Apartment Review for Camden Fairfax Corner - Fairfax, VA

My boyfriend and I sublet a studio unit from Camden from mid May 09 to the beginning of Aug 09. We were very excited to live there at first. The location was great and the parking garage and other amenities were added bonuses. However, we quickly came to find that there were many downfalls to life at Camden. First, before you agree to rent there, you should know that cable and what is called "valet trash" are mandatory fees added to your monthly rent. Cable was $40 per month and valet trash was $30 per month. Wondering about valet trash? This is where you pay for workers to come pick up trash directly from your door from a special (tiny) can every night (except for Fridays and Saturdays) even though trash compactor chutes are located in the garage on every level. These fees were NOT OPTIONAL. We also found that our neighbors were very noisy and up at all hours of the night. There is no way to get help from Camden management for such problems during the evenings other than to leave a message on the office phone. We complained several times and Camden refused to assist. Also, be aware that this is a pet-friendly facility and you WILL hear dogs barking and whining at all hours. Despite all of the aforementioned problems, we probably would've remembered our time at Camden fondly if it wasn't for this one final problem when we moved out. We had the surface of the carpet professionally cleaned before we vacated our unit at the suggestion of management. There were no surface stains on the carpet after the cleaning. Despite this, they ripped it out and are currently attempting to collect $600 from us for stains found on the UNDERSIDE of the wall-to-wall carpet. It is NOT common practice for landlords to inspect the underside of carpet because ripping it from the floor causes damage to it! What's worse is that they claim that the stains appeared to be from pet urine. We did not have pets! The guy before us did not have pets! The carpet was 3 years old and any previous tenant could have caused the damage. It seems to me that Camden was already intending to replace the carpet and thought they could scare some young, first-time renters into paying for it. We fought with management over this and eventually refused to pay. We didn't hear from them for months until finally, they sent a collections agency after us. We now have filed a complaint with the BBB and are in the process of filing with Fairfax County Consumer Affairs. To sum this up... SAVE YOURSELF THE HASSLE. In my opinion, Camden Fairfax Corner practices UNETHICAL business. Know your rights in Fairfax County! http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/consumer/tenant/