University City Housing

I rented a room in a house managed by UCH around 40^th and Spruce. The place looked nice and the location was very convenient. However, it is a huge risk. I complained several times about my roommate listening to loud music at all hours of the night. In fact, my walls shook because of how loud the music was. When I told this roommate to stop, he called me the n-​word and slammed the door in my face. Both UCH and Penn police said that unless there was a «confrontation» between me and my roommate, they would not do anything. I am not a violent person nor am I interested in stooping to the level of degenerate people. But I was lucky that I rented for only one semester because sooner or later, I would have run out of patience. I could not believe that they were actually creating an environment that provoked violence.
The point is that if you move in and you have any issues with your roommates, you will have to either fight them in order to get them o respect your space or you will have to move out. UCH IS INCREDIBLY IRRESPONSIBLE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT OF PROPERTIES WILL SOONER OR LATER COST THEM BIG TIME.
I would absolutely not recommend renting with them.

I’ve rented with UCH in two separate apartments.
The bad: Many reviews on real-​estate companies target factors that are endemic to the housing market in UCity, not the apartments themselves. Are the prices high for the quality of the housing? Yes, way high, that’s what happens when 10,000 undergrads all want to get an apartment as close to campus as possible, demand drives the prices up. I wouldn’t lay blame for that at UCH’s feet.
The so-​so: The houses themselves are older places that are due for renovations, especially in the kitchens! But also there are problems with superficial details like cracking paint and just plain weird layouts (my bedroom last year had doors leading out of the room in *three* places. this year, the hallway to my bedroom is too narrow to get a desk chair through. picture that). No central AC in most of the units, but again, that’s standard in older buildings in this area. That being said, there are brand new windows installed in all their units to improve insulation, my apartment has never been cold in the winter – in short, it’s comfortable if not beautiful. I take one star off for problems with the units because, hey, I have bigger cares in my life than cracking paint.
THE GOOD: I give 5 stars for customer service. UCH goes above and beyond for their tenants, as far as I can tell they’re hands down the best of any of the housing companies in this area. Whenever I’ve had any complaints, they’ve responded within two days max, but often the problem gets solved in the same day. I’ll give two examples of customer service that really impressed me. 1) When I was moving from my UCH unit last year to a new one this year, I had no way to move the futon into the new apartment and was out of town so I left it in the old place and told them they could take the fee for trashing it out of my security deposit. Instead, they offered without hesitation to move the futon to the new apartment for me, saving me money & effort. 2) My roommate and I signed a contract for a 12 month lease and wanted to know whether we could break the contract and end the lease two months early instead of having to find subletters. It was a god send, honestly, because we expected to lose our prepaid last month’s rent but instead they re-​wrote the contract with no penalties for the change and didn’t even act like it was an inconvenience.
To my mind, customer service is the most important part in a market where all the older apartments are pretty similar in quality/​size/​price, and I’d recommend UCH based on that measure any day.

I rented from UCH this past year.
Pros: Location (good because you’re right by campus but bad because a lot of UCH buildings are right next to frat/​sorority houses) and Penn security (which isn’t technically something good that UCH does since Penn security has to be in that area either way)
Cons: They don’t turn the heat on until November (had to buy portable heater or risk freezing at night), can’t regulate heat when they do finally turn it on so you’re baking in your apartment, emergency maintenance are not equipped to handle serious maintenance problems over the weekend (kitchen sink started flooding with sewage on a Friday and it wasn’t fixed until Tuesday so we had to live with sewage smell and an inaccessible kitchen for 5 days, followed by the lovely appearance of cockroaches), staff does not communicate with each other on problems that tenants are having (leads to communication breakdowns and the need to repeat problems with each new staff member since problems were not being resolved), pipes in the apartment started emitting a high-​pitched wailing sound constantly for several days (granted, this is probably because the building is so old but it does raise some concern about living in such an old apartment since UCH doesn’t seem to be doing much to maintain them), they raise already ridiculously high rent prices at the end of each lease, you’re responsible for steam cleaning your carpets when moving out or you get charged the cleaning fee + an administrative fee (most agencies take care of this on their own at no extra cost), staff does not know lease dates for rental units (I was informed via e-​mail that I had until July 29 to move out and made plans accordingly until I was given a week’s notice that I had until July 21 to move out or I would be charged), insect infestations that were «solved» with maintenance man using Raid and de-​odorizer before roommate and I went to the office in person and found out that they have an exterminator on call that they didn’t even think to send the first two/​three infestations (first UCH told us that our only option is to wait out the infestations and then they tried to cover up their mistake by sending a UCH representative and an exterminator who astonishingly denied seeing any of the thirty dead insects the previous worker did not clean up despite the photos that I made sure to take), UCH denies any blame/​responsibility for their mistakes and staff laugh your problems off when you come to them genuinely upset about the condition of your apartment.
Roommate and I tried to be as understanding as we could, but the last few months of our lease were hell.
Save yourself the trouble/​misery and find an apartment from a different company.

Granted, I’ve lived here for 10+ years, due to undergraduate and graduate school. Although the hipster staff is pleasant enough, sometimes the repair persons are less than helpful and often are destructive toward your apartment. Sometimes, they decide to turn on the heat in the winter but only if you scream loud enough apparently. I’ve endured three times water pouring from the ceiling, two mice infestations and one roach infestation in my apartment building. I figured it was about time to go. Even New York doesn’t get this bad.

I lived in University City Housing apartments for the past 5 years. During this time, I lived in 3 different apartments through UCH. Every apartment and experience was great. They always accommodated us to make smooth transitions between apartment buildings. I have recommended UCH to several friends and they have rented from UCH for several years, as well. My point person through UCH has been Melissa Schimpf and she has always done a great job at meeting my needs. I am a professional and she made sure to find me units that were not college student oriented. She also went out of her way to fix up or repair anything we needed prior to our move ins. Every staff member I’ve dealt with has been great as well. I definitely recommend UCH to students, grad students, and young professionals.

Horrible mold infested building. Had to be decontaminated… And they wanted me to pay while it had to be done… Avoid at all costs… Late fees are now $ 10 per day, and they don’t give grace. They up the rent and don’t return security deposit… I’d give them negative stars if I could. Also found out they had discriminated against families with children. Google the news stories.
Now it seems as if the management is trying to post their own reviews. very obvious when you read them. Considering moving to one of their *holes? Take a walk through the basements. that black stuff on the walls and ceiling is mold.
In my opinion the owner will do anything to avoid doing the necessary repairs. It took me 9 years to get the windows replaced. Unfortunately for the residents, I think they need to be criminally investigated and shut down. I’ve already contacted the township inspectors several times.
That’s my opinion.

The rent is cheap, the location of my apartment is great, but UCH has its problems. For starters, I’ve had multiple work orders in for about 6 months now with zero chance of having a maintenance visit. If I ever dare ask UCH about when exactly these things will get taken care of they get pissy with me (FYI, the work orders are for things that were already broken when we moved in). Also, the guy my roommate and I most frequently deal with regarding our apartment is generally extremely unpleasant and acts like a quick question about our apartment ruins his day. We always pay our rent on time, are quiet, and take great care of the place so I don’t think a little courtesy is too much to ask for. Overall UCH is fine, but definitely not the greatest landlord I’ve ever had.

University City Housing, or UCH, by the colloquial college student name, has a monopoly on some of the property surrounding UPenn and Drexel’s campus. As such, they are able to raise prices, because the of the high demand for real estate close to campus. I lived in an 8 person home for two years close to Penn’s campus and paid $ 825 for my room. Granted, the room was gigantic, but still, I don’t think University City real estate should be this expensive.
UCH, as a landlord, though is pretty good. Even though I was a college student renter, I never felt slighted by the maintenance and service as some of my peers did with different landlords. There were several instances where the shower was clogged or the lock on the door broke, and UCH provided fast and reliable service to fix the problem. The people that work in the adminstrative office are very chill and low maintenance. I have needed extra keys on several occasions and they just go to basement and make one for you on the spot. Free of charge!
Overall I think UCH does a good job as a landlord given their target demographic is college students, but now in the «real world» I prefer «real landlords.» If you aren’t a college student, I would recommend finding a different landlord.

I have rented from University City Housing for three years now and I’m finally escaping their rent-​raising clutches.
Yes, everything seemed fine at first; friendly hipster staff, relatively low rent and a safe location near campus. Oh yeah, except for that hole in the wall present from day 1… and the demon squirrel that broke into my apartment… since then, it’s been smooth sailing.
I don’t mind letting my clothes hang dry since two out of four dryers (shared between two four story buildings) are broken; it’s good for the environment, right?
And I’m a country gal-​mice don’t bother me, even when they’re climbing out from the radiator holes. By the way, I think it’s lovely that the company decided to repaint the radiators and windowsills before I moved in; if only they had bothered to wipe all the dust and random hairs off the sill first.
I love leaving my windows wide open in the dead of winter because I can’t control the heat in my apartment – fresh air is good for the health (and I can hear when the 42 bus is coming; I have the schedule down pat now!) It’s also useful for whenever I feel like practicing some Bikram yoga.
Sometimes you get lucky though, and the heat (including hot water) and electricity go out for three days, like it did this winter. It was a really great opportunity to take advantage of new experiences like trying to shave my legs at the gym!
Despite all these wonderful amenities, I turned in my non-​renewal form last week. They said they wouldn’t start showing my apartment for another two weeks. It’s been two days and I just got a call at work saying they were taking a tour over to have a look. Good thing my clothes are still drying on the rack next to the radiator.
Icing on the proverbial cake: note to the wise-​read your contract carefully. As my move-​out date approaches, I was told I did *not* have until the typical end of the month to move, but rather have to be out five days earlier! Apparently the rent is pro-​rated for 360 days…

University City Housing Co. is completely inconspicuous from the street.
I had passed by it so many times my freshman and sophomore years of college and when I finally needed to find myself an apartment, I decided to stop in.
The young staff greeted me with a «Hey, how are you today? How can we help you?» and I replied with «Uh, well, I think I need an apartment?» because I had no idea what I was doing. The showed me a listing of all of the properties up for rent along with the prices and locations. They took me out to see apartments. All totally free.
Lease signing was pleasant and straightforward.
I’m going into my second year in my apartment.
I lost my keys this weekend and went in today to get replacements, feeling stupid and ashamed about the whole thing. They gave me replacements FOR FREE and told me it wasn’t a big deal at all.
They rule.