Students moving into the Vie apartment complex on Tuesday were met with a variety of sanitation and damage issues, including long wait times, dirty rooms and few answers to their problems. Approximately 30 students have filed complaints to management, according to Kamie Henderson, general manager for Vie.
Morgan Langdon, a second-year studying political science, claims that her apartment was full of dirt, debris and mildew when she arrived on Tuesday.
“The washer and dryer were filled with mildew,” Langdon said. “The filters hadn’t been changed at all. There was animal pee on the ground, to where you walked in and you had to plug your nose, it smelled so bad. It was very evident that no one had been in there to clean obviously, or even inspect to make sure everything was working.”
Langdon says that her roommate first filed a complaint at 10 a.m. Tuesday, and as of Wednesday afternoon, the apartment suite hasn’t been cleaned by maintenance.
“Luckily, my parents live close enough that all of my roommates were able stay at my family’s house,” Langdon said. “We can’t even move in, it’s so bad.”
Vie is located 3 miles from campus on Wolf Creek Circle. They offer two, three and four bed apartment options, and provide free shuttle service for students to campus.
Langdon says that she and her roommates have inquired about breaking their lease, but have been told by a representative from the corporate office, which is located in Miami, Florida, that it is unlikely.
“He told us if you want to try, you can attempt to send a letter to corporate, but it can take weeks or months,” Langdon said.
Christopher Crippen, portfolio manager for Vie Management, did not respond for comment by the time of publication.
Henderson says the problems during move-in were a result of two cleaning crew members quitting.
“Some of the apartments were not ready,” Henderson said. “That was certainly not our intent. We strive to provide the most excellent customer service and have all our apartments in ready condition, but we did have some issues with some of the cleaning crews out here, and that did cause an issue.”
When asked about compensation for residents whose apartments were damaged or dirty upon arrival, Henderson claimed that Vie is looking at all issues on a case-by-case basis.
“Some of the issues that we had yesterday, we were able to switch them to different units, that were in ready condition,” Henderson said. “We’ve hired three new cleaning crews to go in and take care of any lingering issues that were not addressed yesterday.”
Adam Schmidt, a second-year studying civil engineering who moved in early on Aug. 8, says the ceiling over his kitchen contained water damage, that the plaster is peeling off and the drain and garbage disposal are not working.
“Nobody ever came to fix it,” Schmidt said. “We were also told that they would send a cleaning crew to clean the common area, the kitchen and the floor, but they didn’t do that.”
Schmidt says he signed an agreement from Vie when he moved in early, stating that the resident must accept full responsibility for pre-existing damages to the apartment. A copy of this agreement is attached to this article.
When Heather Schriefer, a third-year studying environmental sciences, moved in on Tuesday, she was greeted with marijuana left over from a previous tenant.
“Last night, I found weed in my desk drawer,” Schriefer said. “Two nights ago, one of my roommates found weed in the common room.”
Keilah Davis, a third-year studying physics, says she didn’t receive notification of the time she was supposed to move in beforehand, and was met with an hour wait time to receive her keys, alongside fees that she had no prior knowledge of.
“There was a pretty expensive convenience fee if you didn’t pay with a check,” Davis said. “There was no email that we received that said ‘hey, before you move in, do all these things so you can have a smooth moving in process’.”
According to Henderson, Vie is continuing to address any problems that students may have with their apartments.
“If anyone has a routine maintenance request or a request for new furniture, then we’re putting it in as well,” Henderson said.
Breezeways at Vie at Raleigh lead to apartments that house NC State students.
