Bridget M.
1/5
They are horrible at communication, scammers, and liars. The recent positive reviews must be from their friends or paid. I know options are limited in Aberdeen, but do not use Spivey.
In July 2024, tenants at the Onyx Court apartments in Aberdeen received a letter saying Rentals by Spivey would be taking over management starting in August. I emailed Spivey immediately to see if the same lease terms would apply. The response was that the current lease would remain in effect, but they werenāt sure what would happen when it expired. The day before my lease expired, I still had received no updates. I noticed on their listings that new tenants only had to pay $25 in pet rent, while I was paying $30. I asked when I would receive a new lease and if the pet rent had changed. I got no response, so I just paid $25. Ten days later, I got an email saying I still owed them $5 and that now I had accrued $70 in late fees. Finally, they told me the rent would now be month-to-month and that the pet rent would still be $30. Excellent way to do business: completely ignore your tenantās questions until you can try to take more money from them without warning.
They had the outside of the apartments renovated, which was necessary and appreciated. However, they gave no notice that this would be happening. The renovations took about two months. The workers would start around 7 a.m. and finish around 5:30 p.m. every day, making so much noise that I couldn't hear myself think and had a constant headache. Again, I understand the need for renovations, but usually there's some notice. Water also came into the living room while they were pressure washing.
The bathroom ceiling developed black and orange spots that I suspect were mold or mildew. Spivey says this is unconfirmed. Of course it is because they never tested it. Iād never had this issue in any of my previous apartments or in this apartment until the pressure washing. I reported it and was told to just wipe it off and start using the bathroom fan. The bathtub faucet was so jagged and sharp that I cut myself. I told them, but they never fixed it. The fire extinguisher outside my apartment was expired by several years (2019) and was never replaced during my year living there. I didn't see any point in reporting it based on these other experiences. I did mention it in a complaint to the BBB, and Spivey had the gall to lie and claim that Cintas told them the extinguishers were all up-to-date. So that means that one, you didnāt bother to look at them yourself, and two, you are lying. I took photos of the extinguisher shortly after moving out.
I got my deposit check two weeks after moving out and saw that they had charged me $200 for a cleaning fee and $152 for repairs. These included fixing a small piece of one blind that broke off because the blinds are cheap and break easily, as well as replacing the smoke detector batteries. Insane. They said these were standard fees, though they didnāt mention them when I said I would be moving. All they said was to send them my new address so they could return the deposit. They also claimed the apartment needed ādeep cleaningā but provided no details. I went back to the apartment after moving to clean. I would never have done that had I known they would still keep my money. Absolute scammers.
