong. If you are having similar feelings while reading this, let me assure you - we are amazing tenants.  We're quiet, we pay rent on time, and we clean up after ourselves.  If a person could live at this place and not have bad feelings about it, well, they have a pretty high tolerance for filth.  Furthermore, if you found this blog because you, like me, googled your future home, let me just say - DO NOT MOVE HERE.  Seriously.  Do yourself a favor and walk away now.  I'm sure the model you saw was nice - was it the one with the amazing mountain view? That's how they got us.  Trust me.  This place is as bad as we say, if not worse.  You'll thank us  later.