Villas on 26th

WARNING TO FUTURE TENANTS! Probably the only review I've given to any establishment ever just because living here was so horrendous. I initially toured the property and asked if every room in the building had a window, the leasing agent said yes. The room I was assigned had no window nor a connect bath, horrible. After moving in, the elevator did not work at all for several weeks at a time. It was constantly broken and was extremely inconvenient. I had to walk up and down several flights of stairs when moving in and out. Management "sent" people to fix the elevator multiple times throughout the year and yet it was always broken. Next is their ISP, Wirestar, in which I had to call one of their technicians to physically come into our apartment to fix the internet. In addition, I had to personally set up the utilities through the City of Austin even though they use a terrible 3rd party provider, Simplebills (more on this later). THE BIGGEST ISSUE Simplebills is a whole new level of scam company. They "estimate" your move out utility bill and then proceed to overcharge you no matter what you do. At the end of the lease, in the final FOUR DAYS, they billed my apartment for 900 DOLLARS worth of water usage. In which my apartment would literally be flooded if we used that much water. They refused to give me a work item number to dispute with Simplebills and I am STILL dealing with the overcharge. As a warning to future tenant, lease with this apartment at your own risk. And for current tenants, I have you in my prayers.

This has without a doubt been the worst apartment experience I’ve had in college. 0 stars if even possible. If you can avoid living here, please do. I wouldn’t wish this level of frustration on anyone. Here’s what I personally went through living here: 1. The elevator situation is ridiculous. It worked on move-in day and then barely after that. For most of the year, it felt like it was broken more often than not, sometimes out of service for two to four weeks at a time, only to come back for a few days before breaking again. It got so bad that people started leaving bikes and scooters downstairs because no one wanted to haul them up and down the stairs every single day. 2. The security deposit process was a nightmare. We paid a large deposit at the start, and getting it back felt nearly impossible. At move-in, my roommates and I filled out the required form listing pre-existing issues in our unit: damaged pantry door, countertop scratches, a roach in my room, bathroom and carpet wear, cabinet dents, and so on. The form specifically said to turn it into the front office within 48 hours, which we did. None of those problems were ever fixed, and at move-out, we were charged for some of that same pre-existing damage. When we asked why, we were told that management had changed mid-year and that our forms were “lost.” Apparently the new team claimed the forms were just for residents to keep, even though the document itself clearly said to submit it to the front office. 3. Excessive move-out charges. Some of our deductions were for carpet or countertop replacements, things that seemed like normal wear and tear after a year of living there. The charges were so high that a few of us looked up Texas property code to see if there was any recourse. I won’t share exact amounts to stay anonymous, but I know several other residents who also felt overcharged and just paid because it wasn’t worth the fight. Personally, I and a few others are even considering talking to a lawyer who handles tenant issues like this. This is based entirely on my experience (and what a few friends here also went through). I can’t speak for everyone, but if you’re thinking about signing a lease, just know this might be what you’re getting into.