The Hartlan - Linden, New Jersey

Michaela W.

My boyfriend and I lived here for 2 years. We loved our apartment. Outside the walls we were not happy. The building is beautiful however the other people that live in the building did not clean up after themselves and treated it like a pigsty. The management is also not great. When I lived there the management would reply to my emails quickly which was greatly appreciated. Now that we moved out December 28th,2024 it is now February 19th 2025 and we have YET to receive our security deposit which is $1,000. I’ve emailed and called multiple times and no one responds. They said it got sent back due to wrong address and I then texted the manager personally my address and still nothing. It is now two months almost after moving out and nothing. I would not recommend living here. They only care for you when you’re paying them.

Jailynne B.

From the very beginning of our apartment inquiry to move in day, Ania has been a true joy and extremely helpful! She helped make our application process and living experience here as seamless as can be. The unit we received was beautiful and up to standards just as promised.

The location couldn’t be more perfect. 30 min train ride from NYC, 3-5 mins (by car) from any major shopping store you need, and the neighborhood feels safe and quiet.

We really appreciate how accessible and helpful Ania has been with any concerns or questions we might have had. She is easily reachable day and night and you can tell she truly cares about the tenants and what we may need.

Thank you, Ania for making our new home a comfy and inclusive one!

Dave D.

On the day I was to move in there a power outage in the neighborhood but Ania M. was amazing. Ania went above and beyond her responsibilities in making sure that my move was as smooth as possible. The facility is wonderful and I would definitely recommend if you are looking for a good, quiet friendly place to call home.

Jessy S.

Outstanding Service from Ania: A Seamless Moving Experience!

I cannot express enough how grateful I am for the incredible support I received from Ania during my recent move to a new apartment. From the very beginning, she made what could have been a stressful process feel smooth and efficient. Her guidance at every step was invaluable, and I truly felt like I had a partner in the journey.

Ania took the time to show me various layouts, thoughtfully explaining the pros and cons of each option based on what I was looking for. Her keen eye for detail and understanding of my needs helped me find the perfect fit for my lifestyle. I appreciated how she tailored her recommendations to suit my preferences, making the decision-making process much easier.

What impressed me the most was Ania's unwavering accessibility. No matter the time of day, she was always just a message away, ready to answer any questions I had. Even on her days off, she went above and beyond to ensure my application was moving forward without a hitch. This level of dedication is rare and speaks volumes about her commitment to her residents.

Ania’s professionalism and passion for her work truly set her apart. She is not just doing a job; she genuinely cares about her residents and their happiness. Thanks to her efforts, I am now settled into a place I proudly call home.

I wholeheartedly recommend Ania to anyone looking to move. Thank you, Ania, for making this experience not only manageable but enjoyable! You are a true asset, and I am so glad to have had you by my side during this transition.

Joyce S.

I will start by saying that we have unfortunately lived here for 3 years. Their communication is awful and they often make mistakes that are costly and harmful to you.

In addition to the fire alarm soundtracks we’ve endured we also had to deal with the parking from hell we experienced after moving in (It’s important to note WE PAY FOR OUR PARKING) packages are stolen consistently and the solution is to send camera screen shots of the culprits and tell tenants to call the police. That is if you can even get a timely response from the new management.

There are also random new rules implemented whenever they feel like it. Gym hours have changed THREE TIMES since moving in.

Renting a storage unit ? They’ll accidentally charge you for two and you’ll have to pray you notice.

Mind you there are tenants living in the building who have been using the storage units in the building FOR FREE for over a year.

Getting a 2 year lease? They’ll forget to renew your amenity fee at the end of the year and then they’ll randomly add the $500 to your account and say sorry take your time paying it on top of your rent 🙃. It’s important to not that you are paying an amenity fee and quite literally will not have access to them because dog poop is everywhere in the building. The filth of the dog park is unlike anything I have ever seen. Images can be provided. Even equipment in the gym is broken.

Renting the community room for an event? You will have to clean it when you arrive because it will be absolutely filthy. This has happened at least twice and I have photo documentation.

Oh one more thing. WE DIDN’T HAVE A MAIN LOBBY ELEVATOR FOR 6 MONTHS. It went out of order in August AND THE BUILDING WAS SOLD. After waiting 6 months the lobby elevator was fixed and the freight elevator was then put out of order. To date the elevators still consistently break.

Also you may come home one day and not be able to get into your apartment because they programmed your key wrong. We have been living here for 3 years and it has actually happened to us twice. Need I say more?

Documentation can be provided for everything stated in this review. All they do is send threatening emails but do nothing to maintain the building. We will not be renewing our lease and are running far away from Citizen Linden turned Horrible Hartlan.

Veydh G.

2 year update:
There's been lots of ups and downs with this building covered in other reviews which are accurate for the most part, but overall it's a decent place to temporarily reside. The facilities are nice if you ever get around to using em (though admittedly, we hardly use it). The recent change (Sept 2023) in management was definitely a step in the right direction.

The major gripes:

If you live alongside the train-side part of the apartment, those trains that blow horns at 2am and 4-5am are very annoying. The noise from trains passing by are typically noticeable but pass by quickly so it's something you can grow to ignore, but the ones who blare their horn are something else, and it does happen on the daily. From speaking with other tenants, if you get an apartment facing inward towards the courtyards it's a lot less noticeable.

I almost feel like tenants are encouraged to turnover, given that contract incentives are a one-off thing. We also go through the typical rent-increases which are a pain point (eventually a one bedr costs near the price of a two bedr - for a new tenant). I guess there are no real incentives to keep retain tenants. So yeah, cool place to live for a year or so.
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New apartment building with a ton of amazing amenities;
- A zen courtyard, as well as a separate courtyard for grilling, hanging out and having fun (pool table and table tennis)
- The lobby, gym and work areas are spacious, modern and well-maintained so far.
- pet-friendly
- The building itself is located near a hub of places with many restaurant options and a mini mall + AMC theater within a few miles radius. Also you can just walk down the street, hop on a train and end up in Manhattan within an hour.

Nko O.

This place is not luxury anything. The upkeep is pretty bad. Halls smell of animal urine. Garbage disposal rooms are horrific, filthy, and cluttered. The stairwells have trash all over the place. The main elevator has been out of service for MONTHS. Any complaint you have, management tries to shut you up with excuses. Lost my fob once and it took 4 hours to get someone to open my apartment. The rent doesn’t match the quality of the apartment and amenities. The tenants are cool though…that’s about it.

Chris L.

I moved in when they just opened and left a year after, sept 23. Wish I broke the lease sooner.

Marketed as luxury apartment, but FAR from it. TWO Critical pieces that I will highlight for any residency to be considered "luxury". That is the actual properties themselves, the quality of the apartments, finishing, amenities etc. AND the living experience: how is the property management team and the service they provide?, how are the other residents and what does the property management team do to ensure a peaceful, SAFE living environment. Both of these are found to be severely lacking here.

Property management team has already seen turnover, and although the new team "communicates" via email on probably less than half the complaints, I've seen no action plan or improvement.

A resident in the past stole my delivery of over $70 dollars, and I went to the property management team. The property manager, Shanette Jones, is both incompetent and unprofessional. Wherever she has gone to next, I pray for the residents in that apartment. I literally had to force her to check the cameras. She told me she recognized which resident had stolen my delivery but refused to disclose a name OR mediate a peaceful reconciliation. Instead, she told me to submit a police report (basically go F myself) AND then told the culprit that it would be okay for 3 grown men to pull up to my apartment at 8 PM at night and try to convince my that it was a mistake when my apartment was isolated by the elevator. Way to protect your friends that commit crimes, and disturb my peace and make my partner and I feel endangered.

Residents invite their guests to park in other people's assigned PAID parking spots that aren't theirs, this is a habitual issue. Property management makes "threats" of towing vehicles without even having a towing company they've partnered with (to this day I’ve never seen a single car towed).

Halls reek of marijuana constantly, multieple incidents where fire alarms are set off past 11 PM, and property management said they found cigarette butts in the male lobby bathroom. BUT NO COURSE OF ACTION was outlined.

What confidence can residents have in the property management team to ensure issues like these don't happen again? None.

Residents seem to struggle with the responsibility of putting garbage bags down the actual chute. Flies literally plague these rooms, simply because one cannot put a garbage bag full of food down a chute. Found a dead RAT in the stairwell left to decompose. And when no one can enforce even what should be common etiquette, just leaves you to imagine what else could be going wrong here.

Property management gets complaints, says they will do something or "fine' them, but these issues are still plaguing this apartment.

I have not even gone into detail on the property and how bad of a job the builders did. 2 -3 years will wear this place down horribly. Floors are extremely thin, detailing on walls and windows were left dusty and dirty on move in (luckily we took pictures on move in, in case they try to put this on us). Door stoppers break ALL THE TIME. Worst thing was on move-in the bathrooms smelled like SEWAGE.

DO NOT COME HERE, you can get something better at these prices in places like Metro/Meridia in Rahway...actually cheaper. Meridia saves me about 400 dollars and gives a fullsized gym.

I got more photos, videos, email receipts of everything so would love to see Citizen try and address this. 3.5 stars?! get outta here.