Apartment Review for South Pointe Apartments - Costa Mesa, CA

I wished I read the reviews before renting at Southpointe (I guess at any Arnel in general after reading all these reviews). Where do I begin? Stay with me to get a full picture…. 1. We were looking for a house to buy when we rented at Southpointe so we only wanted a 6 months lease. The leasing agent (Christy) we met with seem nice (we do recognized that they all sale people). The usual sale pitch "if you rent it today, we will take the short term lease fee off....” She showed us the apt where we will be leasing. There was tenant there so we couldn't see the inside. Normally, I like to look at the actual apt, not the model. The location of the apt itself was desirable to me, next to the renting office, laundry room, and pool area. I have then 1 toddler and was pregnant so I wanted to be close to the laundry room and not too hidden (for security reason). She told us they will would in new carpet for the apt. That was a deciding factor for me. Like I said, I have a toddler, so new carpet would be a plus. So we decided to rent that apt on the spot. I called them the day before the moving day to look at the apt. They said no, it's not ready. On the morning of the moving day, my husband got there first so we could get the keys. Hours later when the moving truck arrived, still no key b/c they had some new leasing agent working and she could not seem to get key/remote to work. Finally, we got the keys, went to the apt, NO new carpet plus terrible pet odor. This was not what we agreed upon. Christy was there. She informed us that the carpet was changed 6 months ago; therefore, she can't change it again. But she wanted “us to be happy” so she was more than happy to show us another apt. She did…far away from the laundry site, hidden behind all the shady trees but with new carpet. She said she will re-shampoo the carpet if we still wanted the other apt. Again, that was NOT what we signed up. We had no other choice, the moving truck was there. We could not find another apt. I had to choose the safety for my child or new carpet. Safety and convenient we chose. Like other said, stain spots came out of the carpet after 1 month. And we did get charge for cleaning of their dirty carpet. We ended up living there longer than we’d wanted too, close to 2 years. So after our 6 months lease up, we went month-to-month (we paid $100 extra per month). My point, right of the back, they lied to us. 2. We did not know anything about the referral ($150 credit), Christy suggested that since we can afford the apt on one salary, just put the lease in my hubby’s name. So that way I can get the referral credit. Only to find out that they do not offer referrals for short term lease. Christy knew that we was only sign for a 6 months lease. My point, they will lie to get you to sign the lease. 3. KISS YOUR DEPOSIT GOOD BYE (at least 2/3 of it if not all). Don’t be too happy about there current offer, $250 off your deposit b/c you probably will not see any back (you may have to even pay more). Carpet was used, they charged us for cleaning of the carpet, cleaning, re-painting, etc despite the fact that I hired a professional cleaner came in to clean the place up-side-down. Still I was charge with $80 for cleaning. Like the previous reviewer said, we purposefully did not hang any pictures, so no holes in the wall. Plus got charge for refinishing the counter top…why? on their Formica counter tops. Wonder how many people got charge for the same “refinishing” counter tops that was never needed to be refinished. I don’t cook and we ate at my in law when we picked up the kids. So as you can see the counter top was pretty much in the same condition as when we rented the place. So $750 deposit we gave them, we got barely $280 back. I have rented many places before, never have I spent so much money on deposit. I rather they say that $500 of your deposit is non-refundable so you can look elsewhere if you can’t afford that. 4. We were on a month-to-month rent with them, on the last month, we paid them up front. We were able to arrange everything so we could move a day earlier. So we asked them if we move early, can we get the credit. The answer was YES. We did. However, when the check came, the $ did NOT reflect that one day of credit. We called, only to found out that the person we returned the key to had move on to a different Arnel properties. The person I talked to asked me if I had the agreement in writing. So folks, PLEASE HAVE EVERYTHING IN WRITING, when dealing with these people since the person who are dealing with will not be there. They change their personnel on a daily basic. Probably on purpose! We finally got the credit, after phone calls and personally re-visited their office. The bottom line, be EXTRA careful when dealing with Southpointe in particular (or I guess in any Arnel properties). Don’t get me started on the maintenance or laundry facility). While we were there at least 3 times that the hot water was not working. If this is the most convenient apt for you, then get everything in writing if you can (that may not even guarantee anything since their personnel changes all the time. However, I would not recommend people to live there.