The Wall Street Journal has this report on 'repartments.' "One of the first signs that the Gateway Club was going condo was when the owner of the Boynton Beach, Fla., apartment complex closed the gym within the past year."

"Their fears turned out to be well founded. Residents complain that they were later offered steep 'insider' prices to buy their units, $400,000 for a $1,500-a-month rental in one case. Some declined and moved out. When would-be buyers were wooed at a luau at the pool, existing tenants were excluded. 'It was like we were the redheaded stepchildren,' says Jack Carney."

"Now, Gateway's owner, faced with slow sales, is reversing course and reverting to apartments. Although one-third of the 319 units had been upgraded in anticipation of sales, no deals were closed. The owner had to refill the complex with renters, so incentives, like lower rent, were offered."

"Mr. Carney was told he could purchase his $1,500-a-month, three-bedroom unit for $403,000. He has 16 months left on his lease and plans to assess his children's school situation before deciding whether to move even though the complex will remain as rentals. He thinks some of the new renters aren't desirable neighbors."

"'They've always tried to rent to the family type, but with all these promos and things,' he says, some new tenants play loud music and drink beer at night in the parking lot."

"Michael Cohen, a research strategist, dubs the reversions 'repartments.' 'It's definitely becoming a problem,' he says. 'Some of these projects probably don't look as attractive as they did six months ago when developers were buying the conversions.'"

"An emerging trend is evident as developers stuck with slow-selling condo units struggle to recoup part of their investment and as tenants gripe about being caught in the middle when their building swings from apartments to condos and back again."

"'It was the wrong market, wrong time,' Jenny Reidy, said Gateway Club's rental manager who recently left the company."

"In south Florida, eight converted complexes containing 2,156 units have reverted to rentals in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, according to Jack McCabe. That compares with about 62,904 units that have been converted or have begun to be converted into condos in the area since 2004, he adds."

"The San Merano at Mirasol, a 476-unit apartment complex in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., is a case in point. The luxury development adjacent to a country club was built and developed by Kolter Communities. Not too long ago, Kolter had started running newspaper ads pitching the units as condos and sending letters to existing residents alerting them of the switch, but it called off plans a few months ago after getting nervous about the rising number of competing condos. None of the units were sold as condos."

"'I knew we were in trouble when the guy who delivered my television a few weeks ago said he had bought two conversions [in the area] and was trying to flip them,' says Kolter COO Peter Donnantuoni, pinning most of the blame on speculators for driving up prices to unreasonable levels."

"The financial pressure on would-be condo converters can be intense, analysts say. Typically they've been willing to pay 35% to 40% more than their value as rental apartments. If the project cannot be converted, it becomes a substandard investment being run as a rental property. And if the investment was highly leveraged, the converter risks losing the property."

"Earl Kratzer bought his unit at the Estates at Stuart last year for about $263,000. Like other buyers intent on immediately selling for a quick profit, he put it up for sale for $295,000 right after he closed in October. No luck. Then he tried to rent it for $1,400 a few months later. That didn't work either."

"Mr. Kratzer later discovered the owner of the Estates was renting units as well as selling them, but some at a much lower price. He says he was ultimately forced to drop his rental price to around $1,100 to match the Estates listings. He finally found tenants last month. 'It was just a mess,' he says."