My girlfriend and I were forced to move on short notice from our previous residence do to circumstances beyond our control. Feeling under pressure to find a place quickly we decided to move into Summer House. Our story starts out similarly to other stories I've read on several other reviews on here, summerhouse management prey on the displaced and unsuspecting. Thank god I had the foresight to sign a 6-month lease instead of a year. Honestly we were fortunate to have had very good neighbors. Anytime you move into a large complex you are taking a gamble on the quality of your neighbors. I also had the foresight to move to the third floor. I felt it would be the safest, quietest floor with the most sunlight, I was right. However I had no idea at the time how that decision would save us from a world of grief. We were prepared to ask for a first floor apartment if there were no third floor units available (we didn't want to live with people both below and above us).

It turns out that in our building, and several others in the complex there is a severe problem with raw sewage backing up into the first floor units. In fact it happened to people on the first floor in our building several times during the 6 months we were there. It even happened to one of my best friends who I unfortunately recommended Summer House to when I first moved in. After having 3 inches of raw sewage covering my friends entire apartment you would think that management would automatically replace the carpets, they didn't. They had the sewage pumped out and they had the carpets steam cleaned, and moved my friends back in a couple of days later. We're talking about raw sewage people! This is bordering on needing C.D.C to come in wearing HAZMAT suites to clean this up. There are all kinds of horrible bugs living in raw sewage including hepatitis. I'm sorry but steam cleaning the carpets doesn't cut it in a situation like this IMO. Thank god I didn't move to the first floor. The scary thing is that after this happened (the first month my friends were there), they asked to break the lease so they could move, management refused!

The parking in the complex is a nightmare because no one respects each others assigned parking spots. I can't tell you how many times I came home late only to find someone in our spot, sometimes they would leave their car in our spot for days! We complained bitterly, and begged them to tow the vehicles, they never took any action. Finally after we'd lived there for about 3 1/2 months a memo went out to all the residence stating they were going to start towing cars that were parked illegally in the complex, we were thrilled to hear this. However their definition of "parked illegally" and ours were two different things. Shortly after we received the memo someone parked in our spot, so we called the office to complain thinking they would have the car towed. To our dismay they refused to do anything.

Apparently the memo was not referring to cars parked in other peoples spots, but cars parked in the red zone or other areas not designated for parking, something that frankly was never really a big concern at the complex in the first place. I had never witnessed anyone parking in the red zone for any prolonged period. The real problem was people parking in other peoples spots. I can't tell you how many times I witnessed residence nearly coming to blows regarding disputes over parking spots; it's a serious problem that management refuses to address. However they were downright unscrupulous about towing people who pulled into the red zone even if it was only for a few minutes. I saw a tow truck hook up and tow a car owned by a women with a baby trying to unload her groceries. My heart went out to her, it was disgusting! I also saw a tow truck hook up a families SUV who had pulled in the red for a few minutes to load their car up for a day at the beach, it made me sick to see this.

We knew after the second month of living there we'd be moving out as soon as our lease was up, but we were flabbergasted when at the 4 month mark we received a 60 day notice on our door. Please understand that we have never been late on our rent, and never had a complaint from any of our neighbors. After further investigation it turned out that the 60 day notice was a scheme to blackmail us into signing a year lease! The notice they left basically stated that we had two choices, sign a year lease with a $100 rent increase or pay a month to month rent of $1850! Understand that our original lease had stated that at the end of our 6 month lease we could choose to go month to month for a rent increase of $150, which would have made our rent $1450 a month, not $1850. When we explained this to management they refused to honor the original lease agreement. They said that the 60 day notice superseded our lease agreement. Unfortunately because there are no laws in Alameda protecting renters, we had no recourse. So we agreed to be out before our 6-month lease was up to avoid being stuck there for another year, or having to pay an exuberant month to month rental fee.

To say that my girlfriend and I were clean, and kept our place nice would be an understatement. Our place was immaculate at all times. We kept every inch of that place cleaned and like a model apartment the entire time we lived there. We never even allowed a single person coming into our apartment to wear their shoes past the tile entranceway. In spite of this, knowing how shady the management was we insisted on a walk through by one of the staff members before turning over our keys after giving notice. The staffer who did the inspection said our apartment was the cleanest and most well kept of any she'd ever walked through. She even said so in a short note on the walk through sheet. So you can imagine our shock when three weeks later instead of a check for our deposit we received a $300 bill for damage and cleaning of the apartment, with a threatening letter stating that if we didn't pay they were going to report us to the credit bureaus. This is a classic example of truth being stranger than fiction. I honestly couldn't believe what I was reading.

We took our copy of the walk through sheet to their office and threatened to take them to small claims court. After several arguments over the course of a week they finally negotiated to drop the $300 fee and keep all but $12 of our deposit. We were so worn out by this point we agreed to it. We should have taken them to small claims court out of principal but like many of you who might be reading this we both work long hours, and have very little free time or energy.

I think compared to all of the people we met at Summerhouse, and all of the reviews we've read, we've had one of the best experiences living there, which isn't saying much. The bottom line is that the management are shady and unscrupulous, the units are remodeled and admittedly have decent tile and carpet, but the counters and cabinetry are extremely poor quality and fall apart even with minimal use. The appliances are of average quality. The neighborhood is the worst in Alameda, and the front gate is frequently broken which means you have riff raff wandering through the complex late at night. No one respects anyones parking spots, and the plumbing is extremely problematic (especially for people on the first floor).

Is Summerhouse the worst complex I've ever seen, no but it's not worth the money they're asking for these units. I would never consider living there again even if they offered me a unit at half of what we were paying. And while the complex may not be the worst I've seen in Alameda the management are some of the most unscrupulous and shady I've ever run across. If you've read this far, you've been warned! Move in at your own risk!

The one and only nice thing that I'll say about Summer House is that the maintenance crew would usually show up within 24 hours of us reporting a problem, they were courteous, and did a decent job fixing things given how cheap the over all construction of the units were.

Let me tell everyone what my girlfriend and I found for only $150 more than what we were paying at Summer House. We now have a gorgeous 1100 sq. ft. 2 bedroom Victorian flat near the gold coast, which has hard wood floors, granite counter tops, our own laundry room and a large back yard that we only share with one other neighbor. The funniest thing about this whole story is that after we had been offered our new Victorian flat the Summer House management actually had the nerve to call us and ask if we would consider signing a lease and staying if they didn't raise our rent. We were very happy to tell them about how much nicer our new place was, and politely decline their offer.

The moral of my story, Hold out until you find a nice place in Alameda in a good neighborhood. Trust us, there are plenty of nice places in Alameda to move. A tip; the best units are usually being managed by one of the larger Alameda real estate companies. That's how we found our new place. I won't mention any names but the company that helped us find our place has "bay" in their name.

User Responses
From: 44212	Date: 02/15/2008
Someone needs to report that place to the Health Department. The sewage problem is not new. Their tired bit of posting notices when the rent has been paid is nothing new. They should also hire people who know how to keep accurage records. I lived there when it was Harbor Island and ending up getting a free months' rent out of one of their goofups like that. I live in an old Victorian about two blocks away. Mine is owned privately, but the owner takes pride in his property and keeps it maintaned. After I left Harbor Island, I moved to a Victorian on the other side of town where the owner didn't. That place had water dripping through the ceiling on 3 floors; and understandably electrical problems.
From: champagnetaste	Date: 03/05/2008
I broke my lease back in november and paid the penalty. I was at the point where I didn't care anymore, I would do whatever it took to get out of there. My story is the same as yours and everyone elses on here. Fortunately I never had crap fill up my apt. (I was on the first floor). I do know that I had to be a total betch to management because that's the only way they would react and give me what I wanted and was entitled to. My whole experience there was bad and it literally started from day 1. I wish I had seen these reviews before I moved in (I allready had my doubts about the neighborhood it was in but overlooked it because afterall it was a "luxury" apt. home with "sophisticated appointments") I still can't believe I bought into all that bull shet. I was paying $1665 for a 2 bedroom (and $65 of that was pet rent for my 2 chihuahua's)which is funny because it's a bit much when they keep your pet deposit. Anyways, now I live in a beautifully well kept cottage built in the 1920's (1 bedroom with big private back yard) and I don;t have anyone above me and don't share any walls. It's like a little house complete with a little driveway. Okay, enough bragging, my point is, I am paying $340 less for a place that is so much better and I love my new place. Summer House is such a rip off and I really hope they get what's coming to them-but I'm not the one to do it! But what goes around comes around, I wouldn't be surprised if they were sued.
From: buenobye	Date: 03/08/2008
I had all the same experiences AND they tried to keep my deposit. I threatened to sue, called the management company in southern california, and got all of my deposit back. I now pay $500 a month less for a wonderful apartment that is soooo quiet I feel like I'm the only tenant.
From: prinzessjb	Date: 04/03/2008
I am looking for an apartment in Alameda and this review single handedly made me not rent at Summerhouse...Thank you very much for warning others and being kind enough to share your misfortune so others do not have to go throught the same thing you did. You all sound like you have found amazing places and was hoping you could point me in the right direction. Websites, names, anything would be much appreciated.
From: diablio1272	Date: 04/27/2008
Hi, I wrote the review, and you can find an excellent place if you contact Sheri @ Harbor Bay Realty. That's how we found our amazing place. Good luck!
From: eaquino1265	Date: 06/10/2008
I currently live here and I will agree with everything stated. The sewage is a problem with me living on the first floor. I have taken pictures and reported to management and they do clean up the mess but do not fix the problem. Its alwasy just cleaned up I would think so that to the naked eye prospective renters see a beautiful community.
From: beauty2b	Date: 03/11/2009
This message is for champagnetaste, what was your penalty for breaking your lease?? My husband and I want to do the same thing because we have just had it with this place. We also had the sewage issue by living on the first floor. My goodness I though this was an isolated insident, I had no idea this is how bad the ENTIRE COMMUNITY was.

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