Forest Hills Manor LLC

"Follow up message sent related to a pre-existing issue since my son moved in this past August 2022... here is another email I sent to the mgt company: My son was home for the Thanksgiving holiday and I asked if the issue regarding his cracked, leaking ceiling and stained carpet had been resolved yet. This has been an on-going issue since he moved in this past August which is a result of the leaking A/C unit. I understand the tenants upstairs had a broken toilet which was fixed and you said that caused the leak in my sons roof, but the leak in the roof was present when he moved in. He was informed by the previous tenant that when the AC is turned on (when its warm outside), that the condensation builds up and leaks down through his roof into his room. Could you please fix this pre-existing issue and repair his ceiling before it starts leaking again in the spring. Thank you."

"My son just moved into Forest Hills Manor for his Junior year. My wife and I visited this weekend. He lives in the basement and the upstairs A/C unit is leaking through the ceiling. He informed me that the previous student that lived there complained about the problem but nothing was done. My son has since complained and I called and left a detailed message. The ceiling has a huge crack in it and the carpet is wet and stained. My son has breathing issues and this environment will definitely pose health risks with a build up of mold. I will post again as soon as I hear back to them about fixing the issue. I'm giving two stars since the problem was not fixed last year, but will change the rating based upon the response to this pretty major issue. Update - last week I had a good conversation with (Lacy?) in the front office. She put a maintenance ticket in to address the problem. They came and fixed the upstairs broken toilet which they thought was causing the leak... unfortunately it's not the issue. The A/C unit condensation is leaking through the ceiling (on-going issue for a least a year). Now that the A/C is off (no more leak). Anyway, he sill has a cracked ceiling, filthy carpet and no resolution to the issues... still working the problem though (I have faith)."

"As the father of a graduate who lived in these apartments I regretfully share the experience has been negative. Had heard the management was unresponsive & not trustworthy, but now can say I've seen it firsthand. We went out of our way to have the owner's son perform the final walkthrough w/us present to ensure clear communications & expectations. I was told by Enron (sp?) an amount we would be receiving back from the initial security deposit. However, the amount was 74% less. I've called the office five times over the past 45 days and left five messages, but have yet to hear from anyone. This management group has much to learn in terms of honesty and professionalism. I've been a landlord for ~ 30 years and understand it comes with challenges. I could share much more in terms of the lease itself, how they are more about the money than taking care of the units or their tenants. I could go into much more, but suffice it to say this group should not be trusted."

"Truly and honestly the worst experience of my time as a student at JMU was living in Forest Hills Manor. I cannot speak for Forest, as I was a Manor resident, but the staff is unkind, unprofessional, and penalizes college students for our lack of knowing how to deal with unreasonable landlords. To start, we are forced to sign our leases or promise our houses to new tenants in September/ October of the same year that out lease began. If your lease began in June of 2022, you would be forced to resign for your house or sign it over to someone new 3 months after you move in. Rent is raised and “grounds fees” are charged every year, with no improvements made to the units or the community. The units are unfurnished, which is very inconvenient for college students, and this year Management decided to charge tenants for every item of furniture left in units to be passed down to the next tenants, more college students who do not own any furniture of their own. Tenants of Forest Hills Manor pay significantly higher rent than other off-campus JMU students in Harrisonburg Virginia without having access to a gym, main clubhouse, pool, dog parks, or reliable management, like many other apartment complexes have. My neighbors did not have a working oven for almost 2 years. Our washing machine broke and was left in a state of disrepair more often than not. Our dishwasher was damaged in multiple places and purposefully neglected by the maintenance staff, because they did not have the means or resources to fix it. Mail and packages are lost and misplaced by front office workers daily, and email communications are left without responses. There were wasps and carpenter bees who made their home in our outdoor decks and who’s nests were also ignored by management. Muhammad chooses to employ only 2 maintenance workers for over 100 units, both of which (Keith and Mun) are very kind, helpful people who try to the best of their abilities to fix large problems that Muhammad refuses to pay for the proper, professional services. If any JMU parents are reading this, please ask your student to reconsider living in Forest Hills Manor. Some houses in Forest (again, I was a resident of Manor, not Forest) have independent landlords that are not Muhammad, and those houses have better experiences getting their maintenance needs met. There are better, cleaner, more affordable off-campus housing options than this one that students deserve to live in."

"My daughter currently lives at villages and signed a lease for a different unit next year. She handled things on her own (bad plan moms) and this week realized that her move out date is 15 days before her move in at the new unit! With maymester classes I called the office in panic on Monday. Alisha (?) and I spoke on the phone 10 times that day working out details. She assured me that my child would not be homeless for a moment. By days end she had worked out a plan not only to keep her in her current unit a few days longer but also to get her in the new one early, store and help move her furniture!!! She was nearly as concerned as I and worked quickly to resolve the problem. I have called in the past and although issues were always addressed this person really went above and beyond. My husband is going for graduation so I asked her about parking that weekend; In minutes she had emailed me parking maps, transit schedules and even included notes on which places would fill up quickly and which are not as widely used. The staff has always been willing to work us if a payment was delayed, they ensure the safety of our kids outside of school and I wouldn’t choose to send any of my children anywhere else but here!"