Isabella

"stay very very far away from UIP and from this building. UIP made living in this building a hell on earth. From an ongoing and unaddressed building-wide cockroach infestation, to rats due to overflowing trash, poor quality appliances that break constantly, and maintenance requests, emails, and phone calls going ignored, you will not know a moment of peace living here. this building was inhospitable, unsanitary, and unsafe. they try to entice you with cheaper rents and low to no security deposit, but it is absolutely not worth it. (and they won't return your security deposit unless you spend literal months emailing them persistently.) the only way to even begin to get UIP to fulfill their basic duties as a landlord is to report them to the Office of the Tenant Advocate or the DC Department of Buildings (where you can see the long list of violations not just at this building, but at other UIP-managed buildings)"

"Stay away. UIP, the property management company, has zero interest in fulfilling the basic duties of a landlord. From ignoring maintenance requests and emails to actually hanging up the phone on us mid-conversation, UIP has made living in the Isabella an incredibly frustrating experience. Why you should avoid the Isabella: 1. We currently have a cockroach infestation, and UIP’s approach to pest control has been completely inadequate. UIP will maybe send over an exterminator who then won’t do anything to actually address the infestation, but they say that they’re trying their best to solve the problem. 2. The trash area is also a huge issue. The single dumpster for the entire apartment is not sufficient, so tenants are forced to just leave their trash bags out in the open which attracts rats and other pests. 3. When our oven had a gas leak and wasn’t heating up, it took weeks for UIP to address the problem—we were even told that we didn’t know how ovens work. 4. The appliances are cheap and break frequently. Because UIP has decided to ignore maintenance requests, you can expect to wait a long time before getting something repaired—and that’s if you regularly nag them to come fix it. Considering the cost of rent, it’s surprising how difficult it is to get someone to repair an appliance. 5. When we informed UIP that we will be moving out, we were told that we didn’t pay a security deposit. That is a lie, and we have proof. We’ve tried to address this repeatedly, but our emails and calls have gone ignored. For the money, you can find a much better place to live, and with a landlord who isn’t as negligent."

"lived at this property since 2018 and it has progressively gotten worse each year since. UIP is the worst building management company i have ever had the displeasure of doing business with (staff retention and turnover an obvious issue). the lack of professionalism and competence is astounding to the point of disrespect. tenants under contract are being charged far too much for the quality of life that is being sustained under such leadership. building may first appear and is falsely advertised as being luxurious but that is far from the case. application process for new building tenants has become extremely lax since the pandemic and the leasing agents consistently offer verbal rates that are below the market value just to get empty units filled. property is not monitored and tenant pets consistently use the bathroom throughout the building leaving an unpleasant odor in public areas. cigarette butts are left around the property and even on private patios of other tenants. multiple requests for a smoking pole were submitted and ignored until finally answered. however, pole is not emptied and has been knocked into patios of tenants spilling used cigarettes on private property. the no noise ordinance order after 10 PM is not respected by tenants and mgmt nor police adequately address these concerns. it is also important to note that the building next door is a Safe Haven House abiding by particular rules and regulations. packages are almost always stolen, although, mgmt recently subscribed to a third-party delivery service that it sites as a legitimate justification for a rent increase. appliances are not full-size: dishwasher is petite and washer and drier are a combined, low functionality unit that ruins most fabrics. lastly, pests have increasingly become an issue as tenants have been shuffling in and out of the property. this was also flagged with property management as roaches are a constant sight in the corridors and shared laundry room. if i could rate 0 stars, i would."

"As a First-timer renter, I was a little scare of the application process and and have to sign a lease agreement for 13-months. I had such a fabulous experience with UIP. Edwin (the customer-service agent) was very patient, always available for some of my silly questions and detailed 'explaining DC rent control regulations. Building is very nice and clean."

"DO NOT LIVE HERE. There are plenty of apartment buildings in DC managed by professional, competent property management companies. This is not one of those buildings. UIP is, quite frankly, the worst of the worst. Their incredible lack of professionalism and disorganization is unmatched. Property managers of varying levels of competence rotate frequently. We dealt with six in the time we were there. One particularly incompetent property manager didn't renew our lease for three months. Yes, three MONTHS. For no other reason than he was profoundly disorganized and didn't process the agreement after we completed it despite weekly, then daily follow ups. In our two years of living in the Isabella, every request or question that did not involve maintenance (they contract w/ a 3rd party company for maintenance and they were responsive) was met with silence until we said we'd escalated it within UIP. If you're wondering why we wouldn't just call the office to follow up, we did. Repeatedly. They don't pick up or return calls. Also, the safety of their residents or their residents' property is just not a concern. They offered solutions so inadequate it was laughable when our packages started to go missing from the building. For example, instead of installing secure package lockers, they offered a "convenient alternative" which was a $60/month package holding service called Peglu. We'd, of course, have to pick up our packages at another location. Lastly, I'm not going to go into the small inconveniences of day to day life at the Isabella like the paper thin walls or the unannounced fire alarm tests because, while annoying, they weren't that egregious in comparison."