I moved in to Di Renzo about 6 months ago and chose the property for two primary reasons- the first being how nice the apartments look especially on the inside. Cherry/dark wood cabinets, REAL granite counter tops, even in the bathrooms and (fake) wood floors but they look very nice. The paint is a very elegant color as well as the fixtures such as the sink faucets which are very high quality chrome. The appliances are all black. The patio has french doors and the size of the apartments is great. The property itself is very simple- no community rooms, billiards, business center, theater- which is fine because I think it attracts problems. The gym is nice, a bit limited but enough equipment to get yourself in shape and the best part is its open 24 hours, so when your working late its nice to have that available. The second reason was that as a working professional I want a home that is peaceful, well cared for, and I would be surrounded by other working professionals or at least people that fall into that category- they are educated and have a higher standard of living. So, I chose this property even though- at least at the time- it was about $75-$200 more per month than other apartments in the area. Of course, one also is getting- again at the time- a brand new apartment and very stylish amenities.

Realistically when one is a renter you will at some point find yourself living nearby or directly next to a person or persons who are trashy. By that I mean they are loud- in talking and music. Are dirty, leave junk in their patio, their garage is filled with junk etc. And their personal appearance makes you think they live in a trailer.

I guess I was putting too much faith in the idea that spending more meant that I found the place where this "type" of tenant wouldn't live- but oh was I wrong.

On a percentage, I would estimate that about 10 percent to 15 percent of the tenants meet the trashy definition- and they stand out right away. You can see their patios with Xmas decorations from the year before still hanging up, junky chairs and kids toys, clothes hanging over the railing and the crowning touch, the broken down car which they are changing its oil and spilling it all over the cement, in the garage and on the parking asphalt- which has been occuring more lately. And we can't forget to mention that they are loud- from hearing them screaming at each other to rock music blaring.

Okay, so now what' They meet the rental criteria, they move in, and now they trash the complex and most likely their apartment. So the managers would see their mistreatment of the property right' They have eyes like I have, they can have ears like I have, so they immediately enforced the rental agreement, which clearly states that all and more of these actions I described are violations and subject to penalties for clean up- and up to eviction right' Wrong! They ignore it!

Okay so as a tenant paying nearly 1700 per month for a two bedroom- 150 more than I would pay down the street at another complex- and $400 more than I would pay at a lesser part of town- and sure, these other places wouldnt look as nice- but 150 and 400 is a huge amount. So, to preserve the property and "fight" to keep it nice, I get with fellow tenants and we write letters and send email to the management and guess what' Nothing happens!

So now, six months later, here we are. A once beautiful complex, brand new, spotless, and its the cement walkways, hallways, parking lots are permanently stained with motor oil. Old cars, with expired tags well over 2 years, are sitting in the very hard to find parking spaces, with flat tires and oil pans underneath. Trash and cigarette butts litter the hallways from these careless tenants. Garages, which according to the lease terms are suppose to be empty to accomodate a car, are coverted into bedrooms or filled with junk that you couldn't fit a bicycle in. And the music just blares as loud as it can. If someone could tell me why trashy people love to play loud music and open their windows it would be greatly appreciated.

So the bottom line is, if your considering moving here- great! You really won't find a place in Riverside with nicer amenities and overall interior features. But, do your homework and give yourself a exit strategy should the problems become too much once you have moved in. The place is quiet on the weekends, and at night- despite the loud music during the day, of course not every single day, but there is really no reasonable excuse for it to ever so loud it can be heard beyond the person apartment but I digress. Walk on your own through the property- look at the balconies and patios, the quality of cars in the lot, etc. And then look at the price. It may still be worth it to you. And with hope- lots of hope- the management will finally decide to enforce the lease contract and raise their standards and this will all go away. Sadly, these issues are easy to fix but left alone, as they are now, they breed more and bigger problems that will end up destroying the complex completely. Your exit strategy should be written into the lease agreement- should the LANDLORD not enforce the policies THEY have forced YOU to agree to then YOU can cancel the contract without penalty. They probably won't agree to it but its worth trying and if nothing else, you will have made it clear you have standards and they will be hearing from you if they don't enforce the rules.

As a note, should the property managers or owners (Metrix) ever read this, why would you invest so much money on Di Renzo, and pay lawyers huge sums to design a lease contract of rules and not enforce them' Sure, things happen, no ones perfect and people (tenants) make mistakes. Food stains carpet by accident, walls get chipped, things get dirty- thats a given but the things some of these tenants are doing is just plain destructive and careless and a total disregard for the you, the owners and us, their fellow tenants. The lease agreement clearly outlines do's and don'ts for a reason so there is not reason to make allowances for this abusive and destructive behavior. These apartments are not ours, they are yours. You own them- we rent them.

So get it together and set a standard that other properties will have to measure up to instead of lower expectations and making your high paying tenants victims of your weaknesses.

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