Wallace F Ackley

Discriminatory/Homophobic practices:Pardon my lateness, but Wallace F Ackley showed up as a bookmark of mine and I remembered that in 2011 I attempted to rent an apartment of theirs with my partner and was denied!I had found a place, visited the property, had a deposit check written out and a lease on the way when we hit a snag: the woman renting to me discovered that I would be cohabiting with a same sex partner. She hid behind a policy of 1 person: 1 room. I explained that we were partners, and willing to both sign the lease. She denied me again, gritting her teeth in disgust. I reminded her that the city of columbus had a housing non-discrimination law (their office is technically in columbus). She said the property was in Bexley, that they were within their rights to deny same sex couples as I could not produce a marriage certificate which was at that time still banned. She also stated marriage was between a man and a woman. She then asked me to leave! I wanted to post this review because even though laws have changed, the attitudes and motives of this company need to be known.

Roommate situation aside, I am happy with my experience renting from Wallace Ackley. I took over a lease from an international student, and the process of applying and subsequently renewing the lease went very smoothly. Communication through email or phone results in quick responses. Jane and Sandra at the Upper Arlington office are wonderful to work with, and maintenance is quick to respond to requests. I had to have them come out late in the evening to fix a broken shower faucet which would not shut off, and they were there within half an hour. The few issues that I did have:- They were constantly showing our building for sale, and did not always give the appropriate 24-hour notice.- There was a daycare, tons of playground equipment, two dogs and two ferrets next door in a no-pets, no-businesses building.- They do not enforce the parking restrictions -- people are always parking in the driveway between the garages, blocking others.

Very nice operation. Great array of options in terms of Apartment choices and especially location. Reasonably priced. Moved in several months back and, thus far, have been pleased w/ the condition of my apt. as well as timeliness of service requests. Staff is friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

I would give this place negative stars if I could....DO NOTrent from here for the following reasons:(1) the units are very outdated & there are no plans to upgrade them any time soon, despite their rent prices reflecting "upgraded units"(2) they will verify your income, then charge you more for rent than what is posted on the site (ie: the website says the unit i rented from them a few months ago is now $150 cheaper than what they were charging me)(3) the walls are extremely thin & your neighbors will constantly call noise complaints on you. the rental office already understands how thin the walls are & refuse to do anything to help you, despite the bottom of the lease violation paperwork telling you to contact the office within 24-48 hours to resolve or you will have further action taken.(4) maintance takes forever, if at all, to respond to your requests - including onesthat are considered emergent (ie: black flow flooding your unit because of old plumbing issues that never get resolved; the front & back doors of your unit not locking, resulting in your neighboring entering while you're not home (caught on video surveillance).(5) they will hold your security deposit for more than 30 days post you moving out & you will need to take them to smalls claims court to get any response from them.a friendly tip for those who still dumb enough to rent with them: ESCROW YOUR RENT AND DOCUMENT EVERYTHING (including face to face visits with the office staff).

Do not rent from this company if you want peace of mind. They are not tenant friendly (bad bedside manner) and have very strict rules. They have a no-pet policy, make the tenant responsible for things they need to repair, and are downright nasty, like plantation owners. Wallace Ackley has many properties...avoid at all costs, if you are lower income (this is a hint) about what I really think is wrong with this company. It isn't exclusive mentality, though. Many of the units are old. Some of the basements have standing water when it rains; it is mentioned in the contract. They refuse to accept checks from the Veteran's Administration, a very reputable organization that assists veterans with rent, utility bills, and food. It is money, and not accepting money from The Veteran's Administration sounds like discrimination to me. A person is not dirty because they make lower wages, they just might not have extra money because of it.

Their Upper Arlington office, maintenance, and management are just terrible: the house was not ready before we move in, in spite of many correspondence and my visits to their place in person. After making all necessary arrangements, truck rentals, address changes, school registrations for the kids, etc. they showed me the door just because I am asking why the unit is not clean and ready to move on the day I supposed to move in. I wish this would be an option that time and I could find another place to move within a day instead of moving in to the house I am living right now. The house's maintenance is still waiting after two weeks including some issues with safety. Their top maintenance person came once crying out that he worked half an hour more than he supposed to work that day and cannot do more work. He could hardly fix a running faucet and left. I cannot image how their regular maintenance people could be if their boss is such an incredibly rude person. No matter how many times you write to their managers about the problems you are living through, you will hear nothing back. A friendly advice: If you do not have to, avoid renting/buying house from this company by all means. I already started looking for a different house and am sure will be better whatever and wherever it is.