VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) — Students at 707 Baytree Apartments in Valdosta are again reporting move-in delays, according to an anonymous tip received by WALB. WALB previously reported similar delays at the complex in August 2025.

The tipster said students have signed move-in dates, but their apartments are not ready. Some students were given temporary housing but were told to move out as new tenants arrive, according to the tip. The apartments those athletes were promised are also not ready, the tipster said.

The tipster said out-of-state parents were expected to arrive to help their children move in.

Parent describes daughter’s move-in experience

A parent, who spoke to WALB on condition of anonymity, said his daughter signed a lease to move in on the 15th but arranged with the apartment complex to move in a week earlier, on the 8th. The parent said the room was not available on the 8th, and the complex gave his daughter temporary housing.

“The temporary housing didn’t have locks,” the parent said. “They had locks on it. They could lock the rooms when they were inside them, but they couldn’t lock the rooms when they left to go to practice or to the gym or wherever they were going.”

The parent said he did not know about the situation until the day before he and his wife drove to move his daughter in. He said his daughter told him they might arrive and find the room still not available.

“I was concerned that I’d be driving up there for, you know, several hour drive with all of her stuff and not have a place to have her go into,” the parent said. “She was also told she had to move out because another incoming student was going to be coming in.”

The parent said that when they arrived, they were told that was not true and that his daughter could stay in the temporary room until her permanent room was ready.

“Our stress level went down after that point,” the parent said. “We were still concerned that the room wasn’t locked, that, you know, an incoming student could just come in and squat. So we installed our own lock on it just to protect her stuff.”

The parent said the temporary housing was in a building across the street from campus. He said he and his wife overheard staff telling other people who arrived without an assigned room that they could stay at Magnolia Reserve.

“We had a bunch of student athletes temporarily housed, and they were supposed to move into the new building,” the parent said. “But there was also a bunch of students showing up for their first move-in day that Saturday, and the rest of the building wasn’t done.”

The parent said his daughter was told she could move into her permanent room on Tuesday and did move in that day. He said the complex waived his daughter’s first month’s rent and reduced the second month’s rent.

“So eventually they did take care of her,” the parent said. “But like I said, there’s other students out there that weren’t as fortunate.”

The parent said other students have not been able to move in yet.

Temporary housing access concerns

The tipster also said the temporary housing offered to students can only be locked through an app, and some students have not been given access to that app. This has left some rooms unlocked when students are not present, according to the tip.

WALB’s attempts to reach the property

WALB reporter Taylor Lewis sent a list of questions to the property’s ownership, asking about the number of residents affected, the cause of the delays, accommodations being offered, whether temporary housing is provided at no cost, how long residents are expected to remain in temporary housing, and compensation for expenses caused by the delays. Lewis also asked about the app-access issue with temporary housing locks and the current timeline for moving affected residents into their permanent apartments.

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WALB called the phone number listed on the property’s website but did not receive an answer. We also visited Magnolia Reserve Apartments, which is also handling inquiries about 707 Baytree. Staff there said they could not speak with WALB and provided an email address for the owner. Staff said multiple owners are associated with the property.

Mandeep Singh, principal for the apartment complex, did provide the following statement:

“On Friday afternoon, Georgia Power cut power impacting approximately 24 apartments. Power was restored to some units on Monday and the remaining units on Tuesday.

During the outage, the building’s main house panel was down, which also impacted our security and access system. Because of that, management was hesitant to allow students to move into those affected units while we could not ensure the security system was fully operational.

For residents who were unable to move into their apartments, we offered $300 in compensation and temporary accommodations at Magnolia Reserve for approximately three nights while the issue was being resolved.

We understand the frustration this caused for students and their families, especially during move-in, but our primary concern was making sure residents were not placed in units until we believed they could safely and securely occupy them."

WALB also visited 707 Baytree Apartments. A contract worker there said the owner wanted Lewis to leave the premises.

Stay with us for more updates.

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