If you are a student with F-1 visa and seeking apartments close to the campus, please go through my review and listen to my experience before making your decision.
My boyfriend and I visited this place two times and we were so excited about the lease signing and the future move in of this apartment. Everyone working at this property seemed to be very nice UNTIL the lease signing session. Even though we tried to communicated with the leasing agent, Jessica Pursell, as many details about this lease as possible before getting to the point of lease signing, we experienced the following unforeseen, and hidden lies about our lease contract:
1. We were told on the lease signing day that our security deposit increased from the regular $1500 to $6500 just because we are holding F-1 student visa. Although both of us have SSN and I have been studied in the U.S. over 7 years with great credit scores (fico 738), Jessica claimed that this is the policy to ALL F-1 student at their properties, which NO ONE has ever informed us before signing the lease and was not reflected on any website, flyer, etc. I am not even sure if this is legal to treat tenants differently based on their visa status. I visited several other apartments near Westwood area and they do not have this 'policy'.
2. Jessica told us that the 'one month free' promotion will allow us to skip the third month's rent, and we double checked with her SEVERAL times before the signing day. However, we were informed ON the signing day that this promo was postponed to the 6th month because, again, WE ARE F-1 STUDENTS.
3. The leasing agent, Jessica, was rude and impatient during the whole process of the lease signing, and mistakenly put a higher amount of the listed rent on the paper and asked us to sign (we pointed this out and it got fixed right away, so no complains).
4. Jessica set us a date to pay off all of the deposit and the first 1.5 month's rent (total is $11000+), which is clearly stated on the lease that this is due on the moving in day.
5. For all of the inconsistencies listed above and questions we asked during the lease signing, Jessica blamed us on not going through the lease prior to meet her. The funny thing is, she NEVER send us a copy of the lease (we even double checked our email to ensure we didn't miss any document she send to us). And again, as a leasing agent, I think it's your duty to explain everything and answer our questions before we signing the lease, right? Instead, she is super impatient about our questions and blamed us on something that is supposed to be her mistake.
6. I called the Moss&company several times to see if anyone could help us with the above concerns, but no one answered our phone calls.
The apartment is pretty much brand new and the location is perfect to me as a UCLA student. However, the leasing signing process was not pleasant at all. It will only be even harsher if you are an international student who just arrived U.S. and perhaps with some language barrier. I am happy to communicate with managers at the company and go through my concerns. My boyfriend love this apartment so that I am hesitating to type down these words. We didn't have the chance to talk to the managers at eight70 but we are just hoping that the apartment is managed by someone who is more responsible and honest. read more