The Villages of Laurel Ridge & The Encore Apartments & Townhomes

Thank you Shawn! Not only for your excellent service today but also for being knowledgeable and kind! I’m truly amazed at how quick the response time was here! I literally submitted my request and within one business day Shawn was already wrapping up the job when I arrived home from work! Super convenient! Thanks again!

This place has a roach infestation and is currently holding over $4300 of my money that they promised to refund. Incredibly predatory practices, avoid at all costs.

Laurel Ridge told us months before our move-in day that we "should" be able to see the unit before we move in. Then they told us we wouldn't be able to see it because maintenance was being done right up until the move-in day. Then they told us the day before move-in that we wouldn't be able to get our keys until the afternoon because of maintenance. Then we were told at 11AM on move-in day that our unit had a massive roach infestation and the entire floor needed to be replaced. They claimed they had no alternative units available and no storage available at all, and we were given three options:

1. Wait "at least" 2 weeks (they would not provide a date) to get the livable unit they are legally obligated to provide to us by the terms of our lease
2. Move in to a more expensive unit at a different Morgan Properties complex (in the wrong school district for our son who is currently in school)
3. Be released from our lease and refunded

Even if we were willing to work with them, they were completely unwilling to even mitigate the massive number of expenses we now have to incur because of their mismanagement, and seemed completely apathetic at the idea of a family with 2 young children being homeless. We opted to be released from the lease and get a refund, and have heard almost nothing since then.

Morgan Properties is holding over $4300 of my money and will not give any answers as to when I can expect it back. After repeatedly contacting the leasing office I was told it "might" be 30 days but that even then it's not guaranteed.

The people I've spoken to at the leasing office seem incredibly powerless and are not even allowed to give basic information about the timeline of maintenance or what maintenance is being done or when we can expect refunds, things that I would expect any leasing office would be obliged to provide. They have also stopped responding to my emails entirely and will only give me information over the phone, which suggests to me that they want to avoid creating any evidence of our correspondence in case they opt not to give me the refund they've promised me or decide at the last minute to hold me to the lease despite what they've repeatedly promised over the phone.

If you have absolutely no other options other than to live here then I offer you my deepest condolences and suggest you exercise extreme caution. If you do have other options then I'd highly recommend choosing anything but Laurel Ridge.

Great customer service
Trustworthy
Skinny guys with the fatttist smiles
Cool maintenence dudes

The maintenance staff was always friendly and helpful and the neighborhood was generally pleasant to live in.

However, my experience with the leasing office was consistently very poor. From the start they pushed back our move-in date at the last minute despite our apartment being listed as "available now" online. After our first month living there they erroneously charged us over a thousand dollars and argued with loads of sass before ultimately removing the charges. Messages/calls were almost never returned and it took repeated visits to the office to get anything taken care of. It was very difficult to get a direct answer on anything. We had one incident where an unattended and off leash dog rushed me and my dog while on a walk which caused a minor injury to my dog's leg. Despite calling the office and discussing this in person, no action was ever taken to my knowledge and the dog in question continued to be an issue.

The two stars goes solely to the beauty of the neighborhood.it's a gorgeous complex and lots of space to walk.however, Quinn and Katie in the leasing office are incredibly unknowledgeable.every question we brought to them was "i don't know" "i'm not sure" "i'll have to ask and get back to you. " and of course, they would never get back to us unless we brought it up several times.a huge issue we faced was dogs being off leash in the neighborhood.we walked our dog and a dog came running up to her and it caused her to injure her back leg.when we brought this up to Katie in the leasing office, she told us they would definitely send out a letter or notification to all residents that leashing is mandatory, and of course they didn't and of course another off leash dog rushed our dog while on a walk.other than this, maintenance was really great and always in and out quickly.

We put in the request pretty early in the morning and maintenance was here within the hour. They were very quick and friendly with the service.

The office staff and maintenance team has been awesome here. They are quick to respond and help out. I’ve had nothing but a great experience so far. Quinn & Kayla in the office & Keith & Austin in Maintenance have been so great to deal with!

My lockwas tampered with and I ohined office they sent the maintenance team right away! Keith and Shawn did a terrific job getting me Into my home. Awesome job for maintenance team!

They raised their average rent 16% from 2021 to 2022 and 6% from 2022 to 2023. This is well above market expectations for the condition of these units. They have made recent upgrades to the community like a dog park and playground in the last few years but now residents are charged $60 a month for Amenity Fees, even if they don't use the Amenities. They charge for Trash and water bill is split between all residents in the various buildings regardless of personal use. They often replace the carpet when residents move out and charge them for it, even if it's normal wear and tear. The buildings had a lot of mold in mid-2022. The carpets have been replaced but residents are already starting to damage and abuse it. In many ways the community is polished and painted to look good, but the actual quality is not there. Triple Crown recently built new units in the area for similar rent but in much cleaner conditions. Blue Ridge Mountain apartment, for example.
In some of the responses to these reviews it appears management is giving evasive answers, like the one made by Stephanie R.to Keelan (past tenant). Stephanie R.states that past residents are not allowed to enter the unit after another resident moves in. Perhaps that applies to past residents, but the lease allows management to enter the units with proper notice. And it would certainly allow management to enter the unit and take photos of the new flooring/carpet after charging someone hundreds of dollars for it, as they claim. This inaccurate information was given after Kaleen was charged with alleged damage to the unit that was "hard to see in photos” so no evidence was sent to her for the charges but she was still expected to pay.

Their billing and move out practices appear to be predatory Landlord actions one might see with lower grade units and poorly run communities. They also appear to have very high turnover with their staff. If you decide to live here, do a thorough walk-around with photos and even videos. Document everything to ensure you're treated fairly on your move out date. Make sure the photos are high quality and focus primarily on the carpet, floors and walls.

This review, and other reviews done via this account, will be updated over time. They are not a single instance review. Any business reviewed will be visited every quarter, indefinitely, for updates aimed at keeping the community informed. These regular visits may include pictures, photos and even interviews with current and past residents. Previously interviewed residents (or even past staff) may be contacted after initially talking to them (with their consent) to advise on any changes.

The location of this property is fantastic. I lived here several years ago and it was excellent. Moved out of state and upon returning, I thought it would be a great idea to return. Wrong. The community is very quickly becoming rundown. Maintenance was the only highlight about the community for me. They were very responsive and friendly. Office staff barely was on the premises and when they were we frequently were asked to not call or stop in but handle all business through email, which they never answered. Lease agreements clearly state the rules, yet if you complain, they inform you that you can move to alleviate the problem. The kitchens are quickly becoming outdated which drives down the value and rent is only increasing. Finally, I lived in the place for a year and a half. Took care of the townhouse like it was my own. Today, received a bill with a “damage” charge to the carpet for $125 on top of the $100 for standard cleaning. Why are you cleaning the carpet if I damaged it? The whole place is a scam. You split the cost of the water bill with your entire group of houses so, pray your neighbors don’t like long showers or to wash their car frequently. If you’re looking for great maintenance staff, this is your place. If you want a nice quiet place to live with office staff that truly cares for a great price… I would HIGHLY suggest looking elsewhere.