I wondered why everyone was posting bad reviews an...

I wondered why everyone was posting bad reviews and how an apartment so close to Forest Park could be $650 and after a year of renting from the Byron Company I discovered why. I lived at 1042 McCausland, Unit #3S. The apartment renovations were pleasing to the eye, but there were many downsides of the property and building:

1) Noise- The location itself is horrible in terms of noise. Being right along 40/64 is convenient for a commute but means you will hear all kinds of sirens, cars street racing, motorcycles, and loud truck engines through all hours of the night. I consider myself to be a heavy sleeper and this location constantly affected my sleep and I woke up every single night multiple times throughout the night due to this noise.
2) Insects- There are many animals & creatures on the property, some of which make their way into the apartments. I felt like my apartment was a jungle sometimes. I had cockroaches, mice, spiders, centipedes, and so many types of bugs I had never seen before. I will give credit to the Byron Company for spraying whenever I complained about this.
3) Storage Locker Incident- One of the ladies showing me the apartment told me I didn't have to sign up for a storage locker & that I could just claim whatever one was open. I did this, and a week later discovered that someone had cut the lock and taken the golf clubs & bike that I had inside. I complained to the office and it turns out you do have to call to reserve a storage locker. Luckily they still had my belongings and were able to return them. They tried to blame this on me and reprimand me instead of acknowledging that the lady was an idiot.
4) Neighbors- Some of the tenants were nice and some were absolutely trashy. I recognize this is not something typically the landlord can control all the time but still wanted to express this for anyone looking to move into this building. There were several times when some of us who lived in the building had to call the police on some tenants who were physically abusing their significant others. In general tenants were unclassy & seemed like hicks & hoosiers. There were cigarette butts littered all down the outdoor stairs & there also was empty mini shot containers & crack pipes on top of the "carshed" in the back that I constantly had to look at whenever I looked out of my window.

5) MOLD & HEALTH ISSUES- In the spring I noticed my plaster ceiling bubbling & leaking and called the office. The owner/manager promised to look into it and send people out. I never heard anything so I repeatedly called back several times over the course of a few weeks and I always got the same excuse that "the tuckpointing and the roofing guys were arguing over whose fault it was". I started developing serious respiratory & breathing issues and went to the doctor who advised me to do a self test mold kit sample. Sure enough there were loads of mold spores throughout my bedroom right above where I had been sleeping and all throughout the apartment. I ended up staying at a friend's for several weeks and I called the office and demanded to be let out of my lease. They finally agreed and within 3 days I had moved out and into a new apartment. After several hundreds of dollars of health bills & missed days of work, they should consider themselves lucky that I didn't look into further action such as involving the health department or getting a property lawyer. When I moved out, there was visible mold growing behind and on all my picture frames and nasty bugs/centipedes sucking on the moisture. I would not wish this on my enemy and I severely doubt they took the measures to fix it after I moved out. I am guessing they threw a coat of plaster over it.

In sum, good cheap property if you don't care about possible health issues and don't need a responsive landlord. I would have loved to stay in the area if I hadn't experienced the above issues. I consider the Byron Company to be absolute slumlords and I hope their bullshit & horrendous properties leads the company into the ground one day.

STAY AWAY. TRUST ME.