For those of you looking for a place to stay downtown, please be sure to never rent from Sun Corp. This situation is slightly unlikely, though, as Sun Corp owes federal payroll back taxes dating back to 1998,which accrue to $1.3 million. As a result, the IRS has seized two of the properties which belong to them:

1. A house on 425 W. College Avenue
2. An apartment building at 117 E. McCormick Avenue

Both those properties are set to be sold in a public auction on the 23rd of March. The minimum bid for the house is $143,600 and the minimum bid for the apartment building is $622,400. Sun Corp are, however, allowed to re-purchase these buildings, provided they pay back the auction winner in full amount of the sale plus an added 20 percent interest.

I attempted to contact their office to get some information on this, but unfortunately they did not answer my calls. I decided to go to the next best source of information – the Internet.

That was when I discovered the truth to Sun Corp and their absolute disregard for the safety and well being of their tenants. The reviews on Apartment Ratings are nothing but negative reviews, recommendations of NO,  and dismal ratings (their average is 1.2, the lowest possible rating being 1.0). Some of the stuff is just horrific. Read this user review from someone who rented from 2001-2002, which was published on 7/10/2003:

I’m going to try not to be overly dramatic so that I sound more believable. However, when I lived at 231 S. Atherton St. Apt. 1 during 2001-2002, this is what happened: 2 entire rooms of our basement apartment flooded with 2-4 inches of dirty, muddy, brown water–TWICE. I mean, for a basement apartment, it wasn’t overall horrible…it had your normal basement apartment problems in terms of temperature, etc. However, I don’t consider it reasonable to have to bail out your stairwell when it rains. The office staff said (I’m not making this up) that they couldn’t control an “act of God” and so they had no responsibility over what happened. Even the maintenance crew (when they finally came, which wasn’t for at least 4 hours after we called) looked at it and said, “Wow, this is a mess,” and tried to help us unclog the drains that were supposed to take care of the water. But the office staff continued to insist that there was no problem with the drainage system, even after it happened for the second time, and even after we got someone from the borough office to come out and tell them it wasn’t up to code.

Other problems we had include a carpenter ant infestation, rotting baseboards, and slight mold and pipe leakage. I’m not one of those people that complains about scratched floors–I know that apartment living isn’t perfect. But 4 inches of water covering the floor, I think, is intolerable. Don’t rent from Sun Corp.

The review was  titled “Overall…Don’t Live Here”. There are also reviews from alum’s from the 70’s, 80’s and various other residents who complain about problems, such as hygiene, heating, utilities, cleanliness, bug infestations, and the sex offender who lives there.

I also found an article which paints a rather sorry picture regarding the staff employed by Sun Corp.

You wouldn’t believe how many students sign leases with Sun Corp, who later can only regret it, due to the negligent maintenance staff, the apathetic office staff, or, as in my case, due to the fact that the tenant did not receive her security deposit back.

Not only that, but the same article accuses the landladies of holding onto the security deposit checks by students, many of which remain unclaimed. Most people seem to have complaints about the landlady, Ginny Chuba, and the way she treats students as a way to make a quick buck.

After providing 30+ years of shoddy service, S.C. Sun Corp is finally getting what was coming to them, if these comments are to be believed. I just hope that previous tenants can look at this and finally allow themselves to laugh at the expense of Sun Corp.

Have any of you previously rented from Sun Corp? What was it like?