Waterton - Chicago, Illinois

Erin R.

I lived at Carrington at Barker Cypress. On May 16, 2024, a tornado hit the complex, tearing shingles off the roof and causing extensive damage to my unit. Shortly after, Hurricane Beryl struck, making the apartment completely unlivable. Since then, dealing with management has been a nightmare. Despite over 22 email threads exchanged, management has consistently refused to cooperate in providing a letter confirming the damage and my displacement, which FEMA requires for financial assistance.

For over two months, the manager refused to write the letter, and when she finally did, she has consistently come up with different excuses for not sending it. Most recently, she is claiming that I was not asked to leave, which implies that she expected my family to continue living in an apartment with mold and temperatures reaching 92 degrees. This complete disregard for our health and safety has left my daughters and me in an extremely difficult position.

I would not recommend this complex to anyone, especially if you expect management to act with urgency or empathy during difficult times. The handling of this entire situation has been extremely unprofessional and has made an already stressful situation far worse.

Ryan D.

I moved into one of their units. I will not say where to protect the staff, I haven’t had heat or hot water since I moved in 3 weeks ago. After talking to the maintenance staff, they informed me that they were understaffed and have reported issues on my appliances before, and that Waterton refused to replace certain appliances that were known to be faulty in the interest of “saving money”.

In the event of saving a few hundred dollars, for only a few months, they have enlightened one of their tennents of their awful business practices, to report a few hundred dollars worth of higher earnings at the expense of a tenant living in unlivable conditions. This place will sued into oblivion eventually.

Dave

SLUMLORDS!!! I made the mistake of leasing for a year at The Montrose, a disgusting, run-down building that grossly over charges for out-dated apartments. Maintenance never responds to repair requests and then they hit you with scam charges after moving out on repairs that they ignored for an entire year!!! The elevators are ALWAYS out of service. Get used to the smell of rotten garbage wafting through the building, the multiple dumpsters directly beneath the building from the grocercy store add an extra special aroma during the summer. And don't let them sell you on any of the ameneties, the entire building is unsecured and unmonitored, which leads to unsafe conditions and good luck getting the security desk to answer.

Debbie D.

I have lived here for almost 8 years and I have had mold issues. First time it took over 2weeks to get some one out and then there was no checking for leaks they just covered it up, then in the dining room they came in put bleach water on it never checked for leaks and now again same thing in dining room they came out Friday evening put more bleach water management will not contact me to let me know what is going on it is making my little dog and my self sick. I have had enough and I’m calling my attorney this is all unexceptionable. Waterton expects their rent on time but sure don’t get in any hurry to help their tenants.

GabbyDoesDIY

We have been dealing with BLACK MOLD and leaks at their Willowest in Vinings property.They have emailed the residents before to hold off on throwing away our trash because they couldn’t get someone to pick it up yet we still had to pay the trash fee.Someone stole the mailbox master key before, and all of us had to go to the post office to get our mail for two weeks. We are located next to a bus station and since the gate is broken at least once a month, you will find the occasional homeless person walking around and packages get stolen. The front office and maintenance are on two different accords. The lack of communication is astounding. They refuse to reimburse you for anything unless you sign a NDA like contract, which is absurd. Getting in contact with the regional manger and regional AVP to get extra assistance is none existent. My family and I have been living with black mold for almost 3 months now and no one on the Waterton team seems to care. It is truly insulting.

J R.

They're apartment called willow hill Apts is trash. I tried to rent a place here . Got approved and put down a 150 dollar deposit. They never answered my calls. Or emails.. long story short I had to find a home and looked elsewhere and was promptly moving into my new apartment . Which I love . This place is dirty . Smelly. And trashy. I literally wanted to throw up when I went to look at the apt . I'm still waiting for my deposit back . This company is trash. They're good for taking your money but everything else they ghost you. Read all the reviews people. Look for yourself

Azmia A.

THERE IS LAB-CONFIRMED BLACK MOLD HERE. DO NOT RENT HERE. You will face issues such as mold, unlicensed work, misleading repairs, damage to your stuff, & possible eviction if you insist on proper repairs. I posted all the receipts so you can see for yourselves. They're CORPORATE SLUMLORDS.

Since moving in over a year ago, I’ve had issues with mold/suspected water damage. I have allergies & initially trusted the maintenance team’s assessment of a “bad paint job,” despite my concerns about prior water damage.

In May 2023, mold appeared on my AC unit. The work order was marked complete despite no one coming. The issue wasn’t addressed until I escalated it, & even then, only after the unit broke multiple times. Photos of this also below.

Recently, I started experiencing severe sinus problems & noticed a mold odor. On July 27, 2024, I found significant mold on the air vent & was assured by Tiana Lewis that mold remediation would happen that evening. However, no one came & the office was closed the next day without any follow-up. Photos below of the clearly visible mold. (Later found out my upstairs neighbor had a leaky AC since June & next door neighbor had moldy items, but no one ever checked my apartment.)

On 7/29, Mariely Perez (office manager) said mold assessment & remediation was coming that day. DecoDry came with no equipment, claiming they needed to return the next day. When they returned 7/30, they performed an inadequate air duct cleaning instead of a mold assessment. I later learned from a licensed mold assessor that this was not proper mold assessment/remediation even though Ms. Perez & maintenance repeatedly called it a “mold assessment/remediation.” DecoDry did a terrible job & spread debris over ALL my belongings, further affecting my health & my cat’s. He claimed there was no mold (out of his unlicensed scope) & spray painted over the vent; paint job did not even last 12 hours bc it was so wet. Photo below.

Finally, on 7/31, a real mold assessor came & lab confirmed high levels of mold in the vent. On 8/2, they suggested only changing the vent cover, despite it being clear that the problem stemmed from a leak. Maintenance replaced the vent but ignored the leak & ceiling issues. Visible mold spores started growing on the ceiling after their half-baked remediation of only changing the vent. See photos.

They offered to transfer me to another unit & provide cleaning credits/moving credits. However, after demanding this in writing & demanding proper repairs addressing the ceiling/leak, I received a notice terminating my lease, requiring me to move & clean at my own expense. Photos below.

They also refuse to provide me with the license number for Andres from DecoDry, who I have confirmed is NOT a mold assessor/remediator because the mold license number DecoDry gave me belonged to the owner’s son, not Andres. If Andres has a license to at least clean air ducts, why won’t anyone give me his last name or license number? LOL, please. They know exactly what they’re doing and Ms. Perez, who brags about being a property manager for 14 years, knew damn well that was not a mold assessment/remediation.

Had an independent assessor out & BLACK MOLD, stachybotrys, was found, alongside multiple other types of mold. It's in the ceiling, behind the baseboards, & even on kitchen cabinets. Told them about it; they refused to provide me housing until I can move & are now threatening termination fees if they don't get a two week notice, as if I'm actually going to stay in BLACK MOLD longer for the express purposes of providing them two weeks notice. Code Enforcement is involved; request the public record.

Found out another neighbor in the building they tried to move me to has VISIBLE MOLD all over the walls since 7/5 with no remedy. Moving out, at least three air vents were leaking water on my things. The ceiling plaster also started falling down from a crack I complained about. Contents of my apartment were a total loss as there was mold all over my books, cabinet, and water damage to a bunch of things.

Ashleigh A.

I usually never leave reviews, but I feel the need to share my experience I had with one of the Waterton properties. I’d signed a lease after viewing a model unit, under the impression (after being told) that my unit was an exact copy with the same layout and furnishings (fully updated), only a few floors down. The exact was not able to be shown the day I was touring. After signing, I was so excited to get the keys to my apartment. Upon walking in, I instantly realized it was a non-updated unit with an extra wall, extra carpeting, different appliances, etc. It was extremely disappointing and not what I signed for, and although I was shown other available units, they were more expensive. Given fair housing laws, the property was not willing to provide a lower quote for the other options they showed me. As a result, I’ve needed to cancel my lease, as the property did not deliver on the unit that was shown/discussed. The issue now is that the property will still not return my admin fee, despite their mistake. I understand the fee is considered non-refundable, but my lease was cancelled due to circumstances that had nothing to do with myself. At this point, they’re simply pocketing my money (which I’m not in a position to lose for absolutely no reason), which is not acceptable, as it was, again, property negligence that led to the lease cancellation. The lack of consideration and response from Waterton around this situation is extremely disappointing, and I am looking into pursuing other options. Not only was an admin fee pocketed, but I’ve also lost out on potential other apartments I looked at. This was a very poorly-handled situation, and simply put, this is not how you treat potential tenants.