Apartment Review for Casa Victoria Apartments - Costa Mesa, CA

In order to acurately comment on "The Casa" (as it is commonly referred to by tenants), I will comment on each of the reviewed categories: SECURITY - When I first moved here we had a full-time security guard on duty at night. He rarely did anything, and you mostly saw hiw walking around looking to ticket someone for making a parking space out of any piece of real estate one could find to park their car. That said it was much better having him around. His mere presence was enough to ward off people from taking your parking spot. It was also handy to have him around for one of those rare times you get locked out of your apartment. PARKING - If I could give this category a ZERO, I would. Simply put, there are not enough spaces. We have a 3 bedroom apartment and are alloted 2 spaces (it used to be 3, but the new management took one away and then had us pay an extra $25/month to get an "extra" space). Also, there are no guest spots...which sucks, because for anyone to visit you they need to park way down the road on Maple St. or across Harbor at Norms. LANDSCAPING - The Casa Victoria God must love landscaping, because the maintenance workers are always working on a new project. They plant flowers, rip them out, put in grass, tear that out, add a fountain, then decide to replant flowers around the fountain. Again, I think a bunch of wasted money is spent at the local Home Depot outdoor section, but hell...it's not my money. MANAGEMENT - I think management does anything it can to appear as if they actually work here. The hold somewhat regular office hours, but are horrible at managing the complex. I have lived here for 4 years and always pay rent on time and treat my neighbors with respect. I'm the kind of tenant management prays for. On two different occasions when my rent was increased I forgot to add the new amount into the check. Simple mistake. Both times I received a poorly worded ALL CAPS letter threatening eviction...when a simple reminder phone call would have done the job. I'm sure it is just a lack of education and ignorance that causes this behavior, but it's still poor form. MAINTENANCE - The maintenance guys are good workers. They never replace anything and prefer to continually fix things, but I think that is more of a cheap management or landlord issue. That, or they just like to visit us on a regular basis. CONDITION - Our apartment is in serious need of new carpet. The management pays for the cheapest carpet possible to be installed in these apartments, and then is shocked that it doesn't last. They will not replace our carpet even though it is in serious need of a replacement. NOISE - Besides the street traffic (my apartment is right on Victoria Blvd), we never had issues with noise...until recently. In the last year we gained two loud neighbors. The person below us has a 13-year old daughter that listens to loud music (and she has horrible taste in music by the way), and the people above us have tile floors and heavy wood chairs they drag back and forth all day and all night. OVERALL - I can't complain too much...after all, I have stuck around here for 4 years. However, it will be time to move soon. The only reason I stay is because I have low rent due to the fact I have been here so long. For people looking to move in now, the rents would be higher than I pay by at lease a couple hundred dollars/month. To that person I say go find a more enjoyable place to live. It's worth the extra few bucks per month. I recommend going over to the "East Side" of Costa Mesa.