The Garratt, Westerville OH

I originally left a 1 star review due to a misunderstanding between some maintenance entering our unit and us refusing due to having a surgery that day. The manager did not know about this and once she found out she sent me an email apologizing and has been nothing but awesome to us since. The new management company still has a lot to prove, but they are trying and taking steps in the right direction. The rent in our unit is going up to more than we want to pay, we went and talked to them to see what we can do and they were more than accommodating and found us a different unit with rent within our budget. I know there is still some issues, but the manager Brittany is trying and is making a difference. She turned my one star review into a five star.

I recently moved in and have loved living at the Garratt. The office staff has been really helpful and responsive to my questions/ concerns. I feel very welcome and am impressed with my apartment. The neighborhood is great too, so many residents stop to say hi when I'm out walking my dog and I oftentimes see residents waving at one another. It's nice to feel like I live in a community rather than just an apartment complex. Will be recommending to my friends and family.

My family and I moved here shortly before Harbor Group took over. We would not have had we known that group was becoming the management. Since the change of hands, we have had an extremely difficult time getting maintenance done including to our bathrooms, and our vehicle has been towed due to the lack of parking and our vehicle being just over the yellow line, mostly inside of a parking area. No knock on our door, nothing.

Fireplace doesn't work, electric went out in half the apartment for a day (it came back on when they flipped the switch about 15 times and then left.uhhhh safety? That tells me there is a safety risk!), we have asked for new tread on the stairs that are extremely slippery, we have asked for the shower floor that is cracked to be fixed. We have asked for the shower door that is upside down to be fixed. On and on and on and on. Very little communication.

And they have a third party electric company -this was pre-Harbor Group. The cost is anywhere from 3-400 per month!
You're paying a large amount for a facade of luxury. Be warned. Run.

I am sure there will be a response here from the management attempting to rebuttal this message. It'll be filled with the empty promises we received when I expressed concerns to the offices upon their takeover.

I love it here! The property manager Brittany is amazing. She pulls any strings she can for her residents and the community. Every time I go into the office I feel taken care of and she has reached out to me personally to get some issues taken care of. The transition from management companies was a little hectic but now it seems settled and more efficient. I have rented for years, and while every place has some issues, this is the best place I’ve lived in so far. In this economy, I’d never be able to buy but I’ll be staying here as long as I can! There is always going to be someone who had an unfortunate circumstance and writes a review. I would encourage you to at least take a tour and get a feel for yourself. This place is great!

I would like to do a follow up with a comment that was left on here by my other half (Brian Largan-Lyman). First off, there are somethings that need to be addressed honestly by management. All communications are through MY email and always have been, even with the company before you. Through the email regarding the garage, just because you write an email two days in advance but fail to send it until the evening before the garage installers were to arrive, doesn't make up for negligence on your behalf. I have every email that has been communicated by your company with a time stamp on which they are sent. Ask for proof and you shall receive. Further more, the email detailed that a representative from your company would also be accompanying the installers to ensure safety and responsibility. No representative was to be found. The garage work itself was able to be completed, however, the installer "claimed" it could not be done, for reasons undisclosed. Ironically this was on a Saturday. Further more very vague instructions on the garage spacing for them to work. They absolutely had ALL access to the parts of the garage door in which they could have completed. However once again, no representative from our company was there to see as proof, which was in fact detailed in the email provided last minute. That also includes the people who cleaned the fireplace, and the dryer vent. No rep from the company. I have been here for the last 2 and a half years, and honestly, I think at this time, I think it's just best that I cut my losses and move on. Hopefully this company will be proactive and find ways to better suit their renters needs.

How this community has maintained even a 4 star rating that I currently see is beyond me. They love to send out last minute notifications on any and everything. They decided that if you have a garage it must be used for parking a car and then decided to update the doors on said garages. That is great that someone wants to invest in this dump but the way they go about things is horrible. We received about 36 hour notice that they were going to replace the door on the garage. I went out and rearranged things as we use it for storage.
We moved here when we sold a 3 BR house with a 2 car garage. Obviously the garage is storage. We pay more than a fair rate for rent here (over $1450 for a 2 BR flat). The installer did not show up on Thursday as originally stated but Friday evening we received notice that they would be coming the following day. We stayed home instead of working on sorting out a family estate to be here to hand over the remote when needed and assist if anything was in the way. The installer opened the door and took pictures and said I cannot work in there, I need everything to be behind the opener.
This is absolutely possible WITH APPROPRIATE NOTICE to make plans. This coming weekend we already had a truck scheduled to move things to a storage unit (additional monthly cost we have to bear due to their changes). Now this weekend we reviewed our account and discovered a $200 trip charge because the management gave poor instructions on how things needed to be arranged. The installer moved on to working on the garage across the street from ours anyway. Now management refuses to remove the charge. This is just one of the many issues we have faced since this new management company has taken over.
They love to throw blame on the former owners as well. No matter who is at fault, they own the property the problems they inherited are theirs and they need to own the problem and the solution.
Just like the trash situation when they took over, they blamed the lack of service on Cortland. Even if it was their fault they didn't try to make anyone whole by crediting them for the days of service which we paid for and they did not perform on their part of the agreement. Their maintenance is subpar as well, we had a bath fan that the vent cover was hanging down. Their solution was to put a screw in it, not replace it and have it look proper and professional but put a screw in it and have it look like trash.
Our sliding door is a security concern as you can simply wiggle it and the lock pops open. We have to place a bar in the door to ensure nobody can break in or my ESA cannot escape by simply bumping the door unlocked and open.
When it rains the water runs over the edge of the wall in our utility room and behind the washer and dryer, we believe also behind the furnace as well. I have asked for maintenance to install a furnace filter and they said someone else would come back to do it but never did. It was removed by the maintenance staff from Cortland when they thought it was causing an air flow issue and keeping the furnace from firing. I later did a YouTube search and found the flame sensor needed cleaned which I was able to fix on my own.
We are definitely NOT renewing our lease (which they wanted an increase from $1458 to $1631 for the new term). This place is just despicable, with the costs to live here it is definitely not worth it.
The sub-metered electric and water utilities are out of sight and far from what you should be paying. The community water charge of between $30-43/month is absolutely ludicrous. If you really factor that out this company is taking the residents to the cleaners. Even at a 90% occupancy rate which it was much higher with Cortland that is $8100 a month just in community water charges they collect on top of rent, trash, trash hauling and any other ancillary fees they collect from people. They are fleecing people once they are in and really this company only cares about the money, nothing about the residents who call this place home. So much more to say but I am out of space.

0 stars warranted.
I will organize my response in reference to potential residents at this property. Please be warned!

Unprofessional behavior. While my laundry ducts were being cleaned, I was privy to a conversation on the walkie talkie being worn by the service provider. What I heard was management talking about a resident whose child was sick at home and requesting to have their services rescheduled. Then, the management proceeded to laugh and talk about the resident. Ultimately, they ended the conversation stating they were happy they didn't have to deal with that and it would be left up to the maintenance person walking around. During the conversation, I heard this resident's name as well as their unit number. It only stopped when maintenance told the management team to get off of the walkies with this behavior.

Notification of Services. We have endured more than 20 emails about people entering our premises in the last two months for servicing without out any regard for those of us who work from home. The 24-hour notice for the state has been abused when in the last week, I have endured people coming into my home, interrupting work meetings for services that were just completed before the new company took over. When complaints were sent into the office, I was able to hear about them, once again, on the walkie talkies as the management team laughed when residents complained about the constant interruptions.

Down sizing from a home, don't move here. There are current residents who have lived here 1+ years. In there time here many have decided to use their garages to store items that don't fit into their homes. However, the new management company, citing a lack of parking, has now stated garages 'must' be used for cars if you have more than one. For example, families with two cars must have one in the garage and will receive one parking pass. If the garage was filled with items, they were told to empty it. When we first moved into the apartments we were assigned parking spots and the community included signage stating this fact. For the last few days, residents who could not empty their garages have incurred towing fees under the new and unwarranted policy. Towing is at a rate of $163 and $82 for each day that the cars are away.

Do you like to cook, don't move here. I have neighbors who haven't had access to a stove in more than a month. They've resorted to using other resident's ovens or using an air fryer to cook all of their meals. Instead of swapping out a stove from an empty unit (which there are many) they have left these individuals without a working stove.

Trash remains outside. If you expect to have your trash retrieved at the scheduled days and times, I recommend that you install a ring camera because management will claim you didn't set your trash outside. We have witnessed the new trash company skip over units repeatedly and we've had to bring it to their attention while we've been outside. On days when we are not outdoors and trash gets missed, the management team questions when the trash was placed outside and never accepts the fact that the company isn't doing the job they claim.

Utility Over Charges. The utilities in Westerville OH are some of the lowest in the state. However, not here. NEP is contracted with this complex and charges additional fees for their services. Additionally, you have community electric charges included. The community charges wouldn't be so bad accept for the fact that the vacant apartments have the lights on all night and throughout the day.

BBB says F. Read the posts about the new management company before signing your lease. Harbor Group has an F with the BBB for a reason. We've had nothing but issues since they've come on board in the summer of 2023 and we are beyond happy to be leaving. Do your research.

I’ve been a resident at The Garratt for a few months now and love the maintenance, management and amenities! The location can’t be beat as well. Just a few mins away from all of the new stuff on 161- target, crumbl, Starbucks, tropical smoothie etc!
Brittany and Bea are two of the nicest girls I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and they try to make everyone feel at home.
The maintenance is quick and communicates if there is a delay.
Love the pool and the gym!

They say stellar service. I say stellar gossip. This place is a joke. Your copy/paste response is insulting.

Update! I wrote this 3 days ago. Notice they have nothing to say when they know they are in the wrong. Also notice that there are a lot of good reviews going back 4 months but once they took over in July it's been nothing but bad reviews. Please look into other places to stay. This place is horrible to its tenants.

Don't rent from these people. They talk about you to other residents. Specifically Brittany. She has talked to me about other residents and has talked about me to tenants that are friends of mine. She should be fired.
Your guests can't even park in the parking lot. They have to park on the main road and walk to your apartment no matter how far they have to walk. Tenants are moving out left and right. I highly suggest looking somewhere else to live. There are more issues than this. Trash issues etc. When this was under Cortland management, I had no issues. Dana was awesome.
When the management has no problem talking about residents to other residents, that's a HUGE problem.

I would strongly encourage people to do their research on Harbor Group before moving here. STRONGLY. We lived in the community a little over 3 years. I can tell you that during those three years, we never had an issue. Once the new company took over, the amount of trash that they allow to overflow is a rodent and bug issue. Then, after a horrible event happened in our community and my own son was so affected, they only cared about their bottom line. While I won't go into the personal nature of the event, understand I wouldn't be writing it if it wasn't a horrible situation. Lastly, I find out through a friend of ours that they were saying terrible things about us! That we were filfhy people and that out apartment was filthy! While I didn't get down and scrub baseboards and the carpet needed replaced (apartment carpet that had been lived on 3 years prior to our three years!), I spent two days scrubbing! Refrigerator, stove, bathrooms, etc! How dare they! So unprofessional! I just can't express my true disappointment. While I am sure the team will just roll their eyes at this message and gossip more lies about me, it is ok. I know the truth.

The new management is awful. They are nice, but that is about it. They rarely ever answer the phones. The new trash service they offer is a joke. One tiny trash can that they expect you to put your trash in? My last work order took 2 months! I have also been in apartment leasing for almost 7 years and all the excuses they give are just that. Excuses. I have heard a lot of horror stories from other management companies who know of the Harbor Group as well. After reading these reviews I am not surprised to see that every single one of them is a 0-1 star since the Harbor Group took over. I would NOT recommend moving here if you can avoid it.

The New management sucks if you planning to move here please look elsewhere. They charge you to get picked your trash but they parlay will come and pick it up and if you have any maintenance you will for over a month I was told don’t use your restroom and use the second bathroom until it gets fixed and do you think that’s normal I’m paying $1500 I need my Serivce to be done like the old management and if you have questions the phones will never get picked up and when you go to the office you will get disrespected and professional way I’m sorry but I can’t wait to move out here asap and I will not referred anyone to move here

This place is absolutely beyond me. This is my first experience moving out on my own and this management absolutely ruined it. Two weeks before moving in we lost communication with everyone there, only to find out a completely new management had moved in. Changing the phone #, website, everything with no heads up. Had we not called and checked in (after DAYS of trying to call and call), they would have had no record of us moving in- we could have literally been homeless. Our walk through was scheduled the day before our move in day, it was DISGUSTING. Garbage from previous tenants, half of the lights did not work, grime and filth everywhere, a wood rotted balcony that we dont feel safe using, an outdoor garbage container that was rotting in the summer heat (smelled rancid) etc. On move in day, me and my sister prepared to pick up our keys for OUR apartment, only to be looked in the eyes and asked if i was aware i WASNT on the lease. Absolute nightmare moving in to find the apartment was STILL FILTHY after they TOLD US and promised it was cleaned the day before (it had literally not been touched). Had wasps infest our apartment two weeks in. Been moved in a month and a half now and thought everything was finally going well until new updates state guests now have to park half a mile away and walk up a steep hill with no streelights or sidewalks (“temporarily”). They take amazing care of the model unit they show potential residents. Thats about it.

Please save your money and most importantly your sanity. Every bad review you read please believe it. The list could go on and on about this place and unfortunately its not over. Where do I even start? Move in was TERRIBLE. TOUR YOUR UNIT BEFORE YOU MOVE IN! The unit was not move in ready, trash left from past tenants, broken blinds, broken lights, no keys to the garage door provided which i was then told to replace myself. Fire place full of ash, and told it was not management’s responsibility to clean it. Maintenance came in ONCE to fix a light issue, and broke the light shade which is still broken, and told ME to clean it up. You can not get through to anyone in management as i feel they do not care or listen. Please do not move here and best of all, i moved in here August! This is only 1 months worth of issues.

This place is going downhill faster than a speeding train. The trash always builds up even with new precautions. The parking in fire lanes and on the grass is out of control. It's like let's just let everybody do what the hell they want even with the rules in place.
These photos are from over a months spread. Now the influx of racoons and rodents are coming faster than the landfill. Yea management doesnt move fast.