Costley & Company Rental Management - Bloomington, Indiana

Dakota

In regards to the apartment at 725 South Walnut, I cannot recommend this apartment/company in good conscience. Red flags began to appear almost immediately. Upon coming to inspect the residence there was trash all around the back door. The person showing the apartment said something like "when did that get there?" as if they had recently seen the property but the truth is Costley and Company didn't think they should maintain the residence before showing it because they do not respect you or I as potential tenants. If we were richer clients they would have made damn sure the place looked presentable before presenting it. Unfortunately, I signed the lease because, just like you, I needed a place to stay and Bloomington has become increasingly predatory in regards to accommodations. Literally a few days after moving in I was asked to renew my lease with an increase to rent which is incredibly shady. I refused because I hadn't had time to see if the apartment was a suitable living space and I am glad I did not sign the lease. The entire apartment screams "I made this as cheaply as possible just to have a passive income". Upon entering the door to the bottom two units, you are met with a foul smell originating from within the hall. It is still there to this day so I assume it is probably some kind of structural damage or mold. The floor in the kitchen looks like rolling hills because of how uneven it was laid. If you are downstairs you can hear your upstairs neighbor every time they use the stairs, inside or out. You can hear your neighbors through the walls to the point that I could perform my neighbor’s cello recital from memory. The bathroom shower has huge gaps between the ceiling and the walls so much so that upon moving in they had a device pushing the walls apart so it didn't look as bad. The doors throughout the apartment didn't fit the frames so they wouldn't shut correctly and when notified of this the company had their maintenance crew "fix" it by forcing the doors shut and splintering their frames. As for their maintenance crew, if you look at their past responses to negative reviews about maintenance they always blame a "third party" instead of taking accountability, which is incredibly pathetic. Costley and Company are the ones who hired and continue to hire these third parties despite these negative reviews because they are cheap. Simple as that. Pretending like you have no control over someone you hire is idiotic and insulting to the intelligence of the average person. As for the location itself, the proximity to downtown may seem like a plus until you realize they are charging you $800+ to live across the street from a homeless shelter and make no mistake, you will be made very aware of that fact. I have nothing against homeless people but to pay $800 a month to hear incoherent cursing and shouting late at night, to have your car broken into and to have people loitering around the parking spaces for that price is just insulting. Speaking of parking, there are only 5-6 spots and they do not monitor them so if some random person parks behind the residence and you have nowhere to park you are just out of luck because, again, Costley and Company do not want to spend money maintaining their properties. Their only desire is to leech the income from the residents of this city. During the last snow the people across the street parked in our spots and when contacted about this, they said parking was on a first come first serve basis and nothing could be done. With that being said, if you are ever downtown and in need of parking, check the parking spaces at the back of 725 South Walnut as it is on a first come first serve basis and isn't monitored but if you are in need of an apartment, I'd look elsewhere and keep your self respect.

Harper B.

These people will nickel and dime you for everything you’re worth. My roommates and I left the apartment in relatively good condition, and they took the vast majority of our security deposit. Repair people charge exorbitant rates for “changing lightbulbs” and “hauling mirror” that only weighed 5 pounds. Never have I lost so much of my security deposit, even for apartments left worse off than this one.

Shoddy construction: our back door blew open during a winter storm when my roommates and I were home for the holidays, causing a pipe to burst and flood the bottom two levels of our apartment. Later on in the year, the hose for the ice maker for the freezer busted at midnight, pouring water into the kitchen at an alarming rate, and the only reason the house didn’t flood again is because I wanted a late night snack and noticed that the floor was covered in water.

All the frosted glass is stickers. Look at how uneven the door jams are and how easy the doors are to wiggle open without the knob when touring. Duplex costs $300 a month to keep above 65 degrees in the winter.

Good luck to you, future tenants! The neighborhood is quiet at least.

Maddie T.

Horrible charged us $20 for 2 light bulbs and 1 blind to be repaired and the labor was $370 WHAT THE HELL?! They will scam you. This house was already trash with horrible management and rude rude people. If u want to rent with them be ready for them not to fix your AC that was said to be working and doesn't and dealing with idiots that want your money and scam you. Go to Orion rentals or cream and crimson! They were great!

Sridutt S.

This management company does a horrendous job communicating with residents and continuously adds paid charges back to the portal. They are extremely difficult to deal with as well. The properties are cheaply maintained and consistently have issues, it’s not worth your money, go somewhere else

Aaron W.

Adequate enough houses. Daughter and friends rented from them for a year. Were responsive to the upstair shower leaking into the family room on the very first day. But just as with ALL of these college rental companies, they will squeeze every last dime out of your security deposit that they believe they can justify, no matter how clean you leave the place, no matter what shape you leave the property in. It's just how it is, and all these companies do it, so just brace yourself.

Dohyun L.

I might forget to say one important thing. As Costley & Company provides decent maintenance and immediate response to your request, you can live in a safe place. I mean, the office seemed to care about the safety of the tenants and the neighbors. This just popped up in my head now.
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They are a group of reasonable people. If you can keep your attitude friendly, they would respond to you in the same way. However, if you complain too harsh without an ample reason, they might choose not to be nice. Personally, I liked to talk with Cicely, who liked her job with passion.

1. Communication (Email & Phone): Quick and immediate. Sometimes they are nice with greeting phrases. Sometimes short and blunt. It depends on who replies to you, I guess.

2. Maintenance: Fast and decent.

3. Property Quality and Rental Fee: The properties I lived in were not very new, but the rental costs were also relatively low.

4. Online Management System: Fairly convenient.

5. Move In & Out Inspection: They are not just trying to take your security deposit. The actual process was quite reasonable even though the move-out inspection notice letters with instructions were a little scary. If you do not clean, they will not miss it and charge for sure. When you thoroughly clean your place following the instructions before leaving, you would be able to receive the full deposit. Regarding the move in inspection, one time I did not have a very clean place, but in the next year, I could have a very clean one (I lived in two properties managed by Costley & Company).

6. My Recommendation: If you want to find a management office which will respond to you with greeting and smiley face every time (e.g., big management company staff who are regularly trained in that way), they may not satisfy you entirely. However, if you value quick response and decent maintenance, the management office may be right for you. Especially, if you are organized and good at having communication, you would not have a significant problem with them.

Bryan P.

I don't really understand the negative reviews. My experience with Costley was nothing but positive. I believe that the key is simply to follow the instructions that they give you. Read your lease, take care of the property, don't expect special favors or exceptions to rules, and you'll be fine. Emily and Cicely were nothing but professional and solicitous. When I moved in and felt that the front and back doors with glass panes were a security risk, they immediately spoke to the owner and got the doors changed. After I moved out, and the deposit was taking a little longer than I expected to be refunded to me, I called them and they cut me a check the same day. I would happily rent from Costley again.

James M.

I am coming up on the end of my one year lease with Costley. It can be hard to judge a place off of google reviews alone (people only leave a comment when they have a problem). Thus, I think it is best to see when things do go wrong if they are handled well and in a timely manner.

All of our maintenance requests have always been answered quickly, and our communication with the office has been fast too. Our particular location's rent was a pretty good deal for the area and in walking distance to campus.

Since I have not concluded my lease yet, I will update this review after the moveout and checkout processes to say if there was any problems with that.