Altus Towson Row, towson-md

All photos were taken Sept 2023-June 2024. As a resident who has lived here for a total of 4 years, I can attest that this building isn’t an acceptable place of living at all. Firstly, there’s barely any regulation of security whatsoever in this facility. Throughout the years, people have had the ability to come in & out of this building with ease without any key. I’ve seen homeless people wandering around the halls and stairwells. Living in a place where quite literally anyone has access to get inside feels unsafe. Altus has a sign in sheet at the front desk, but pretty much anyone can pass through the stairwells/other entrances of the building if they’re let inside or when someone props the door open. If you want something done, you should call 911 or the non-emergency police in Towson, because security here is not equipped to help contain a serious situation – which is what I’ve had to do in the past. Maintenance & Security: They updated their response below and said they take cleanliness very seriously where there was literally throw up in Stairwell Two on the 7th floor for over 7 months - picture attached. It has crusted up and stained the floor. The custodians are absolutely amazing, but Altus does not have regular cleaning for the stairwells. When I moved out June 2024, the throw up was still crusted on the floor. The number of biohazards in the halls/stairwells are really concerning. I’ve seen waste on the grounds, blood on the walls, and trash rooms overflowing – I just feel like this isn’t safe to have people around. Maintenance: In the past, I’ve experienced maintenance men coming into my apartment/my bedroom and didn’t hear them make themselves known before entering. They’ve gotten better at it, but I suggest getting something to guard your door so they cannot get in unannounced because they have a universal key in order to get in each room. Overall, maintenance is great within the complex, but across the building, you’ll find something here and there that may not be working properly. Parking: As stated before, unfortunately I have been a resident of Altus Apartments for 4 years. When this complex opened, I immediately got a parking pass for the connected garage underneath Altus. Which means I had my parking pass dating back to 2020 and continued to sign my lease with the same parking pass included in it all the years I lived there. By Fall of 2023, Altus said they had lost it, and I did not sign the same lease with included parking. I went back to my resident portal, and I had signed the same lease, so clearly this was an issue 0n Altus’s end. Unfortunately, I was told there were no more spots in the garage I had been parking in for 3.5 years… because they had sold other parking passes to other students within the building and did not keep up to date with other residents. Altus gave me a new pass for the across the street parking and reset my lease. I had to go back to my surgeon from June of 2020 (before I moved into Altus) to prove I wasn’t medically inclined to be using this across the street garage and I needed a closer spot. This was the sole reason why I immediately got a parking pass underneath the connected garage when this complex opened because I had just recovered from foot surgery. They also said returning residents have higher priority over these spots, so I did not foresee my spot being taken away. Altus basically said, “since we cannot see your issues/disability, you’re going to have to prove it to us.” I found this kind of appalling of staff to ask of someone. I got a doctor’s note and within 3 weeks a parking pass for the connected garage underneath Altus had been given back to me. Altus employees are supposed to pick up parking passes from BCRA, but I was given a used pass. I had to go to BCRA (Baltimore County Revenue Authority) myself to get a new one, and the staff there were much more helpful than Altus. Overall: I wouldn’t recommend Altus. Cardiff Apts, York Apts, and Towson townhouses are better options. The complexes are nice, but management needs improvement.

I applied for a specific unit type at Altus Towson Row and paid a total of $830 in fees ($800 administrative fee + $30 application fee). The housing agreement they generated listed the exact unit type I was supposed to receive. After taking my payment, management contacted me and admitted the unit type I was assigned does not exist in their current availability and that the agreement was never countersigned because of this. They offered me the option to downgrade or cancel, but the entire situation showed a lack of accuracy and transparency in their leasing process. I had to request a refund and ultimately involve my bank because the process was slow, unclear, and poorly handled. I even had to request that my card information be deleted for security reasons which was requested by my personal Bank Capital One I'm not even joking. Overall terrible management and there corporate management SCION Management does not respond what so ever so it's all on the hands of the local staff to administrate these factors which there absolutely horrid in doing. Reply to the Owner: Housing is guaranteed once the Admin Fee is paid I am not responsible for you guys mismanaging inventory. Not only that on contract the reason you guys tried to call me to resort to a worse floor plan is because in the court of law I was in the right for the room when the Lease got signed by both the customer and Apartment Management team. If we want to talk legal we can especially since I had teams review the contract and even lawyers. Not only that overall this place is terrible and you guys tried to refund my Admin Fee a month later which I had my Bank Team acquire the proper documents which allowed them to force Altus to refund me the Admin Fee the same day. Overall terrible company and no excuse from the Apartment management team can justify this. Do better is all I can recommend especially if you wish to avoid future lawsuits.

Kenny from maintenance was amazing! He was professional, friendly, and got everything fixed quickly and efficiently. He took the time to explain what he was doing and made sure everything was working perfectly before he left. It’s really appreciated when someone takes pride in their work—thank you, Kenny!”

I put in a maintenance request form this morning. Not too long after that, Kenny came by and fixed more than what we asked for! The original problem was the door and tub being clogged. Kenny fixed both problems in about 10 minutes as well as the front door, my roommates bathroom door, replaced our stopper, and fixed another door! This was truly shocking how fast he did everything. Overall, my experience was amazing with Kenny, he was friendly, fast, and hard working. Thanks again Kenny for the 5 star service!

This apartment complex promotes itself as student-friendly but does such student-unfriendly things. Recently, they removed the option to renew leases for just 10 months, which is quite inconvenient for students who typically only need housing for an academic year. They so are focused on profit-driven policies that they do not take student requests into consideration, even if you ask them months ahead of time. It’s worth noting that the recent 5-star short reviews are part of a review campaign and may not reflect genuine feedback.