Ballinger Court Senior Affordable Apartments

Pros

• Orlando has earned the appreciation of many residents.
• Residents applauded Orlando at the monthly meeting, signaling broad approval.
• Orlando is consistently hardworking, friendly, and approachable, with a welcoming smile.
• Orlando is dependable for maintenance needs inside and outside the building.
• Orlando and the maintenance team delivered outstanding and timely service on the bathroom fan.
• The maintenance team is extremely efficient and professional.
• Austin provides great service and is very helpful.
• Herminia and Austin are friendly, helpful, and do a great job; the property looks great.
• Hana, the resident manager, is awesome and keeps the building clean and well kept with many activities.
• Hana is helpful and informative.
• Mae the manager is dedicated, helpful, and hardworking; the property is well maintained.
• Torano (Torrance) is super helpful, kind, and informative, contributing to a caring and warm community.

Cons

• The building's only elevator is frequently broken, creating accessibility and safety concerns.
• Mae is described as extremely unprofessional and dishonest toward residents.
• There are numerous maintenance issues and ADA noncompliance.
• Locks were changed after a resident's mother passed away, locking tenants out.
• The complex charged for a biohazard cleanup of the mother's body in the community room.
• The front door call box is frequently broken.
• There is an environment of contempt and disdain created by management toward residents.
• It is nearly impossible to reach anyone above the regional manager; residents cannot get a response.
• On-site staff refused to answer calls or open doors, hindering residents' needs.
• Rent increases occur yearly despite tax-credit apartments, leaving residents feeling overcharged.
• Carpeting is old and worn, and hallways can be uncomfortably cold in winter.
• The management is perceived as caring only about profit rather than residents.

Review

Ballinger Court Senior Apartments is described by many residents as a community with a capable and caring maintenance team, complemented by managers who can either make the overall experience outstanding or, in some cases, derail it. Across the board, Orlando - the new head maintenance man - receives the strongest praise. Residents note that he has been with the team only a short while, yet he has already earned broad appreciation. They clapped for him at a recent monthly meeting and consistently see him hard at work: moving refrigerators, tidying the landscaping in preparation for winter, and hauling away garbage. Wherever they encounter him, he is said to bring a warm smile and a welcoming wave, and he is repeatedly described as someone residents can count on for maintenance needs both inside and outside the building. One resident summed it up by saying, in a nutshell, that Orlando and the maintenance team did an outstanding and timely job servicing an issue with a bathroom fan, giving Orlando a special shout-out for being thoughtful, considerate, and knowledgeable with a heart of gold. The sentiment is echoed by others who call him congenial, skilled at repairs, punctual, and hard-working.

Support for Orlando is part of a broader positive view of the on-site maintenance staff. Jo Ann, for example, explicitly thanks Orlando and notes the whole maintenance team's efficiency and professionalism. Other residents name support staff by name - Austin and Herminia are singled out for service that is described as great and helpful, with a property that looks well cared for. Comments such as "Top notch in every way, love my new place!" and "Nice place, people living there is good, staff sucks never there but when they are there, rude as hell" illustrate the mixed but strongly weighted emphasis on the maintenance crew's day-to-day reliability contrasted with other staff dynamics. Still, there is a clear thread of appreciation for Hana and Mae when they appear in the narratives, with Hana repeatedly described as pleasant, helpful, and informative, especially during tours.

The property's management, however, is a source of significantly more mixed feedback. Several residents describe Mae, the community manager, as extremely unprofessional, dismissive, argumentative, and even cruel. One account details a cascade of frustrations since Fairfield bought the complex, including ADA noncompliance, a front door call box that is frequently broken, and an elevator that is often out of order. These issues are framed as not only inconvenient but also safety-related for residents who rely on mobility access. The tone of the reviews toward Mae ranges from criticism to outright accusations that she lies to residents and is rarely on property, leaving on-site staff to bear the brunt of resident concerns.

Within the same conversations, some residents recount a different experience with Mae and with other managers. For example, a resident who lives at Ballinger Court says Mae was great during a visit she hosted - a Cinco de Mayo brunch where Mae and her husband contributed food. Others describe Hana as a strong alternative: a manager who is awesome, keeps the building clean and well-kept, and supports resident activities. Yet even with Hana's positive influence, the broader narrative includes frustrations about communication and accountability at higher levels of management. Several residents describe the difficulty of contacting people above their regional manager, noting that Mae is copied on emails and that this leaves residents feeling unheard.

Beyond management friction, there are very concrete grievances about maintenance responsiveness and property upkeep. A recurring theme is the almost constant presence of issues that affect daily living: broken front doors, unreliable elevators, and the absence of adequate accessibility features. There are mentions of landscaping being neglected at times, with some residents noting that rent has increased yearly by substantial amounts (40 to 80 dollars) even while the property has struggled with tax credit apartment constraints and the aging condition of carpeting in common areas. Several residents juxtapose stories of well-maintained moments - like the occasional, efficient maintenance visit - with episodes that feel opaque or mishandled by the management and administrative teams.

The most difficult portions of the collected voices come from families who endured tragic and deeply painful experiences within the community. One account recounts the heartbreaking moment when a resident's mother passed away in the community room, followed by locks being changed on the apartment and a complicated, distressing process to retrieve belongings and deposit money. The family describes being locked out of the mother's apartment and facing a series of obstacles to access documents and final arrangements, including a request for a biohazard cleanup charge that felt inappropriate to them given the circumstances. These statements are presented as experiences residents and their families faced, with specific accusations about protocol and communication that left them feeling overlooked and wronged.

Despite the tensions and the difficult episodes, several reviewers maintain a core sense of belonging and safety in Ballinger Court. Several residents point to the building's location as a real plus, and a number of them highlight that the community can be a solid choice for seniors seeking a supportive environment. Pockets of praise persist for individual staff members who deliver consistent, reliable service - Orlando, Austin, Hana, and Herminia among them - while the broader questions about management practices linger in the background. In the end, the community presents a complex portrait: a place where compassionate, capable hands on the maintenance team can make a meaningful difference, even as residents continue to navigate challenges with the management and infrastructure that affect daily life and long-term satisfaction.

Overall, Ballinger Court Senior Apartments emerges as a place of real warmth and care in its best moments, thanks to the maintenance crew's dedication and the approachable, helpful spirit of some managers. The strongest endorsements come from residents who repeatedly highlight Orlando's leadership and the maintenance team's efficiency, as well as Hana's responsiveness and the sense that the building, when well managed, can be a comfortable and safe home for seniors. Yet the ongoing concerns about management practices, accessibility issues, and certain procedural disputes remind readers that a portion of the community experiences ongoing frustrations that intersect with the lived realities of aging, safety, and dignity. The end impression is a landscape of promise shadowed by real and serious questions about management accountability and consistent communication.

Parks

• Lake Ballinger Park (0.4 miles)
• Echo Lake Park (1.4 miles)
• Richmond Beach Saltwater Park (3 miles)
• Lynndale Park (3.8 miles)
• Log Boom Park (4.1 miles)
• Meadowdale County Park (4.5 miles)
• Saint Edward State Park (5.5 miles)

Cafes

• Woods Coffee (0.4 miles)
• Starbucks (1.5 miles)
• Starbucks (2.2 miles)
• Walnut Street Coffee (2.2 miles)
• Tazza Di Vita Espresso Stand (4 miles)
• Starbucks (4.1 miles)
• Starbucks (5.5 miles)

Restaurants

• Dick's Drive-In (0.6 miles)
• The Habit Burger Grill (1.2 miles)
• Yeh Yeh's Sandwiches (1.9 miles)
• Chick-Fil-A (3.4 miles)
• Blazing Onion Burger Company (3.7 miles)
• McDonald's (3.8 miles)
• Seaplane Kitchen & Bar (4.5 miles)

Hospitals

• Swedish Medical Center (0.7 miles)
• Northwest Hospital (5.4 miles)

Pharmacies

• Walgreens (1.3 miles)
• QFC Pharmacy (1.5 miles)
• Rite Aid (1.5 miles)
• Bartell Drugs - Ebt (1.5 miles)
• Bartell Drugs (2.1 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (2.2 miles)
• Fred Meyer Pharmacy (2.2 miles)

Theaters

• AMC Alderwood Mall 16 (3.6 miles)

Transportation

• U-Haul Moving & Storage (5.8 miles)
• Northgate Station Seattle (6.3 miles)
• Northgate Transit Center (6.3 miles)

Physicians

• Lakeshore Clinic (6.3 miles)
• Ballard Pediatric Clinic PS (7.7 miles)
• Everett Clinic (7.7 miles)

Places of Worship

• Hindu Temple & Cultural Center (7.2 miles)