I have been living here for a little over six months and thought this was a step up from an apartment that my family was living in Fallbrook.
Here are the pros:
-parking is decent, you have a nice size garage included with rent and an assigned parking spot
-if you have kids, there are 3 play yards and a basketball court in the lower level
-new appliances and interior taken care of
-a lot of trees make the area shaded, a rarity in California
Cons:
-management- I have a lot to say on this subject. I should have taken it as a clue, when I was signing the lease and argument erupted between one of the managers and a military couple about there lease.
THEY DO NOT PUT MILITARY CLAUSES IN LEASES. In the contract it says something to the effect of; if you give 30 days notice and have orders you are released from the lease. They get this info from the Marine and Sailor act of 1943, which if any competent person reads (I have) it does not even apply to anyone on active duty. So, when we were coming up on our time to renew our lease, we informed them that my husband and I are going to be separating from the military and we will have orders. They did not accept that as valid orders and re-laid us to the MSA of 1943. So we told them we would like a military clause since that doesn't apply to anyone that lives in these apartments. They supposedly consulted with there lawyers and told us that they won't put military clauses in the contract. Its quite a catch-22. Basically they pick and choose if they want to let you out of there lease with no regards to any sort of law.
-On top of that mess, we are going to be in the CA area for another 3 mo. before separation so they informed us that we could sign (at the least) a 10 mo. lease and break it for $2000 or pay $200 dollars more a month for a month-by-month lease. When we originally signed the first lease they were offering 6 mo. leases, and they told us they don't offer those in the summer because they want to maintain the occupancy in the apartments. Basically, they screw you one way or another.
-they do not fix things in a timely manner. Even though this may seem ridiculous, we had an issue with birds defecating on our vehicle (enough to cover our hood about every 3 days) due to a birds nest in the tree above our allotted parking space. Obviously if we could we would park somewhere else, but since we didn't have that choice we asked them to do something about it (reassign our parking maybe). They basically told us, yeah right! After about 4 months of complaining and a threat to send a bill for a paint job they finally did something about it. They cut down half of the tree, Look for it if you visit!
-When they repainted the place they made everyone in the whole complex leave there doors open for 3-7 hours (I forget the exact amount) whether you were there or not to repaint the doors. They reassured us that they had 2 security guards to keep an eye on atleast 50 other units. I didn't feel comfortable with that but didn't have a choice.
-not the apartments issue, just a location factor. I saw a man flashing himself towards Rancho Del Oro when I forgot my keycard to get in the gate and was walking back to my car.
-Cupboards in kitchen are horribly awkward, there are 3 cupboards and 3 drawers only about 3 inches wide, I couldn't find much use for them. I split up my forks, spoons and knives for the drawers.
-hardly any extra parking, but I would say that is pretty normal
-electricity went off during the superbowl for a half hour, it could have been a city wide thing though. Water goes off costantly. There is usually something wrong with the water about every 3 weeks, however its been twice this week already for me. If its scheduled, they don't even warn you. I had to utilize the shower at work a few times.
Basically, don't sign a lease here. Its a nice apartment but they already spent your security deposit.(but you know that when you sign the lease) They will try to squeeze every little penny out of you that they can. Personally, I think military members deserve a little more respect and appreciation instead of being taken advantage of like they do here.

User Responses
From: nothappy918	Date: 03/29/2006
I'm sorry, but I had to laugh a little when I read this. My husband, who is in the marine corps, and I recently had some very similar problems with the Waterleaf Apartments in Vista. I'm glad that you wrote this review because I was seriously considering signing a lease here, but not after all this! I don't want to live in another complex like the one we just left!
From: WpnsCo	Date: 03/05/2007
I HIGHLY recommend Missions at rancho del oro they offer the military clause and the place is amazing and about 10 min away from the back gate near mainside. good luck everyone!

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