Want to be Harassed? Come to Gwinnett Pointe Apartments

Where to begin, where to begin…

• AC was constantly running but not cooling. We called for them to come fix it and they came in a week. Meanwhile, the unit was dripping and leaving a puddle on the floor. We used a towel to collect the mess. The electric bill shot up because it was leaking so much because it was coming from the hot water tank.
• My mother’s bathtub was dripping hot water since she moved in in January 2015. We must have reported it at least 5 times. They would come fix other problems but not address the faucet. The drop became a stream. The electric bill was $128. Although we reported the problem as soon as it was noticed and sent them a copy of what we normally paid for our electric bill, they didn’t acknowledge anything error on their part.
• The stovetop cover had a disgusting yellow layer of grease on top. I cleaned it with all purpose cleaner.
• The garbage disposal didn’t work.
• The outdoor outlet didn’t work. No Christmas lights this year I guess.
• You can’t take a hot shower with the bathroom door open or finish taking a hot shower and leave the bathroom ;door open because the fire alarm in the adjacent room will go off, WITHOUT FAIL. If your morning alarm wasn’t enough to wake you up, the fire alarm going off after your shower will do the trick.
• No one picks up after their dogs and yet the apartment claims that there is a $50 fine to anyone who doesn’t. I have seen 1 person in my time living here since May 2015 pick up after their dog. I guess people like having crap on their shoes. It doesn’t help that managment does nothing to enforce this policy.
• The hallways MAYBE get cleaned once every 6 months so if you live in a hallway with children who like making messes or people living their lives in general or nature deciding to blow leaves or pineneedles, forget it. Have fun playing hopscotch to avoid the greasy spills of who knows what. At least you’ll get exercise.
• Speaking of exercise, the gym is tiny and there is no point in visiting. The equipment isn’t maintained. Pay for a gym membership instead.
• There are A LOT of mosquitos in the summer as there is a lot of stagnant water on the premises. If you stand outside with any skin uncovered for longer than 5 minutes, I guarantee that you will get bitten by at least twice. It’s that bad. I lived in Louisiana where the mosquito is the state bird. When I say there’s a lot of mosquitos, I mean it. The same goes for spiders. If you like having to dodge spiderwebs everytime you go out, this place is simply divine. Oppossums on your porch are frequent. Great space for children.
• The community dumpster doesn’t get emptied as often as it should. People leave their trash collecting on the side because of the overflow, causing a digusting smell to waft through the air. If the mosquitos don’t get you to go back inside, the smell certainly will.
• The front gate doesn’t close anymore. Since early October 2015, residents no longer need to use their swipe access cards to get into the “gated” community. Anyone can go right through. ANYONE.
• Everytime you want to enter the premises through the front gate on Beaver Ruin Rd from I-85, you need to make a U-Turn. Oh wait, not anymore because the exit gate is broken! The exit gate was rammed by some kind of vehicle in early October 2015 so it’s bent in half. It hasn’t been replaced and it remains halfway open at all times, granting access to anyone. Oh well, you win some, you lose some, I guess!
• There is a chain link fence behind Building 10 that’s peeled back. I’ve seen plenty of people walk right through as I’m walking with Niki, my dog. Talk about security.
• Sitting in my living room, I’ve seen men walk through the back of our apartment. There isn’t a sidewalk there. It’s straight up forest leading right to our porch. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an almost heart attack when I hear my dog barking at a random man peering into our porch, eyeing what he can steal. Pretty scary.
• Teenagers break glass in the middle of the street for fun. Hope you don’t have tires. Oh wait, you probably do.

They have sound resistant walls at least. That’s a plus. Nothing sarcastic there.

Story time!

It is a rule at this apartment complex, like many others, to keep your dog on a leash at all times. I admit it. I broke this rule. It’s a pain to walk my dog on a leash and she listens to my voice so when I’m alone I let her free. Regardless of why I do it, I recognize that I broke this rule. I own that I broke it.

I let Niki run free after getting home from work one day. It was November 23rd 2015. I have actually let her free since May 2015, in a secluded area of the complex that people seldom walk through.

I brought out a collapsible chair and a book and let my dog go. I sat down and looked at my phone. She does her business and sniffs like any dog does. I’ve had this dog for over 10 years and she hasn’t attacked anyone. She is very protective and by protective I mean she likes barking. All of a sudden, she starts barking at this lady walking in the back of our apartment (again, nothing but forest leading straight to the apartment building so this pathway is very thin).

I get up to put Niki on her leash. I’m not some crazy dog owner that believes in letting dogs free at all times. She needed to be put on her leash and she was. I was in charge now. I apologized to the lady.

The lady said, “Yeah, I’m the Courtesy Officer and I patrol the premises and make sure everything is ok. Your dog needs to be on a leash at all times.”

This was the first time I had ever seen this lady and I’ve lived here since May 2015. It’s November 2015.

I responded, “Yes, I’m sorry about that.” I nodded to add to the fact that I indeed spoke English and I understood what she said.

With Niki on the leash, I turned to gather my chair and my book to go inside our apartment.

She continued walking away from me on her “patrol” but as I’m walking away, she turned around.

“What building do you live in?”

Why was it necessary for me to say where I lived? I don’t remember seeing her “Courtesy Officer” identifcation either. Oh wait, I don’t have to tell her where I live, because this is America and the last time I checked, she was a complete stranger to me. Whose to say she wasn’t one of the many people I see roaming around the complex after hopping over the broken chain link fences?

As far as I am concerned at this moment, if she was the “Courtesy Officer,” our conversation had ended when I apologized and moved to leave for my apartment. In apologizing, like most people do, the mistake is recognized and understood not to be committed again.

I felt like I didn’t need to tell her where I lived for these reasons. But I was hestitant. I’m not one to go against authority and I do try to avoid confrontation and conflict at all costs. The word “officer” kept coming back in my mind. Does she have a weapon of some kind? Is she trained to use said weapon? Do I have a weapon? Nope. That’s not good. I need to be calm.

“I’m just visiting.”

I live between both my parents’ homes interchangably. I didn’t want to confide details about my life to this complete stranger because like I said, her gaining this information about me was totally unrelated to my dog and her lack of leash.

She snapped back, “Well, where are you visiting?” bobbing her head side to side and putting her hand on her hip.

I didn’t know what to say to her. I think I had a confused look on my face as I was trying to figure out what to say. I was rethinking all of the reasons why I shouldn’t tell her and because I couldn’t think of a good reason to tell her, I didn’t. I just shook my head.

“Oh, so you aren’t going to tell me?”

I tried smiling, I think, to ease the tension. Even though I’m not giving someone what they want, I still don’t want conflict. I want to soften the blow in any way I can and contorting my face into some resemblance of a smile was a way I knew how. I slowly starting backing away from her, still carrying all of my things, really nervous about how pushy she was being, especially since I didn’t do anything terribly wrong.

She took out her phone and started to call someone.

I didn’t know if I should go to my car and drive away or go back inside. I was honestly afraid. She stood away from me but moved to block my way to get to my car. Like she wasn’t blocking me necessarily but she was making her presence known, staring at me as I moved back to my apartment hallway.

I moved quickly as I didn’t really like my back towards this woman, which was pretty stupid thing to do if she had a weapon. But I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know if she was going to do something crazy like accuse Niki of attacking her or worse, me, attacking her or something. She was blowing a small incident WAY out of proportion. I went inside and heard her walking behind me in the hallway, talking to whoever on the phone, “Yeah, that’s right, building 7.”

Ok. Now she knew where I lived.

I was alone at home with Niki. My mom was at work. I don’t have any large means of protecting myself. So I start freaking out. I called my mom who was at work. I felt like I was prisoner in my apartment.

I thought the worst. She’s gonna call the police and say Niki attacked her. They are going to come in regardless of whether the door is locked to talk to me. We went through what didn’t happen and what needed to. What more is there to discuss? What did I do that was so wrong?

While on the phone with my mom, basically panicking, I heard knocking at the door and Niki losing it at the noise. I don’t know if I should answer because I’m freaking afraid. I decide not to because I don’t need to. They knock again and I let them. I’m not answering the door. They eventually leave.

Half and hour later, I hear a letter slip through the door. I take it. “Notification of Lease Violation.” Ok. That’s fair. I agree but what’s with the harassment up to my door? Why do you need to basically chase me inside? Why do you expect me to open the door to you if you chase me?

In hindsight, I should have done a few things. I needed to ask her for her ID and why she needed my address to begin with. I should have been more proactive in defending myself instead of running away.

The “Courtesy Officer” needs to understand that she is not a police officer and if she wants to behave like one, she should enroll herself into a police academy. If you want to treat people like society typically treats drug addicts, criminals, or homeless people, don’t you do it to me. Don’t intimidate me when I didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t ask for information you don’t NEED. Don’t harass me. Don’t stalk me home. Don’t knock on my door, pestering me.

Need I remind you of all the other issues in this complex and this woman finds it within herself to place me and Niki at the top of her list? Does that make sense? Didn’t think so.

I can’t wait until our lease ends and we can move out of this place.

So if you want to be harassed and briefly feel like a prisoner in your own home, come live at Gwinnett Point Orion Apartments where the dog crap, staff, and mosquitos are equally plentiful and just as lovely.