UPDATE -- July 2026…read more
After posting my original review, Irvine Company contacted me. Their communications were consistently polished, sympathetic, and customer-service oriented. Unfortunately, the substance of their response was the same as it had been throughout my residency: acknowledgments and reassuring language, but no meaningful remedy, accommodation, concession, or lasting resolution.
For months, I documented recurring noise from the apartment directly above mine, including heavy footfalls, banging, slamming, dropped objects, and early-morning disturbances that repeatedly woke both me and my son. Even the operation of the Irvine-installed window covering above my bedroom was transmitted loudly enough to wake me, often between approximately 5:30 and 6:30 a.m.
I understand that multifamily living includes ordinary noise, and I did not complain every time I heard my neighbors. I complained only when the noise became prolonged, unusually loud, or disruptive enough to awaken us and interfere with the use of our home.
Management contacted the upstairs residents, who said they were engaging only in ordinary daily activities. Irvine then accepted the position that the sounds were simply "daily living." At no point did anyone from management come into my apartment to hear what I was experiencing, reproduce the window-covering noise, inspect the sound transmission between the units, or evaluate whether the landlord-installed components were functioning as intended.
More recently, I was awakened by sustained banging and dragging noises beginning at approximately 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday, consistent with furniture being moved during an apparent move-out. The Resident Handbook states that furniture may be moved only between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. unless different hours are approved. I still received no meaningful explanation as to whether the early move was authorized or whether the community's own rule was enforced.
This reflects my broader experience with management's selective approach to its rules. During my residency, a staff member confrontationally accused me of not picking up after my dog--an accusation I denied and believe was unfounded. That incident was especially upsetting because management was willing to confront me aggressively over an alleged violation, while repeatedly declining to meaningfully investigate or enforce rules that affected my sleep and enjoyment of my home.
I also had packages stolen from outside my front door. While I understand no apartment community can guarantee that theft will never occur, it was another disappointment during an already frustrating residency.
The sound transmission between units has been the single most disappointing aspect of living at Villas Fashion Island, particularly at a monthly rent exceeding $8,000. Footsteps, impacts, furniture movement, and even window coverings should not be transmitted into a bedroom at a level that repeatedly wakes the resident below in a property marketed as a premium luxury community.
After living here for more than a year of my 15-month lease, I recently had an opportunity to move a few months early. I asked Irvine Company to consider my documented experience and allow a reasonable early release. The community manager, general manager, and Corporate Customer Care all responded with sympathetic and carefully worded messages, but refused any waiver, reduction, custom resolution, or goodwill accommodation.
The only choices offered were the same standard options available under the lease: pay a $16,380 lease-break fee or remain responsible for rent until the apartment is re-rented or the lease expires.
My takeaway is that Irvine Company's customer service sounds caring, but in my experience it has largely consisted of empathy and platitudes without meaningful action. Management appears to decide which rules it wishes to enforce and which it does not. Prospective residents should not assume that repeated, well-documented complaints--or the rules in the Resident Handbook--will necessarily result in investigation, enforcement, or a practical solution.
