Carlton Arms of South Lakeland

Brittany Hughes

My daughter and I have lived here for a year and a half. We live in a two bedroom, two bath upstairs unit. The move in processes was amazing. The front office staff has always been so friendly, and informative. I have only had a few issues since residing here. The first was a spectrum issue. Carlton arms does pay for standard cable that includes up to four cable boxes. That aspect is great. For wifi, you pay for individually, which is completely understandable. I started having issues with my wifi losing connection too frequently. After many company trips to the complex I was made aware that rats had been chewing the wires as well as the main cable wire that runs through the ground. After doing a lot of leg work to have spectrum “approved” to replace this wire, I was assured by maintenance that they allowed spectrum to do this. Later I found out by another spectrum employer that they did not and the wires are the original ones from bright house. After too many attempts I finally gave up and canceled spectrum and now have Frontier due to it’s fiber optic connection, that way I did not have to worry about loss of connection. I am a full time online student as well as having a toddler that has many programs that require internet. I could not afford to not have internet. Another issue was a few months prior to signing signing my new lease, I submitted the required information (updated check stubs) to request a location transfer within the neighborhood for a first floor unit. This would have been very beneficial for my toddler to have the back patio. I have yet to hear anything about that request. An approval, denial, or even stating I was on a waiting list. The parking has become a huge issue. (Most of the parking issue management can not help, for they can not drive around 24/7 issuing parking warnings) It’s a terrible feeling when you have to rush home after work in fear you will not get a parking space in front of your own building. I have had to schedule my grocery shopping trips around this issue. Is frustrating having to park an entire building down and try to carry in a bunch of bags, as well as a toddler from the next building over. Every weekend the neighbors across the street seem to have many visitors who take up parking spots for the residents who pay a large amount monthly to live and expect to park where they live. The latest issue is the water bill. I can understand that an apartment complex would have residents responsible for their own water. They were including that in the rent cost prior which was an amazing offer that I’m sure grabbed the attention of many of wanted to live here. However the pay system they have chosen is a spilt form. Residents are charged by the size of the unit and amount of residents in each unit. The total water usage of each building is calculated then divided by each units criteria. In my quadrant, all the residents but me have someone at home at all times. I am the only one that has no occupancy for 13 hours a day while I’m gone to work. The way the bill is being charged, we are responsible basically for everyone’s water. I find it very hard to believe that myself, and my two year old use $83 a month in water and sewage costs. Considering we are gone 13 a day Monday through Friday. And gone most weekends. My electric bill is not even that much per month. I do not feel that we should be responsible for everyone else’s water consumption. Especially when each unit has 3-4 occupants to my one and a half. Unfortunately the residents were not made aware of the water billing system that would be used until after signing their New Years lease for most.

rsg1988

I just have a question about something..Lol take no offense to this..but if you can tell me. It's a silly question but why does rent have to go up every year? Y'all say y'all gotta keep up on the property/other things but with everybody payin' rent...that's enough to take care of what y'all needa take care of. Ok I lied..i have another question...Are the pools really heated during the fall/winter? Some of us like it here but when y'all continue to raise the rent...it's like y'all are tryna get rid of us. We work hard at work...we fight with our employers as well cuz they dont wanna give us a raise. We come home and we stress because everything is going up. That aint right man! And when you come into our halls/homes.. does it look like rent should continue to go up? Everything is fallin' apart...my AC bein' 1 of em as it rattles every night keepin me up..then i have to turn it off so i can sleep. They've "fixed" it twice but i still have problems. If you ask everybody that live here...im sure a majority will tell y'all raisin' our rent aint coo. Ohhhh....here's another thing...We're bein' charged for water now? I love y'all..this is home...i and most of us have been loyal with our rents/not causin trouble but you guys are makin' things a lil spicy for us..and its gonna get so bad..people are gonna leave. We dont wanna leave but these extra costs are pushin us away. And just cuz other places raise rent...you dont have to. Y'all got enough money to do what y'all needa do. And anotha thing...we dont want a roommate to help with us. Some of us like our own space. Also i think its sad...there's a lady not far from me..she almost 80 and she stresses alot on rent...So to all of this...Why???

Skylar Beauregard

Carmen was such a big help! I had an “issue” with my air conditioner and couldn’t figure out what was wrong and Carmen came out as soon as she could despite having a busy day and fixed it in 30 seconds (I didn’t even think about switching the breakers so that’s on me and I felt so silly about it) Carmen was so nice and efficient and helpful, love Carlton arms it’s been my home for many years now ❤️

Maria Rose

DO NOT MOVE HERE. They knit pick and gouge you on nearly everything. I had to fight to try getting my ex boyfriend off my lease. Since they raised my rent by 22 dollars, I “can’t afford my apartment”by myself. It’s because of the new policy they put into place after Covid, requiring you to make 3x your rent monthly. Why you would even raise rent at all despite people being out of jobs for months, is beyond me. Even though I’ve been paying my rent for the passed year and have never been late on a payment before my boyfriend even moved in with me. I’ve been paying my rent for months now on my own, and they still won’t take him off. Money hungry, and would much rather try to lose a good tenant over 22 dollars, than grandfather them into new policy. They don’t care about their residents. On top of that, god forbid you lose your resident car sticker (recently got new vehicle and dealership accidentally took off sticker during final detailing.)......50 dollars...they want to charge you 50 dollars for a flimsy window sticker, even after I explained what happened. If I “can’t afford” a measly 22 dollars on my rent, how do you expect me to pay 50 for a sticker?The only bright side of living here is maintenance is always on top of repair requests, and the apartments are decent. Needless to say, I can’t wait till my lease is up.