Tenants report poor management and unit conditions at Lanes at Oslo

By Felicity Guajardo

Co-director of News and Culture 

Editor’s note: Some of the individuals who contributed to this story wish to remain anonymous to avoid public exposure. The identity of these individuals has been confirmed by reporters via phone call.

UPDATE: On Oct. 15 our editors received an email from Brandon Smith, the asset manager for MCRE Management, the company that owns Lanes at Oslo. We have been given permission to add their statement via email regarding these reports from tenants. 

“You should know that as an ownership group based in Salt Lake City, UT, we rely on a local third party company for day-to-day operations. However, our tenants are very important to us and we take their experience very seriously,” Smith said via email.

“I hope you can understand that this is a new construction project and there were some issues with the plumbing contractor which they have taken responsibility for and are addressing. Our management team has reported their efforts to minimize impact on tenants and relocating the one tenant where that was necessary. We understood that this was sufficient.”

SAN MARCOS— The place you call home usually alludes to feelings of security, comfort and peace. That is not the case for Mykayla Williams, tenant at Lanes at Oslo and undergraduate student at Texas State who has endured maintenance and management issues since Aug. 6 when she moved in.

Williams says she experienced backed up sewage in the bathtub, roaches and termites and broken furniture during her lease term at Lanes at Oslo in two different units.

“I had to get my attorney involved and code compliance and then right when I did, that’s when they decided to move me to a different unit. Then the same night I had that unit, I tried taking a shower and water just flooded throughout my apartment,” Williams said.

Reports of poor conditions in off-campus housing are not new to Texas State students. According to an article by the University Star many complexes have been in decline since Fall of 2022.

Often, students become stuck in a lease contract before even viewing their apartment for the school year. This is often an issue with the rent-by-the-bed housing model, meaning tenants can be bound to paying extra fees and security deposits before a background credit check is run.

This is also an issue for non-traditional students such as Williams who has a 2-year-old daughter and cannot break her lease without owing thousands of dollars.

“So, I also have my 2-year-old daughter, so I’m not sure what she’s allergic to, especially like these bugs and whenever pest control comes in. I don’t know what they’re spraying is baby friendly,” Williams said.

In an email from an anonymous tenant at Lanes at Oslo who moved from out of state they say that getting the attention of the property manager has been difficult.

“Trying to set up my lease from out of state was a nightmare that took about 2 weeks. She [property manager] rarely answered her phone, and her email wasn’t working so passing documents back and forth took a long time,” the Lanes at Oslo tenant said via email.

“I didn’t think much of it until I was actually in the office signing the final documents to get the keys and she let it slip that she didn’t even have an email when I asked her to email me copies of all of those docs.”

The tenant also says that patterns of leaks and fire alarms going off have prompted sudden water shut offs and evacuations.

“It has happened so many times that the last time they [fire alarms] went off, at about 1 am, the fire department drove by, gave us the thumbs up to tell us we could go in, and drove away. They literally didn’t even stop and just had the maintenance guy turn off the alarms,” the Lanes at Oslo tenant said via email.

While members of the community have experienced or know someone who has experienced issues with their housing situation it is unclear whether this phenomenon is due to management styles, building infrastructure or a mix of both.

However, tenants do know that these repeating cycles are affecting way of life for students and renters.

“I feel like nothing’s getting done. I’m like, this is where I live. You know, this isn’t safe. You know the health risk, the health risk is just too high… sometimes I just feel like breaking down cause I’m just like I’m stuck. I don’t know what to do and it’s just like just a constant loop going around and round and round,” Williams said.