Bay Oaks Apartments

BAY OAKS_​BLACK MOLD This place is infested with mold. I have lost everything. Medical bills have racked up, I had to throw out my whole life, as it was contaminated with mold spores. The owners are neglient and clearly DO NOT care about peoples health. DO NOT move here unelss you want to get sick. Disquisting, these people are slum lords. If this site allowed me to upload a pdf I would upload the mold report so the world could see how bad it is.
Penicillium/​Aspergillus
Penicillium/​Aspergillus
Stachybotrys

The good: Great location, common areas are well maintained, the staff is friendly, maintenance staff is quick to fix problems (although, oddly enough, they always seem to fix the major problems on the first attempt, but the minor problems almost always take a second work order).
The bad: I am not going to say that Bay Oaks’ mold problem caused me health problems that ended up costing me EVERYTHING, because I can’t prove that Bay Oaks’ mold problems caused me the health problems that ended up costing me evrything BUT I will tell you what happened so you can be the judge.
Shortly after I moved into Bay Oaks, I began to experience extreme fatigue, headaches, dizziness and nausea. I thought that it might be mold, so I expressed my concerns to the manager (I described my symptoms to her as well). My apartment was inspected and I was told that there was no mold.
Over the next 12 years, they came out and inspected on numerous other occasions, each time assuring me that there was no mold. One time, the manager even suggested that the problem may be all in my head. During that time period, my health continued to deteriorate and I ended up leaving my jobs. (I was employed full-​time as a paramedic for Hillsborough County Fire rescue and part-​time at Tampa General Hospital). I lost EVERYTHING!!!
In 2009, my apartment needed to be renovated, so I was moved to a different apartment in the same building. A few days after the move, I went to my old place to get a box of books I had left behind and I saw this: The drywall had been taken down, the insulation was black with mold, some of the framework was so badly rotted with moisture, it needed to be replaced and the drywall itself was so laden with moisture, it had a sponge-​like consistency on the exterior surface.
My symptoms vanished after I moved. If I could have proven that Bay Oaks was negligent, I would have sued them for all that I lost, but I can’t.
Next, the water bill. For 13 years my water bill was about $ 15 – 17 per month. When Bay Oaks decided to change billing companies, my water bill would be as high as $ 40. I’d complain and they’d «look into it» but the problem was never resolved. My water bill would occasionally be right, once or twice it was $ 5 (I called the office then too) and most of the time it was $ 10 – 15 above what it should be. I complained every month, even sent a certified letter to the corporate office, after which I was contacted by the regional VP who was no help whatsoever. To add insult to injury, they stuck me with a $ 60 water bill when I moved out. I think I was overcharged about $ 400 – 500 during that time frame… and THEY DON’T CARE!
Lastly, parking. You might think that living so close to Bayshore will be lots of fun come Gasparilla time (big parade) because you can have all of your friends over for a big party… wrong! Well, they can come over, they just have to pay to park. Yeah, Bay Oaks management figured out that they can make $$ selling parking spaces to non-​resident parade goers, so they decided that residents… you know, those people who PAY RENT, should have to pay for guests’ parking passes. As an added insult, they will only allow one pass per apartment.
In closing, I would STRONGLY SUGGEST that you look elsewhere for your next apartment.

So, the location is great. I have loved living on the water the past year. Easy access to Bayshore, good location for Gasparilla (The parade starts at Bay to Bay, right here!), and enough in walking distance (Natural food store, beer/​wine store (Redneck Wines), drive thru/​walk-​up convenience store, etc) to survive without a car, which I’ve had to a few times. The staff here is amazing as well. The front office staff is kind, open to suggestions, and interacts with the residents regularly. Recently, they had to do an every 5 years termite tenting. The apartments put those who had nowhere to go up in hotels for the weekend, and discounted rent the days we were not here. Not many places would do that for you!
However, for the space and apartment style, it can be pricey. For what I paid here I have found some two bedrooms nearby that are pretty good too. Moving here from Orlando, this was an easy decision for me, since I couldn’t really just drive around every day looking at spots. But now that I live in Tampa, I have a bit more time to find a place that is hopefully just as good.
I have loved living here, don’t get me wrong! If you’re moving from out of town and want to be near the «action» (aka Howard ave) and can’t shop around as much, you will enjoy living here.

A hot young thing friend of mine lives here, and I went over to sit by the pool and have a drink with her.
Seems the crowd is young, hip and typical S Tampa — social and cocktail oriented, lively and chatty. Nice atmosphere on a Sunday afternoon by the pool. Her apt is a nice 1 BR on the 3^rd floor overlooking the pool and given that Bayshore is right there, how can anyone not like this place?