DONT LIVE HERE! Worst living experience I have ever had. Ridiculously expensive for "amenities"…read moresuch as a coffee once every 3 months. AC has been broken for weeks and every maintenance request says completed when nobody has been sent. Terribly managed take your money literally anywhere else please.

(Current resident here) The view is absurdly expensive and management is condescending and lazy…read more Trash rooms, elevators, and laundry are in complete disarray. If you are considering this option for housing DO NOT SIGN. It will be a mistake!

The international House of the place that College students of all nationalities and backgrounds…read morelive while attending local Philly colleges. It is also a venue that's often used by several organizations to hold festivals that presents movies and art receptions etc. It is a well laid out space with a lot of of options if you need to hold or sponsor a special event. Within the last 12 months I attended two festivals BLACKSTAR and The Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival. Both I enjoyed immensely, I was able to view movies in a very comfortable and reasonably priced theater. The International House always appears to be fairly clean and staffed with an employee at the 'front desk'. Check out their website for more details, you might like what they have to offer.

Talk about an interesting place. where else can you go to take cheap language classes, catch a…read morediverse and entertaining film festival, see a band, and potentially live in? and their not joking by International. picture a place that has bright college students from 30 to 40 different countries living under it's roof? this place runs rampant with culture. The film fests are the best though. they had a festival of films by Alejandro Jodorowsky, who is perhaps the most unique and artistic director of all time. and it had a Kung Fu festival that didn't show the traditional Jackie Chan/Sonny Chiba kind of films that you would expect. The are getting ready to had a Spaghetti Western festival next.

We've been at our new apartment home for over a month. Absolutely love it. Quiet, serene,…read morebeautiful! Inez, the real estate agent is one of the most delightful, knowledgeable, considerate agents. She truly assisted us from Start to Finish! Moving can be a very stressful event. If it wasn't for Elfant Pontz the experience would had turned out harder. The staff had a checklist that enabled us to get everything done regarding our apartment home. I would recommend Elfant Pontz to anyone looking to live in any of their properties! It's worth it...Estupendo! Amazing! 10++++ kudos and stars!!!! Carlotta "Zaire" F.

Slum lords. The difference in the landlord i have now and…read moreelfant pontz is night and day. I would highly advise people to not rent from EP. 0/10, WOULD NOT RECOMMEND. When i first toured my apartment and moved in 3 years ago, the leasing agent lied about so many things. I understand it's her job to get people to move in but straight lying about it stuff that shouldn't be lied about it's crazy. For example the bathroom window was broken when i moved in but yet the agent told me everything was as is and no additional repairs would be made to anything in the apartment. How are they out here renting apartments with, broken windows? Thankfully the building owner fixed it. During my time renting from ep they were a terrible management company. Whenever i'd send maintenance requests it would go 1 or 2 ways. I would immediately get an auto response email noting the request has been received. After that, they would either contact me back asking me a bunch of questions about my request, essentially gas lighting me. Or they wouldn't follow up until i reached out again a week later and they'd always say they were busy. I started putting in the maintenance requests everything i did myself to work on the issue. Bc the way they are it seems like they try to do everything they can to get out of fulfilling maintenance requests. It's so crazy because one day last spring when i came home and was sitting in my car, i saw a rat running from the grass to the trash cans. I immediately sent a maintenance request for exterminating services. They emailed me back saying "are you sure you saw a rat and not a mouse?" That took me out because I'm not blind and it's pretty hard to mistake a rat for a mouse because the size difference. The next day i got home and i saw the rat again and instead of getting out my car i took pictures and emailed them, so they'd actually believe me. That's a prime example of how they would gaslight me with maintenance requests. They really tried to tell me I saw a mouse, mind you I have 20/20 vision. Lastly, they like to mix up words or don't know the meaning of damaged and not clean are. When i told them i was moving they sent me a vacate letter. On that it clearly indicated i would get my security deposit back less any damages. Nothing was damaged in the apartment and i have proof from videos and pictures. They made something up to keep part of the security deposit and said the stove wasn't clean so I was charged for that. I wouldn't recommend renting from EP. Believe the few scattered one star reviews about EP. Oh yeah the leasing agent came to inspect my apartment for painting issues a few months after i had my son in fall 2023 when he was 3 months old. Tell me why she came into my apartment after just finishing smoking a cigarette, so i could smell it on her. She smelled so bad that I had to cover my nose with my shirt. Everyone knows you aren't supposed to come around little babies smelling like cigarettes. Smh

3939 Chestnut Street offers a strategically convenient location for students at the University of…read morePennsylvania, particularly those attending the Wharton School. It is located approximately a 6 to 7 minute walk from campus and near the Acme. The unit occupied was furnished informally, with furniture left behind by a previous resident. This arrangement suited a short-term, one-semester stay. However, the apartment was extremely small and narrow, more akin to a dormitory than a real residence. Room faced east but temperature controls were fine, though the AC was really loud. The provided blinds were inadequate for nighttime light control, requiring blackout curtains. The kitchen was equipped with a refrigerator, microwave, oven, and dishwasher, but had little counter space and was dim. Due to the apartment's long, narrow layout with a single window at one end and only a few weak overhead fixtures, lighting was poor throughout. The kitchen's orientation and lack of ceiling lighting made it feel dark and underpowered for cooking, and ventilation was limited. Though additional floor lamps could have improved the brightness, it did not feel worthwhile for a short stay. The bathroom was relatively spacious but similarly dimly lit. It included an undersink cabinet for storage, but water throughout the unit had a strange taste, prompting the use of a filtered water pitcher. Laundry was handled by an in-unit washer-dryer combo located in a closet. very convenient. The machine functioned but was underpowered, especially for drying, and the closet had no lighting. Property management was a persistent issue. Communication with the assigned property manager was often curt and unhelpful. This is par for the course for housing near a university. A utility billing issue resulted in a convoluted and confusing process due to incorrect setup instructions between the apartment and the utility company and apparently a 3rd party billing company. They didn't care about fixing this. Resolution only came after contacting the leasing manager, who was competent and responsive. A serious maintenance failure occurred during a water emergency originating from the unit above. Water began dripping through the bathroom ceiling, but the emergency maintenance line was non-functional, resulting in multiple unreturned calls. The tenants above eventually contacted like firefighters from Philly to shut off the water. Management was unaware of the situation until my phone calls finally reached them. This incident likely caused avoidable damage and resulted in several days of disruption, including large fans placed in the unit to dry the space. Like you just lost a ton of money by trying to cheap out and somehow disconnecting the emergency maintenance line. The firefighters told me the water leaked down to the chinese restaurant on the 2nd floor. The move-out process introduced further complications. A $100 carpet cleaning fee was automatically deducted from the security deposit. While this fee was noted in the lease, it was not highlighted clearly in pre-move-out communications. Additionally, the building lacked a dumpster or designated space for disposing of large items, requiring residents to make independent arrangements for removal. On a more neutral note, package delivery was consistently reliable, and the elevator remained functional throughout the stay, with only a single possible exception. Area felt pretty safe too around and in front of the building. no pests were seen in the apartment Overall, 3939 Chestnut Street met the basic requirements for a short-term stay due to its location and availability of informal furnishings. Flexibility was really good. However, significant drawbacks included the cramped layout, poor lighting, mixed property management ability, and lack of emergency preparedness. While not unlivable, the residence is best suited for short, time-bounded stays. Final rating: 3 out of 5. Generally would not recommend unless you had to stay only a semester

Having lived here for over a year, I want to give a shout out to Norris, who handles maintenance…read morefor both buildings! He's always super quick to respond throughout the day, and after hours in the case of emergencies. He's very skilled at what he does, and makes sure everything is fixed properly and running smoothly. His reliability and expertise have made a huge difference for all of us :)

I never knew apartments could be this bad, nor did I know that management could be full of people…read morewithout common sense. The struggles I dealt with in my apartment made me wish I were homeless because that's what it felt like. I dealt with leaks in my ceiling even before move-in, and during, I had a mouse infestation, and when I brought up these complaints to management (JANE), Jane said AND I QUOTE "I have rats in my apartment too." I don't care that you live your life in the happy company of rats and rodents. That's your prerogative, not mine. You're not going to justify my terrible living conditions because you enjoy living in filth. Some people have standards and management clearly has none. To anyone thinking about renting with this terrible company, consider being homeless first, and then if that doesn't sound appealing, then pick any other apartment that is NOT UCA.

TLDR: DO NOT RENT AN APARTMENT UNDER UCA!!!!…read more Absolutely horrible experience. Mice ALL YEAR!!!, rusted nails all over the carpets, ceiling collapse, ignored by UCA staff. UCA completely took advantage of me and my roommates. They made all of the problems we experienced in the apartment seem like it wasn't a big deal. We had to deal with mice all year!! We put in so many maintenance requests and even called the manager several times. We were ignored. The mice were scratching our walls, invading our rooms. We had to box up all of our belongings and food. Even keeping blankets in trash bags were not safe because they would rip them up. When the manager FINALLY came to inspect our apartment, she said that she was an expert in mice and that the torn up trash bags were not mice.... We were so frustrated by UCA. UCA does NOT care about your SAFETY at all! THE CEILING OF OUR APARTMENT COLLAPSED due to a water leakage upstairs. Luckily the collapse was not in the bedroom because who knows how badly we could've been hurt... I called UCA IMMEDIATELY and no one picked up the phone. I called multiple times and left voicemails at the number the manager personally provided us since we've been dealing with so many problems throughout the year, but did not hear a response from Jessica (the manager) or ANY UCA staff member for the entire weekend. I even emailed the manager who then responded to make up excuses for what happened. She tried to explain that there was a hairline fracture in the pipes that they caught immediately.... her explanations did not make sense because the ceiling collapse (which was a large portion of the ceiling) should have been prevented. There were obviously no safety checks and after talking to the neighbors who lived above us, they informed us that they experienced a fire from their electric plugs and that the breaker had no labels on it. Extremely dangerous place to live. Additionally, there is someone named Robin who works for UCA and is extremely disrespectful over the phone. Whenever my roommates and I would call her, she would cut us off mid-sentence and there were many moments she would yell at us over the phone. Do NOT waste your money on UCA. The WORST experience.

This place is a nightmare, if I could give it zero stars, I would. Rats, giant insects, and mold…read morewill be there to welcome you to your humble abode. My stove doesn't work properly, never did, and the plumbing is clogged most days. Each floor has one laundry room with a barely functional coin washer+dryer set everyone has to share, so good luck ever finding time to use it. My windows are so garbage that despite living higher up in the building, I still hear the nightly drunks yelling outside. I had to buy my own construction tape to plug holes in the walls and the cracks around the windows, otherwise they constantly let cold air in. Did I mention there's no central AC? They have loud, obnoxious window units in the bedroom and living room which you need to keep on all the time to prevent mold (clearly fails at that). WIFI is trash and dies for no reason, especially in the bedroom where the awful metal desk is. You'll bang your knee on it every time without fail. It's graduate housing, so everyone living here is an adult, but you will be treated like a child regardless. The guest policy is borderline invasive as they have to leave their ID with security to go up to your apartment; even classmates who attend Temple. Good luck trying to have your significant other, family, or study group over! They'll be questioned like criminals. The RD is incredibly nosy and will call the cops on you if you come back "visibly drunk" (happened to my friend) yet won't do anything about the "constantly drunk" guy on floor two smoking weed with homeless men he brings in off the street. There's no reasoning with her and everyone moves out because she's so insufferable and rude. She's terrible at her job and should've been fired years ago, likely hates us because we're young with good career prospects. Her boss sides with her, so we can't even fight back when she's being unfair. Everyone I've talked to is definitely moving out this summer and if I could break the lease without losing tons of money, I would move out TODAY. Once you've signed, you're stuck here till the end of the year. I'd recommend the Warehouse Apartments, the Pearl, or literally any of the buildings in this area. They're just as close to the school, cost less, and won't ruin your happiness.

The dorms are dreary and look like they have not been updated since the establishment of the…read moreschool. Where does the money that we pay go? Juanita matches the building: OLD, MELANCHOLY, and just TERRIBLE overall. She makes living there a nightmare. She has no respect for others and talks poorly about the residents to the security guards. She makes her own hours with the office (ie: 4pm - 4:30pm) and getting mail is like TSA at an airport. Juanita lives in the building and gets paid to live there; thus, she should be on stand-by whenever she is needed, including weekends (without complaints). She is the worst human I have ever encountered and should FIRED! She has NO people skills, does NOT answer emails timely/ effectively, and makes sure your life is as miserable as hers. The school needs someone with spunk, drive, and who enjoys being a Temple Owl (ie: Susan Higgins), but as the Resident Director. Do not ask Juanita questions because she'll just go around in circles to not answer your question and she just laughs. All she does is make excuses about having "a skeleton crew" or "not enough help", if that is the case then give it someone who is younger, more efficient, and has the energy. It is past her time and she just drags her, which is seen with the status of the building. If you deal with the root of the problem, aka Juanita, then there would be no issues.

rented from them for a year, and honestly rent at your own discretion. your electricity bill will…read moreextremely high no matter what, like add another $150 to your rent high. your packages will probably be stolen, and no u cannot get them shipped to the leasing office. Made a whole building move in the middle of the semester because they wanted to start renting out the units to families instead of students. They come into your apartment whenever they feel like breaking their own leasing policy, and philadelphia city notice guidelines(quite illegal and happened almost every day). They will make up random fees and rules that are not on their lease and badger you to pay and follow them. I was on the phone with one of my friends the night before and another person living in the unit thought there was a male with me, and i woke up to missed calls and texts telling me i would be evicted and fined if "he didn't leave". Read my lease after the incident no where did it say anything for over night guests. Anyways, they moved me into a unit where the other residents were twice my age(20). They both threatened to harm me, and i emailed Temple villas, and got no response in return. They did in fact reach out to me though about a false eviction notice because they seemed to forget i payed last two months rent to move in. They threatened to send me to collections from their mistake. I had to live with one roomate who was a 50 year old alcoholic, weed, and cigarette smoker. she did all of those things inside the apartment so whoever has to live with her next i pray for you. She also waked around completely naked, would come in belligerently drunk, has her grandson over every single day, has people BANGING on the door at 3 o'clock in the morning, leaves the oven and the stove on, will light a cigarette on the same stove your cooking dinner all while being completely naked. She also had RANDOM MEN from literally off the streets in the apartment at all times of the night. Never felt completely safe in that apartment. She literally had her grown daughters (older than me)on the phone saying that they were coming to harm me. temple villas did nothing. Also don't worry about getting your deposit back consider in kept. They will also try to make up random fees when you're moving out that are not on your lease(very illegal).

The apartments are fine, but that's where it ends. Maintenance people will randomly show up to do…read morework on your apartment for no reason. They will leave doors open when they leave, your place a mess, and you didn't even know they were coming. Additionally, the office people at temple villas don't seem to care. The lack of communication across the board paired with the unruly and disrespectful work, makes me never want to lease with this company again.

I'm sorry to see Mr. Laren is still in the property mismanagement business. My experience goes…read moreback several years to my college term in Philadelphia, but it is still very fresh in my memory. I rented an apartment from him on Pine Street, and there were multiple issues even before I moved in. He never did any of the work that was written into our signed lease; he had a habit of completely shutting off the heat in the winter (during the middle of the night), while my neighbors and I complained about nearly freezing). Magically, the heat would turn back on around 6 AM. I ended up in court with him, for a fire caused by what the Philadelphia Fire Department attributed to "faulty wiring," where I lost several of my belongings. Mr. Laren was rude, unprofessional, and offensive. We ended up settling in my favor, and I was allowed to get out of the lease three months early. I'm beyond sad that students today are still dealing with the misfortunes I had to endure during college- a time when we should be supported and encouraged to explore our minds in school, rather than fight greedy, ill-intentioned older people who simply want our money in exchange for the lowest possible service and investment in our welfare as tenants.

I signed a commercial lease with Constellar, paid first, last, and security deposit, and was…read morescheduled to take possession June 1. Despite full payment and a fully executed lease, the landlord failed to deliver the space and went silent. Their lawyer later claimed--falsely--that the lease was null and void due to unrelated negotiations with a third party. Then they sent me an email asking if I was enjoying my tenancy, and a request to leave them a review. I am now preparing to pursue legal action for breach of contract and damages. Tenants should proceed with caution.