Not so non-smoking
March 29, 2024 - Review from Apartments.com
This is a non-smoking complex (inside units); however, we lived in two units that both had smoke in them and ultimately had to break our lease on account of the smoke, as the complex was unable to resolve this health-affecting issue in a timely manner.
The first unit seemed okay at first, except a closet smelled like cigarette smoke. Over time, the smell got worse, esp when the heat or A/C was on. The complex manager (who started shortly after our arrival) attempted to resolve the issue by ...
investigating if smoking was happening in our building and (when it was determined that the problem was smoke reside from a previous resident in our unit) getting the air ducts cleaned--to no avail. We had an air filter running as well. The smell was so bad that we hesitated to use the heat or a/c.
Evidence was found that someone had tried to mask the smell when we moved in, which accounts for it getting worse over time -- and is deceptive. I suffered negative health consequences from the smoke exposure.
They wouldn't let us out of our lease but gave us the option of signing a new lease on a different (more expensive) unit. We toured it first, and it seemed fine. But a few days after moving in, we discovered our neighbor was smoking marijuana regularly inside his apartment, with the result that pot smoke smell invaded our apartment. Despite efforts to seal our apartment better, the smell kept coming in. The manager tried to resolve this issue, but our neighbor simply didn't smoke inside when warned that an inspection was imminent--and returned to his practice after the inspection.
We had to open windows/doors to get fresh air in, hide in a sealed off back bedroom, etc. Meanwhile, some possessions from the smelliest room of the first apartment continued to smell like cigarettes.
It became clear that we'd have to wait weeks or more for a resolution, if one would come at all. We had already suffered negative health consequences and were afraid of more; we finally had to break our lease. This cost us a couple of months' rent plus lawyer fees. Mind you, pot is still illegal in WI: our neighbor was breaking the lease and the law--yet we were the ones on the hook for thousands.
The manager running things during most of our time there was as helpful as she could be, but Bielinski sets up their leases so that tenants have no recourse if smoke is a health-affecting problem in this "non-smoking" complex. I would not recommend living here if your lungs matter to you.
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Max of 1. One heated underground parking space included.