Veranda Apartments

STOP! READ THIS BEFORE YOU SIGN YOUR LEASE. If you are considering renting here, please read the terms of your rental agreement. One page of the agreement requires you to acknowledge that your electricity service will be provided by NEP (National Energy Partners), an Ohio-based submetering company. NEP was chosen by the landlord to "split" the master electric bill received from PECO for the entire property among all residents. Before January 2025, the allocation formula used by NEP resulted in a manageable average monthly bill of $40-$50. This covered everything: the refrigerator, electric stove, washer, dryer, and electric heating/AC. Cost skyrocketed, quadrupling to $150–$170 per month, shortly after Hakim became the property manager and the interior construction of the new interconnected building began. When we saw a wide array of thick wires routed across the main hallway lobby, we realized that residents in the existing building were effectively paying for the construction electricity of the new building. We contacted Hakim and NEP, but they were consistently disinterested in helping us explain the sudden, massive hike in power usage and costs. We also requested to verify the kilowatt-hours reported on the invoices against actual meter readings, but to no avail. Hakim claimed there were individual meters reporting usage but couldn't or wouldn't disclose their location. NEP claimed the meters were "on the building wall outside," but there were none. After desperate searching, we found a locked utility closet containing only flip switches, but no actual meters were present to verify the usage. Eight months of attempted verification have confirmed that Veranda uses NEP to split the master PECO invoice among residents with no verifiable regard for actual individual power usage. We have been forced to pay inflated, unsubstantiated bills for almost a year. We are also blocked from negotiating directly with PECO because NEP refuses to release our account to them. In a recent announcement, Hakim stated the new building will have a sauna. Does this mean we will see an additional $20 slapped onto our monthly electric bills?

Miguel and Nicholas both do a great job managing and running the building. The apartment gym is really nice, and the rooftop lounge has a grill and a smoker! The neighborhood might look a little "sketchy" to some people, but as someone who has lived in Philly for 14 years now, I can say with confidence that this area is actually pretty safe compared to many other neighborhoods.