Parkview Apartments 1640 Northeast Irving Street, Portland, OR 97232

"They finally switched from radiators to electric heat. The heaters aren't effective enough to warm the entire space. No heat in the bathroom or kitchen. A plate shattered in my kitchen because the plate was too cold and scrambled eggs were too warm. Beware of moving in until they figure this out. They won't consider switching back to steam heat because they're trying to get everyone on their own utilities as a result of a class action lawsuit from improperly handled bill back of utilities."

"UPDATE: property management has been capping utility charges and is working on lowering bills. Appreciate the efforts being made to address our concerns. The units are cute and vintage and the maintenance guy is really nice. The property management is unresponsive though and the utility billing is insane. What you save in rent you lose in utilities. Bills when the heat is off and utilities are traditionally lower are still around $300! You’ll get no explanation behind the excessively high bills and stonewalled if you involve your legal right to see the bills. I’m paying for 1 month of sewer/water what I use to pay for 3 months in a house where we were not overly water conscious. Property management scams you on utilities and avoids phone calls when you try to talk to them. Do not live here."

"Utilities are outrageous. I’ve been here for 2 years. Started off with a flat fee of $130 for a 1 bedroom. Signed a lease for another year with a piece of paper stating they would be changing the utility provider. Started being charged up to $400 in UTILITIES. Now they have a cap of $195 a month for 2 ppl 1 bedroom apt. So ridiculous. The $130 was already a generous amount to pay."

"Exorbitant increases to utility bills with little to no transparency from management. $324 for 1 month of water, sewer, gas and electric. It used to be an affordable flat monthly rate, then switched to “usage” based when the lease renewed. Residents have yet to see a breakdown of costs based on usage or receive a proper explanation of how these charges are calculated. Shame on Courtyard Properties and Parkview Apartments for shady practices and gouging their residents in the middle of an economic crisis."

"$$$ If I could leave negative stars, I would. Unexpected and unreasonable expenses await you! My husband and I rented from the Parkview Apartments for two years. While it was comfortable, beautiful, and in a great location, it left us with a bad taste in our mouth. We are normal and tidy people. Upon moving out, Courtyard Properties charged us for a slew of normal "wear and tear" expenses, such as: -Grout around the sink/tub ($150 each!!) -Crack in sink ceramic (Another $150!...It was there at move-in...shame on us for not taking photos!) They took our entire deposit. The WHOLE THING! They even tried charging us MORE than our deposit (for extra days that we did not stay; we even have it in writing for the date we left the property). We appealed our charges, but the only charge they removed was for the "extra" days, as they should. If you move here, wrap everything in tinfoil and saran wrap, because their standards do not allow you to "live" in your home. OR, be ready to forego your entire deposit....Or rent somewhere else cool, because Portland has LOTS of neat apartments with pretty courtyards."