Soulard Market Lofts disreputable management; unethical; no respect for tenants; bad rental situation Saint Louis Missouri

I have broken my lease here due to leaking roof issues on the 5th floor of this apartment building... & the long list of other issues below that have taken 2 years to even address, most of which are not resolved. I moved in in April 2006. The roof has leaked for 2 years & recently caused damage to items in my apartment. I reported the damage in Feb/March 2008, but it is still leaking as of May 19, 2008. I was told they can't fix it until the rainy spring season is over. Jen Caskanett, the on-site manager here has apologized numerous times, but in my opinion, an apology doesn't mean the issue is addressed/resolved. I was also told I will still have to pay the penalty for breaking a lease, which is an extra month's rent. Even though they have a waiting list & assured me my apartment will not be vacant a day! Can you say 'greed?' Leaking poses not only a threat to personal belongings, but also a mold threat when leaking is chronic over years.

Other ongoing problems have included:
Unleashed pets. Lack of maintaining the property... even the basic landscaping is very neglected. There are dirty walls and floors in the hallways and cigarettes, beer bottles, trash and dog waste littering the grounds. There is often a dorm atmosphere with drinking, partying & destruction of property by some younger tenants... even a few instances of vomit left overnight in elevators. The carpets are stained from all the leaking on 5. They have been feverishly trying to clean this lately in hopes others will not complain, especially new tenants. No screens on windows & the windows themselves are never cleaned from the outside... windows are huge & take up alot of wall space in apartments. Internet is slow most times... kinda like the days of dial-up, but it is free at least. Jen blames the slowness on tenants downloading too much, but the service provider says our server is not adequate for the size of this building/tenants. I happen to live in a quiet section, but the few times there's been any kind of party or something, it is VERY loud. I can easily hear conversations in the main hallways... or if I'm in the main hallways, I can often hear exactly what tv shows people are listening to... like I'm in the same room. Same thing with cooking/smoking smells... no good barriers for anything, so some smells can be overpowering at times. Rents have increased quite a bit from 2006-2008... a 1 bedroom has gone from $815 to $895 in some cases. There have been 1 or 2 multiple break-ins of cars in the lot. There are also alot of non-stickered cars let into the lot by tenants & management tickets about a handful of times a year. Unlawful vehicles park here daily, though. Management seems to check for cars during the day even though we've all pointed out that overnight is the biggest problem, especially weekends. Poor insulation in roof & walls electric bills go as high as $189 for an 800 sq ft apartment. Air rushes in under the sills. I used putty to try & seal it. The maintenance guys told me others have the same problem & they have had to seal theirs. The fitness room is decent, but whenever the equipment breaks, which is not just occasional, it takes a long time to fix it... sometimes more than a couple months. If you experience any problems here it's best just to move... even the simplest of things takes forever to resolve. I once reported several times that 5 light bulbs were out on our floor & it took 4 months to get them replaced. That says it all.

Kelly
St. Louis, Missouri
U.S.A.