Moscow Hotel Apartments

"Called to see if there were any opening never replied to my message"

"I had been a tenant of The Moscow Hotel Apartments and called it my home for 6 years from the summer of 2013 and ending in June 2019. The new owners raised my rent 9% (from $685/month to $750) and gave me only a month and a half notice of a new rent increase, whereas the previous owners would have that information available 3 months ahead of time and often sent letters well in advanced about rent information and what to plan for. Waiting this long to let tenants know about a major increase in rent was clearly intentional; if they were trying to make sure there wouldn't be a mass exodus of the building, they sure succeeded. I was also told that in future lease renewals my rent would go up $50 a month every year until it reached $900 a month (that's excessive for 675sqft in Moscow, Idaho). Other states and cities view these kinds of increases as not only immoral, but illegal. Unfortunately, Idaho does not have these kinds of protections and tenants must rely on property managers to "do the right thing," which has failed in this case. I was told that $30 of the increase I and all other tenants received was for Internet, which would now be included in rent; however, this Internet "plan" is a shared wireless connection (internet traffic from your neighbors is visible, it's the equivalent of public wifi and NOT private... heck, even my phone was showing my neighbors device names and what they were streaming.) No shared wireless connection is worth that price. The Hotel was uncooperative when I asked for an extension on my lease to find a new apartment after I was informed about their increase, forcing my to fail to vacate. I inquired about an extension before my apartment was shown to any prospective new tenants. The new owners have also ended a variety of amenities that used to be present at the Hotel including an office manager who would sign for packages and store them securely and promptly answer all rental related questions, indoor trash closets, and indoor recycling. Maintenance of common areas has deteriorated, hallway and exterior lights are often out for weeks before they are replaced, snow shoveling has become subpar (with only a small path cleared, and not shoveled until late morning only once a day), and exterior litter and vomit sit for weeks without being addressed. The Moscow Hotel is offering less and less, and asking for more and more money. I had enjoyed my time in this building and being in the heart of downtown for many years. Sadly, this place has lost its value."

"AVOID RENTING HERE! After living in this apartment complex for 2.5 years, the new office manager, Samantha Ricketts, offered me a pro-rated rent amount for the month if I moved out 10 days prior to the end of my lease when I mentioned I decided not to renew. She coerced me into signing a form of my notice to vacate and wrote down the days I would be moving out and also when I would like to receive the check by since I was moving out of town. She calculated the amount I would be owed as a refund from the rent I had already paid, which worked out to be $164.51. She said I would receive that amount with my deposit refund. After contacting them 3 days before I left town, she emailed me back and said that the deposit check would not be ready for me to pick up before I left and asked if she could mail it to a different address. I provided my out-of-state forwarding address for them to mail it to. According to my lease, all monies owed to my person by this apartment were to be mailed out no later than 45 days after I handed in my keys. My check was not mailed out until 53 days after I handed in my keys, and was mailed to the wrong address. This was 6 weeks after I provided them the updated address at *their* request. I even sent a reminder email 4 weeks after I provided the address to make sure they still had the updated information, to which I received no response. When I contacted the office to have the check mailed to the correct address as agreed upon by both parties 6 weeks prior, they sent me a check with a $35 charge for having to cancel the first check they mailed out to the wrong address. They also failed to include the pro-rated amount their office manager said they would include, and when questioned she denied that she ever made this offer. With the $35 charge and the $164.51 refund amount, they have stolen $199.51 from me. The coercive maneuvers used by this business and inability to recognize the mistakes made internally by their staff at the renter's expense is unethical, shady and downright fraudulent. All of this is on top of the fact that the manager is often absent from the office during business hours and sometimes takes weeks to respond to important emails, if she even responds at all. Since the office holds your packages hostage, it can sometimes be weeks before you can actually get in there to grab your mail since you never know when they'll be there. The ONLY good thing about this complex is the very sweet maintenance guy, Mike, and the previous office manager, Erin. Those two are/were always on top of things. The current management is not. Plenty of better housing options in Moscow."

"This building has the hardest thing to find when apartment hunting: great management. The building owners are very friendly and kind and the building manager and the maintenance man are fantastic. Erin, the manager, is very helpful and friendly and is always willing to work with you to take care of any needs whether it may be dealing with move in dates or holding packages or whatever. Mike oversees maintenance and he is awesome. Always fixes things promptly and well and is super friendly and courteous. I am in my second year in the building and love it. It's been my best apartment living situation ever. Also, it's the best location in town."