TLDR: The Park at Southwood is a scam and will bleed you dry for your money…read more
To anyone who is interested in living at or thinking of going to live on there and signing a lease at The Park at Southwood, please let me share with you my experience living there the past year and I'll let you make your own decision. If you already live here, I hope your move out experience is better than mine.
First off, prepare for your AC to go out multiple times and your apartment will be at 85+ degrees, and emergency maintenance had no sense of urgency multiple times to come fix the issue. This has happened to me at least three or four times and 2 of the times it took over 24 hours for someone to come out and help. Also, I'm not sure if this is standard but for emergency maintenance to enter your apartment you must be home, even if it's unsafe living conditions, they cannot help you.
Also, the insulation around the doors is awful so expect the door frame around the door to be basically covered in mold during the spring months and have to constantly clean it every other day.
I also had a pipe leak in my closet and so my closet ceiling was leaking sometime during the day while I was at work during the week and it damaged the closet wall and ceiling and it took hours before I was able to get ahold of someone. I filled up numerous pots and even had to get a storage container in fear of the pots overfilling with water.
Then, I gave them my notice to vacate form in May 2025 as I was supposed to move out the end of July 2025, which I had called to verify that they received it and they said they did. I received a call mid July 2025, asking about my renters insurance for the upcoming year because they did not have it on file and I told them that I was not renewing my lease and I sent them the form. They said that they had no copy of it and tried to have me come in and sign it, but I was out of the country so I forwarded them the same email from before, and they said they received it then as well. Well, when I go to move out, they said again that they do not have on file that I was moving out and that they needed to update their files. So, either people in that office do not file emails accordingly or update their records but prepare for documents to get lost frequently.
All this to say, I know no apartment complex is perfect. I'm not asking for perfect. However, when I was moving out, I was charged $120 from my security deposit for painting fees. Now, when I moved out, I took pictures of everything. I lived there for approximately 12.5 months and made no damages to the walls. The lease states that no fees should apply, if the damage is above normal wear and tear. I'm attaching photos of my apartment when I left it and the pictures they took as their explanation of damages above wear and tear. Then, she stated that I should be happy that I was charged only $120 because it should have been $160. Every time I explained my confusion and frustration about the condition of this apartment, I was met with that I should be happy and not complain about the discount they gave me. The proper breakdown (an email sent to me by the Assistant Community Manager, Tabitha) is in one of these attached photos where it turns out instead of charging me partial paint for a 1 bedroom apartment, instead they meant to charge me for a complete paint job of a 1 bedroom. Also, some of these scuffs and marks could have easily been fixed with a Mr. Clean sponge eraser. Now, I could've done that myself and I would have, however, I was told that a $200 cleaning fee would be applied no matter what condition my apartment was in, so if I was going to pay $200 for cleaning, I was not going to make sure it was
Lastly, the management is terrible. It is completely unorganized and Tabitha, the assistant community manager, will speak to you like you're incompetent and is not very welcoming. She has been the worst trying to handle anything with and is not helpful in the slightest. Her go to answer is "I don't know" and "I can't answer that for you", but when asked to speak to someone who can answer those questions, she does not help get those answers or get in touch with the person. She also does not ever return any calls. I understand that it may be time consuming trying to sell apartments but anytime I tried to get a hold of her, I would have to call everyday and eventually show up at the office to try and get some type of answer. She has been the WORST part of my experience at the Park At Southwood and unfortunately, from what I've seen from other posts on this page, I am not the only one who has been a victim of her behavior.
At this point, I'm just looking for guidance. I don't know what to do, but I strongly believe this should not cost $120 or $160.