Deerfield Place Apartments 1289 Brindlestone Drive, Vandalia, OH 45377

"This place has been a dream come true. The view of Cassell Hills Golf Course from the back porch is like something out a magazine. The neighborhood is very safe and quite, and having a fire department just up the road is a wonderful peace of mind. The apartments are built wonderfully, my apartment is on the first floor and almost never hear any of the neighbors walking around upstairs."

"I should have known that I was getting myself into trouble when the landlord, Earl Sonnenberg, failed to show up to a scheduled tour we had set up with him of an available unit in August 2018. After a while waiting at the front door, we eventually had to track Earl down at his home, which is right next to the complex he owns. Earl came out to confront us in his bathrobe, asking who we were. Once we informed him we were here for a scheduled tour, Earl sheepishly stared at us for several seconds before admitting he’d forgotten our appointment. We did get the tour after this delay, and subsequently decided to file an application. I deeply regret this decision. The application asked for absurd pieces of information, including all of the following: banking institution, bank account number, routing number, and amount of money in account! This was the APPLICATION, mind you! Not a lease! I couldn’t believe I was being asked for my bank info and how much was in it. I left most of that information blank; there is absolutely no reason Earl needs that info of a person with whom he hasn’t even entered into a lease relationship yet! I stupidly submitted the application anyway, hoping for the best. In spite of having left the bank account info blank on the app, we were approved without issue. Hmm... Throughout this process, I felt as though I could never trust Earl. Every time - every time - I met with him, I came away with some unpleasant surprise he had conveniently neglected to mention in prior communications. The things he said seemed hard to believe and even devious. He claimed not to understand how email works, yet when I requested a copy of the lease to review before coming on site to sign, he sent it to me via... a picture text message. On lease signing day, Earl informed me only after I’d signed the lease that tenants are responsible for changing furnace filters in his complex. I have rented many apartments in my life, and never, ever have I been held responsible for furnace filters. It’s a small issue by itself, but I raise it here because it demonstrates Earl’s tendency to confuse and deceive. I reiterate: it was hard to ever feel able to trust the man with anything. If you cannot feel confident in even a basic element of trust in your landlord, what kind of business relationship is possible? Any time I so much as questioned his policies, he would reply in the snarkiest manner, and tell me I’m the only tenant in his 20 years doing this to raise an issue about [insert problem here]. I refuse to believe that. The final straw came when my wife and I arrived 12 days after lease signing to move the first of our items in. (Earl strong-armed us into having the lease begin weeks before we actually needed the unit.) We were shocked to discover that our unit, into which we had already put down a security deposit as well as first month’s rent, was INFESTED in bugs. They were everywhere. Dozens, if not hundreds of them. In the carpet. On the windows. In the kitchen sink. Inside the refrigerator. In the laundry room ductwork. It was a repugnant site. The photos attached to this review I took when we arrived, to document the situation in our apartment. The only other time I had been inside this unit before this day was on the day I signed the lease. At that time, the unit was pristine - totally bug free... or so it seemed. That the condition with the bugs deteriorated so greatly in only 12 days makes me believe that the bugs did not just suddenly appear in that unit. There is simply no way an apartment can go from bug-free to that condition in such a short time. I think he vacuumed them up just before I arrived that first day. The only positive interaction I had with Earl Sonnenberg was his response when I complained of the unacceptable condition in that unit. He refunded us all our money on the grounds we vacate immediately. I was happy to comply. I wish I’d never involved myself with Earl and I advise anyone reading this to do the same."