The Citizen Apartments

We enjoyed our time living at the Citizen Memphis (outsiade of the frequent fire alarms, flooding last winter, and doors to the outside being constantly left open), but after moving out it's been more than 6 months and we still haven't received our deposit back from RPM Living after following up multiple times by phone and email. We left our apartment in excellent condition, did a walkthrough, and were told we would not receive the full amount. We've confirmed the send to address multiple times, and have been told multiple times they had tried to re-send it. There is no urgency or care in trying to resolve it, so be wary of getting your deposit back.

I have been living in the Citizen for about 2 years. The Citizen overall is fine - there is garage parking, pool, lounge, gym, dog washing station etc. At first glance, proximity to Starbucks and Kroger seemed appealing and has been helpful. However, at times I felt like I was living in a 3rd world country - so many power and water outages. I’ve gone 5 days without power in the winter during an ice storm, 5 separate days without water where I had to gather snow from outside and melt it to use to flush the toilet. There have been several painful instances of this kind of occurance due to the age of the building. But my real point I want applicants to be aware of is the staff tries to change things with an iron fist. There is no grandfathering in, no negotiation and because they withdraw from your bank account there is no real recourse. The second floor “free parking for residents” we got when I first moved in now has a hefty fee and they mandate the first floor be for nonexistent retail and parking for the clinic next door on threat of towing your vehicle if you don’t oblige. There is no other place to park for residents. They also instituted a mandatory trash can fee and valet policy - where you leave your trash out and some paid service comes and takes it for you. I take out my own trash and I asked to be excluded as I did not want the trash can that came with it “part of the fee” nor the service and they refused stating it was mandatory and that it came with the room. Essentially this new management keeps adding miscellaneous fees making everything more expensive than the rate you originally agreed to and there is no grandfathering in at what you started at. They threaten you with towing or fees if you don’t oblige and leave the existing tenants with no other options. I have been regularly disappointed by the Citizen’s policies and how they have forcibly chosen to implement them. Aside from that it is a nice place to live. The staff themselves are pleasant when you need assistance and are reasonable. I just think the policies they are being forced to push are not. The gym is reasonably stocked with equipment and they do try to have little events and food trucks for resident interaction. I just can’t get over the treatment of residents and their strategy when trying to implement change when the residents aren’t given options.

A new company took over into 2021 and it has been a horrible experience. The prior staff and company were absolutely amazing and made it feel like a real community. Had I known that this was going to happen during our lease, I would have definitely reconsidered looking elsewhere. The new staff is arrogant, aggressive and doesn't communicate well. We have had multiple issues with the garage gate not opening (mind you preventint me from picking up my partner after a late night shift), cleanliness issues with the trash rooms and hallways, and much more. The current staff does nothing but make excuses and "act" like they care. Again, prior to this management change, this was a beautiful place and the team was absolutely amazing. I'll be counting down the days of my lease.