Ella Marie Apartments

Deplorable quality of customer service even through emailing. My girlfriend and I are moving to Portland in a few months and we inquired about the units at Ella Marie. Heather Souter is the person who answered our inquiry and she had a very condescending tone specifically when we asked if we would be able to pre-pay the full lease amount upfront. This is her response to that verbatim: "Not quite sure what you mean by "pre-paid rent." For example, if a resident has a zero balance due on March 10th and makes a payment then they would have that credit rolled into the month of April. However, if you are asking if we accept large payments to help qualify applicants the answer is no." First of all, pre-paid rent means exactly that, so how she could be confused by it is a bit of a head scratcher. Second, to insinuate that we are asking to "pay a large payment" in lieu of or to "help qualify" us as applicants is very insulting. We simply asked if we would be able pay the full lease term upfront. That does not mean in place of qualification. We just want to secure our housing to give us time to settle into our first year in Portland with ease. And lastly, roll-over credits to an account is vastly different from pre-paying the entire account upfront, so explaining roll-overs to me as if I am a 5 year old who doesn't understand basic accounting is audacious for someone who has a gross misunderstanding of basic English vocabulary, to say the least. Needless to say, we will not be renting from Ella Marie Apartments in Portland, as Heather has proven that our money is best spent elsewhere. My girlfriend is too kind to leave a negative review and just sees this as Ella Marie isn't aligned with our best interest, but I think they should know that Heather just cost Marathon Management Inc. and Ella Marie Apartments a lot of money with her poor attitude and customer service. Edit: after reading the other reviews, Heather's attitude seems to be indicative of the over all poor quality of living conditions this complex provides.

I was a resident of Ella Marie Apartments from 2019-2023. For the most part, I really enjoyed my time living there. The previous resident services managers and maintenance staff (Brandy, Bill, Joy) from Guardian Management were very helpful and respectful, even through the unfortunate events of the active-shooter, my car theft from the garage, water leaking through my ceiling, and multiple break-ins to the building. I understood those situations were out of anyone’s control and I appreciated their communication and responsiveness during those times. After the change to Marathon Management, I had multiple unpleasant interactions with Heather, the new resident services manager. She gave contradictory information about my lease, renewal options, and unit pricing than what was posted publicly online. She was also short and non-direct in responding to my questions about that. I found out that in the transition, Marathon didn't even have current resident leases on file. I had to send my copy to her for her records. Her final reply to my inquiry about why I was being offered higher rental prices than shown online was asking me “if I would like to receive the Notice to Vacate”. I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt, but the reply appeared slightly threatening, as if I should stop asking questions and pointing out inaccuracies in the information she was giving me, or she would give me a notice to vacate and end my lease. As a long-term tenant that always paid rent on time and not had any complaints, I was surprised by her response. From speaking to other residents in the building, I wasn't alone in my experience after Marathon took over from Guardian as the management company. I didn't want to deal with that type of management company going forward, so I moved out.