Rosslyn Heights review: Bill Fraud

The whole operation at Rosslyn Heights is designed to bring renters in with a nice, low rent (for Rosslyn, $2, 000 is low, then nickel and dime the renter to make up the difference. So while, upon signing the lease, the renter knows that the price is a bit lower, and the standard is a bit lower, non is the wiser that at the end of the month the costs will add up to what could be total outlay for a nicer, more comfortable apartment.

Just imagine this scenario. It’s the weekend, you’re out in Rosslyn, looking at this complex called Rosslyn Heights, thinking to yourself “wow, what a smart idea it was to look at this place. All these people moving in, and the rent is reasonable, and they have TWO pools, and a gym, and a common room, and oh, look at all these hot babes by the pool.” So you congratulate yourself on a good find, and sign a lease for 13 months.

Oh, wait – 13 months? I thought it was twelve. Yes, it’s 13. No lease at Rosslyn Heights starts on the 1st of the month. They deliberately start you off on the 2nd, or 3rd, just so they can prorate your lease for the first month and have you on for the twelve following the first month. And that’s only the first surprise.

When you start setting up your utilities you’ll notice that there’s no choice. Electricity comes, surprise surprise, from the building, so you pay your bills to Rosslyn Heights at their rates. You want internet, cable TV, etc? Comcast. Only Comcast. No FiOS available. So forget some competitive rate – you get what they charge, because what are you gonna do? Move back to the middle ages?

Then you discover that the cool weekend atmosphere is also gone. The neighbors are pretty anti-social. The babes by the pool (male or female) don’t even live there, but are just visiting one of your college-going neighbors. And then, when you go to bed, the fun really starts. Soon you discover that your neighbors and their friends come home at 3am screaming and throwing bottles around. And just when you think “ok, this is the weekend, it’s ok” you hear the roar. What is that? Is Al Qaida crashing and airplane into my building? Is it an air raid? Oh no, it’s worse. An air raid, or an Al Qaida attack – that’s a one-time thing. This is worse – much worse – this is you living right under the flight path to Ronald Regan International Airport. And those planes are flying on full power as they’re trying to negotiate a tight turn right over Rosslyn, to avoid flying into DC airspace. So whether they’re taking off or landing, their engines are on full throttle right over your head, all day, all night, every night.

Oh, but this is a fairly new building. I’ll just close the windows. Ah, but the windows are already closed! Because, you see, Rosslyn Heights was built with only the cheapest materials possible. So the windows, the walls – they might as well be made of papier-mâché. And that noise is only the first symptom. By the end of the month you’ll find another surprise – a utility bill that’s out of this world. Why? Because those shoddy walls and windows are letting out all your heat/cooling. By winter-time you’ll find condensation on your walls, and will feel a draft coming from every window in the apartment. So those savings in rent you think you’re getting are literally going right out your windows, because those costs had to be cut somewhere, and they were cut everywhere. Through the winter, our bills were around $200/month. Shocked, I inquired only to find out ours were on the low end of the scale! Yes, it’s possible to pay over $200 for electricity in a one bedroom apartment. So while our friends were paying $60-$70, we paid triple. In fact, one of our friends with electric heating of a +4000 sf house was paying less for electricity through the winter than we were.

And then it turns out that the bill is not even yours. That's right. It's not yours. Rosslyn Heights claims to individually meter your electricity usage, and send you a bill based on your consumption. But this is outright fraud. Your bill has NOTHING to do with your consumption. How do I know? We left the apartment vacant for a month. Before going away, we shut off ALL the breakers. Hot water - OFF. HVAC - OFF. Stove - OFF. Yes, everything - OFF. Our electricity bill for that month? $120! Yes, $120 for NO consumption. So of course we went to the office to ask how our bill can be so high. First response: "let me see if your bill is in line withthose of other tenants in your building." How's that for a baseline? We were away, had everything OFF, and our bill should be comparable to those others received? So then I emphasized - we were away, and the breakers were off. Second respons: "I'll have accounting look into it." Then, without explanation, we get a typed-up letter-like statement for $12. No itemized consumption. No explanation. Just suddenly the bill went from $120, with all the fake consumption that they assigned to our unit, down to $12, with no itemized kW/h used, no rate, no explanation. Just $12. So now multiply that my the duration of your stay in the building. We had CFLs all around, we kept our thermostat low in winter, high in summer, off when away. For the winter, I even insulated all the windows because they're so bad. And then I learn that my bill should be "in line" with those of other tenants. And whether their consumption is any more accurate than yours - nobody knows because Rosslyn Heights meters your electricity, not a regulated, monitored utility. Now that's a scam, plain and simple.

Anyway, by the end of your lease you’re ready to go. And then, suddenly, you understand where all those “smart” people are coming from. They’re moving into all those vacant apartments left behind by those one-year residents who felt taken for a ride; who thought they were saving a bundle, and ended up losing their shirts and their sleep. So now they’re moving out, and a new cohort of suckers is coming in to take their place.

So when you see all those moving trucks lined up outside Rosslyn Heights ask not “wow, are these some fun, smart people or what?”, but rather “hmm, isn’t this a rather high turn-over rate for an apartment complex this size?” Because honestly, nowhere in Rosslyn will you find a building with as many people moving out after just one year.

So if you’ve already signed a lease, too bad for you. But if you’re thinking about getting an apartment in Rosslyn Heights, think again, and consider whether 13 months of sleepless nights and sky-high utility bills are worth it. Because those dinky pools are only open Memorial Day to Labor Day. The gym is poorly equipped and the equipment is lousy. The common room is never used because it’s shoddy like the rest of the apartment complex. But those bills, and that noise – that’s always going to be there.