Lucas Ltd

"Rented with this company back in 2016-2017. Out of the few studio options available, they were either $1600/month new construction or absolute pits. The best worst option I could find was a 7”x11” cell in a basement for nearly $700/month (in 2016 dollars). It was the only unit without AC and was unbearably humid most of the year. I spent $150 on a humidifier, ran it constantly, and the new mattress I brought with me still developed mold. The only upside was the location: half a block from Burge and I was able to buy parking access right across the alley. I was never late on rent and because they asked to show the place nearly every week, I kept the place immaculate, but never heard back on my deposit. Avoid unless you have no choice. But if you have to, do so with lowered expectations."

"I have no issues with Apartments Downtown. Andrea, who did our showing, was extremely helpful with providing details about the apartment. She also continually reached out to make sure the lease was feasible for all of my roommates. If it had not been for her expertise I am not sure we would have signed, so it was an overall great experience."

"I wish I could give them negative stars, and I sincerely hope they could get into bankruptcy. Definitely the worst company I've met in this country. Scam college students and squeeze out every penny they have. We did not even bother collecting our security deposit based on the bad reputation they had, and after one year, and they still had the courage to call me today telling me That we had balance unpaid besides the security deposit while we actually paid out everything before moving out. How dare you Apartment Downtown! Don't you ever think escaping from your notoriety by changing your name!"

"DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY. DO NOT. The customer service is terrible. All emails go unanswered, phone calls are never returned, and in person the employees are extremely rude. If I could give them zero stars, I would. We had cockroaches in our apartment, and were told that the Orkin man came so that should have resolved it. When we insisted they were still there, no further action was taken as they said they had already done their part. We had to buy our own roach killer repeatedly throughout the year as the landlords did nothing about the situation. Our apartment was constantly being entered by inspection/"repair" staff, but never on their pre-mentioned time frames, so there would be 4 or 5 days in a row where we needed to be prepared for them to enter our apartment from 8am-5pm. Trying to get a security deposit back was a NIGHTMARE. Phone calls again went unanswered, and emails were only responded to when the threat of having a lawyer involved became necessary. When someone finally did answer the phone, they were rude and kept repeating "the deposit will be returned in accordance with state law." Being that I am a student and not familiar with the law, my request for an explanation of what those laws were was met with incredible rudeness. These people scam students and their parents by having all but a monopoly on Iowa City real estate, charging an arm and a leg for dirty apartments in run-down conditions upon move-in. I rented from them without knowing what I was getting myself into, and I would NEVER EVER recommend them to anyone. Apartments Downtown is now going by Associated University Realty, but do not be fooled by their name change. They are the same terrible, unprofessional scam artists they were before."

"Do not rent from these people. Just do not. I pay about $600 a month to them and they will not even come switch out a light bulb. We have light bulbs and cannot reach the light, and they will not come switch it for us. We've called about the washer and dryers countless times and they say it's maintenance job to take care of that.........however, maintenance doesn't seem to be too worried about helping us out at all, ever. There was a hole in our stairwell under the carpet and my friend had to trip in it and get a concussion in order for them to fix it. We spent hours cleaning the first day we moved in. We had to call to get our stove fixed the first day we EVER lived there, because they didn't fix it from the prior year. They do not care about their tenants and take complete advantage of college students. If I could give them a negative rating, I certainly would. The convenience of the location of their apartments is not worth dealing with them."