Troy Towers

I’ve been living here for a few months, and so far so good.
The Good: The staff is very friendly. The location to NJ Transit is very convenient, and the whole neighborhood is experiencing a period of growth. The included utilities and parking all lumped into one bill is great. The options on apt sizes has something for everyone. It feels safe. The neighbors seem friendly. Laundry Room is always open, and the machines are hardly ever down. Cement walls between apts, and the outside. All the fixtures in the apt are new (stainless still refrigerator, stove). Management dedicated to improving the residents living experience. Good water pressure. They keep the place clean. Its one of the most reasonably priced apts around and the security deposit is hard to beat.
The Bad: The move in process seemed disorganized (but alls well that ends well). The only option for cable is Comcast /​Xfinity. The layout of the apt doesnt seem to be well thought out (not enough space /​storage where needed, the faucet barely reaches over the sink etc). Unassigned Parking. No storage for packages — amazon boxes are out there for anyone to take.
The Ugly: Primarily its the aesthetics of the common areas. The Elevators are in desperate need of an overhaul — they work but they are like 60 years old and are very slow and just kind of dismal. Same thing with the Lobby.
I believe that as the new management settles in and the area itself continues to develop Troy Towers will continue to improve

If I were reviewing the apartment I’d give it a 4 or even 5; unfortunately, the management comes with the apartment. Really nice to you when they show the apartment — it’s the last time they will look at you. There is no «super» onsite. When you need something, you call the guy at the gate who relays the message to them. No one calls you back. If they deem the problem worthy of their time, they fix it when they feel like it. If not, they don’t. This includes when you have no water or the toilet overflows etc. The way they «communicate» is through notes under the door.
If you get a phone number for management where someone actually picks up the phone, (usually through a neighbor) you will notice that it won’t work in six months or so. That’s one of their avoidance tactics. In four years I had six numbers. You can look on the internet and see how many non working numbers you can find for Ayson Realty. They also have an office in the building (so you can see it when you look at apartments) but they won’t answer the door. EVER.
They raise the rent EVERY year — market value they call it. Guess no one has checked the neighborhood. Tenants actually went to the mayor for help in 2011; tenants that had lived there for 40 years were getting horrific rent increases.
If you make any type of agreement with them other than whats in the lease (read it VERY carefully) have it in writing. «Not signing the lease at the end of the term is the same as signing the lease…» etc. Getting your deposit back means going to court. Here’s a tip though. If you win, you get double. If you go so far as to fight them, they usually concede in mediation; therefore, you wont find it in court records. They are clever.
They removed chairs inside in the lobby — they don’t want tenants to gather. God forbid you want to visit with they neighbors. It would be nice if they would remove those stupid fountains that worked 1 week of the four years I lived there.
There is no parking for your friends. Period. No matter what they tell you. In fact, even if you pay for parking, if you come home after 10:00 pm, you won’t be able to park either.
For the «market value» of these apartments, go to Montclair. It’s on the same train line, the neighborhood is nicer (doesn’t have to have a gate), and I’ve not heard of any landlord that treats tenants as inhumanely as the Ayson Realty «management» team does.
My guess is that, with all the reviews online, (see
) they will change the name of the apartments soon.

WARNING!!! TROY TOWERS HAS THE WORST COMMUNICATION EVER!
Now that I have your attention let me explain why. It looks like Rachel R. and I had a very similar encounter with these people. I will start with me viewing the apartment last month. The apartment was newly renovated, the utilities are included, the building was ok. Anyway for the price they wanted I thought sure can’t wrong right? WRONG!!!
On April 12^th I go to sign my lease, get my new tenant packet, and laundry card. The apartment that I wanted was supposed to be ready by May 1^st, but they told me that it would not be ready until June 1^st. I asked my current building if I could extend my lease one month and that was fine since I had a place to stay for that extra month.
Flash forward to May 9^th. I received a voicemail from Ana at their «corporate office». I call back and she tells me that the one bedroom apartment I wanted now would not be available until July, but they would accommodate me by letting me stay in the 2 bedroom until my apartment, 107B was ready. I said ok I guess that’s what I would have to do since my current lease was up. It would be a hassle to move twice, but at least I would have a place to stay. I asked Ana if I could see the 2 bedroom before moving in and I saw it that Saturday and it was completely vacant and almost ready for me to move in on June 1^st.
May 13^th comes around and I get another voicemail from Ana. This time she informs me that the VACANT 2 bedroom that I just saw on Saturday and took pictures of was no longer vacant and apartment 107B would not be ready now until August 1^st. HUH? You mean to tell me the apartment I just saw on Saturday is no longer available? I call back and ask what am I supposed to do she says I don’t know. Ummm how do you tell someone you are going to accommodate them one week and the next week say oh the apartment you just saw that was empty is no longer available. So after no brain Ana tells me she doesn’t know what I’m going to do I say I’ll call you back to figure something out as my lease is up the end of May. I called the office off the hook, left several messages, and emails. No one responded.
Since I did not receive a response I went to the corporate office in Jersey City early on May 15^th to get some answers. When I got there right at 8am the security in the building called and no one was there. The office is open from 8am — 4pm. So I wait around a few minutes and here comes Ana. The security told her that I was waiting for her. I ask her what’s going on and she says she knows nothing. How do you work for a company and leave messages for me, but don’t know what’s going on? So I ask well who can help me? Who is your boss? She says his name is Josh and says she needs to hurry up and get in the office.
Well when I get home I google this Josh character to see if I can get a name. Josh Allen. Google him he’s had trouble in the past. So now I have been addressing my emails to Josh Allen and leaving messages for him. Still no response. I have my boyfriend inquire about an apartment since I was told that the one bedroom I signed the lease for would not be available until August 1^st as the people were not moving out until then and the 2 bedroom that I was getting accommodated for was no longer available. What do you know that same day he inquired, May 16^th they schedule an appointment to see a 2 bedroom apartment. Yup, they lied to me. Little did they know that after my boyfriend viewed the apartment and took pictures I showed up. There I was dealing with a new girl named Jessica. She didn’t know much either. She too said Josh is here boss he makes the decisions. After I keep pressuring her for answers she said oh your application is denied and a letter was sent…
WTF??? My application was denied? Couldn’t be I signed my lease last month and you have been holding my security deposit and first months rent for a month. This doesn’t make any sense. Low and behold I get to my apartment and get a notice that a certified letter came in the mail. I go that Sat. to the post office to get the letter. It said I was denied because I did not have my W2 and paystubs. This is complete BS as the application which I sent through email has all the information needed. I email and call them again EVERYDAY letting them know of their clerical error and still no RESPONSE.
My current lease is up May 31^st. That gave me 2 weeks to find a new place –_​-​. These people still had my money by the way. The letter said that I would have my money «next week» which would have been by May 23^rd the latest. I did not get it so I go to corp again. Security calls them they say no she can’t come up and we are not coming down. I called and left messages letting them know I will be reporting them to the real estate committee. I got my money back today. Bottom line is these people suck as they have ZERO communication skills. Josh Allen and Ana = COWARDS.

(If this review was based on living here, solely, I’d give Troy a 3. But because of recent issues with the lack of communication with landlords, it’s a ¹⁄₅. We didn’t realize how much this really mattered until a situation arose which called for communication.)
This is an extremely real review as someone who is living here now, and someone who will also be out of here next month. It’s no coincidence that Troy’s admins don’t give away their names on any writing, letters, or during calls. This place is one of the most poorly run establishments I’ve ever come across. Let me explain in detail:
My wife and I have been here for almost three years. We initially settled on Troy because of it’s price and what’s included — we’ve been paying a fantastic price for a big apartment (1 BR), with a balcony, new appliances, and all utilities included. We’d read some negative reviews about management prior to signing, but we said for the price, it can’t be THAT bad…
The first year, it really wasn’t. Troy had a woman named Victoriya who was a fantastic go-​between for renters and their issues to the supers. Anytime we’d have a problem (AC, noise, sink, etc) we would call Vicky, and she’d page the super and have it taken care of. She left recently, and we are now truly seeing all of negativity.
Let me give you the truths about Troy Towers:
–NO direct contact with the super
–NO direct contact with the landlord
–NO communication with ANYONE in authority
–AC and Heat are never turned on when they’re supposed to be
If you want something done in your apartment, you must now call in a «work order» which in essence, a maintenance number aka take-​a-​number.
The one thing I will say is that Abraham, the super, is pretty good. He’s helped us and fixed some things for us often. His English isn’t too good, but he’ll help you. IF you can get a hold of him.
As for the rest of these chumps? It will make your life a living hell.
We have been trying to get in touch with management for MONTHS. No one ever answers the corporate line. You’d think they might email — nope. Nothing. My wife and I have sent numerous emails with questions, with no response. In essence, what makes living here so brutal is the lack of communication. You can never get in touch with ANYONE if it’s a more serious rent/​money issue, so good luck.
My wife and I are in the process of moving out and buying our first home, and needed a rent verification from Troy Towers for our mortgage. I knew this would be horrid as soon as I heard. Getting in touch with them was a nightmare. We finally got Ana (no last name) to reply and give us what we needed. We then learned her signature was required to make it more formal for the lender, and here is when it got unprofessional:
She refused. Just said «no» when asked to sign this for us. We have paid rent on time for two years and caused no problems. When asked why she couldn’t sign it, she continued to say she couldn’t do it, and when asked about her douche bag boss’ hours (Josh Allen), she had no idea of his hours or when he comes in. At all. After this, we tried calling the Troy Corporate line REPEATEDLY, and they ignored all of our calls. For two hours.
I then received a smart-​ass email reply from who appeared to be the owner, Josh Allen (but again, I wouldn’t know. None of them ever sign their names. Shocker). His email told me to «never make demands of any of his staff,» and that Ana would reply to my emails «at her convenience.»
I tried to call Josh to talk about it — WUDDAYA know. NO ANSWER. Coward. Everyone who runs this place is the same breed: unprofessional and immature. Refusing to sign a letter for a mortgage approval for one of your tenants? Refusing to answer phone calls once you’ve been challenged about something?
My honest advice: if you don’t care about this lack of management and want a good place to stay, you’ll enjoy it. Truly. If management and communication matter to you, stay away. By far. My wife and I had no issues year one, but now that we’re moving out to go into our home, when communication is vital for rent verification, we’ve had to have Troy’s lawyer involved to tell them to have a signature on our damn letter.
Stay away — pay more for a better landlord experience in Bloomfield/​Montclair.

I use to live here and I enjoyed it for the most part. For the price you can’t go wrong considering the apartments are renovated and all utilities are covered. There is laundry on site and enough parking for those who live there. The place is quiet and no one bothers you. I felt my neighbors were trustworthy and never felt unsafe living in this part of Bloomfield. Also the train and bus are directly next to the apartment complex, which makes commuting to the city or the airport awesome.
What I didn’t like:
During hurricane Irene management did not inform the residents that the parking garage and back parking lot flood. Yet I was told by multiple residents that management was fully aware of the flooding issue. If a nice neighbor hadn’t told me to go downstairs and move my car it would have been damaged significantly. For those residents who didn’t know, and there was a lot of them, they lost their cars. Management really should have put signs up to inform us of the potential flooding, especially since they were very good about putting passive aggressive notes under your door on a weekly basis.
Once upon a time there use to be a pool, but the pool was filled to make more parking spaces. When I first moved in I was told that my guests could park in the lot in front, but from the day I moved in guests were never allowed to park there due to construction. So my guests had to find a place on the street where they wouldn’t get a ticket because Bloomfield likes to ticket. I lived there a year mind you. When your friends can’t park where you live they don’t really want to come hang out with you. Go figure. I don’t know if this has changed since.
Lastly I probably would have dealt with my dislikes if I could have had a dog. Small dogs used to be allowed, but no longer. That was my ultimate deal breaker and why I moved out.

The management is terrible! They are completely non-​responsive and unprofessional. They took my money and my signed lease and refused to give me my keys on move in day. No one would return my call and I still have not received my money back. Crooks!