Rent In The Valley -

Elise Haan

We lived in the Bella Terra apartments in Anchorage for 2 and a half years. Our move-in process was smooth and efficient.

We had some issues with maintenance the last year of our stay which is when the issues began to arise in our apartment. The issues that were typical for Alaska (mold, icy windows, swelled window sills) we didn't mind managing on our own. But when it came to more emergency related maintenance we were very disappointed with the service. At one point we were charged a $150 plumber fee to resolve a clogged drain; which was surely an issue a typical maintenance employee could have resolved. At another point I reported a clogged garbage disposal which resulted in still water in the sink for 3 days and I ultimately had to call the hotline each day to report that no one had serviced yet and they never came; it ended up resolving on its own after sitting for 3 days. After this we had several issues with the garbage disposal and dishwasher unit. When maintenance did come each time I informed them I felt the dishwasher appliance needed to be replaced as we have had repeated issues regarding the appliance; this was ignored. They then finally replaced the appliance 2 weeks before we moved out after we complained that the appliance began smelling like burning plastic when used.

On another occasion I woke to our water heater profusely leaking. We appreciated the quick response to come out and turn our water off but everything after that was unacceptable. They hired an outside company which took a week and a half to fix....in the middle of winter. We had no hot water or heat for a week and a half with an 18 month old child. We were forced to utilize our friends across town to bathe ourselves and child and bundle up in our home to stay warm. Rent in the Valley did not offer any compensation, help, or condolences for the issue. They also refused to consult another business to obtain the part that took a week and a half to receive. Even after we contacted another company who had the part and was willing to take over the project.

My 2 star review is due to the interactions with the landlord during our move out process in combination with the maintenance issues we experienced. As a military family we knew our move would be quick once we got word, we warned the landlord of this at least 2 months in advance and communicated every time we got word of our potential departure. Once we did finally give word she took her time sending move out procedures. We requested a walk through with her to ensure the property was up to par; she never responded to our request even after being fully aware of when we were leaving town for good and could no longer be there physically. After our departure, she quickly sent us a report stating our cleaning was not up to par and repairs such as painting and baby hardware left by the previous tenant would be our responsibility to pay for on top of a $650 cleaning fee for the baseboards. We opted to find our own cleaner due to the outrageous pricing which thankfully the landlord allowed us to do. We had some amazing friends come and pull the baby hardware (10 minutes worth of work) and that was resolved. We also informed her we would not be covering painting as she stated before our departure "not to do our own painting" and in my 10 years of renting have NEVER been charged for painting over patches. In the end, we did received our fair deposit return but only after having our phone calls dodged regarding the cleaning and repairs and only responded to via text message and needing to push back on policies that were not clear or stated in the move out procedures.

The apartment itself was perfect for our growing family but the customer service and inconsistent maintenance could use some serious help.

Sam Latta

We have lived in this property for a little more than a year. When rent went up, I forgot to add the additional amount to be autopaid (that's on me). I paid the 50 bucks I still owed and rhe 75 dollar late fee no problem. Autopay kept working for a couple months then didn't pull the rent at all for this month, resulting in another late fee. When I went to pay it online, I had a pop-up saying I can not make payments online. I contacted them the same day within their business hours to see what was wrong, and received no response. Upon further investigation, the 50 missing from my blunder earlier and the 75 late fee attached to it (that I mention earlier I paid) is back on the account. After still not hearing from them and being unable to make any payments, I returned home to find a notice on the door instructing me to pay the amount owed in full or move in a weeks time. This is all after moving into a unit where we were denied a tour, had a door kicked in and carpet tore up from before we got here, a dishwasher that doesn't work, an oven that smokes no matter how sparkly I make it, and weeks waiting for anything to be done if it gets done at all. We most recently waited weeks for the bathroom fan controller to be replaced after a power outage after waiting weeks for our request to even be acknowledged. Unless the alternative is being homeless, don't use these guys.

William Diebold

Good luck! They apparently only rent site unseen, no unit tours even after approval. If you want to give away $2,000 -$4,000 and sign a 12 month commitment on promises and pictures “from before the tenant moved in” you are asking for trouble; especially with how shady Alaskan property managers are known to be.

Additional info*

Based on the timeline provided there was availability at the end of July to view the apartment after tenant move out. RITV wouldn’t schedule it.

Matthew Chatterton

The staff at Rent in The Valley that I’ve interacted with have all been super helpful and very friendly. No complaints from me about the process of signing a lease and moving in, Lindsey made the process simple and efficient. The apartment itself is very nice and well kept. It’s perfect for me and has most everything I need.

The reason for giving 4 stars instead of 5 is the poor snow removal service and no mail service. While getting a PO Box is not really an issue, it’s just not super convenient. The snow removal service kind of clears the parking lot but not very well. It’s reached the point where people are starting to park in random places because not all the actual parking stalls are fully cleared. Also, part of the walkway in front of the building has had a large mound of snow blocking it for over two months now. They have never bothered to shovel the walkway. Neither of these are deal breakers but in my mind they warrant taking a star off the rating.

Overall I’m very happy with Rent in The Valley and would recommended them to anyone needing a place to live.

Sarah Noyb

.

Updating my review, a 450 cleaning fee for an apartment that was already clean is outrageous, it’s theft and greed. Especially when we rented from RITV for nearly 3 years, took good care of the place, and never once paid a bill late. How disappointing, but not surprising. And no, Noyb is not my last name.

Slay Queen

I've been meaning to share a review since June about Rent in the Valley. I live in one of the properties they run in Anchorage. From the first time I spoken with Lindsay, I fallen in love with her professionalism. She is extremely patient, kind and understanding. She gets on top of things immediately. She work with you to solve any issues you may be experiencing in your home. Also, all of the maintenance guys are very professional and kind. I am happy with my home, beautiful view to the Mountains and spacious rooms....If you are currently looking for a home, give Rent in the Valley chance and allow them to work with you.... Have a safe day ?

Samantha Moeller

They were pretty rude and refused to work with us at all! We were moving from Virginia and wanted to tour some apartments while we were on a trip to see the area. I called months in advance of our trip and they told us there was no guarantee that the types of units we were interested in would be available to see, but we could probably see similar ones or at least whatever was available. I asked if there was anything else they needed from us, but they just said to call them when we got to Alaska. When we got to Alaska, we made appointments to see some units. Then, they told us they would not let us tour apartments until our application was approved. Then, they wouldn't approve our application since we were going to have a gap in our income for a couple months between when one job ended and the other one started (we did provide proof of the new job offer). That was understandable, so we offered a few solutions, including giving them the money for those months upfront. When that didn't work for them, we offered to pay AN ENTIRE YEAR of rent in advance since we had it all in savings (which we proved to them). Apparently that is "a risk to their company." I've never heard of a company that refuses thousands of dollars in advance and thinks of it as an actual risk lol. We even had credit scores over 800 that showed up during their background checks so I’m so confused about what was so risky to them. I spent so much of our vacation on the phone or emailing them, trying to give them everything they asked for, until they ended up refusing to work with us. Their snarky comments left me in tears at the end of the conversations. I understand they have the right to refuse us for any reason, but they didn’t have to be so rude about it. It was very stressful since looking at the properties was part of the reason for our vacation and we later found out we wouldn’t be able to be approved for anything at all. It was especially frustrating since I tried so hard to work it all out before we came so many miles to visit. I'm so glad we came across "Rent in Alaska" instead! They made the process easy, accepted our application right away, never accused us of being a risk to their company, and we have loved them as landlords ever since! In the end, I'm so glad it didn't work out with Rent in the Valley because I would not have wanted to deal with them as landlords for the past year. We’ve heard negative reviews from friends, so we really lucked out!

Sarah Reed

We had a great experience with Rent in the Valley until our move out. We were charged a $675 cleaning fee for extreme cleaning, as well as several other small items that equaled about $800 in surprise charges. In 20 years of renting, I have never been charged a cleaning fee, nor had so little of my deposit returned. Such a bummer way to end an overall positive experience.