Residents of The Standard at Austin apartment complex have experienced numerous car break-ins, unresponsive management and, at one point, no water for days since the summer started.

Management for the West Campus apartment sent an email to residents in June promising additional security guards for the parking garage after residents began reporting the car break-ins. Residents also complained about the lack of security guards in the building and that the front door was left open by a zip tie for weeks. A copy of the email obtained by the Texan stated that security guards would be stationed at the entrance of the garage and conduct foot patrols.

Less than a week later, at least nine cars were broken into, multiple residents told the Texan.  

“There’s a lot of us that have just decided to leave our cars unlocked or leave our windows down,” said resident Grace Royston. “So if anyone’s going to try to break into our car, they can see there’s nothing there.”

This isn’t the first time residents of The Standard have dealt with issues after tenants moved in last year to incomplete apartments with broken appliances, among other issues. 

An Instagram account titled @standard_landmark_sucks was created in response to the issues this summer. The owner, who asked to be anonymous, said she created the account to cause public pressure and increase security at the complex.

“(The Standard is) marketing to be a suitable and safe housing option for students,” she said. “And that hasn’t been true.”

The account’s owner said she thinks posting the problems on Instagram has made a difference, as three days after she created it, residents received the email with security updates.

In an email statement before the nine car break-ins, The Standard’s management team said other complexes were also affected by car break-ins and that they are “implementing additional security measures” that copied what they told residents about having more security guards. The email also said they were under new management. Multiple residents said there have been at least four different managers in under a year since the complex opened. 

The Standard did not respond to additional requests for comment. 

Multiple residents said the garage gate has not closed since before Christmas after someone hit it with their car. When they asked maintenance workers when the gate would be fixed, the workers said it was the residents’ fault for continuing to hit the gate “out of frustration” and that it would not be fixed until after residents moved out. 

Royston, a fifth-year nutrition and kinesiology student, said she was told having a gate is “not required” by the lease. 

Residents were also left without water for nearly four days in June, resident Jack Barrett said. When some of them started to use pool water to flush their toilets, Barrett said management closed the pool. 

Residents said when they call the complex to speak with the manager, they are told the manager will get back to them, but they rarely hear back. 

“This system of communication between corporate, between management and between the residents is so terribly flawed to the point where I had to make an Instagram account called standard_landmark_sucks,” the account owner said.