Complaints

This profile includes complaints for A. R. Building Company, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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• 

  A. R. Building Company, Inc.

  310 Seven Fields Blvd Ste 350 Seven Fields, PA 16046-4343

• 

  Cedarwood Apartments

  403 Cedarwood Dr Carmichaels, PA 15320-1181

• 

  Chatham Commons Apartments

  5000 Stein Dr Cranberry Township, PA 16066-3300

• 

  Kennedy Highlands

  200 Adams Dr Mc Kees Rocks, PA 15136-3905

• 

  A. R. Building Company, Inc.

  5757 Madison Ave Indianapolis, IN 46227

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/26/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In May 2023, we were contacted saying that there was a leak from our HVAC system. A leak that we were unaware of; when the maintenance men came out, they reported that the leak seeped into another apartment and offered to leave a fan in our unit to dry up the water that was trapped under the floorboards. We were later informed that we would have to cover the fees from this overflow but would not be given a price at the time. My husband asked for pictures and a breakdown of the fees prior to any work being done. He was told by the agent that they were emailing him this information but we never received any damage pictures or proof of damage. We were told that we could file this with our insurance company. Fast forward to move out time and we received an invoice for 11,158 of damages that included the replacement of the floorboard plus damage to carpet that was not done. There were other trumped up charges such as painting the entire unit for 925 which there was only one wall with slight crayon marks on it. I received a notice from a debt collector this evening 7/26/23 stating that I had an outstanding balance with the complex. There has not been a notice sent to me prior to this one. Additionally, the information asked for by husband has still not been received. This company has a slew of Google reviews with the same overcharged amount being charged once tenants move out.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/24/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Lease renewal begibs aug 2023. I have a contract that states from leasor move in july 2006 that my rent will increase 3% of last charged monthly rent each renewal. The last lease was increased by 9% with no contractual agreement. I was told i had to sign lease or i would be charges fees. I called community office and explained lease renewal shpuld only show 3% rent increase. I was then told they would contact a r building. Nothing has been done to resolve the contractual error. I explained the error and tried contacting ar building. No calls have been answered

  Business Response

  Date: 08/01/2023

  Tenant has signed many renewal leases since July of 2006.  We have an executed lease renewal from tenant signed on May 25, 2023 with the renewal base rent amount being $1030. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/02/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

  On May 25th very early am i logged on the ar building portal to review the lease. It did not show the actual rent charges i would be responsible for with fees. It required initials to proceed to the next document. I immeadiately signed off the online portal because the amount was wrong. I called immeadiately to ask why the rent was increasing by such a large incriment than the 3% contractual amount. I was told i signed the lease and they were going to do nothing at my leasing office. I left messages witb corporate that the online portal took final signatures that i had not yet seen thr total amount due. If this is going to transpire this way then the leasing contracts should not be signed online. It took my signature before showing total due. Documents should be signed in leasing office. I only wanted to review my lease on that date. No one has retutned my calls why my rent is price gouged

   

   

   
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/05/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Overall, we have numerous complaints related to business practices, inconsistencies, and most of all, the refusal to allow us as tenants to escalate and speak to someone from the corporate office about our issues. We were told they "were not allowed to give out their number." 1) I asked the property manager to allow me, as a tenant, to address an issue of racial discrimination against my daughter. She both refused to allow me to address it and made such a vague statement that no one knew it was about discrimination. I can understand laws around privacy preventing her from commenting, but she should not have prevented me from commenting. 2) There is a constant stench of marijuana which has been reported to management and the authorities multiple times. Recreational use is illegal in Ohio. There have been threats made of eviction, but after months of complaints, it still smells strongly of marijuana. We DO NOT FEEL SAFE. 3) Other tenants allow their animals to defecate in the elevator and stairwells. Someone is spitting in the elevators. This is a health concern. 4) We are relocating. The property manager responded to a request for a rental verification to an out of state realtor, stating that she could not release it until we paid a $50.00 fee. She did not contact me before responding. When I called her, she said "sorry its in your lease," to which I responded, "you could've given me a heads up prior to replying. She also didn't check to see that I had a 2000 credit on my account at the time of her response. We ended up going into a new lease early because this discrepancy almost caused us to lose the house. We want out of our lease early without the fee. Between the marijuana usage, the health concerns related to the animal feces and sputum, and the We are moving out at the end of June. The lease is up at the end of August. It is for a 3 bedroom apartment. There will be no loss of rent.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/07/2023

  
  ******* ****** *******************>
  Jun 6, 2023, 6:38 PM (14 hours ago)
  to me
  
  Here's a photo of the email she sent to the Texas Realtor Property Manager that was mentioned in the complaint.  This almost cost us the house.  I had to do a ton of extra work to prove that this was not due to insufficient funds.  She didn't check to see that there was a $2000.00 credit sitting on my account at the time this email was sent.
  

  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/09/2023

  We require a $50 rental verification fee if someone is requesting we send verification to a new landlord. This is in the lease and the property manager responded correctly. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/01/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We signed a lease with Hawthorne Communities for an apartment and our move in date is set for July 9th 2023. However, due to a family emergency we are unable to occupy that space. They are asking us to pay $3,800 or go to collections. This is something out of our control and that fee is absurd. I reached out as soon as possible (more than 30 days before move in) and they said there is no other resolution.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/09/2023

  We have an executed lease agreement (see attached) that spells out the cancelation fee on page 16 if the signers do not fulfill their lease agreement.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/12/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I applied for a Housing unit in the Hawthorne communities with documentation signed on 5/01/2023 for the lease to start on 5/05/2023. The move was due to selling of my house with my spouse. On 5/02/2023, the sale of the house was terminated by our buyers. Due to the termination, I am not in a position to move, as I do not need the unit now. I had paid for the online application fee, administration fee and a deposit fee towards the unit. I called to let them know of my situation. The person I spoke with said they could keep my payments and use it towards the next unit I lease if need be. I expressed I do not know when that would be so I would like to not let the lease start since my move in date is not yet started and this notice is literally 24 hours after my signing. She however told me to put the situation in writing which I did. I got an email later stating that after they spoke with corporate office, I am expected to pay $6300.00 to them for not coming into the unit. The email indicated that is a cancellation fee. I understand if I had moved into the property and this is being applied, I also, I would understand if my non refundable application fee was being held, but to be expected to pay $6300.00 for a 24 hour notice of my property being terminated in sale is quite too much. I would like your assistance to help me resolve the issue please. I agree for them to keep my online application non refundable fee, but I would like for the cancellation fee to be waived given the circumstances of the buyers terminating the sale of my house. Thank you. Address/ Phone number of the business Hawthorne Communities 900 Hawthorne Cir, Oakdale PA, 15071 412 788 1155

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/27/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  in sept. early oct. we applied to rent an apt. "toll house apts".. only a little worry about background check. nonetheless, management told my husband and i the next day we were not approved because of background check. management said refund " in the mail". days go by. i went back to office inquiring where refund was. i was told payment came back nsf. then collection calls saying i owed 150 because they had paid it and that now i owe. i did not enter into an agreement to use that supposed debt to line their pockets. theres is no evidence of any nsf in any of my acccounts. would be nice if everyone decided to "pay" for something then attribute the payment to someone else "NOW YOU OWE US!!!!" seems that is a modus operandi. would be nice if i would be given proof of the nsf, but i can't because it doesnt exist and i am getting disturbing phone calls from Hunter Warfield.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/29/2023

  When applying for this unit there is a non refundable application fee which in this case was $100 for two people and an admin fee of $175 that is refundable if applicant is not approved.  This is a total of $275. Applicant paid this amount on 10/4/22 and the payment was returned because it was unable to locate account which most likely means the account info was entered incorrectly by the tenant.  Toll House Apartments never received any money from this applicant, which has resulted in Toll House charging $100 for the application and an additional $50 for the NSF fee.  If the applicant can prove that we received $275 we would be happy to refund them $175, but nothing was ever taken from their bank account from our end.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/13/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I lived at Hawthorne Estate in 2016. Asked to move out because my daughter was bite in the face by a dog that was not on the property. The property mama allowed me to break my lease. Now when I tried to apply for Kennedy Highlands got approved payed my security deposit someone called me and said that my $500 is going to a balance from 2016 and unless I pay $7000 I can’t move in. I have never skipped out on my rent. The property manager didn’t properly handle the paperwork and know their saying there is a letter stated I broke my lease because of financial reasons. Which is false

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/01/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Consumer states she applied for an apartment (Pebble Creek Apartments - Twinsburg, OH) in December 2022. Her application was denied and her application fee of $275.00 was returned 12/30/2022. The consumer recently received a letter in the mail from a third party, Hunter Warfield Inc., stating that she owes the business $125.00 because she was not supposed to get back the full $275.00 back in December. The consumer tried to contacted the business but no one has answered each time she has called.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/15/2023

  There seems to be some confusion here.  The applicant paid their application fee of $75 and admin fee of $200 on December 30th.  That payment went NSF on 1/5/23.  We never received any money.  She was denied so the admin fee does not get charged.  Applicant still owes us $75 app fee that is nonrefundable and now a $50 NSF fee for a total of $125.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/19/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/20/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My rent for the month of February was about 10 days late. I was informed through a “notice to quit” of a balance due of $1961.00. When I went online to pay my rent, I learned my account was deactivated and I was unable to pay online, even though i pay directly through my bank. I was able to pay $1850 on 2/16 and had the remaining balance of $111 on 2/20. I was informed very rudely by Theresa, the property manager, that she would not activate my online portal so that I could pay the remaining balance since I paid a $10 fee the first time for a certified check. I asked that an exception be made so I didn’t have to pay another $10 certified check fee. I’ve never had this happen before and thought we could come to some resolution. she said absolutely no exceptions would be made. She then stated that she would return my original certified check until I paid the $111. I asked to speak to someone above her and she told me no. I called the main office headquarters but have not received a call back. So all I am asking is that the $111 be paid online like I normally pay so that I don’t have to pay another fee. I was charged a $260 late fee, which I feel was excessive for half the month, and I paid most of it. It is ridiculous to believe that nothing can be done to help resolve this. I don’t need to be talked to in that manner. I have never been a problem in the 3yrs I have lived here. I understand that there are policies in place. What I don’t understand is the Bright Oaks is willing to sacrifice my entire payment of $1850 for $111. That makes no sense to me as well as not being able to come to a common ground to get this resolved. Her attitude is very unsympathetic and not helpful in a situation where someone may be struggling but more to pay what’s owed. I was treated like I didn’t matter and it was of no importance whether I stayed or left.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/16/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The management company continually makes it difficult for tenants to pay, and with barriers in place, tenants can incur a significant amount in late fees over times. Further, their means of communication with a generic email that then requires the tenants to log on to a system to read the message makes it cumbersome to log on several times a day for several emails. We get notifications about food trucks but anything important regarding issues with online payments is buried within one of these generic messages. For example, in December 2022 they switched or updated their online accounting system which in fact did not work. The notification about the update was in a generic message at the beginning of the month. If someone does not log on to read every message, or misses the message, they would not have known this, until they realized money was not taken from their accounts or they received a late notice fee in January. So 1) they update the system, 2) they send generic emails regarding this, 3) the system doesn't work, 4) for however many people were unaware, or not technologically savvy, which is probably many - they are charged with late fees. Now take it one step further, when someone knows that they have to pay, the system LOCKS them out of it if they are late, requiring them to drop off a check in the main office - yet again one more barrier to paying on time. This is a recurrent theme. We signed up for automatic payments last year, and for some reason they were deleted, but there was no record of it being deleted or taken away on their end. Once more, we owed late fees. We are owing late fees as if we are delinquent, don't have the money, or irresponsible tenants, when that is not the case. The AR Building management company likely has these intentional barriers in place so they can collect more late fees.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/23/2023

  We did change up our software at this property but a ton of communication was sent out in December about payment processing for January.  We understand that people may have not seen these messages and handled January keeping that in mind.  This tenant did pay late in January and called the office.  We removed the January late fee because it was an inconvenience but during that phone call we told the tenant what they needed to do to pay online in February.  This tenant had weeks to just create a new online portal account and didnt, it was communicated via email and on a phone call when we removed the January late fee.  There really isnt more we can do, seems like the tenant just forgot to create a new online portal account after being told numerous times and given a break for the previous month for not doing it on time then.