Tenant Testimony

J B.San Francisco, CA 3/27/2020

I will preface this by saying that the Woodlands/Aion has prompted me to write the first negative review I have ever left online for an apartment complex or anywhere else. I have a personal policy, that unless I believe that someone could be harmed or negatively psychologically affected by a business, I will not leave harsh words. In the case of the Woodlands, it is my duty. The absolute worst thing about Aion/Woodlands is that based on my experience combined with the accounts I am hearing from people who have lived there more recently, it appears they have been killing innocent cats/kittens. I lived there from 2015 - 2018 and there were many colonies of feral cats who were being cared for. Most of them were ear-tipped (meaning they had been trapped, neutered, and released back into their environment). After Aion took over in 2018 I fled as soon as I could because they actually managed to be worse than the previous management company (not an easy feat, btw). Towards the end of my time there, I noticed the cat population decreasing and also saw a very sick cat and a few acting very strangely. I confronted management about my concern for the cats after they released a notice to tenants that put the cats in a very negative light. They brushed it off of course and gave a very vague response about working with a rescue to relocate the cats. Now according to accounts from people who lived there recently, cats have disappeared or have been found dead. There are pictures and videos online of dead kittens/cats at Woodlands and I have heard that there are very few cats left. These pictures show dead cats on property grounds. I know a lot about cats. They are dignified animals. When a cat is dying of natural causes or has an illness, they do not choose to die in such proximity to people. They travel as far away as they can. Dead cats found on apartment grounds of such a large and busy complex, is not a normal occurrence. Cats also don't disappear into thin air. When I lived there were colonies all over the complex - and in conversations with people who lived there before me I was told that there were always colonies of cats in the complex. Where are the cats now, Aion? The public wants to know. If you relocated them, records have to exist. Show the records! I also might as well mention that while I was living there, they entered my apartment without any notice. This is, of course, illegal, as 24 hours notice is required. One morning I woke up to three strangers standing around and chatting in my bathroom. I received absolutely no notice that they would be coming, had never seen them before in my life, and I almost had a heart attack because I had no idea what they were doing there. I chased them out and called the police. Turns out, they were workers that Aion sent to my apartment to paint a small spot in my bathroom. After the incident, I was so traumatized that I barely slept for weeks. The workers also left my door wide open and my cats could have easily escaped - this is actually what bothered me the most about it. I was assured this would never happen again, and guess what? It did. I called the police again... nothing was done. I could write a novel about this place and the horrible stuff that happened. It is a dump. And now they have raised the rent, charge obnoxious fees for anything and everything, and have forced many long time residents out of their homes. I've waited a long time to write this review and had decided not to because I just wanted to be done with the horrible hell hole that was Branch Brook and now is the Woodlands and not relive the trauma. However, seeing evidence of cat/kitten killings was the last straw for me. As an animal advocate and guardian of four rescue cats, it is my duty to inform others.