The owners have tried to dress up the property with new counter top and lighting and call it a "luxury townhome". It's like "putting lipstick on a pig" - you can make it look less ugly, but it's still a pig. The buildings are old and poorly maintained. The sound insulation is poor. Termites stick to your screen door after it rains. There have been numerous plumbing problems (plugged toilets). The bushes along the walkways are left overgrown for months. Repeated maintenance requests are ignored by the manager.

As other reviewers have already stated, the current manager Sally is incompetent, non-responsive, and rude. Of course, this is only after you sign the contract. If you dare to submit a repair request or complain, you'll only get Sally upset at you, and she'll do everything within her power to make your life miserable.

When we still lived in Village Square, we thought it was only Sally who was incompetent and petty. After we moved out, we discovered that the people at California Property Services (at least the Sally and Connie team) are crooks. It's clear Sally has the owners' blessings. She's even blamed her actions on the owners, saying, "I have no power!" These people cheat you out of your deposits (They have also cheated at least two other former tenants out of their deposits).

When we notified the owners our intent to vacate, we were given a to-do list of things to clean and to replace (if necessary). We confirmed with Sally that if we followed the list, our entire deposit would be refunded.

More than three weeks after our last day, we received an invoice from Connie Ahern of California Property Services. They charged us over $600! This included $175 for apartment cleaning, $317 to replace the living room carpet, and $50 to replace the vinyl flooring in the kitchen. (None of these charges were supported by a valid estimate or invoice). Sally claimed there were bleach stains on the carpet that couldn't be cleaned, and thus needed to be replaced. She also claimed that the vinyl flooring in the kitchen was torn and needed to be replaced.

The charges were outrageous and blatant lies. We spent over 16 hours cleaning the apartment, and have pictures to prove it. There is no way they could justify a $175 cleaning fee. There were no bleach stains on the carpet. When we contacted the city's landlord-tenant mediation service, the person couldn't believe Connie and Sally could make up something so ridiculous. The day after we receive the letter from Connie, we went back to the apartment unit. It was obvious that the living room carpet was only cleaned, not replaced. You can see the tracks left by a carpet cleaner. Again, I have pictures to prove it. We had lived in the apartment for more than three years, so they could not charge us for carpet cleaning. Maybe that's why they included the bogus carpet replacement cost. As for the kitchen floor. It was the last thing we cleaned. It was *NOT* torn.

We knew our legal rights and disputed the charges. Connie Ahern tried to play dumb. But we won our deposit back.

If you are a current tenant, know your rights before you move out. Before you turn in your keys, take detailed photos of the state in which you left your apartment. Take pictures of the floors, the walls, the doors, of every room. Chances are, you'll find exorbitant charges on your final statement from Village Square/California Property Services. You'll need proof to fight these charges.

Don't rent from Village square Apartments. Don't rent from any properties owned by California Property Services. Don't let these scumlords get away with your money. mgFDbN4-dhkSMZ7zRmVH

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/30/2009
I, too, lived in the hell-hole called Village Square. I agree with everything you said. The property owners are morons. My family is so much happier living elsewhere.
From: springwood-1	Date: 09/20/2009
Take them to small claims court for up to $7500. Read your rights online, you have a lot. The law is on your side. If more renter do that, the apt. owners get their act together. Do it, it is very easy and only costs you $20.

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