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1. Irvine Company uses RealPage (a company currently under investigation for price fixing rental markets) to set rent prices and this makes it challenging to negotiate rent. Additionally, Irvine Co. is privately owned and the owner is historically a GOP donor. The Irvine Co. owns a lot of complexes in SD so it is difficult to avoid them or their influence on the local market.

   Pros:
   – Maintenance is very responsive and polite. It is really easy to submit a service request and they get to them rather quickly.
   – the property is clean and smoke/vape free
   – generally safe. Gated. There is no security for accessing the elevators and the units if you have garage access which is easy enough.
   – Deposit was

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2. Please avoid the Palms Apartments if you are going to work and study in La Jolla, it will be the beginning of a nightmare for you.

   The couple years ago, I would like to recommend you choose Palms, but I advise you don’t do that now. I’ve lived here for almost four years, and while the maintenance staff is always helpful and efficient in completing repairs, but the manager is a complete disaster, especially Justyce. She mishandles everything, including lease problem, repairs and moving issues. We really miss Julia Lyell, the previous manager, who was efficient and enthusiastic.

   The issue started when the apartment complex required residents to move out five days in advance due to building repairs. While residents understand the need for maintaining the building, the five-day notice was abrupt.

   Firstly, According to the lease, the apartment should provide alternative housing or a hotel for residents, but they asked us to file claims with our insurance companies instead. Insurance is meant to protect tenants, not to cover proactive building maintenance by the apartment. This action by the apartment could unpredictably damage tenants’ future insurance credit.
   Secondly, as a five-month pregnant woman with limited mobility, not only did they fail to address the issue proactively, but their attitude was also rude and arrogant. They continuously attacked my physical and mental health.
   In conclusion, I want to say that I will not allow them to continue harassing and harming me. I will use the law to protect myself. Only after seeing their ugly true colors did I realize that it was a mistake to trust them so naively.

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3. The best thing I can say about this place is that the maintenance staff was always helpful, kind, and prompt, 10/10 for the maintenance staff only. 2/10 for the complex.

   If you asked a year ago I’d say this place had issues but was an ok place to live, now I would move just about anywhere else in the area, or live farther out.

   It seems management changed about a year ago. They used to be helpful and kind, but it’s just become one thing after another.

   During move out, we weren’t allowed to keep the gate open. These gates are left open nearly all the time during normal days, and we had four men moving back and forth constantly between them, greatly inconvenienced in the name of “resident safety” (this is the same complex that doesn’t allow residents to use a pedestrian doorway so the door is always broken or propped open). Meanwhile there is a gate that is extremely close to our apartment that we weren’t allowed to use because it’s a fire hazard, which would be understandable if they didn’t constantly have maintenance people and outside contractors parked there for days on end.

   The fire alarms go off constantly, think at least once a month. It’s an outdated system that barely functions and goes off practically every time it rains. It typically takes over 45 minutes for them to shut off the alarms, even after the fire department leaves.

   Food/most types of delivery became a constant nuisance, not allowed to leave at the gate out front (they actually removed the bench most delivery drivers would put food on) and there is no easy way for delivery people to get inside or navigate the complex. This seems to be managements biggest concern as they send more notifications about food being left at the office than when water gets shut off from entire buildings.

   Management is extremely inconsistent with their own rules. We got several notices about the state of our patio as we were using it for “outdoor storage”. We occasionally put our camping gear outside while it dried and had two permanent outdoor chairs that were deemed as clutter. Meanwhile a quick walk around the complex can clearly see people storing no small amount of indoor furniture, surf boards, clothing racks etc. This wouldn’t really be an issue if they didn’t threaten to fine residents for using the space as they see fit in the name of aesthetics.

   We were completely unable to use our patio for over 6 weeks (meaning no laundry too). At no point were we reimbursed for not having access to ~100 sq feet and a major amenity of our apartment, despite the fact a nearby location under the same management company had their rent reduced during the same process.

   Each building has one dedicated elevator. Our buildings elevator was broken for over a month, again no compensation. This place is genuinely a nightmare if you have any kind of mobility issue.

   The parking garage gate is broken always, currently has a massive dent in it like someone tried to drive straight through it, frequently moves like it is going to drop on your car, honestly a safety concern.

   Our AC never really functioned well and is crazy expensive to run (>$1500 for a 1 bedroom during the summer), summers were miserably hot even with fans in the windows constantly.

   Pool/spa was constantly down for maintenance.

   The gym is tiny and not air conditioned.

   I want to be clear, this is not a terrible place to live. However, for the price, I would rather pay for a new car as well as parking at UCSD while living at an apartment farther away than to deal with the constant hassle of living here.

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4. Edited: the living experience at La Jolla Palms quickly went down in a hand basket over the past year, particularly since this June. We were noticed almost in a sudden that we have to re-locate for a HVAC repair scheduled five days after the notice (AND SUPPOSEDLY SHOULD LAST TWO WEEKS). Several points deserve comment:

   1) Unlike most apartment management which offers re-location during the time of repair, La Jolla Palms offered no options for relocation. The rent was waived, but how can you find anywhere for two people to stay at La Jolla for

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5. If you want to live in this community, you should be aware of at least two terrible issues.

   1. they do not turn on the WATER HEATER after maintenance (and are slow to respond afterwards)
   The maintenance of the WATER BALB for the entire COMMUNITY started on 8/5/2024.
   8/5 after 3pm we were informed that the water was restored, but the water heater did not work at all.
   I submitted a request for repair via websit and verbally informed the maintenance worker (tall male) about the issue.
   The worker said, “the WATER HEATER should work, if you keep the water running for more than 10 minutes you should get hot water.” I told him that my baby cannot take a bath because the water heater has not been restored, but he did not check.
   After all, as of today, 8/6/2024, the water heater has not been restored yet.
   This is not the first time, we have faced this problem at least twice in one year.

   2. fire alarms keep going off at night
   In one year, we have had at least 4 false alarms with the fire alarms going off continuously from around 11pm until 8am.

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