My husband and I have lived here since September 18, 1998, which was 6 1/2 months before we got married. I gave birth to both of our children while living here as well. We started off in a 2-bedroom, 2-bath in the back of the complex up until April of 2004, when we moved to a 3-bedroom, 2-bath still in the back of the complex. The apartments themselves could use a few improvements, such as better heating in the winter time. True, some of them have fireplaces, but they have been pending inspection since November 22, 2004, so nobody has been able to use them. Also, they do have heaters, but they are the kind that run along the floor...the baseboard kind. They are also very poorly placed right where furniture would go. What's worse is that both of the ones in the living room AND the one in the dining room are run off of one thermostat. In the 3-story buildings, the bedrooms in the bottom-floor units have swinging windows that are improperly installed, so there is the constant worry of cold air leaking in. We always had that problem in our old apartment as it was on the bottom floor. It was especially bad in the second bedroom, which is where our kids slept. We constantly had issues with mold, both on the ceilings above the bathtubs and in every window. As far as the surroundings go, we are located right near 2 auto dealer lots with very loud intercom systems, a cemetery, and a railroad. Not to mention that we are almost right on an earthquake fault line. Now, let's talk about facilities here...the pool and spa are usually closed half of the time for repairs. The garbage compactor is WAY too small (it constantly fills up, and we always have the problem of about 50 feet of garbage piling around it - also, the lock does not work half the time). As for parking, you are only assured a parking space in the middle of the night if you rent one under a carport or if you get a garage to use for parking your car. If you rent a carport space, you have to keep a tag with the number of that space written on it hanging from your rear-view mirror, or your car will be towed at your own expense. We are renting 2 garages, and both are filled to the brim with stuff other than cars. All too often we find ourselves parking in the front of the complex (remember, we live in the back). Hmmmm...let's see...do we have management problems here' YES! Since we lived here, we have seen 3 different management companies running the place, as well as 5 different landlords. Our first manager, Ron Wilson (I can only hope that he is reading this >:-) ), was totally awesome. He was always willing to work with his residents to ensure the best business to his community possible. Also, he was always joking around with us. Since he retired, management has gone seriously downhill. The next manager was just plain lazy and not willing to work with some tenants, such as us...I mean, she was very choosy about who she would be nice to and who she made trouble with. That is just not right at all. On top of that, with Ron as manager we did not have to pay for water/sewer. This new manager changed that in a hurry. We ended up paying a prorated share of the water/sewer costs based on the size of our unit and how many people lived in it. Since water and sewer was no longer included, they began to run the sprinklers three times every spring and summer night instead of once. Then, we had a manager who wasn't too bad, but she was only with us for a few weeks until a new management company took ownership. After that, we had one who was nice on a good day, but if you caught her at a bad time, look out. She would show you just how much of a foul mood she was in. Also, she let her maintenance supervisor get away with murder. She would make complaints about certain things, such as feeding the wild animals from your back porch and where you parked your car, and make it sound as though residents were doing the complaining. The one improvement she DID make to this place was bringing in Comcast digital cable and high speed internet to replace our cheap cable and dial-up internet service. Now, the current landlady started things off on the right foot at first. First off, she laid down the law to the lazy maintenance supervisor, who ended up quitting because he did not like it one bit. She hired a new, much better, supervisor and had him install compact fluorescent lightbulbs alongside PGE in all the units. He also makes sure that all of the outside lights are working like they should. And at first she seemed very willing to work with us in our time of crisis when we lost our jobs and first fell behind on our rent. Boy, has that ever changed. We have been served 3 72-hour notices, and with each one we attempted to work out a plan to avoid eviction. We were successful with the first 2, but with the 3rd one...not so much. Earlier this month we turned in a $350 money order as a partial payment, along with a detailed letter written by my husband explaining our situation and what we were trying to do to correct the problem. She answered back with the 3rd 72-hour notice a couple of days later. Then, on January 14, we turned in a $600 check enclosed in a letter that I had written. In this letter I stated that we had a plan in place to correct the past due rent situation. I explained that my husband had just started working part time as a home health care aid for our disabled roommate, and he will be starting a new full-time job this week. We would turn in the normal monthly amount along with the total of his home health care checks, which are around $360 per month, until the past due balance was paid off. On Tuesday, January 18, she responded with a court-ordered eviction summons which states that we need to appear before a judge on January 31 at 8:30 AM to either work out an agreement with the landlady or agree to move out within 30 days or so. She not only ignored our agreement offer, but she has made it harder on herself as we have paid her $950 this month. Because we have made a partial payment, it will be a lot harder for her to evict us. I ended up leaving her 2 not-so-nice voice mails and one equally not-so-nice e-mail saying that if she wants to make this easier for all of us, then she had better call us ASAP. If this is the way we are treated after 6 years and 4 months of residency here, we give this place a very bad review all the way.

UPDATE: February 8, 2005

This place just got an even worse review after events that took place on the above date. Well, we went to court on the 31st of January only to find that the manager wanted to dismiss the case. After that, everything was fine and dandy...or so we thought. We turned in a $300 personal check and a $500 money order on the night before the above listed date for a payment totaling $800. The following morning we received a note on our door from the office. It was our payment being refused and returned to us, along with yet another 72-hour notice for nonpayment. Our roommate called the manager about it after we received it, and he ended up in a bitchfest with her over it after she told him that we were being evicted for our remarks on this website. Upon talking to Fair Housing and the property company who owns this complex, our roommate found that no matter how big or small the payment is, she is required to accept it.

Just a little aside to the manager because we now know that she does read these: if this crap from her continues, these reports will also continue. If we suffer any kind of loss because of her actions, she will be sued for the amount of that loss. If she wants to play hardball with us, we will play it right back. If we do end up going to court a second time over this, we will have the evidence with us that we attempted a payment which was refused. I will also print the e-mail I sent her following the receipt of the rejected payment and the notice and use that in the court proceeding. These are not threats; these are promises. We will not play this game anymore.

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