Settlers Landing Review: Beware of Mice and Poor Management If you are considering moving to Settlers Landing in California, Maryland, I strongly urge you to reconsider. My experience here has been nothing short of a nightmare, particularly due to an ongoing mouse infestation that management refuses to properly address. I moved into Settlers Landing in August 2024 for a government position and was led to believe this was one of the best luxury apartments in the area. However, I have now caught five mice in my unit, and the leasing office has done nothing but dismiss my concerns, blame me for the problem, and provide ineffective solutions. Instead of taking meaningful action, they have argued with me about my own traps being more effective than theirs and have shown a complete lack of empathy. From the beginning, the response from management, particularly Sheila Mackle (The Leasing Manager), has been appalling. After catching my first mouse in October, I was initially assured that maintenance would take care of the issue. However, their "inspection" lasted all of three minutes, and they insisted that all entry points were sealed. They left ineffective traps and essentially told me to deal with it myself. Since then, I have caught multiple mice and have been given the same runaround. When I reported the issue again, I was met with dismissive attitudes and told, "Some apartments have mice, and some don't." When I asked why that was acceptable for a so-called luxury apartment, they had no real answer. The exterminators they send spend less than a minute in my unit, contributing nothing to solving the root problem. Probably because they already know that there is a problem, they are just showing face for appearances. Sheila Mackle has not only failed to provide any solutions but has also been rude, condescending, and outright dishonest. She has blamed me for the problem, implied that I am making too much of a fuss, and even tried to prevent me from posting reviews about my experience. It is clear that she is simply a mouthpiece for higher-ups like Ron Nichols (her boss), who has ignored all my emails and has never spoken to me directly. After speaking with other tenants, I have learned that I am far from the only one experiencing this issue. Some residents have been dealing with mice for years, while others have been told similar misleading statements by management. One neighbor even told me he had to remove a pregnant mouse from his home. Despite this, Sheila Mackle and her team continue to claim this is not a widespread issue. Why This Matters? This is not just about mice; it is about a management team that refuses to take accountability and does not care about the well-being of its tenants. Settlers Landing is falsely advertised as a luxury living space, yet tenants are expected to tolerate infestations and mistreatment from staff. Not only that but then want to spike the price up by 200$ when you want to renew the lease, as if they are worth it. I am already paying for a 1 bed room for +2000$ for mice to be living with me. That is unacceptable. The mice is the biggest issue but, I still have dealt with no heat for three weeks (during a winter storm I might add), gnats, paying fines for trash when the trash service does a poor job of picking up trash overnight, water pressure low and more. But those issues to me at least are minor compared to where I draw the line which is mice. I have now contacted the St. Mary's County Health Department regarding this issue, and I urge others experiencing similar problems to do the same. If you are considering moving here, think twice. Management will gladly take your money, but when problems arise, they will gaslight you, ignore your concerns, and leave you to fend for yourself. Save yourself the frustration and look elsewhere for housing. Settlers Landing is not worth the headache or the price. I promise you this is not luxury. Please find my pictures and email attachments to everything I am saying as proof that this is not the best apartment for the price they are asking. read more

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This apartment is infested with rats and the people in the leasing office act as if it's a common thing. Maintenance doesn't make any real effort to eradicate the issue and pest control doesn't come out regularly to address the issue. To call themselves luxury and charge and exorbitant fee no one should have to live in an apartment with rat traps in every corner. read more

Settler's Landing - Apartments Near Me - California, Maryland

Moving out ..beware I lived in SL for six months. Upon move out there was a small peach carpet stain the size of a quarter and they charged us $1200 to replace the carpet in the entire apartment!!!. When asked why...the management company stating that they need the carpet to match. Really 6 month old carpet? They will find charges to justify their vacancies....beware read more

I would have to say this place pretty close to perfect as you can get for apartment living. Their is a dog park, a beautiful club house and pool, fitness center and unbelievably responsive maintenance staff. Its in a great area, close to shopping and solomon's island and still not that far from Waldorf. The office staff is always friendly and ready to bend over backwards to help. My favorite perk about living here though is that trash pickup comes right to my front door. I dont have to drag my trash bags to the dumpster, although there are several on the property if you so desire. Highly recommend this place for anyone desiring apartment living in St. Mary's County, MD read more

I'm very pleased with my experience at Settlers Landing. Clean complex and apartments. The staff is reliable and friendly. They even were understanding with a complicated move out. Great place to live. read more

I lived in Settlers' Landing for about two years and overall had a positive experience. The apartments are nice and offered a lot of space. The maintenance crew was awesome and was always quick to fix problems. I like the location being close to Harris Teeter and Target. I originally had wanted to live in the Apartments at Wildewood but they had no availability. I'd say both complexes are about equal. The pool is provided as an amenity but it's extremely small and especially with COVID restrictions it was difficult to even be able to go because families would book up the space. My only other major complaint was the rent increases. The lease renewals were over $400 over the two years which seems pretty ridiculous. The reason cited was "inflation"... again ridiculous... considering inflation is not 18%. I will say when COVID hit, the management did work with me to find a more reasonable month-to-month rate while I was working on moving to a house. read more

Nice apartments with beautiful kitchens and spacious balconies. We love our balcony's wooded view. We love the valet trash service. The best part of living here is the excellent management, and super fast maintenance. The online payment and maintenance submissions are super easy and effective. We love living here! Plus it's gorgeous and quiet and the pool is great. Only complaint is the kitchen is dark, not much natural light, and the dumpster is always overflowing read more

Settlers Landing is the best apartment complex available in St. Mary's County within a 15 minute radius of the Naval Air Station base. The staff is personable & friendly; the clubhouse is always clean, parking spaces are abundant (that's important), and for the most part the community is quiet. My only two gripes are with the pricing and the "thin" walls. I'm paying $1295 for 808 sq ft, not exactly the most affordable option around, but worth it for now. The walls are paper thin. I'm on the 2nd floor & I can hear my upstairs neighbors conversations (he talks loudly) and anytime he walks in the apartment (heavy foot steps). There are times he walks so heavily that my lights flicker (especially in the kitchen). I've spoken to him about this & he apologizes before saying "I just have a heavy step". That heavy step + thin walls + cheap carpet with little to no padding = sounds like elephants live above me. That's why I rated this place 4 stars. Growing up here locally, I knew I wanted to avoid living in Great Mills MD or any place south of the local Walmart. With that in mind, I'm left between "The Apartments at Wildwood" or Settlers Landing. What was so appealing to me when I initially began my search was the deal Settlers Landing was offering when I first applied in July 2014. The offer was: First two months of rent free if you sign at least a 12 month lease. That grabbed my attention. Wildwood was offering only 1 month free at the time. Next was the tour of my potential room. I loved the open layout, the granite countertops, the new appliances (washer/dryer included), and the bigger bathroom. I signed back in July 2014 & I just resigned for 15 more months (through Dec 2016). In the 13 months we've lived here, we have seen a great deal of good things happen. Snow is always plowed following a storm; that includes the sidewalks. The staff is responsive to maintenance requests. The trash service is extremely helpful in the winter months when it's below freezing & you have no intention of walking to dump your trash. Lastly has to be the many dog friendly areas available to residents. I don't personally have a pet at the residence, but my friends who do rave about it. All in all its worth the hefty price tag. Just remember my experience with the upstair elephants & perhaps choose an available 3rd floor apartment to avoid it. read more

Terrible. Cheaply put together. Looks nice on the surface however once you move in nothing works and the maintenance people (if you are lucky enough that they show up when they say they will) are never are able to fix anything. (Hot water has been a huge issue in the winter...).The staff in the office are the most unprofessional people I have ever had to deal with and fees on top of fees. Trash service that you pay monthy for however frequenlty they have not picked up my trash. The only saving grace for this place is location and that they allow dogs. read more

I moved towards the end of the June and wanted to wait until I have lived here long enough to give an accurate feedback. Whole renting experience was very pleasant, I was delayed getting to the office to see the apartment and Jenna and Shelia stayed later than they planned to, on a long holiday weekend. I was driving from another state and ended up arriving after 11 pm thanks to all the road closings and Shelia met me someplace near her to exchange keys/paperwork, that was much appreciated. I put in a couple of maintenance requests recently and they were taken care of the next morning. Office staff is in general, very professional and polite. They have a "can do" attitude and do not like saying no. Location wise, you cannot beat this place. There is a BJ's, Best Buy, many many stores and fast food, dining and grocerie store options. 15-20 minutes distance to state parks, if you are an outdoors person. Apartment itself is in great condition and very spacious and all the appliances are good brands and look very new. I decided to rent here after seeing it and glad I did. read more

Pricey for what you get. Depending on the style you get the square footage is tiny. Gym doesn't have much, but is good for a quick workout. Pool hours aren't ideal in the summer, open later in the morning than you'd expect. Whatever you do, DONT BREAK YOUR LEASE. I got moved for work and they hit me with over $6k in " break lease fees". read more

I was in Leonardtown last year for a job and stayed at Settlers Landing and loved it there. The office staff was so nice and accommodating. It only took 2 days to set up my apartment rental and I was in on day 3. The complex is very clean and quiet. The gym was nice and kept clean as well as the pool area. I was surprised to see a life guard at the pool (during the summer months) because it is not typical for apartment complexes throughout the US. That goes to show that this Settlers Landing goes that extra mile for its tenants. Would not hesitate to stay there again or recommend it to anyone. read more

Whoever built this place did so on the cheap. There's a reason the rent is so cheap. If they raised it people would have to think twice. Also they allow smoking in the apartments, so if you allergic don't rent here. They have a noise level but you can smoke. Also the people that live here seem to think this is their home. When you rent there are common courtesies like you don't thump your music from your piece of junk car at 0500 or your music from your apartment at 0600. Also no one wants to hear your conversations so yelling from your balcony or just standing next to each other is rude. If you are going to have a dog take him out for a walk or lock him up, either way don't let him bark every time someone walks by your door. Smoking kills your lungs and everyone else's too. read more

Not sure why the reviews on here are so rough. I've lived here with my wife for about a year and we haven't had any problems. Any time we've had a maintenance issue we just log on the online help request site and someone shows up within a day. The office staff has always been very helpful and friendly and are open 7 days a week which is nice. The apartment itself is very modern and comfortable, with a tank-less hot water heater that never runs out of hot water. It's very quiet, though you do hear a little stomping from the people above you. I've never heard any of my neighbors through the walls though, no TV or music. My only complaint is that the gym is always out of water. read more

This is a great space, I lived here for 2yrs. However when I moved out they nickled and dime me for every penny of my security deposit. In the 2yrs of my stay, my door never got painted and the paint was off the door upon day of move in. I was assured several times that it would be painted, lets just say upon moving out, it hadn't happen. The trash was missed several times, however maintenance was always on point. I enjoyed the gym that was 4 stars, but the pool hours was not up to par. The worst was the parking, no matter what with paying this amount each month and some for all the extra charges it did not see coming. Parking should be assigned two per tenant. read more

Beware of management.( I will respond to you as soon as I can, however I do not work directly for you, so I would appreciate it if you stop trying to impose deadlines on me to get you something. I will do my best to get the information you need in a timely manner, while attending to various other responsibilities.) Response from manager not what you would expect from an overpriced and under serviced property. Nothing will happen I am sure. Look around as there is more for your money around the corner in Wildwood. read more

When I read Luxury apartments I think of radiant or reticulated heating in my floors, I think of garden tub or full body shower panels. Wine storage, build in shelving. Luxury living. The luxury here is the rounded corners, granite countertops high ceilings and ceiling fans. Things that would be standard in many newer apartment complexes. The price tag is similar to many complexes much closer to Washington D.C. I have lived at Settler's Landing for 2 years and enjoy the community very much. The clubhouse and fitness room is luxurious and residents have 24 hour access. I am a fan because the property Manager, Jenna is amazing. Whatever they pay her is not enough. She has resolved my every issue in a timely manner (not that there have been many) but she has gone above and beyond to meet my needs. She is gracious and helpful. Her concern for the residents is sincere and I am blessed to know her. I highly recommend this community to professionals or anyone that is hard working and wants a peaceful location with respectful residents. The residents here are fantastic. read more