I have had to send certified letters to the property management company threaning to sue them under the Texas property code in order to get service requests completed. The last service request I submitted was on 11/02/2005 and someone finally came out to fix the problem on 11/23/2005. I have documented communication and conversations with the property management company and would be glad to share this with anyone interested in renting from them. The old property management company filed bankruptcy in July or August of this year (so I was told by current management), and the property was bought by America First (this is their first Texas property).

I spoke with Rebecca with America First (she is the first manager that they sent to Houston when they first bought the property). After assurance that this new owner's was going to make improvements I decided to sign a new lease. Things have actually gotten worse since the new company took over. There old staff was rude and the new staff is no different. When I signed my lease the apartments tried to change the terms of the pet addendum. I explained to them that this was a legally binding contract and the terms could not be changed. We finally came to terms and I signed a new pet addendum (with changes). The management and staff is very unfamiliar with the Texas property code and they have no intention of abiding unless you hold their feet to the fire.

New new saga has been problems with the water lines. The community has had the water shut off on three days in the last week and a half. Our water was out until 3:00 PM today which is the day after Thanksgiving. I have family staying with me and no one can even enjoy a shower or get ready to go out and experience the city.

Last week they decided they were going to fix all the locks on the property gates and left us a note saying to pick up a new key in the office. I went to the office and requested two keys (I live in a three bedroom townhouse and all I wanted was two keys). They said for security reasons they were only giving out one key per unit, but I could make copies if I wanted. This is obviously a cost savings for them and truly has nothing to do with apartment security. I then asked them about a gate remote (I have been requesting one for over 8 months). She told me that they did have some now, but they are not longer giving them out, but they are selling them for $25.00. I asked her if it was a deposit and she said NO. They are asking their resident to purchase these and we cannot even get our money back if we turn them in when we move out. I am paying $1,250.00 a month and they cannot give me two gate keys to the community gates.

I am completely frustrated at this point and I am currently writing our state legislature asking that they enforce harsher penalties for rental community owner's. They have to be held accountable for their actions and the state government should penalize them for not complying with reasonable requests. The current fines are obviously not enough and I encourage anyone having problems with their apartment community to start petitioning the legislature to implement stronger penalties. Please become familiar with the Texas Property Code and make them follow it.

J