With its freshly painted exterior, swimming pool, hot tub and gymnasium, the University Commons was advertised as a four-star student housing option when it first opened in fall 1999.
But according to some of last year’s tenants, the apartment complex didn’t live up to its image — and despite new management, tenants said some of the problems are not completely gone.
Previous residents have complained about problems ranging from “unfinished” apartments to curious fees and claim the complex’s management rarely responded to these matters efficiently. But the current manager, Pam Bryant, said she and her staff are completely new and most of last year’s problems are no longer present. The previous management team that tenants complained about left for “personal reasons,” according to Bryant.

Off to a bad start
Because of its brand-new status and promise to offer appealing features not many other complexes did such as new furnishings, convenient facilities and an option to have high-speed Internet, the Commons was a big hit and had a high student demand in its opening months.
But for some tenants, sour impressions began even before they moved in. Because of conflicts within the contracting company hired to build the apartments, many of the buildings were not finished on time. An unlucky group of students were forced to choose between staying at the Red Lion Inn or finding other living arrangements, paid for by the Commons, for almost a month until all of the apartments were completed.
Jennifer Monin, a junior biochemistry major, chose to stay in the hotel. She said this surprise caused many inconveniences, including commuting problems. Monin has since moved out.
“We got a letter only days before we were supposed to move in to tell us the apartments weren’t ready,” she said. “It got my year off to a really bad start.”
But even after an extra month’s time to finish the establishment, the tenements’ condition still didn’t match the extravagant vision advertisements had presented in earlier months, according to some tenants. Some complained that the apartments were put together in a rush and others were disappointed to learn that the high-speed Internet option was unavailable.
Another prior resident, junior education major Allie Blakely, experienced problems from the first day she moved in.
“We had no beds, no chairs and no microwaves like they said we’d have, and it took awhile to get them,” she said. “The building was very poorly made and very dirty. Even though I was the first tenant, there were holes in the wall that you could tell had been patched over, and the paint on the walls looked like primer. We also had ants.”

Addressing the problems
But many of these issues were out of the management’s hands, according to Gary Mosburg, regional manager of Capstone Properties, the national company that owns the University Commons.
“There were problems with the construction company …and a lot of furniture was back ordered,” he said. “But a lot of people were compensated one way or another.”
Commons manager Bryant added that management has changed the paint used for the walls this year.
“It wasn’t primer, but it was a very flat, thin paint,” she said. “If you just touch it the wrong way it does make marks … But we’re using a different kind now.”
Although advertisements presented an option to pay an extra fee for high-speed Internet, it wasn’t available until the middle of spring term.
Chris Davidson, junior philosophy major, said that the management’s vague answers to these kinds of issues were the biggest problem.
“We could never get a solid answer from them,” he said. “When I asked about the Internet for example, they would say ‘just a little longer.’ They could have just said they didn’t really know what was going on.’”
Many residents said that the management didn’t respond to problems because the majority of tenants were students.
“There was an overwhelming feeling that the management jerked us around because we were students,” Monin said. “They didn’t treat us like adults.”
Bryant, who became the manager in June, said although last year’s management may have neglected duties, she responds to manners as quickly as possible and has never put in less effort because of the students’ age group.
“If people file work orders, we try to get them done within 24 hours,” she said. “Most problems are addressed right away.”
But some students said that even while Bryant was manager, management didn’t take care of some maintenance problems in a timely manner.
Christen Eustice, a junior general science major who was a tenant in summer, said management continuously ignored her complaints
“We had a broken window when we moved in, in early July,” she said. “It never got fixed … We also had a bathroom floor that was sinking. A guy came and said the concrete needed to be re-done but then never came back. And we wrote letters, but the management never got back to us.”
But Bryant said she never heard about these complaints.

Bitter feelings
Another concern tenants had even after the new management took over involved bills from the Eugene Water and Electric Board. EWEB sends general power bills to the Commons and bills for specific apartments to the tenants themselves. But in this case, some tenants found bills addressed to the Commons taped to their doors with notes from management telling them to pay.
Bryant said this happened because after some students moved out, their electric bills were added to the bill Commons owed for the vacant apartment time.
The issue became even more confusing when students who asked EWEB about the unexplained bills were told they didn’t have to pay them.
Cathy Hamilton, a representative from EWEB, said they would never “pass on” a bill from students to the complex, and that the Commons management doesn’t have the authority to tell students they owe part of the bill.
“We only bill Commons for areas like hallways or when the apartment is vacant because they agreed to that,” she said. “We bill the individual units to the customer and if they move we try to find their forwarded address. We wouldn’t just give their bill to the property owner.”
Despite work to improve by the new management, some previous tenants find it difficult to forget last year’s harsh experiences. Monin said it was a mistake to judge the apartments by its image, and is happy that she doesn’t live there anymore.
“I’m just so bitter about the whole thing,” she said.