University City Housing Ratings
Period: November 2008 through February 2009
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MEANINGFUL SCORING: STAR RATING vs RAW vs ALL
Each category, question or landlord has a star rating that reflects how they compare to ALL surveys for the current date period. For example, a landlord may score a RAW average of 4.54 but that will not necessarily yield an excellent 5 star RATING. The star RATING reflects the comparison of the RAW average to the average of ALL surveys using some fraction of the standard deviation. For example, if the ALL surveys average is 3.5662, with st. dev. 1.4082, you actually need a RAW average of ~4.63 or higher for a 5 stars RATING.
Basically, you should interpret the RATING as Poor, Fair, Average, Good or Excellent based on 1 to 5 stars. For example if the rating is Good (4 stars), the landlord has a good score compared to others surveyed.
Survey Ratings Homepage - Disclaimer - Survey Homepage
MEANINGFUL SCORING: STAR RATING vs RAW vs ALL
Each category, question or landlord has a star rating that reflects how they compare to ALL surveys for the current date period. For example, a landlord may score a RAW average of 4.54 but that will not necessarily yield an excellent 5 star RATING. The star RATING reflects the comparison of the RAW average to the average of ALL surveys using some fraction of the standard deviation. For example, if the ALL surveys average is 3.5662, with st. dev. 1.4082, you actually need a RAW average of ~4.63 or higher for a 5 stars RATING.
Basically, you should interpret the RATING as Poor, Fair, Average, Good or Excellent based on 1 to 5 stars. For example if the rating is Good (4 stars), the landlord has a good score compared to others surveyed.
| University City Housing Ratings based on 72 surveys, 22 comments | |||
| Overall (average of all 32 questions): |  | 3.24 | 3.56 |
| Landlord / Tenant Relationship: | | 3.20 | 3.36 |
| Apartment / Property Quality: |  | 3.30 | 3.68 |
| Repair Responsiveness: | | 3.00 | 3.37 |
Landlord / Tenant Relationship My Landlord... | |||
| is concerned with my satisfaction: | | 2.56 | 2.85 |
| uses a lease written in language that I can understand: | | 3.87 | 3.77 |
| can be contacted easily when necessary: | | 3.29 | 3.42 |
| provided me with emergency contact information: | | 3.51 | 3.31 |
| communicates in a prompt, friendly, and professional manner: | | 3.08 | 3.22 |
| keeps promises made in the lease: | | 3.09 | 3.42 |
| maintains the property in good condition: | | 2.63 | 3.19 |
| makes professional repairs: | | 2.80 | 3.22 |
| handles finances (e.g. rent, fees, security deposits) quickly & accurately: | | 3.94 | 3.82 |
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Apartment / Property Quality Condition of rental unit | |||
| I feel safe in my living space: | | 3.54 | 3.95 |
| Doors & windows are intact, secure with working locks: | | 3.31 | 3.77 |
| Fire safety features are adequate and in working condition: | | 3.34 | 3.70 |
| Building noise levels allow me to quietly enjoy my home: | | 3.37 | 3.49 |
| Walls and ceilings are in good shape: | | 2.91 | 3.46 |
| Carpet / flooring is in good condition: | | 3.05 | 3.51 |
| Appliances work: | | 3.51 | 3.83 |
| Electrical wiring is adequate: | | 3.25 | 3.83 |
| Hot water is sufficient: | | 3.93 | 4.05 |
| Heat is sufficient: | | 3.54 | 3.79 |
| Plumbing is free from leaks: | | 3.30 | 3.79 |
| Paint or wallpaper is in good condition: | | 3.00 | 3.68 |
| Space is free of rodents, roaches, bedbugs, or other pests: | | 2.65 | 3.35 |
| Containers and instructions are provided for trash disposal: | | 3.56 | 3.72 |
| Containers & instructions are provided for recycling: | | 2.58 | 2.70 |
| The space was clean prior to move-in: | | 2.77 | 3.50 |
| There are smoke detectors which, when tested, work: | | 3.88 | 4.03 |
| Outdoor lighting in the front/rear/side areas is adequate: | | 3.43 | 3.74 |
| Exterior lights come on automatically when it gets dark: | | 3.16 | 3.56 |
| Lighting is adequate in common areas, hallways & stairwells: | | 3.83 | 4.06 |
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Repair Responsiveness Optional questions when repairs were needed (response time) | |||
| Minor repairs? (i.e. small wall cracks, broken hinges): | | 2.50 | 3.08 |
| Major repairs? (i.e. broken appliance, safety and security, bedbugs): | | 2.85 | 3.12 |
| Emergencies? (i.e. plumbing, heating, broken doors/locks): | | 3.62 | 3.89 |
Comments (22) User submitted feedback for University City Housing. Stars below reflect only that user's rating. | |||
2009-02-12  The housing is good for what I need, but the upkeep is inadequate. Repairs, unless absolutely necessary, are left unattended for a long time. MAIL IS HORRIBLE!!! Back to top | |||
2009-02-10  The heating is not satisfactory in my room. And the repair work of the landlord is not good. It still does not work after I called them 3 times. Back to top | |||
| 2009-02-09 I have to say that UCH has steadily improved in its responsiveness, probably as a result of changes in management. My first year, I had to fix my own deadbolt, and I had a hard time getting anyone to look at my roof leak. However, in reprospect, I realize that this is because when my roof leaked, there was someone else in W Philly whose roof had caved in. It is a triage situation. They are better about small repairs during non-rush times. They fix plumbing issues quickly, and if you have bugs or mice, the exterminator will be there the next day. I`ve received a new oven, fridge, and toilet since I moved in. Some things can never be fixed though because buildings here are just ooooold. The heat in the winter is out of control (literally, it is on and sweltering or completely off), but you will never ever run out of hot water. And the utilities are dirt cheap. The building is quiet, safe, and generally hassle-free. All the other tenants I`ve met have been more or less happy. The staff is really courteous and attentive (it helps if you don`t yell at them), but sometimes you have to remind them a few times in order to get things done. To their credit, they just started recycling again and did a lot of nice cosmetic repairs on my place recently. All said, I like them. If I didn`t I would have moved out 4 years ago. Back to top | |||
2009-02-09  Repairmen broke glasses while working and we were promised compensation. We were told to withhold the cost amount from our rent, which we did. When we got our deposit back at the end of our lease, we found that that amount was withheld from our deposit. It took days of arguing and a change in management personnel before we were cut a check for that amount. We also had problems with the completion of the repair: they left exposed wires coming up out of the floor well beyond the completion of the new cabinets. After repeated calls to get a repairman to finish the job and promises that he/she would come, I told them that I was coming down to the office to address the issue. I was called back then and told that someone was on the way over. That person never arrived, and I am fairly sure it was a lie to forestall a person-to-person negotiation of the situation. Back to top | |||
| 2009-02-09 UCH is the right landlord for the right type of people. What they won`t do is provide you a pristine, hotel-style living space with cosmetic repairs on demand. What they will do is give you wide freedom over your living arrangement in a facility which is secure, warm, and vermin-free. UCH is more likely to reimburse you for cosmetic repairs than do it themselves, but they welcome tenants who paint their walls interesting colors, whose floors reverberate with the pitter-patter of feline lives, and who want a home, not a mausoleum. UCH is not for everyone. We don`t have a doorman, the heat is hard to turn down, and there`s water damage in my bathroom ceiling which has looked the same for the past year. But while the little things are often less than perfect in a UCH property, the staff is wonderful, major repairs are always done promptly, and the community here is full of people who don`t engage in passive-aggressive rounds of complaint. I`ve had a few other landlords in this city, and I`m sticking with UCH. Back to top | |||
2009-02-09  Pretty good landlord. Handles all questions efficiently. Professional but laid back. Good landlord overall. Back to top | |||
2009-01-31  The house is beautiful and very spacious. However, it is full of items which need repair that have just been disregarded by the landlord. Although they are quick to respond to emergency problems, any complaints which involve major effort have just been ignored. Back to top | |||
2009-01-27  I was not informed with any information regarding moving in and out. UCH told us that they will clean the aprtment prior to my move-in date, however the last tenant had not even moved out when we got there on the designated day. There is no directory or answering bell available, and they have been telling us that they are fixing it. I do not see any service properly offered to me and my apartment. Though written on the lease, they can come in anytime to show my apartment to future tenants without notification..but I still think it is a violation of privacy not to notify us. Repairs are not well-done, and my apartment started to smell like a bathroom suddenly. I keep everything clean and think the smell comes through the kitchen pipe (I unclogged the pipe and and it should be clean.) or the pipes that are possible bathroom pipes which runs through my dining room. I strongly discourage people from renting apartments from UCH. Back to top | |||
| 2009-01-18 UCH comes over immediately when there is a problem and fixes it quickly and are always polite when it comes to repairs. Back to top | |||
2009-01-13  You get what you pay for in this building. The place is run down and there are often repairs needed, but the landlord is quite responsive and takes care of the repairs efficiently. Back to top | |||
| 2008-12-16 UCH refused to send an exterminator when I had a mouse problem. I had to threaten to call Philadelphia Health Services and the Better Business Bureau to get a response, and they still refused to send an exterminator but instead set mouse traps - completely insufficient. On another incident I had my laundry stolen by a local man who walked in the unlocked back gate, looked straight into the security camera, found my laundry, sniffed it and took it. The maintenance men at Hamilton Court can`t be bothered to lock their back gate, and as a result this man was able to enter the building. I expected the staff to learn the lesson when I reported the incident to all of them, but the gate continues to be left unlocked. I won`t be surprised when this man or another opportunistic man comes into the building but instead of just stealing the first thing he sees, goes up the elevator and assaults or robs another tenant of the building. UCH`s failure to acknowledge and correct the errors taking place that facilitated the theft of my laundry exemplify their failure to meet the needs of the community of students living here. My biggest complaint is the emergency help line. The lock to my apartment broke, and I was unable to lock my door. Nobody answered the emergency line, I tried to call several times, so I called the guy working in the basement and he came up and checked out my lock. He said it was "busted" and would need to be replaced, so I asked him to do so. He said he couldn`t and would send a locksmith... sometime tomorrow afternoon. He expected me to sleep in a philadelphia apartment with no lock and to stay home all day long waiting for a locksmith, because I clearly could not leave an apartment unlocked and go run errands or go to the library or anything like that. I had to call an emergency locksmith and pay $420 of my own money just so that I could sleep in a locked apartment that night. I will be reporting this to the Better Business Bureau, I feel that UCH neglected one of its biggest responsibilities to me as a tenant, which would be to provide me a safe place to live. I hope more people have taken the time to fill out these forms, because for the amount of money UCH is charging my parents for this apartment, they provide me with absolutely nothing, and if they finally do help with something it is in an untimely and insufficient fashion. Serious changes need to be made before there is a more significant incident here. Back to top | |||
| 2008-12-16 While the UCH staff is very friendly and communicative, they rarely follow up on requests. We made repeated requests to have our decrepit kitchen floor redone and they kept promising they would, but never held up on the promise. They are great in dealing with minor repairs, like a broken smoke detector or broken food disposal. Back to top | |||
| 2008-11-28 These landlords could be a lot worse. For the most part they are helpful and responsive. They have also shown my place to potential subleasers multiple times for me with no financial incentive, which I thought was considerate of them. The building is very old though and so it is not in the best shape. They are fairly responsive about repairs, but if they get started on something big it may take them eons to finish it as they have a zillion deteriorating properties to attend to so may go weeks without showing up in the middle of a project to work on something else. They can be pretty disorganized too - my move out day (when I switched between two apartments in the building) was scheduled to be the same day as the new tenant`s move-in day, which created a bit of last minute chaos and the flat I moved into was a wreck because they hadn`t given themselves time to clean and fix it before I moved it. However, part of that disorganization is a consequence of the fact that they try to be flexible with people, so it is a trade off. They are also very easy to contact and have a 24 hour emergency number, and very important problems are fixed quickly. For example, the elevator seems reliable and the only time the washers haven`t worked they came and fixed them right away when I called. When the heat wasn`t working they also fixed it right away. Bottom line, if you keep in mind that you are living in a 100 or so year old building and don`t let your expectations rise too high, then it is not a bad place Back to top | |||
| 2008-11-28 Just a few months after we moved into our apartment, our landlord replaced the whole kitchen! It really needed it and we were so glad that they noticed. UCH is really easy to reach if we need it and they usually respond to concerns pretty quickly. The only problem is that there is some major problems with the flooring in our living room, so everything kinda leans towards the middle of the room (we think a tenant left the windows open in a big rainstorm or something like that). Also, we used to have a roach problem but w/ motels and poison we took care of it. All told, UCH has been very good to us and we`ll be sticking around in our apartment for a while. Back to top | |||
| 2008-11-25 Lots of cockroaches, repeatedly paint over old paint, didnt care when ceiling was leaking for months.. Overall I feel like they are waiting for the place to collapse, they never put any work into it and the apartments are way over-priced, look someplace else! Back to top | |||
| 2008-11-23 I like where I am living and I feel safe, but the elevators are quite slow. Back to top | |||
| 2008-11-21 UCH is very responsive to complaints and usually respond quickly- usually within 24 hours. El Vista is a nice building with lots of windows and beautiful floors. Back to top | |||
| 2008-11-20 Decent landlord and good price, if you are willing to walk from a little farther away Back to top | |||
| 2008-11-20 repair reports are not promptly addressed; lifts not in great condition; Back to top | |||
| 2008-11-19 UCH is generally addresses my concerns to my satisfaction; at times it requires more follow-up calls on my part than I believe should be necessary. Back to top | |||
| 2008-11-18 Mail packages are handled very poorly. Packages are kept in the basement and sometimes they never tell you that it arrived. Postal mail is also strewn all over the mail box area. Back to top | |||
| 2008-11-18 I find that UCH is very good when dealing with lease amendments, emergency maintenance, and financial matters. However, they are not great at responding to maintenance requests that are not a major emergency. Back to top | |||
