Summerstone Elite Apartment Homes

WARNING AND A BIG CAUTION if you are thinking about moving to SUMMERSTONE APARTMENTS in El Paso, Texas To begin, please know this is all my opinion based on what I've experienced from living here and from hearing it first hand from friends who left this place already. Before we go over the negative stuff in this review, here is the positive; the apartments are nice, clean and spacious and the staff is very nice. That's the positive, now here's the negative stuff: THEY CONSTANTLY RAISE THE RENT AT RENEWAL THEY ARE OVERPRICED TO BEGIN WITH AND THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES AT EACH RENEWAL UNTIL YOU FINALLY JUST HAVE TO LEAVE THIS PLACE WITH AN AWFUL TASTE IN YOUR MOUTH. WHATEVER DEPOSIT YOU GAVE THEM, THEY SEEM TO TRY TOOTH AND NAIL TO GIVE YOU AS CLOSE TO $0 BACK AS POSSIBLE. CHARGING YOU FOR THINGS THAT IN THEIR OPINION YOU OWE FOR. JUST HANG AROUND IN THE OFFICE, ALMOST EVERY VISIT THERE YOU GET TO HEAR SOMEONE COMPLAINING EITHER BY PHONE OR IN PERSON ABOUT SUMMERSTONE APARTMENTS KEEPING THEIR DEPOSIT. When my friend was forced to move out because of yet another rent increase (it happened at every single renewal), we stayed because our contract was not yet up. My fiancé asked in the front office if the rent will go up and we were told that it will every time. SO IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT MAKING THIS YOUR HOME, THINK AGAIN! THE RENT JUST SEEMS TO GO UP AND UP AT EVERY RENEWAL AND SOMEHOW THEY ALREADY KNOW THAT WILL HAPPEN BEFORE IT IS EVEN TIME TO RENEW, EVENTUALLY YOU ARE FORCED TO LEAVED AND FIND ANOTHER PLACE THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY CALL YOUR HOME FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME, THIS IS NOT THAT PLACE! This is a nice place to live temporarily until you are forced to leave with the increase in rent on every renewal. DEPOSITS ARE KEPT FOR THINGS THEY FEEL THEY CAN KEEP IT FOR BUT SHOULD NOT. WHEN YOU TRY TO ARGUE, YOU ARE TOLD THE MONEY WILL NOT BE RETURNED. Our friends lost their deposit at move out and the place looked totally pristine. The worst part about this place is they are overpriced to begin with! And then EVERY RENEWAL WE GET A RENT INCREASE! This is why the turnover at Summerstone, other apartments have the same tenants for years and years and years, my grandmother had been in her apartment for over thirty year before she past, how would that have been possible at Summerstone with the rents going up every time. And then it's even worse when they try so hard to not give you back you're money. I'm very confident that if they survey every person who moved away from this place, just about every single one of them will have a negative thing to say about the deposit on move out. There does not seem to be any place that regulates the rent hikes, so I imagine the management can raise the rents all they want, to bleed whatever they can from their tenants! You may leave the tenants helpless with these constant rent hikes but the nice thing is we can share our opinions with others online and in the community. So with these issues, what is a tenant supposed to do, MOVE OUT AND SHARE THEIR BAD EXPERIENCE WITH OTHERS, which is what seems to be the pattern. We will continue to share with everybody about what is going on at this apartment community. Also, not returning someones deposit that you claimed was refundable is WRONG! Just a little bit of information so you can come down to reality, you should understand that the carpet will not be brand new as it was when someone moved in almost three years ago (if it was even new at that time). This is part of the rental thing, we are not buying the carpet but rather paying rent on it every month to be allowed to walk on it. Yet upon move out, the issue is the carpet didn't look like that on move in so now you'll have to replace it and the tenant has to pay. If we live here for years and then move out and you claim it is on us now to buy you new carpet, you should understand that carpet wears out. It's like renting a car from a rental place, do they charge you for using up some of the tires and brakes that they will have to replace, NO, it is supposed to be a rental and these items will show wear, we are renting them and they can and do wear out! Not to mention, the carpet was likely used by someone prior to us and it may have only been cleaned, although they want to charge someone to replace it. IF YOU WANT CONTINUOUS RENT INCREASES TO THE POINT THAT YOU NEED TO LEAVE, THIS IS YOU PLACE. BE PREPARED TO LOSE YOUR DEPOSIT, THEY ARE NOTORIOUS FOR THIS. After knocking on doors and speaking with neighbors, everyone we spoke with was rather upset about how they feel they are getting hustled with these constant and ridiculous rent increases at each renewal. Maybe that's why the tenants that have lived here DON'T RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO FAMILY OR FRIENDS. We're leaving as soon as possible! Yet we will continue to share the experience with everyone we can to avoid someone else from falling into what we did. The maintenance is great and the staff is wonderful, the place is actually nice to live in BUT the CONSTANT RENT HIKES, AND NOT RETURNING DEPOSITS, IN MY OPINION MAKES THIS THE WORST PLACE TO LIVE IN EL PASO. Having lived in many other apartments in and out of state, this has been the biggest place to avoid on my list. Don't believe it? Just wait until your contract renews and see what happens. When you move out, leave the place sparkling clean and in perfect shape, then if they refuse to return your deposit that they claimed was fully refundable, have them explain why you can't have your full deposit returned as was advertised. This has all been my opinion based on my experience with this place. If you'd like to try them, go ahead. If you have a similar experience, hopefully you'll share it with others so they can avoid the same thing as us.