Emerald Palms

This is an updated review and I’m giving Emerald Palms 5 Stars because it’s hard to beat when it comes to value for money. When I initially wrote a review I gave Emerald Palms 4 stars and since then the team made the necessary changes.
Unit — I had a two bedroom townhouse with one bedroom on the ground floor and an upstairs master/​bathroom. Two bathrooms, a respectable sized kitchen, tile downstairs, carpeted stairs/​upper landing/​upstairs bedroom and my unit came with a very large deck that looked over the pond
Appliances — The appliances were basic but not weathered and did the job. Dishwasher, all electric range, large fridge w icemaker and washer dryer upstairs.
AC — System was strong enough to keep my unit cool on the hottest pf days.
Utility bills — You pay for water and electric. My electric bill was lower than average. My summertime AC bill in Miami was less than my AC bill in Boston.
Management Office — Management office staff were always very courteous, knowledgeable and had good follow up. Cindy was the person I usually dealt with and she was great.
Pools & hot tubs — 2 pools and 2 hot tubs.
Fitness center — Functional, always clean, everything worked.
Trash — Plenty of dumpsters, emptied regularly and they are nicely obscured.
Parking — Not covered and lots of it.
Value for money — I think Emerald Palms provided excellent value for money. The combination of square footage and facilities was hard to beat.
Landscaping/​Grounds — The landscaping is superb and the grounds are some the nicest I’ve seen. There is plenty of space to stroll and walk your dog.
Dog friendly — EP is very dog friendly and there are lots of poopy bag stations that don’t seem to run out.
Play ground — Yes, there’s one but I was too big to test it out. It looked fine.
Noise levels — I never heard my neighbors through the walls.
Neighbors — Excellent. All of my neighbors were super nice, the place has a very relaxed and positive vibe.
Final thoughts — I moved from the cold northeast on a whim and couldn’t have landed at a better spot. Not a lot of money upfront, the management office has always been great, the move-​in/​move-​out process was hassle free and I got my full deposit back when I left.
The negatives: Internet — You can chose between Comcast or Direcpath. Everyone complained about both services, including myself, and unfortunately there’s not much the office can do about it because all services route through the same street level network interface box. The maintenance team. The head of maintenance is nice and approachable but the team can take a long time over jobs and leave some jobs unfinished (as in the case of a few neighbors).
Tip; If you have a townhouse, I would recommend washing the carpets when it comes time to move out.

This was my second year renting… I thought to myself maybe I’ll give this place one more shot. I was wrong.
1. The amount I’m paying a month, I could be in a house.
2. The lights are always out in the parking lots at night so IT’S PITCH DARK
3. The gate is always broken so don’t think it’s actually a gated community. The amount of money they spend on fixing the gate they could use to hire a part time person to man the gates. But the property manager is a total idiot and would never spend that money. WHICH MEANS SHE DOES NOT CARE AT ALL FOR THE SAFETY OF THE TENANTS.
4. It takes FOR EVER AND A DAY to get maintenance to do something.
5. The only one in the office who isn’t ignorant is Brooke. Everyone else in that office needs to learn how to do their job. They have horrible communication amongst one another. In fact they messed up so badly on our paperwork that they comped 150 off of our first months rent.
6. The shrubs, trees and landscaping outside is beautiful but once you enter inside IT’S HORRIBLE. In the year that I lived in the newer buildings not once did they upkeep the bushes downstairs. Not… one…time…
if your thinking about moving here, please consider all of the following comments including mines, a huge warning! Do not move in. Look somewhere else.
Emerald palms… get your act together.

Two words: Rent elsewhere! Don’t be fooled by the beautiful landscape because only «green» this place is worried about is your hard earned money.
My boyfriend lived here for a year and was never late on payments for rent or utilities. When moving out, we left the unit spotless, move-​in ready and even patched every last nail hole!
But we still lost $ 1300 because of a management semantics game.
Be aware: the contract requires 60 day notice (not the typical 30 day), which is the first trap because I know very few people that know where they will be 2 months in advance.
Second trap was their farce of cooperation and appreciation toward good and loyal tenants… as the contract was approaching completion we were house hunting and decided to change the contract status to month to month and went ahead and provided 30 day notice at that point.
Very long story cut short… we found a place and paid 11 days pro-​rated rent and when my boyfriend spoke to the leasing office he was told the deposit would be available to us a 2 – 4 weeks after walk through.
We moved out and they made no consideration of our schedule for walk through they cancelled the original walk-​through date and rescheduled to their own convenience with no regard to the fact my boyfriend had to leave work to accommodate the time appointed.
Yes, the 60 day notice is in the contract but there is a such thing as customer service and good business sense… when dealing with reliable and consistently good clients treat them as such!
Especially when verbal agreements with your own personnel enabled the misunderstanding of terms.
Because of the conversation with staff we were made to believe that switching to month-​to-​month made the 60-​day notice no longer necessary (who the heck would pay 11 days pro-​rated rent if they planned on losing the deposit and have to pay the full month penalty regardless… no one)
In summary, don’t waste your time with such unprofessional management and if you’re already stuck there don’t count on anything verbal– get it in writing because their word means nothing and their customer service means even less.

My name is David De Vito and I’m about to write my second review EVER. I lived at Emerald Palms located near the Miami Zoo for a year.
When I was in the process of moving out I personally explained to the leasing office that I was purchasing a home and that I had to start renting on a monthly basis. They said «your rent will be higher, are you OK with that said? «I said «yes, that’s fine» so before that came to be. the closing of the house came and the leasing office said .“it’s typically 60 days notice to move out… but you are giving us 30 days notice, it’s ok, we will work with that»
I moved out, they did the inspection and 2 weeks later I get a bill for $ 1297 .which read «damages for not giving 60 days moving out notice». I called the leasing office in a very professional calmed matter and spoke and they said «you told us that you bought a house and that you had to move out» I TRIED to remind them of our conversation and that the logic behind paying a higher monthly rate would make MORE SENSE than renewing the lease for another year, there was never any talk of a $ 1297 bill for damages on no 60 day notice.
I am extremely upset (can’t really express what I really SHOULD say) But places like this should have better communication skills and a little more customer service.

I’ve lived here for two years, during which the complex was sold to a new management company.
When I moved in, there was a night guard at the gate, but the new management did away with that. The gates’ arms are always broken and the management seem to have decided not to replace them, so there is little security with the gate. People tailgate you in through the resident gate all the time.
The rent is too high for the space, and it is raised an exorbitant amount when you renew. The office staff is the least helpful group of people I’ve ever met. They give me the run-​around on every single question that I have. They also keep changing the charges for things like the garbage. I spend some significant time out of town because of my work and they refused to help me by communicating through email or regular mail; they only leave notices hung on your door. Even simple things like getting the proper paint color name in order to ready my apartment for move out has resulted in my running all over town and still not solving the problem.
I have had issues with my air conditioner unit five separate times, which eventually resulted in replacing the outside unit.
I have also had a ridiculous problem with ants coming in from outside into my bedroom through the electrical outlet. I tried to solve the problem with bug sprays and ant bait for a week, but had no luck. When I finally went over to the office (after leaving a message on a Sunday and having no response in the next business days), I was told I had to wait a whole additional week for the exterminators to come back to the complex because they had just come and there was no service request filed. Also, when I first moved in the apartment had been empty for about a month and the carpet became infested with carpet moths.
My neighbors for the most part have been fine. A few loud tenants, but not excessively. There is a high rate of turnover for these units; I can only assume because of the excessively high rent and the unhelpful office staff. It is certainly why I am moving out.
The layout of the apartment is such that even though it looks like you are getting a lot of square footage, there is so much wasted space that the room cannot hold all of your furniture comfortably. Also, there is very little light in the apartment, natural or otherwise. And don’t think that being so close to the turnpike ramp is a selling point. It just makes a lot more traffic all the time.

Emerald palms is a great place to live each apartment includes special house guest at no extra charge! Mine came with worms! :) Being new in town I found this amenity extra helpful.
After a long day of work you can come home a relax by the pool. Just make sure your out by 5 because that’s when the pool closes and you don’t want to get evicted now do you???
I was lucky enough to get the romance deluxe package. You can guarantee this package will always put you and your special someone in the mood with the sexy, soothing sound of fresh water running through your toilet you will never get rejected.
you will also never get bored living here because something will be broken and you will have to call the apartment complex repeatedly to get anything fixed.
In all seriousness this apartment complex is terrible. the door fell off the laundry room (never fixed, obviously), our washer broke, our washer flooded, two of our three restrooms flooded, our stove vent broke, as I already said my toilet was running and that was never fixed (they even thought I was lying about it running so I sat in the restroom with my phone and took a video of it running to prove I wasnt lying), the gate was broken for awhile, they told me they would set up a gate code for me so I could call my phone and get into the gate and they set it up to the wrong number when I asked them to fix it they never did, and the ac wasnt working for awhile and this was all just during our 7 month lease. we should have known not to move here when they gave away our apartment AFTER we mailed in our deposits. They only had apartments available that cost more once we actually arrived in Miami. I even went to talk to management so they could make up for everything and they told us they was nothing they could do and that we shouldnt be upset about our apartment issues when people are dying all over the world!!! They actually said that… What a joke!
I just saw what the new management posted… that’s all a lie I spoke to management several times and they were NEVER helpful.
I hope you find this review helpful :)

I have lived her for almost a full year and since the first month it has been horrible! When we first moved in the people in the office didn’t have time to do the first initial walk through. Then doors were un hinged and all my outlets were non functioning, the trash disposal not functioning at ALL. so my sink was always clogged. My dryer wasn’t drying at all, come to my surprise the lint that is suppose to be removed I guess had NEVER been removed it was disgusting. Then when we first moved in I started getting allergies. I am super allergic to cats and come to my surprise we had just cleaned the carpet and the amount of black cat hair was GROSS. But to their defense they professionally clean the carpets before anyone moves in. They also advised us that they had just repainted the whole apartment but certain walls looked yellow? of course when your going to move you expect all these things to have been done. Lets see what else is bad. The parking is horrible me and my husband have had to park in a different building and walk to our building. The maintenance workers are terrible people, super rude. They «threatened» to tow my car because I was parked bad, mind you everyone takes up two parking spaces because of how small the parking spaces are and I have an suv and I was a little over my line. When I called them to advise them of the garbage disposal they didn’t come in until about 5 days later and WHEN I WASN’T HOME! They also enter the apartment a lot without being announced which is horrific if you think about. There is so much more things I can write about but I would be here writing a book. ALL I CAN SAY IS SAVE YOURSELF BEFORE MOVING IN HERE. THE PEOPLE IN THE OFFICE ARE EXTREMELY RUDE AND NEVER HELPFUL. I had to put one star but if it was up to me it would be NONE.

Horrible! Broken gate poles are more expensive than having the security they used to have up front. It’s being replaced weekly! Unfriendly office staff will socialize rather than answer the phone. Vandalized pool area. It takes forever to get them to fix anything in the unit. Rent has been hiked up causing me to relocate. It’s not worth the price.

Ok so where do I start? I guess is first the gate is always broken because the company decided to not have a gate guard and after the front office leaves it is near impossible for anyone to get into the complex without a key, so people try and double car the gate. If your on foot you realize it is not even fully fenced and anyone can walk in or out also The pool and hot tub area is damage because no security companies are doing rounds and people vandilize, so the company decided that now there is a curfew on the pool areas which ruins it for any of us late hot tubbers that just want to relax. second The rent is too high for the area that we live and all the units are run down or are infested with ants. The pond is completly disgusting. When the old company was here they cleaned it. But now i see dead fish and toys and garbage in it every day. the ac units need upgraded. our ac has leaked about 9 times causing major damage to the ceiling. I could forgive all of this if it were not for the empty promisses. I will list a few. When i firsted arrived, Our stairs were cracking and they told me someone is going to fix them in a few hours. It was not tell 3 days later I fell down the stair cause they shifted so I went to the office and said move us to a unit that is ready or we leave. They fixed the problem later that day. Our back patio is falling apart and needs repair. I told them this 7 months ago… I have been told they are going to fix it soon. Our eletrical issue has never been addressed and I am sick of going to the office and ask them to fix it. Our ac kept getting clogged with lint and we were told it was the area we live in but about 1 month ago we found the dryer vent was removed and it could have been fixed a long time ago… we still have issues with ac not turning on sometimes i think its hust a wiring issue but I can never get it to replicate infeont of the maintanence. Our ant infestation has been noted and «addressed» 3 times already and we still have issues. Mainly because the walls are thin and hallow so its perfect for ants to run through. I understand its Florida and there are ants but I can’t leave a dog bone on the ground for more than 10 min before they swarm. Last issue is the parking because it is not assigned good spots go fast and people in miami decide it easy to park on the grass and the company does not care. the result is dead and smashed grass or opening the front door and seeing that someone parked infront of your house I know that the area is close to work and all but unless this company starts figuring out how to solve the issue that they have. They will be soon losing a lot of business. There is some good thinga about this area though and that is they are pet friendly, near the zoo, low traffic, and the area is nice and friendly

I lived in ep for 1 year. I first moved by the gate, but the constant squeal of the gate, the tire trap & loud radios kept me up. So I moved to the back near the maintenance shed which was really quiet at night. It was a bit noisy during working hours with the maintenance people talking in Spanish but no big deal. The 2^nd floor apartments got pretty hot in the late afternoons. So a/​c was a must pretty much year round. Be sure to get an apartment facing any direction but west. The sun makes the place so hot. I had no problems with security. I even left my car open once & never a problem. Not many people ever use the pool so thats pretty quiet. The gym is small but functional. Ive never seen more than 5 people in there & I used it a lot. I had some ant problems but they spray a lot. I only once saw a big cockroach & killed it. It is Florida after all. There are a lot of homeless cats that must feed on baby ducks and lizards. Parking can get crowded but theres always a space somewhere in the complex. Sometimes I had to park in the way back. The staff was pretty fast about fixing stuff but everything in my apt was brand new anyway. Id say it was a good place to live.

I lived in this apartment complex for almost 3 years was the worst experiance of my life the people that worked in the office never wanted to help or were always out to lunch from when they opened till when they closed. they raised my rent from 1020 a month to 1195 even though they had a contract through the military to charge military personnel a set amount they soon decided to charge more and pretty much said well your lease is up tomorrow u can move out if you want i didnt have a choice their maitenance is horrable, I had a leaky air conditioner for almost a year and it flooded out my living room and master bedroom every time i was on deployment and they have the nerve to try and charge me for the carpet damage saying it fully my fault (because i told the airconditioner to make my apartment a swimming pool while i was away) the security is horrable there isnt even a point of having security when your apt and car gets broken into and yes my apt and car has been broken into multiple times to the point i had to get a massive wall safe and bolt it in to protect my belongings and they had the nerve to charge me for the broken lock repair on my door STAY AWAY FROM THIS HORRABLE APT COMPLEX THERE THE WORST IN MIAMI THERE MONEY HUNGRY!!! trust me if your looking to save money dont even consider this complex and dont be late more then 5 days on your rent they try to evict you as soon as they can and then charge you a 75.00 late fee and 320.00 for the papers they serve u with on top of your late rent and if your in the military DEFFINATLyY dont consider this place i got orders to live in a diff state a week before i had to move they made me pay for all of the months rent plus some days in aug which led to paying 1500.00 before i left and they sent me another bill because of there neglegence in maitenance that makes no sence at all for 1001.00 THESE PEOPLE ARE SCAM ARTIST DONT WASTE YOUR TIME LIVE IN BRICKELL.

This is quite possibly one of the worst places you could choose to live in Miami.
We took on a 15-​month lease. Less than a month in, we already wanted to run for the hills. The staff in the office is only friendly up until your signature is on the lease, and believe me, they are kissing your butt like there’s no tomorrow up until that point. That’s fine, it’s a business. After the lease is signed, don’t expect anyone in that office to be kind, courteous, or helpful at all.
First day, shelves fell down in the closet. Filed a work order. They said it would take 2 hours, and it took 3 days. When they finally fixed it, it took about 5 minutes. Also, the workers did not speak English, so it took more time to pantomime what needed to be done, rather than for them to do it.
Secondly, lawn work is done at 7am. And OFTEN. Don’t expect to ever sleep in here.
Third, they RANDOMLY close the office, which is the only place you can reload your laundry card. So if you need to do laundry, you’ll probably end up at the 24/​hr laundromat more than once.
Fourth, your neighbors… you can hear them all. The walls are so thin, you hear your right and left neighbors, and your upstairs and/​or downstairs neighbors as well. And even the smallest sound. Our upstairs neighbor had 3 kids and the woman of the house wore heels ALWAYS… so between her clacking and the kids NEVER GOING TO BED and RUNNING ALL NIGHT, we rarely slept. We complained to the office multiple times and even spoke to the loud neighbors (who stopped answering the door after the first time we spoke to them) and nothing was ever done.
HATE HATE HATE this place.

When I first moved to Miami, I moved into this apartment complex. I worked at the zoo So, I wanted some place within a couple miles of it as I got used to the town. I looked at some of the older apartments in the complex and they seemed a little rough, dirty and outdated for the prices they were asking. I opted for one of the newer apartments in the newer buildings near the intersection of SW152nd St and SW 122^nd Ave. The 2 bedroom apartment I chose looked looked fairly nice at first. But, after living there a while, some cheap workmanship on trim and lots of overspray paint became apparent. Why do places paint over hinges and wall sockets? Get a screwdriver and spend 5 minutes… They had toted the place as being a gated community during their speal when I was moving in but the gates were broken and wide open at least 80% of the time in which I lived there. I had 2 friends get their places broken into and others had motorcycles stolen while living in the complex during my 1 year stay. They had also talked about their gym in the clubhouse. I figured, Great! I can save a little money on a gym membership. But, to my surprise, the next time I visited the office after signing, I learned that the gym would close in a couple weeks to be refurbished. They expected it back open in a couple months but it was more like 9 – 10 months. So, I got only a couple weeks of time in that gym. They also showed me a raquetball court in the clubhouse. I played raquetball in college, so again I was excited. They closed that at the same time as the gym and it was not in the new clubhouse when it reopened. When I learned of the motorcycle theft, I began discussing options that they would allow to help us with bikes make it a little more secure for us. They wouldn’t allow any kind of security measures for our motorcycles even if we offered to pay for something as simple as a metal pole. The apartment I stayed in was a good little apartment but the road noise from 152^nd was all day and night. Constant tire squealing at the light and motorcycles flying down the road. By the time my one year lease was up, I was ready to run out of there. They decided they would raise the rent another $ 120/​month if I would resign, to help top things off. The staff at the leasing office always seemed annoyed by anyone who had questions and had a general arrogance about them. I am an easy going guy and it takes a lot to annoy me but this place managed to do just that. Some of my other friends who lived there shared many of the same feelings. Avoid if you can…