This building opened in 2014 and is convenient to public transit, corporate shuttles, restaurants, supermarkets, cafes, doctor's offices, dental facilities, hospital, pharmacies, banks, etc. You can walk to everything and more than 15 minutes for the library, post office, etc.
The landlord celebrated the opening of this building with a celebration in the courtyard to kick things off. It was great to get to know some neighbors. The on-site managers were helpful with maintenance tips (e.g., reset smoke detectors, unclog kitchen sink disposal) & leniency.
Unlike professionally managed luxury apartment, most issues were fixed later:
Building Design
- Sensors aren't smart when you shower, the bathroom lighting turns off & gets stuck
- Bathroom sink pipes leak
- Sensitive smoke detectors beep a lot
- Gated door doesn't open with fob
- Kitchen sink trash disposal gets stuck
- Checks for rent are lost in the internal mailbox
- Balcony door lets rain into unit
- Rent increased from $3,150 to $3,650 about $100+ per year
- Water & sewage utilities average $250+ per month due to shared tenant usage
- Insulated windows aren't sound proof to the rattling of the building by Caltrain & freight trains that run while you're sleeping
- Ceilings aren't sound proof to kids playing
- Packages are lost without concierge service to check who takes what from the locked room
Management
- Responses to issues were prompt, but don't empathize with tenants when their communication methods (with a reliance on email) don't work especially for periodic water bills with variable amounts that are sent two to three months later without the ability to set up e-bills to pay & budget on a regular schedule
- Late fee amounts exceed the CA SB-7 Housing Senate Bill states for the specified deadlines
- No maintenance of items (e.g., batteries) on an annual basis for tenants who renew their leases
- No name to address or respond to for coordination & alignment
- Chinese men seem to deem their perspective as reasonable without listening to tenants' views with a patronizing attitude towards tenants, who try to clarify ambiguities that are deemed "ridiculous" when trying to meet expectations.
Since I've never had any deductions from security deposits after living in 9 apartments, this won't be the first even with miscommunications by management, the residential manager, and their preferred cleaning service that conflict with each other and hold the tenant responsible for their misleading information. For example, I pre-paid ($350) a week in advance for their preferred vendor (Paul) to clean a dirty unit, which includes on-site trash disposal, to save my time & energy. Thankfully, the residential manager gave one day courtesy to clean upon move out on Saturday (2/1), but then requested sweeping of floors (without a broom or vacuum) & removal of handheld trash (before the prepaid cleaning service disposes trash in unit onsite & without access to return later when bins were emptied).
However, the manager never contacted me to remove the additional items as offered to complete the following day or when the trash bins were emptied. Then, he refused to give access to the unit for removing residual items (as depicted) when the keys, fobs, and garage opener were returned. Plus, he warned that he'd charge rent for a vacant unit & any delays that prevented tenants from moving in on Wednesday (2/5) as well as got upset that his workers had to repair 2 tiny specs (~$50/hour), which are normal wear & tear, with touch-up paint on a Sunday (2/2).
Questions
- Don't I have a right to access the unit if I'm being charged rent to minimize deductions by removing residual trash when the trash bins are empty or find a local dumpster on Sunday?
- Instead of being mutually exclusive, why couldn't a few trash bags been removed on Sunday by tenants or left for cleaning on Tuesday & minimal repairs (e.g., touch up paint) on Monday without redundancy?
While these additional fees were neither stated upfront nor charged, I appreciated the rescheduling of repairs to Sunday & decision to deduct only 1 day, not 2, of pro-rated rent for self-cleaning without redundant professional cleaning fees before repairs. After being told "It's too late" to access the building for cleaning handheld trash with the bins full and "stop texting", I wasn't allowed to alleviate the burden of cleaning by the staff & wished I knew management's tight timeline for cooperating & avoiding miscommunication from conflicting info:
- trash items are removed from units by tenants when leases end
- preferred cleaning service, which is paid for by tenants & scheduled by management, disposes trash in units at on-site dumpsters
My experience could've been more positive had management called me back to save a day of rent & rescheduling by aligning expectations on the unit's cleanliness upon move-out. Hopefully, no one else goes through this given management's diligent efforts to build a smart complex! read more