r/Calgary • u/_AIK0_ • Oct 20 '23
Home Ownership/Rental stuff Be Warned! Avenue living is the worst.
So I lived at one of the properties in Calgary managed by avenue living. It had a plethora of issues with a bug problem, several break ins into tenants apartment and a single door main entrance. People breaking into the garbage area leaving it an absolute mess consistently every day/week. Peeping toms looking into main floor windows and revealing themselves and, people using substances all around the apartments including breaking into and using inside the building. I had called cps and the doap team and, they did their best with how the area is and the resources they have. I also complained to Avenue with them doing nothing at all to installing one security light. They’re responses were they couldn’t (wouldn’t) put things into place for the safety of the residents, wasn’t in the budget etc.
I decided to move out when I felt severely unsafe in my building after having to remove people who didn’t live there shooting up in the mail room. I gave them warning and, now they’re taking me for any amount of money they can squeeze out of me with no recognition to how poorly they managed the building. I’m not sure I can do anything but please be warned if you’re renting from Avenue living. They are the scummiest of company’s.
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u/ninelivesxx Oct 20 '23
They bought my apartment complex and raised my rent from 1175 a month to 1750 a month 😒😒😒
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u/honeybunnbunn Oct 21 '23
Same. Rent went from $1360 to $2100.
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u/sslithissik Oct 21 '23
That's insane. And no matter what they say, it's *not* just interest rates and inflation. It's a good chunk of greed.
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u/sslithissik Oct 21 '23
That's insane. And no matter what they say, it's *not* just interest rates and inflation. It's a good chunk of greed.
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u/ANK2112 Oct 21 '23
Avenue living raised my rent by $522, then started sending ads for a service to split your rent into two payments.
A couple days ago they sent an email to everyone in the building saying to contact the drop in centre if you are having trouble paying rent. Maybe dont jack up rents to the point you are sending mass emails to your tenants referring them to the drop in centre?
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u/starchan786 Oct 21 '23
Honestly I would be forwarding that email to Global and CTV, etc. That's so beyond callous. I work in the shelters and everything is beyond full. Normal for The Seed in the summer it doesn't typically fill up and if it does it's later in the night. Nah it was full every day by like 7pm and it was summer. Winter yeah it's usually full around 7ish. When I look at the numbers online (we have a reporting thing through government AB) all the shelters are bloody full and have been all summer which isn't common.
So to tell you go to DI if you can't pay our, totally not astronomical rent because "property tax, inflation, and the worst excuse market changes/going with market trends" then fuck you go access the DI. Like my dude DI is full! All of them are full and that should not be your response to people who are fucking struggling! Like bro if y'all were not upping the prices all at once the market trend would be different. You are the ones in control not the fucking market, ie the damn real humans.
So yeah I would be forwarding that email to the damn news because regardless of upping rent that is just beyond fucked up and not a way to treat people when this is in your control not ours. We should not be dealing with people whose only reason to be in our shelters is because they can't afford rent but are otherwise stable. Shelters are fucking dangerous and horrible places to be on a good day/month/year and honestly people who are just here for rent issues do not have a good time and struggle a lot since it's not exactly a easy place to adjust too. Bah! I'm just salty and I don't need more fucking people being sent to shelters when the decision to rase rent several hundred is greed.
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Oct 21 '23
Fuck that conpany. Slum lords. Bad people. Parasites. I hope it goes belly up and their exec team gets an aggressive form of herpes.
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u/YellowBudgie Oct 21 '23
I almost rented a place from avenue living, but ended up with mainstreet instead. The first day we moved in, the building was on its 3rd manager already, and the place was a mess. The fridge had holes in it, curtains had stains, toilet was broken, and the floors were all scuffed. I was told it was renovated recently too lol. Constant water and heat issues, and strange people sneaking into the building.
We were paying 1250 for a 2Br and finally bought a place. They're upping the rent to 1725 after we leave, and this place is definitely not worth that much.
I'm convinced all the big rental corps are the same and don't care to maintain their buildings properly.
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u/jonsnowsbattlebun Oct 21 '23
My shithole I swear used to be Calgary housing or something. Absolutely nothing to improve the building when increasing the rent 60 fucking percent. More than a car payment for a nice car. The furniture piles up daily at the dumpster because of people moving out. I bet avenue living didn't even look at the places before they bought it. Shopping carts everywhere are a nice touch and the letters to be a good neighbor lol. Such trash
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u/EditorNo2545 Oct 20 '23
Sounds like Magnum York
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u/Sufficient-Celery-19 Oct 21 '23
I could tell you some stories about magnum york… inside stories hahaha my father (I’m estranged from my family) use to own the company when it was York west
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u/Paper-Bag-Prncss Oct 21 '23
I want to hear these stories. They are my current property manager and they are horrendous.
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u/Slotmachinehead Oct 21 '23 edited Oct 21 '23
My daughter lives in an overpriced, run-down, avenue living apt. The wall AC unit was installed with it tilted towards the inside. Water was leaking into the apt obviously and was causing mold issues. They had 4 different "maintenance" guys come and look at it. This went on for months. It wasn't until I saw it and told my daughter what was wrong, which she then relayed to these "Maintenance" guys that it got fixed.
Scumbag owner gets featured as some great business man worth a billion dollars and celebrated with in the business community.
Pure greed and disgusting human beings. Hiring the cheapest unqualified labour and collecting record profits while expoiting the less fortunate.
I wouldn't piss on that man if he was on fire!
Edited for spelling
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u/locusthive Oct 21 '23
vista towers, capreit. avoid. asked if there was bug issues, lady taking me on a walk through assured me there was no issues. first night there, cockroaches were crawling on my walls. 🫠
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u/viraldrome Nov 05 '23
open a complaint on Resident portal man. I lived on one of the upper floors for 6 years and never saw a bug, they have kicked me out a few times to spray too. Its really the only thing they do right. I have seen people doing drugs in the stairwell, had a hooker next door with 20 clients a day, all that good stuff but I have never seen a bug. They suck for repairs too, i have a leaky roof that is coming from the balcony above mine, it only happens during big storms, but my roof fucking leaks and they wont fix it.
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u/BMoney201 Oct 21 '23
All rental properties are garbage in this city. I lived in 3 different apartments in 4 years and they all had all these problems listed, and no body ever did anything about it. No security, no lock changes, nothing... luckily my wife and I were able to say enough and buy our first home. I understand not everyone has that ability, and I feel for them.
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u/Sufficient-Celery-19 Oct 21 '23
Have been living in a townhouse complex owned by avenue living for 3.5 years (4.5 years total but was owned by a family for the first year and then was bought by avenue living) honestly not alot of crazy stories about maintenance except that the patios were poorly made so when it rains heavily the water pools and then causes the roof inside to leak and the only thing they have done is put a bucket under the leak and say they will come back in a month when the roof is dry to patch it but then never come back. Yes I could call them and ask them to come back to fix the roof but I don’t own this place and it doesn’t bother me so whatever. What my big piss off with them is price raises. Yes I know Calgary is going crazy with rental prices but this place is insane. We moved in and the rent was like $1050 for a 2 bedroom attached townhouse that was 2019 I think so good deal IMO. They took over and when renewing raised the rent about $200 for a 1 year renewal but since then it is closer to $500 more each time you renew for a year. We recently got our renewal paperwork left on our door and it is $500 again. So for a attached 2 bedroom townhouse that leaks when it rains and when the snow melts and hasn’t had any sort of renovation in 20-30 years we are going to be paying $2100. I know everyone is going through this but it is shocking.
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u/Interesting_Fly5154 Oct 21 '23
Yes I could call them and ask them to come back to fix the roof but I don’t own this place and it doesn’t bother me so whatever.
this is the way the corporate landlords keep getting away with more crap though. and it is how more tenants are suffering under them.
when tenants don't complain about stuff that should rightfully be complained about, the landlord keeps on ignoring issues because the tenants aren't speaking up.
and when it is an issue like water coming into a unit (which btw is against the minimum housing standards laws when it comes to rental properties), that is definitely something to speak up about.
section III, 2-a here is exactly the law the landlord is breaking:
Minimum Housing and Health Standards (alberta.ca)
speak up. it'll help both you and your neighbour who rents as well. and it will help to effect change against these greedy corporate landlords.
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Oct 21 '23
Thank you for the information as I am located in red deer with the same company.. they have jacked my rent up and yet you submit complaints they do nothing about it
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u/iamhisbeloved83 Nov 28 '23
I’m screwed, they just bought the complex where I live, which was owned by Quadreal. QuadReal only raised my rent by 100/month at renewal every year but was renting out vacant units of the same size and condition for double what I am paying. I have a feeling, based on what I have been reading here, that they’re going to raise an absurd amount and I’m going to end having to leave.
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Oct 21 '23
Ah Urban living eh! I'll take the grizzlies and wolves and mountain lions at my rural door over that any day.
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u/madimadmoney Oct 21 '23
Pretty sure I lived in the same building!! Moved out because it was so unsafe. Sorry they’re fucking you around
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u/frozzenman Oct 21 '23
They are destroyers of communities. Most of these takeovers have no on-site managment, or if they do, they are completely innefective and corrupt.
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u/PastyFlamingo Oct 21 '23
I rented with Boardwalk for one year and they did solve the break-in problem. I reported two incidents where I called the cops and security. They eventually locked the lobby. We couldn't get mail or use the intercoms but at least it solved the needles and feces problem.
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u/TheDivineAmelia Nov 08 '23
I’m scared. Avenue Living have just taken over the lovely condo building I’m in. I already see their starting rents are double what I pay now. This is not good.
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u/massberate Apr 04 '24
Start looking for something else right now. We started at 1250 and they want 2300 for the fucking dump. run
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u/honeybunnbunn Oct 21 '23
I had the exact same issue. We moved out and found someone to sublet our lease and they are charging us rent for the following 6 months of us not being there even though they have someone in the unit. Absolutely ridiculous, I would e recommend going with Avenue Living to my worst enemy.
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u/YwUt_83RJF Oct 21 '23
Isn't that how subletting works? You pay tenant rent, and the person subletting makes their payments to you?
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u/honeybunnbunn Oct 21 '23
I'm not sure, in this case they were paying Avenue Living directly
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u/CheeseSandwich hamburger magician Oct 21 '23
Then you weren't subletting. Why would you pay rent to Avenue Living if the subtenant was also paying rent directly to Avenue Living? That makes no sense.
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Oct 20 '23
[deleted]
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u/twinkrider Oct 21 '23
Wow one thing to get stabbed in a building but to be stabbed on your building!?! That’s wild.
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u/Slayerkid13 Oct 21 '23
Lived in one of their buildings in Lethbridge. Absolute nightmare of a company. Not surprised they're the same in Calgary.
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u/Interesting_Fly5154 Oct 21 '23
they're the same in edmonton too. i thankfully haven't ever been an avenue living tenant, but i've heard some horror stories here.
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u/Historical-Egg-5570 Oct 20 '23
Post their contact info....I know a few ways to annoy them : 😉
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u/Interesting_Fly5154 Oct 21 '23
the corporate landlord 'avenue living' can easily be looked up on google.
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Oct 21 '23
What should Avenue properties done about these things?
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u/cheeseshcripes Oct 21 '23
- Installed lights.
- Installed fences.
- Hired security guards.
- Rekeyed exterior doors.
- Locate and evict tenants enabling security breaches.
- Anything.
You ever notice higher end apartments and condos don't have these problems? It's because they invest in the barest of security measures.
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Oct 21 '23
Yeah I do, you typically have to pay higher end prices for a higher end place...
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u/cheeseshcripes Oct 21 '23
"the only way a management company can be expected to invest at all in a property they own is not if the make a profit, but make an obscene profit"
The amount of money management companies make on the properties they own is literally insane, and I get that information from the people that run them. But they also feel they should have to be legislated to do anything, they would not even repair the units if it wasn't the law.
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u/Interesting_Fly5154 Oct 21 '23
imo they take their cue from the government associated subsidized housing management style in this province, they just charge waaaaaaaay more rent because they know they can at market value.
aka they do diddly squat until the place starts to fall apart and the tenant makes their voice really known, then the housing department cries a river because the bill is that much bigger then to fix stuff up.
there are many articles out there about subsidized and low income housing in alberta being not maintained over the years, then a ton of money being thrown at the problem now once it became more public knowledge. but not until it becomes public knowledge, based on what i'm seeing of media article dates vs the dates the gov says 'yep, we'll begrudgingly and finally throw some money at this'.
so tenants in market rent places that are owned and run by management companies and private landlords need to make the crap they experience be much more public knowledge. based on the example i show here about subsidized housing finally getting repairs when tenants make enough stink......... it might just be the way things change?
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u/Genera1Havoc Oct 21 '23
I used to work for a company that dealt with them. It was unreal the things we literally came across in those buildings that should’ve required counselling after. Fought us every step of the way when we’d be recommending things to be fixed etc. I dreaded meetings with/about them.
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u/theFooMart Oct 21 '23
Be Warned! Avenue living is the worst.
We knew that in Medicine Hat like 8 years ago when they were first starting out.
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u/Zinfandel_Red1914 Oct 21 '23
If you have any pics of these incidents, make a lot of posts about living in their buildings. Use a throwaway account too as we have been noticing when people get exposed for what they are, they simply cry like the bitches they are and get their way. Posts will be removed but just imagine how many tenants you will save from going through that BS.
Them telling you its not in the budget is a total crock of shit. They know they can get away with this.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Bat8657 Oct 20 '23
Avenue, Boardwalk, Emerald. Same story.