Treetop Development

I am angry, frustrated, scared and feeling like I am being cornered and I don’t like it, because I don’t know what to do and how to get out of it!
I moved to 106 S Harrison over a year ago, and immediately knew I had made a mistake, I went to speak to the manager who is condescending, and does not try to compromise w/​you in any way!, and asked her if I could get out of the lease, she told me I had to pay 3 months’ rent! REALLY???
I figured I would stay and move when my lease was over, but then I had some financial issues, and paid the rent late, I thought Ok, I will pay the late fee, but imagine my surprise when I received a letter from housing court! not once, twice but 4x!!! and imagine my surprise when I was billed for them taking me to court! all because I paid the rent late within the same month!, when my lease was over at the end of May, I kept calling the office to schedule the walk thru of the apt. and never got through to them, so I took a long lunch (I work in NYC) on the week that I was supposed to move (had an apt. lined-​up and was supposed to sign the lease that day) but knowing that these people are shady, I wanted to make sure everything was copasetic, and went to the office, rang the bell and was not let in, I figure they were out to lunch, but Thank God that after 5 minutes of standing there a man came in who seem to work w/​them and they buzzed him in,(SHADY!) so I went in w/​him. The receptionist who is belligerent and confrontational, asked me for my info, I gave it to her and she said «YOU CAN’T MOVE… YOU DIDN’T GIVE US 60 DAYS NOTICE!!!» I thought someone had punched me in my stomach and literally crouched! I was stunned and said what do you mean, my lease is up, and she said «WELL YOU CAN MOVE, BUT YOU ARE NOT GETTING YOUR SECURITY!», so I lost it, and started to cry, I can’t afford to lose my $ 1,200, she said let me see what I can do for you, I can probably get you half, and I said NO! I can’t afford to lose my $$ further more I am hardly here so I’ve been paying rent to fulfill my commitment, she said well stay the month and use the security all you have to do is pay is for the 4% increase and legal fees! Fine I will do it. Stayed the month of June, and then could not find an apt by the time July came, so I went to see them just to find out they were taking me back to court (July 22) because I had not paid the rent!!! But the receptionist told me to use my security I argued w/​the manager (Jayme) who only communicates w/​me via e-​mail, because conveniently is never around when I’ve showed up to the office! I went to court, and was shocked to see there were about 15 people who live in the TREETOP Development buildings and realized this is a hell of a scam they got going! The lawyer was arrogant, and when I try to tell him the receptionist had told me to live my security he condescendingly said read your lease! gave me 2 weeks to pay the rent, I had most of the money, and then yesterday I asked my daughter to go pay the 1,000 that was still outstanding and confirm that we were up-​to-​date, imagine my surprise when my daughter calls me and said that the receptionist said I owed them over 5,000!!! FOR WHAT! I LITERALLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO HAVE A STROKE/​HEART ATTACK!!! I asked to speak to her and said how is that possible I left cashier’s check and money order on your slot last week! THEY HAD NOT CHECKED IT! and the manager refused to take the 1,000 money order I had sent w/​my daughter because now she’s saying that I still owe them $ 1,586!!! HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO MOVE OUT IF THEY KEEP ADDING ALL THESE FEES, they claim that in addition to the 4% raise I also have to pay $ 100.00 for MONTH TO MONTH FEE, and they are also adding legal fees!!! I AM AT A LOSS, I DETEST THESE PEOPLE!!! DO NOT MOVE TO ANY OF THE TREETOP APTS. BECAUSE ONCE YOU GET ON THEIR SCREW YOU RADAR, YOUR LIFE WILL BE HELL!!! they are merciless! Now I’m dreading going home tonight (⁸⁄₅) because I don’t know what to expect! The fact that she refuse to take the 1,000 money order is making me nervous, and suspicious of what they are going to do next, will I be locked out of the apt? PLEASE PRAY FOR ME! I NEED TO GET OUT OF THIS HELLHOLE!

STEER CLEAR.
If you are a current tenant or prospective tenant, tread cautiously with this company. Be aware of your rights. Know the status of your apartment in terms of rent control. (helpful website:
) I lived in a pre-​war building in Morningside Heights, and when Treetop bought the building with the intent to renovate and flip, they attempted to raise our rent by 20%, despite the fact that it was a rent controlled apartment. It was my first year in NYC, and I didn’t know any better. So I moved into one of their newly renovated units in the same building, still cheap, but just barely over the threshold to be rent controlled. 2 years later, and my lease renewal just said they want to increase my rent by another 38%.
The «renovations» they make to apartments are the cheapest you can imagine. Holes were left in our walls, the dishwasher was not installed correctly, nor was the kitchen sink. Mice entered the apartment through the spaces left open in the walls behind the new cabinetry. Treetop would not give us the phone number of our super, saying that if we needed something we should call the office and they would call him. Their office hours were 9am-​1pm. What a joke.
And they seemed to nice at first.

Updated Review: After living at 106 S Harrison for a second year we bid it farewell. Year 1 saw uneven heat, two kinds of roaches, and silverfish despite repeated extermination visits. Repair requests got slowly responded to an only done in a half hearted manner. This past winter was absolutely brutal with the uneven heat and the very poor job of clearing ice and snow around the building exterior and parking lots despite constant calls and emails to the management office and parking company which pointed fingers at each other regarding whose responsibility it was to take care of. The past 6 months mice made their way into our apartment through the holes cut into the floor for the radiator steam pipes to pass through. One elevator is often out of service and the second one also went down from time to time. They raised the rent 4% each year which is the maximum allowed by East Orange. Spend a little more $ and rent elsewhere.

well it’s 40 degrees outside and pretty much 40 degrees inside — NO HEAT. the radiator is completely cold and doesn’t look like it’s coming on anytime soon.
106 S. Harrison St. — East Orange, NJ
and beware. those 4 or 5 stars for those developments from April 24, 2014 …yeah…let’s see what they say after 1 year — I felt the same about this place and then I started complaining about mice, busted steam pipe in my apartment, no heat in the bedroom and now — I don’t get heat at all.

I can’t back up what was said by former tenants, but my application process for the building on 99^th st in Queens (Saxon Hall) was pretty bad. The brokerage firm (Contact Solutions Real Estate) was great and very helpful, but the management company, and specifically Joe were the opposite. I should’ve known right away when he gave me a bit of a sleezeball vibe in person; also not very pleasant on the phone.
After telling him about my situation (I’d recently changed jobs to work full-​time at a company I’d co-​founded), getting all of my paperwork together and submitting the application (complete with SSN) he comes back and tells me they want 3 months security deposit! Now, keep in mind I have amazing credit (760+) and made over 100k/​yr salary last year; so I tried talking to him about this, and he wouldn’t budge. He said because my landlord didn’t have a ‘rental ledger’ he could get a copy of (who the hell has an actual ledger??) and because I’d switched jobs, he wanted 3 months security.
Obviously that gave me pause, and after reading reviews here and Google Reviews I did NOT feel comfortable handing him that much money (right before my wedding no less!) so I ultimately said no. My sense is he was just trying to get 6k of mine in the bank in hopes of finding a way to take some of it at the end of the lease, because 2 days later my fiancée and I found a better apartment through Beekman Street Realty and the agent told me I was the fastest approval she ever had.
Now the building (Saxon Hall) seemed great, and if they DO make the improvements the say they will (obviously uncertain) it will be a great place to live. However I’d think twice before handing Joe any money or giving him your personal information; I certainly regret doing so.

This company makes me wish I could give them less than 1 star. Dealing with them was the biggest pain. I lived in one of their building on MLK in Newark for a year, and left as quick as I could. For starters, when I moved in I was told the elevator was going to be fixed. After a month a met a neighbor who asked me «Oh did they tell you the elevator will be fixed? Don’t count on it. They say that to everyone and never do it.»
To agree with the other review; here too the power company left signs all over the building informing tenants that management had not paid the power bill, and we would all lose gas, heat, and electricity.
The building Manager, Charles is the most condescending jerk. and I can’t even remember the last time I called a person a jerk. I kept finding two inch dead roaches all over the building. I called Charles time after time to get them exterminated. After being told I had to make the arrangements and appointments myself, the company supposedly came.
Right. That’s why later I found more and more roaches. When I called Charles to discuss this issue I was told, and I quote «I pay almost double your rent for my apartment and I have to deal with bugs too. It’s the nature of living in a city.» EXCUSE ME?! His behavior is appalling.
My final month in the building I received notification that if I didn’t vacate by the end of the month, I must renew my lease for a mandatory rent increase. The building is trash, but you want to increase? okay.
I found a temporary month to month apartment and got out of there as soon as I could, but it still wasn’t over. I had to stalk Charles via telephone and email for months to get my security deposit back; even though he previously told me that I left the apartment in wonderful condition.
This company is a NIGHTMARE. Never rent from them!

These people are horrible. I’ve been living in the same building for almost 10 years. It was recently sold to these slum lords. You cannot get in touch with anyone at the office and there is never a super available. I guess because it’s Harlem we shouldn’t be treated well. SUCK!

I reside at 243 S. Harrison Street in East Orange, an apartment building owned by Treetop. My experience here has been nothing more than appalling. I was looking for an affordable 1-​bedroom apartment with an easy commute to Manhattan. When I initially came to view the apartment, the manager, Joe Chajmovicz, was friendly, and the apartment looked bright, clean, and impressive.
However, shortly after moving in, I discovered the true nature of the building and the people who run it. Joe is rude, conniving, and money-​hungry. The building is infested with mice and roaches, and it has no matter whether you keep your unit sparking clean. The elevators are constantly breaking down, and it is quite often that someone will be stuck in one for a while (you can tell from the buzzing alarm that radiates through the building).
However, most disturbing is the management’s negligence to provide heat on a consistent basis in the winter. Just last week, it was 25 degrees overnight, and I woke up to COLD AIR blowing through my vents. When you sign your lease with Treetop, it is very enticing when they offer «A/​C and Heat Included», however, the air conditioner is nearly never on in the summer, and heat is very rarely provided in the winter.
Also, it is important to know that no matter how good of a tenant you are, whether you pay your rent early every month or not, Treetop WILL raise your rent each year. I agreed to take a rent increase in August, but will most definitely be moving out at the end of my current lease. I have spoken to other tenants who have lived in the building for 4 or 5 years, and they have had increases of about $ 50/​month every year they have resided here.
East Orange is becoming completely overrun by this company. It is very enticing to see affordable apartments with an easy commute to NYC, but I highly suggest you look elsewhere. I sure wish I had.