Living at Cortland Lake Howell has been such an amazing experience. The sense of community here is something special -- it's more than just an apartment, it's a place where people genuinely care. The resident events are always thoughtful and fun. Just yesterday's Holiday Movie Night was incredible -- from the festive atmosphere to seeing neighbors come together, it truly captured the spirit of the season and what this community is all about. The team makes all the difference. The office staff is welcoming, professional, and always willing to help. A special shoutout to Jarolyn, who goes above and beyond and truly makes residents feel like family. Her energy, care, and dedication shine through in everything she does. From the events, to the friendly staff, to the overall warm and inviting vibe -- Cortland Lake Howell is a wonderful place to live. I'm so grateful to be part of such a caring and connected community and highly recommend it to anyone looking for more than just a place to live. read more

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The leasing agent didn't seem like she enjoyed what she did she wasn't warm and bubbly which was fine because I match energies.... When I asked about the upkeep of the breezeways she said yes they clean them but obviously the places wasn't unkept. The hallways had plenty of caked up dirt and spider webs indicate they don't dust or blow the breeeze way. The amenities are nice though. Especially the large pool... I wouldn't stay here only because the trees are too much for me and the layout makes the apartments feel a little small in my opinion m. read more

Here's a clean, believable Yelp review that sounds like a real resident and not promotional. It keeps things honest while highlighting the turnaround. I've lived at Cortland Lake Howell long enough to confidently say this place has done a complete 180 over the last couple of years, especially with the new management team in place. You can tell they made it their mission to truly turn the community around. From the brand new pickleball courts, updated exterior colors, and overall cleanliness, the difference is obvious. The community feels more structured, more peaceful, and more intentional. One of the biggest improvements has been enforcement. Parking is better managed, there are no wild pool parties anymore, and the courtesy officer is an actual police officer, which honestly makes a big difference. The constant weed smells that used to linger are no longer an issue either, which says a lot about consistency and follow through. The team is responsive and visible. I work odd hours, and when I am heading into or out of the office, I see the staff actively engaging with residents. Sometimes they do give pushback, but from what I've observed, it's usually toward residents who are repeatedly causing issues or ignoring community rules. That accountability is actually refreshing and long overdue. Is it perfect? No place is. But compared to how things used to be, the improvement is undeniable. It finally feels like a community that is being cared for and managed with intention. I feel more comfortable, safer, and honestly happier living here now than I did before. If you are considering this property, I would base your opinion on how it is today, not how it used to be. read more

Ever since they got new management the community has gone down hill. Property management does not care for their tenants that have been here for years. I've been here for 5 years and each time I renewed my lease they bring up the price by an outrages amount that doesn't match the current market value because there are plenty of other communities in the same zip code going for way cheaper. Before deciding to not renew my lease I inquired about staying at my current rate. They told me they could give me $2 off from the new lease rate LOL slap in the face. So then I looked on the community website to see which units would be available around the time my lease is over. I found a unit in my same building for a cheaper price but the leasing office told me it would be against policy to transfer to a cheaper unit The community itself is scenic but BEWARE of bugs!!! I've spent my 5 years running into spiderwebs almost everyday. The community is full of carpenter ants which get inside. Last year I dealt with an infestation of termites that came in through a tiny hole on my balcony screen which was a nightmare to get rid of. And recently I've been finding tiny ants all over the outside of my car from all the branch cutting they've been doing. I suggest if you move in to enter a work order for pest control every couple months as preventative. And always check for holes on your balcony/ patio screen and if you find one get it repaired right away. The only compliment I have for the community are the maintenance techs. They've always been helpful. read more

Love living at Cortland Apartments in Howell Cove! The staff is friendly and helpful, the community is spotless, and the amenities are top-notch. Great location and beautiful apartments--highly recommend! read more

Where to start with this SHIT box? Lets see the apt we moved into originally was terrible for being "move in ready" stains on carpet, German Roaches, ants, holes in walls, BROKEN doors locks on both doors to get into the house, and so much MORE. Our move in list had over 70 things wrong with the apt and we were told those are cosmetic only. We were apt 109, and a drain busted that was sewer water into our master bath, master and our front door area. Their fix was to only patch the part that was rusted through and no more of the pipe. AND the water destroyed all most all of our things in the closet. There was drywall damage all over the place but no fix for it so now it is listed for available when most of the carpet was soaked in dirty water and most of the bathroom and front door area was too. Honestly I wish I could give 0 stars. Bc while this new apt we have with this is "better" even a boy on the side of the road is better then these apts. They also only gave us 3 days to move and charged us DOUBLE rent on top of all this shit. Honestly you'd be saving yourself if for don't rent from ANY courtland owned place read more

I've only lived here for about a month but I feel like they gave us the shittiest apartment they could of.. We have mold on every vent, and the entire ac room leaks and is moldy also. Not to mention the entire time we have lived here our dryer doesn't work. Anytime we put in a service request they never come out to look at it, we have to go to the office ourselves to let them know it's been weeks and no one's come out to fix anything. I just wish the maintenance communicated better and helped us more. This sucks tbh I just wanna dry my clothes and breathe in fresh air read more

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PLEASE DO NOT RENT AN APARTMENT HERE!!! The rating is - 5 for me if there was an option. Here are SOME of the issues I've faced: 1. Past weekend I traveled, only to come back and find that the community management had got my car towed. (Backstory: on Thursday I received a call from the management office confirming if it was my car & i had confirmed that it was. I registered the car with them long time ago). The next day, I received an email from the management about car policies in the community. I was not in a violation in anything written in the email. *See image attached* And based on the call on the previous day I had with them, I thought all was good. I come back on Monday & find that my car was towed. The management did not find it necessary to call me and warn me or communicate with me. 2. Additionally, for the past 2 years of living here I have never been able to use the swimming pool even once; because it is always extremely gross & never cleaned. 3. I have to pay a mandatory $30 of valet trash fee but guess what, so many times my trash has not been picked up only to wake up next day & walk out of the apartment to see that a cat has torn the bag & littered the trash which was supposed to be picked up. And I'm here paying money to clean up the trash myself; paying someone/people not doing their jobs. 4. I pay a $2 mandatory pest control fee & a pest control request of mine was not taken care of for about 2 months after several requests, both online & in-person. 5. The mailbox area is extremely gross, full of spiders & webs, that I feel uncomfortable opening my mailbox. I doubt if they ever clean it. 6. When I moved into this apartment, my bathroom door did not lock or close, my closet door did not close, & they said they cannot fix it as the door needs to be replaced. And till this day, it is still the same way except for the bathroom door that a very nice maintenance guy came & worked his magic to temporarily fix the door. I can go on & on but as a full time student without a job, the financial trouble that the management has put me in today makes me regret my decision of living here for so long. It would be nice to live in a community that communicates with their residents before taking a step like this with my personal property. Hope you find a community where people support each other & care about their residents. Can't wait to leave this place when my lease is done with!! read more

Cortland Lake Howell - Email - Apartments Near Me - Casselberry, Florida

I'd put Zero stars if possible. Anyway, like the other reviews this is the truth! Erika current manager in the building doesn't know what she's talking about and won't get issues fixed that we been having 15 months ago. Fully fixed. Her easy is half ass fixed. Problems we have had. First month actually - tub water leakage - closet racks falling twice Bc they didn't screw into studs. Said there wasn't any. Lol stupid. - major issues with AC for 13 months for a 1 bedroom, over $300 sometimes. At least over $100. - finally replaced update with our last month of our lease. - now at the end here, still having water problems from tub leaking into our closet Again. Wont fix problem and been over a month trying to resolve this problem. Causing issues in other apartment next door. -they say they will come in to fix but won't show up after taking off from work for them. - they leave messes after coming I. And won't clean up afterwards. - they never fully finish the job. -left our tub open and hole in our wall attempting to fix the tub. Just ridiculous. - I couldn't even shower Bc they took the nozzle off for working on it for a full day of like 10 hours! I come home to unfinished mess! - to this day 11/03 my move out date! Water problem is still NOT fixed. Created mold, piss smell! We had to move out early Bc of it! - we refuse to not pay rent for last month Bc of health issues this place created. !!!!Do NoT Move Here!!!! No read more

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Pros-Big walk-in closet space, sink outside of bathroom, monthly rent is not too expensive Cons-limited parking spaces, animals attack the trash if left outside overnight, ROACHES in the apartment, LIZARDS in the apartment, dirty mailbox area. My stay was short lived due to pest control issues. read more

Terrible place and rundown! There are so many issues I do not know where to start. In the year we have been here the AC has broken 7 times! The dryer 4 times! They do night keep the outdoor areas clean at all. It's actually disgusting to walk by. The balcony has never been cleaned since we moved here. The gates to get in are broken every other month. The place needs a overhaul. If you are looking to rent DO NOT pick this place! They show you a beautiful unit that's all updated. Then you get yours and it's a piece of shit! You complain and complain and they do nothing about it. Actually ridiculous that I pay $1500 a month for my son to live here and go to his college. Management doesn't care! read more

BEWARE OF BUGS!!! Fruit flies, ants, and roaches the entire time! First the flies. We made homemade fly traps and 6 fly ribbons throughout the apt. They'd fill overnight! It helped, but they were never gone. We had to swat the air as we ate. B/c of ants, we couldn't have any food/produce on the counter w/o a swarm. They'd come from every crack in the counters and walls.. my favorite, behind the outlets! I couldn't even use a sugar scrub or wax in the shower b/c the slightest drop would bring ants in the tub. The ants also trailed from the cracks around the window to the nightstand in the bedroom! Roaches...I've never seen so many! CHECK BEHIND YOUR FRIDGES! We gagged we killed so many. It became a morning routine to turn on the kitchen light and kill them all. Our kitchen was covered in traps. We had to caulk parts of the walls to slow them down. We didn't feel comfortable cooking in our apt. We had to get creative on how to cook, so bugs wouldn't get to it. We got used to opening kitchen drawers/cabinets to see multiple dead roaches or scurrying ones. We had to wash everything before we used it. It didn't help that our front door had a small crack at the top. Check your cars for ants. My husband and I only had ants in our cars when we were parked here. I'd go down the street to Wawa and they'd disappear. It was only here. Pest control? Moving here wasn't easy. We signed a lease, packed our old apt, and we were ready. Sounds good?? No. They call my husband to tell him that the guy in our apt decided to extend his lease after we already signed it. Then give us the option to kick him out on the street. My husband tells them to find us another room. When they do, they find more expensive ones and tell us that we'll have to pay more...when they messed up in the 1st place. My husband went off on them and told them not to call back until they found a better apt for us. Instantly, they found an apt we wanted available for cheaper. How did that happen? They also promised us a beach bag and towel with our last name sewed in as a move in gift. Never got it. Floor panels coming up when we moved in, light switches that are wonky and don't work. Welts and mold under the kitchen sink. Our dishwasher has always been unusable. There was water sitting at the bottom of it when we moved in. We put the empty dishwasher thru a cycle and the water doesn't drain all the way, so it mildews. It leaks from time to time. Our washer gave out shortly after we moved in, had to get it fixed. Our dryer gave out after..they kinda fixed it. It worked, but the dial didn't. We just had to turn it and hit the button until it would start to dry. It is broken now. Trash valet is a joke. They don't come all the time, and when they do, they sometimes come as late as 10pm. When they don't come, raccoons and cats will get to your trash. I've had to wait for them to leave in the mornings I've had to work. We had to leave our trash can outside bc if not, it made our bad bug problem worse. We were reprimanded once for doing that, but I don't care. We did whatever we felt we needed to do to reduce the bug problem. The gate is always broken and being worked on 90% of the time. Our numbers were never in the box to let us in the gate. We asked for our codes, which they gave us, but they didn't work. I see some people have fobs for the gate, we didn't. Pools are gross. You're not paying for just your own water usage..but as a building. We dealt with these problems ourselves b/c we don't trust you. Due to our early experience, how the washer/dryer weren't properly fixed, and the fact the bad reviews match how we feel, there was no way we were going to trust you guys to help. Why add to the headache. Thanks for also making our move out a lot harder than it needed to be. You guys told my husband one thing and me another. Blamed it on people being new and misinforming us, which caused a lot of trouble. Almost overcharged us, but luckily you noticed it after we called. You all need to get on the same page. New employees and old. Retrain as a group. GOOD RIDDANCE! read more

We have lived here for a year and a half now and have never been late with rent and ask very little of the staff here. We went to drop of our offer paper for our rent renewal on a Saturday and were told that it would be taken care of Monday and someone would be in touch. After a week passed, my husband stopped by the office to inquire and was simply told "oh you guys are fine" and then some excuse about the girl thats supposed to do them is 9 months pregnant and that's probably why it isn't done yet... My father has been in the property management field for nearly 20 years, when I told him what was going on he was just as astounded as we were at the lack of professionalism and customer service... Especially considering this property was just purchased by a new leasing company. Now that a week and a half passed and still no sign of our new lease agreement I tried calling today and of course got a voicemail. I left message asking for anyone to call back just to touch base as our lease is up in 10 days... No call back but when I got home from work my lease was in an envelope at my door. No note attached. And our personal information sitting out for anyone to pick up. I was again shocked that they didn't leave any personal note or try to call back. This is my home and I shouldn't feel this uncomfortable with the people running it! It doesn't matter when you call or the nature of the call you get an answering machine and no one ever calls back. When our water heater flooded our carpeted bedroom closet I left more than a dozen messages to try to follow up on the wet floors even after the heater was replaced and not one call was returned. We had to go in person to the office 3 times to finally have the carpet replaced. And the office staff always wants to blame the maintenance staff and the maintenance guys act like they have no idea. In my 12 years renting apartments all over central Florida this is by far the worst experience I have ever had. The lights around our building specifically have been out for several months, the gates are unpredictable and most often are just left open (glad we pay extra for that security feature), and the valet trash pick waste bin is to be brought in every night... I don't know about you but I find that disgusting, I don't want to store that thing in my home. We take our own trash (another waste of money on a useless feature). Yes the property is beautiful and yes some of the upgrades are lovely but those facts do not outweigh everything else gone wrong. To be honest we are literally counting the days until our lease is up and wish we had never renewed! read more

Cortland Lake Howell - Out view. - Apartments Near Me - Casselberry, Florida

DO NOT LIVE HERE! This place is an absolute joke. Came home from a 4 day vacation to find my living room and kitchen FLOODED with water and rotten food. Turns out, whatever the people were putting down their drains in the apartment above me was directly leaking into my apartment. And this wasn't the first time! Sink backs up and fills without you even using it. So disgusting. Lucky I was home the 4 other times it happened, so I could address the issue immediately, before it leaked into my kitchen and living room. I can't stress it enough, do not live here. What a nightmare. read more

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The only thing nice about this place is the convenience to amenities in the area. The so called renovations were knock off attempts to improve ambiance. Two of our new drawers in the kitchen were missing handles. Decorative rails not cut evenly. The paint job when we moved in was amateur at best. Charged $75 for painting on move out. Lived there over four years, we had painted a partial area yellow. The place was going to be repainted anyway. Come on..... if you expect policies to be enforced then don't move here. Wouldn't rent here again. read more

We moved in, and the whole apartment was unclean. There was dust, exposed wires, and even fleas. The floor where the stairs are outside was littered with random furniture and rice and food for weeks. The gym equipment is awesome, but only half the machines function half the time. To top of off, maintenance has not taken our problems seriously. Our fridge is leaking an intense chemical odor and all of our food tastes like it. Maintenance came out, hardly looked at it, and said it was fine. This is a fine place to live, but the price for the quality is so discordant. The harbor wants to charge $2000 a month for a 2 bedroom apartment that came with fleas, bugs, and a chemical leak. Really? read more

DO NOT MOVE IN HERE! My AC has broken several times in the 2 years I've lived here. It is also infested with bugs around summer time and they do nothing about it. On top of that I have called the office for three days in a row multiple times per day and nobody will answer my call. I have even driven up there twice and nobody will answer the door. Some body left there trash outside there door and animals got into it leaving trash everywhere. All they did was leave a NOTICE on their door for the past 4 days and nobody has cleaned it up and it smells like a dumpster every time I open my front door. read more

Another review, because this place needs to be avoided. I have found such a bug issue here recently, like other reviews as well. Cockroaches, spiders and gnats are everywhere constantly and all they do is "spray" - it has gotten to the point where I want to break my lease. I am beyond uncomfortable in my own house. It's ridiculous. Do yourself a favor and find a better home. read more

DO NOT MOVE IN HERE!!!' Can not wait for our lease to be over. Office staff are rude and not helpful. Nothing gets fixed properly or timely. Bugs and dirty grounds. read more

I love this place so far! The staff here is so awesome ! Right away they made me feel like I was home. Rosa, Ronny and Carla have been so amazing!! I had a few things that I needed maintenance to take care of and everything was done very quickly and professionally. They even hung a very heavy mirror for me. The inside is very nice ! It reminds me of a nice hotel. So far it's nice and quiet and the neighbors seem very nice and friendly. The apartment complex is clean and well maintained. It's like living in a resort. I highly recommend living here. read more

We just moved to The Harbor this month, and so far our experience has been amazing. Maybe the previous reviews are just outdated but I haven't experienced any of those issues. The complex is beautiful, and aside from a few issues that the previous owners left our apartment is beautiful. Ronny in the office has been AMAZING and the rest of the office staff have been friendly and helpful. All of our questions have been answered immediately, the office has rarely missed one of our calls. So far all of our neighbors have been very friendly and noise hasn't been an issue. It seems to be mostly young couples and some college students. If I experience any issues I'll follow up, but so far I've have no complaints! Highly recommended. read more

Nothing but great joy to work with. The staff is very understanding and willing to work with you especially when life happens. The community itself has been beautiful and quiet. Maintenance has shown up when requested, through and through highly recommended. You will not be disappointed with the team behind this property. The only update I recommend is more master br closet space and were golden! Great job! read more

If you'd like to over pay for what you get and have household expenses of almost 1800 dollars for just rent and power this is the place for you. If you'd like to be threatened whenever a friend of yours posts a poor review of the apartment because the management company can't afford to fix your AC that runs all night even after maintenance comes and "fixes" it, this is the place for you. If you'd like a complex manager that tells you that a 375$ power bill for a 900 sqft 2 bedroom apartment is par for the course, this is the place for you. I know there are people that come on here just to bitch about stupid stuff, but this is 100% honesty. I see families that are moving in here every day. I want so badly to tell them to run. But for fear of management finding some bullshit fine to hit me with I don't. I can tell you this. If try that bull shit again, not only will I call a lawyer, but I'll call the police to file charges for intimidation. read more

Firstly, I would like to say that I love the lake and the nature element of The Harbor. Now for everything else. So the beginning of my story starts about a week before I moved in when they called me to ask for a delay on my arrival. At this point, I already had my plane tickets to fly in. They gave me a $200 credit on my account to not move in for a few days. I flew in to Florida with no place to go. The day I was finally allowed to move in, they told me to go away for a few more hours because they were still finishing up my apartment. So I drove around, went to a park, got some food etc. Finally, I arrive at my apartment and get the keys. I walk in and was admittedly stunned with how pretty the renovations were, then shocked when I took a closer look. The new wood floors were scratched, doors were broken, screened patio was duct taped together as was the screens on my bedroom windows, paint of the floors, scratched cabinets, etc etc. I went back to the office and filed a maintenance report and to my surprise had to file many more over the next three months and threaten to move out before anything was fixed. Also, beware of the dog poop everywhere, the trash never getting picked up, the pool never being cleaned, no parking late at night, and extremely lazy maintenance men. Other than all that, the apartment itself is beautiful and so is the area. Good luck! read more

I have lived here for a little over six months. I had just got a new job (work from home) and had only a couple weeks to find a place to live. I was given a tour of the property (boy do they sell it off by showing how tranquil their pool areas are and how new apartments are the 2014 upgraded model). I requested a 3 bedroom apartment and had to go through the paperwork process (this was not fun and I had to call everyday to make sure everything was moving along). After I was approved, the first problem I had was, they told me the apartment would be ready on what I believe was a Monday. I rented the moving truck and had friends and family ready to go several days in advance to help me move. The day before moving, I get a call from the office saying that the apartment is not ready yet... Honestly how does that happen? There is a lake behind the complex. Very nice view and all, but the smell is horrible. When I previewed the property, there was no smell. But about 1 week after moving in, the smell was overwhelming. Family would come visit me and all they would tell me is how unpleasant the smell is. The gate on this property makes no sense at all to me. It can be 12:00pm and the gate might be closed, then it can be 8:00pm and it will be wide open. No idea how that happens but oh well. It is broken most of the time anyways. To be honest, they should leave it open all of the time. We have a barcode on the side of the car that opens the gate but one day we were stuck outside (along with about 10 other cars) for 30 minutes because the gate would not open at all. Along with the gate issues comes the issue of people who do not live here being at the pool. There is a gas grill at the lake by the pool so I invited my parents over for some bbq/pool time. When we got there, everything was good. We even shared the bbq with another family that lives on the property. Then, about 20 outsiders come in (none of which live here). They started smoking all around the pool and had 2 huge dogs loose around us. They actually let the dogs jump in the pool which at this point we left and called the office (which no one answered and they rarely do anyways). I got a callback sometime afterwards saying that this is not allowed and that the Police department made them leave, but at that point we had already left and didn't want to go back. Any noise from outside or from other neighbors is heard all too well from within the apartment. I don't just mean the upstairs neighbors by the way. Anything going on outside can be heard perfectly inside as well. Also, the stairs going up to the second floor are on the wall of the master bedroom of the apartment. If anyone goes upstairs, the wall shakes inside, especially if they are running upstairs. So if someone runs up the stairs at 2:00AM (which is everyday now), I get to wake up and know about it. Lastly, (this is subjective because they tell you about it when you move in, but since I was desperate so I didn't give it much mind), to break your contract early and move out, you need to pay 4 months rent. So for me, that is over $5000.00. This is tough for me specifically because my job asked if I could relocate and I had to decline because of this. There have been other issues, but this review is too long as it is. If you are thinking about moving here, I hope this helps you make a decision. read more

This complex is not managed well. Clearly Maintenance can't keep up with all the issues in the units. No insulation ....every time the tenant above me takes a step., my walls vibrate. The worst part is there clearly are people that don't live here enjoying the amenities that tenants pay for. The beach/pool area is lovely except for the fact that most of the time it's like a college fraternity party. ...beer cans , cigarettes all over the place. Its a nuisance for most of the mature tenants that live here. Management does nothing to prevent this. If I knew now what I didn't know when I signed lease.. I would have saved money and gone somewhere else. way over priced read more

Lived here for a year during college. The leasing process was not too bad, Lisa worked with me and did a great job. I had a non-renovated apartment but still loved it and had a great view of the woods. Anytime we had any maintenance request they usually came the same day. The beach, pool, and volleyball court were by far my favorite. If you want to play a game they are always people down at the beach playing. The only negative thing I would have to say is that sometimes my key to get in did not work so I would have to wait for someone else. Also, the gates were broken a lot so they were always open. read more

ADD. PARKING. FOR. RESIDENTS. we're paying $1500+ and that's not enough to guarantee a parking spot? There are many things that I don't like about this apartment but the parking is absolutely ridiculous. read more

So first off I will start with the good things. Maintenance team is phenomenal and professional any time they come out it has been a pleasant experience. Only problems I have had with them have been due to lack of equipment/materials provided to them. "Sorry we don't have the long snake here it's shared between our communities we will have to wait to get it" yet the maintenance team tried their best with the short snake they had and put in the time to try and resolve the issue. When my a/c broke in the summer heat the maintenance team tried to come and fix it. Once again they didn't have the tools to do so. From what they said they didn't have Freon to recharge the central a/c. Which btw they still have old as dirt a/c systems that kick on right outside my bedroom window that sounds like a lawnmower at all hours of the day and night. We live right across the street from a Walmart and the 408 unit complex doesn't have enough company money to go buy at least enough to get their renters a/c in the summer for 5+days. Some units are replaced but only if they completely take a dump and no longer work. In the meantime they gave me about a ten year old window unit that froze up and started spitting Ice into my bedroom after about two hours . The office team told me I had the a/c turned to low in the window unit and I only had it at 3/4 max cold. They taped cardboard around it and didn't put a window lock above it. I could have been robbed so easily seeing as I was on the first floor. This is a problem in the neighborhood seeing as I had my car broken into alongside 10+ other residents in the same night. Complex has no security cameras and an old man who sits on his phone in the front of the complex on some nights for a couple hours. My window was broken and when I asked to park in a covered parking spot for a few days they asked "would you like to pay month by month or for a year" I was appalled by the lack of empathy of the office team. I most definitely was not given a discount on rent or offered anything due to having to pay 300 dollars to replace my own window. Amenities are a huge selling point in this complex and those have been exactly what I've expected. Boat ramp is nice as well as the beach volleyball court. The pool only gets cleaned once a week in the back and with the amount of trees over it, it should really be done every day or every other day. I will admit i haven't been in the one by the office because well why would I when I could use a pool right by the lake. Beware when walking to these amenities for land mines because my neighbors love to leave their dogs poop right where it's laid. Pest management is a fee on rent but be ready to request it monthly because they do not do it automatically. Valet trash is 38 dollars a month but you can only use it five days a week after 7pm or you will be charged a fee. I work at night and leave at 5pm so for 6 months I've only gotten to use valet trash twice and pay almost 40 dollars a month for it. Who offers valet trash and doesn't allow you to put it in a container outside of your door? My rent after month two starts with a beginning balance of 70-80 dollars that isn't broken down and I always pay my rent on the 1st. If that is the water bill I'm paying more for a 1 bedroom apt than I was in a 3 bedroom house. When I moved in I signed the lease for 1246 a month no utilities included. Now my rent is 13-1322 a month. Still no utilities included. The office is polite and friendly until a problem actually takes some effort to solve. Also they have a driving school with 5+ cars that are constantly driving around. Didn't know I rented in a learning space for kids who don't know how to drive. Be careful if you have young kids because I guess we let people run their driving business here. read more

I am about to be signing my fifth lease here. I can tell you with certainty, through the ups and downs, this place is terrific and has been striving to make things better. Slowly but surely, things that weren't great turned around. Security improved. Amenities increased. Communication between office staff and tenants is now at an all time high. Erika, the property manager as of right now, has done an incredible job turning this property around. Not to say it was a horrible place to live before, everything was mostly nitpicking save for our first years security issues. The only reason I cannot bring myself to give five stars is because, again, nitpicking, there are no propane community grills. If we were provided decent propane grills in a gazebo area, this place would be heaven. However, there are lunch box grate grills in a few areas for those of you that don't need anything too fancy. Thank you Harbor at Lake Howell and Cortland Partners for caring about your tenants. read more

RENTERS BEWARE!!! This place is horribly mismanaged. AC unit breaks down monthly. There is communication breakdown between the front office and maintenance. The fire alarm beeps for days and days after a storm. All of the tenants in our building have complained. The office just gives lame excuses instead of fixing it. The front gates (that we pay extra for in rent) are always broken. I had one friend who used the pool while I wasn't there. She was harassed by the front office management who told me they can't allow strangers at the pool because the apartments are located in a bad area.... Apparently management can't tell the difference between a 102 lb lone woman reading by a pool and someone who is there to start trouble. It's a shame because the location is beautiful. Unfortunately they cut corners to save money. And they don't care about their tenants. Needless to say I will be leaving as soon as my lease is up. read more

I would like to update my review on this complex. I continue to have issues, but maintenance seems to be more on top of things. One man, however, seems very unprofessional (cussing and walking in and out of my apartment a lot). Everyone else is very nice, considerate, and friendly. Still wish someone would call before barging into my place. My school has weird hours so I sleep in late. Not exactly nice waking up to someone in your apartment. The gate is closed a lot more now which makes me feel safer. Someone stole my trash can but that's okay since they never emptied it anyways. Paint still chipping but I've learned to get over that. Floors scratch easy and you can still see where the construction crew didn't clean well. Noise still sucks but that can't really be helped. Still a relatively beautiful complex. Love being by a lake (except for bugs outside). Other than those things, not too bad. I don't mind living here too much. Anyone wondering about living here? It's worth looking into but there are many options. read more

We lost power in our apartment only in our unit it had happened 3 times. Duke energy said the meter was broken and the apt co had to fix it. We told them about the issue and what Duke said. No one ever came to fix it or contact us about it. We called the emergency number the person who picked up seemed like we woke him up and bugged him. As we sat in the dark in 75+ temperature. The matmence is very bad day or night. I am disabled did they care no because we don't want to bug the guy that has a job to fix and take care of the place if it's after hours. The place is not handicapped friendly at all even know the website says it is. All over the grounds there are steps and no ramps. The AC never worked from day one. One room would be cold and another world be so hot. The AC untils outside are so old every week they are out re-filling them with cooling. The gate never worked for more than a week and has been broken for over 60days. It's not a gated community at all. Not well manage and the matmence is the worst. The last time we lost power Duke Energy said they will not come out to replace the power meter because the APT owns it and would need to fix it. So we called at 9pm and was told they could not look at it to the morning really? Guess what guy never came at the time he said it got up to 85f in the apt that night. That is not how to treat people and a person who is disabled. Because this site say just don't put the bad well the good is. A nice beautiful place with lots of trees and two pools even knew one gets taken over by locals that just get drunk and yell. don't worry it's a gated community oh that's right the gate never works any way. Great location and the apts are nice and new fyi the floor plans they have are not right. All and all we loved it but as soon as you pay all your rent you got treated bad still no power and Duke Energy told us they know of a meter issue a long time ago before we moved in and told management. At this point can't wait to go back home to NY. read more

Okay I never write reviews but this one needs one. This place is terrible. To start, When I first moved in Carla at the front office gave me the wrong key to my mailbox, wrong gate code as well as when I went back to fix the gate code it's still broken. The only reason I still live here is because I signed for 7 months and my credit will be terrible if I don't. All my neighbors always complain even if I have a few people over. Now for the actual apartment. The complex is the nicest around my school where I need to be. Other than that this place is disgusting. In the faucet for one of my bathrooms and showers the hot is cold and cold is hot. The showers don't drain well. The dryer doesn't work and already had maintenance fix it once. There's mold growing in all of my faucets and drains. When I first got here the blinds to the main living room broke and are now broken again. There's no lights in either of the bedrooms so you have to buy those and get them installed. The closet light in one of the rooms doesn't work. The toilets were disgusting. The fridge had bugs in it. The ac has broken twice (85 degrees in your apartment isn't too comfortable let me tell you). The closet door is broken. And the maintenance guy when he talked to me was so rude and disrespectful talking to me about the ac which I clearly didn't know about. The top of my door to my second bedroom was coming off. There were holes in the wall from the previous owner. Not to mention all of this has happened and I've only been living here under 2 months. read more

My fiancé and I lived here for a year and we would have renewed our lease, but we relocated for work. The grounds were well kept and serene and the apartments themselves were up to date and spacious. The facilities as a whole are very nice and we felt safe. The complex has two pools, a hot tub, tennis courts, and a gym. They are also close to two major grocery stores, Starbucks, and some food chains. Maintenance always responded quickly and we never had major issues in our unit. After reading other reviews, I do agree that office staff is slow. They are friendly enough, but just seem a little incompetent. However, we never had an issue that couldn't be resolved with a little patience. The gate was an ongoing issue too, but it was a pretty safe street. As for the negative reviews about noise, our unit was quiet even though we had college kids next to us and a family above us. If you live in an apartment there will be some noise, that's part of the deal. After living in the area for a while and having friends in other complexes, I feel that Harbor at Lake Howell gives you the best bang for your buck. read more

This place is awful. My AC was broke the entire time I lived here. They would come up to "fix" it, which meant they would put more freon into it. The AC unit itself was dirty, with mud on it from where it would leak. They needed to replace it, but they refused. Even admitted by their own staff. This thing was held together by electrical tape. So this cost me extra in electric each month. They charged me 400 extra dollars when I went month to month, while other places are around 50 to 100. The front office people never wanted to help and I had to email them multiple times to ever come up and fix anything. Majority of the time I just had to go down and yell at them, where I was asked to leave very rudely by someone in the front office. Not only this but they were putting in hard wood floors then charged me for shampooing carpets. This place is a scam, the only thing nice about it is the lake area next to the pool, and it gets very gross and goes un cleaned for weeks at a time during the winter or fall months. The hot tub is broken and had been for a year. Nor had it been cleaned. They will tell you this happened all under other management but it is not true. Make sure you get a copy of the lease, and read it carefully because they will try to change things and enforce things that are on the "new" lease. I caught them in a lie by retaining my copy. Stay away from this place, unless you don't mind dealing with people who refuse to help you while also paying extra. read more