Lyon Place at Clarendon Center

Most people are attracted to Lyon Place because first, the location, and second, the perceived quality of construction and amenities when a prospective tenant takes a tour. To the first point, Clarendon has evolved a lot in the last 5 years and there are now numerous other options in close proximity to the metro station. Choose elsewhere. And to the second point, be weary, as the building is old and everything is falling apart. More on that in a bit. But the real reason you shouldn’t rent at Lyon Place is because of how they run their business practice. You see, in mid-September of 2021 I informed the building my intent to move out in the end of December. I told them I didn’t have a firm date as I was building a home and waiting to close but that I would be able to provide them a 30-day notice, which per my interpretation of the lease agreement was sufficient. They acknowledged my email; however, never corrected me that I would still be required to provide a 60-day notice because of a purposefully poorly worded lease agreement that has an “I gotcha” clause when converting to month-to-month. All they had to do was tell me “Erik, you still need to give us 60 days.” Instead, they said nothing. So, when I finally provided the 30-day notice, they informed me “we are still going to charge you an extra month of rent.” So, I moved out and returned they keys while hoping to negotiate for all of or a portion of the 30 day extra rent to be returned to me. Not only did that never happen, but they actually charged me double what they said they would – they charged me a full extra month of rent. I phoned them and emailed them and explained that they charged me double rent and they said they would correct it. Here we are, 30 days later, and they still haven’t refunded the extra 30 days that they withdrew from my bank account. Even though I told them on 2 occasions and asked when they would refund me. Once it became clear that they wouldn’t budge on refunding the extra 30 days rent they charged me, I asked for the keys back to use the apartment as storage. Afterall, I am paying for it. However, they refused. So, all in all, they run a very unethical practice. Other things to consider: the management team is inept and my principal complaint is that they are poor communicators. Additionally, although the building maintenance team is extremely hard working, they are significantly underfunded. Hot water goes out frequently. Elevators go out frequently. Stay away.