Lakes of Carmel Apartments

"IMPORTANT - READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH! LONG BUT IMPORTANT REVIEW! If I could give this place zero stars I would. Let me start by saying, I haven't lived here since early 2020. When I did live there, honestly, there weren't really positives but there weren't overwhelming negatives. No one cared as long as they had their money and I preferred that they leave me alone. The only thing they did that drove me a little crazy, and seems they still do based on reviews, is send out messages trolling people anytime something violates the lease (which is a laundry list and absolutely ridiculous). I remember when I lived there I had a cat tree I needed to throw away. I put it on my balcony that night to bring down the next day after work. Before I even got a chance they were calling and sending me messages to remove it. They are picky with how things look on the outside to get residents in but once you are there, they really don't care about you. The leasing process was also a freaking mess. It was honestly a little sketchy. Took forever to get responses. Took forever to even get an apartment. I just remember questioning signing a lease with them. Now to why I am writing a review. Reminder, I moved out in early 2020. Apparently, I had a balance due after I moved out. Here is the problem - The apartment never contacted me. I called them a few months after I moved out because I never got my deposit back. They said I would get something in the mail if I owed and directions on how to pay if I do. Never got anything so I let it go. Today, I called the apartment, 4 times before I got someone to answer, and the guy that answered the phone was very nice and listened to me (very angry I must say). He didn't even work there when I moved out so it wasn't his fault but handled the call well considering how angry I was. He informed me that once tenants move out our accounts get sent to their management company to handle. Either way, strike 1 on Lakes of Carmel. They should have informed me that I had a balance due. Now Strike 2, the management company NEVER called me about the balance either. They also never sent me anything in the mail. Now to the present, 2024 (4 years since I've lived there), and Strike 3! Apparently, they sent me to collections last year - never told me. AND THEN COLLECTIONS NEVER CONTACTED ME! I literally found out a had a balance due and had to track down what through a freaking credit report. So in summary, this place is an absolute wreak from the top down. DO NOT RENT HERE."

"The number of cons in our stay at Lakes or Carmel is only increasing. Harold, the leasing manager, is simply put mean. He will send passive aggressive, petty emails to the entire community frequently. Most recently, they changed the trash service on tenets mid lease, causing additional charges that were not in the agreed and signed upon lease. Not only is the service more expensive, but it is unreliable. Our trash has had to sit in the apartment, while the “chutes” are broken. If we would continue to have dumpsters on site, it would not be an issue. The “new and improved” trash system is only a bigger hassle and inconvenience. Maintenance is very hit-or-miss; at times they will be great, and others they will be rude, dismissive, or untimely."

"Clean, well maintained, quiet (except for the strunz above me) and a nice place to live. Apartments are nicely decorated and maintenance responds promptly when needed. A good value for Carmel. The only drawback is all the bloody geese. They overrun the place and they're all a month behind on their fertilizer orders."

"My boyfriend and I toured and applied to live here last year. A couple of concerns I wanted to share. First, it took over 2 months for them to review our application, the front office manager at the time, Connie, said they needed to get it approved by “upper management”. There was so much back and forth and it was exhausting. They never actually approved our application even when they offered us an apartment after 2 months on a waitlist, they said we would be able to sign basically once they approved us, like what?! I made just under the requirement for the 2 bedroom we wanted and my boyfriend was studying for a graduate entrance exam and planning on starting school so he was not working at the time we applied. He had provided sufficient paperwork to ensure we could pay rent (that worked to get us approved in a better complex after this experience). We even had a co-signer. They were very invasive, asking for my boyfriends class schedule and proof of why he wasn’t working, they wouldn’t let us use a co-signer since he was not taking a full 15 credit hours at that moment, which is wild to me, as that is a co-signer should have been enough as it guarantees rent gets paid no matter what. They seemed to be making up rules as they went and it was so frustrating and didn’t make sense. We waited over 2 months on the waitlist and for our application to get approved. We finally had to look elsewhere for an apartment because they had said an apartment would mostly likely come available in the time frame we provided and then it didn’t. Then they offered us 2 apartments within 4 days after we signed somewhere else, and I’m glad we did sign somewhere else. Additionally, another huge red flag is they do not follow ESA requirements. They have stringent pet weight restrictions (which i saw very large dogs walking around on their property during our tour so they clearly make exceptions) but told us my ESA would have follow these weight guidelines and be under the 20lb limit which is a violation as ESAs are not seen as pets and are to be accepted without regard to things like their breed, weight, etc."

"Office staff was great and maintenance responded quickly when called. I loved my view of the lake. It was close to friends, Clay Terrace, and places to eat out. Bought a house or I would still be there. My apartment was very quiet."