Apartment Review for The Cape - Costa Mesa, CA

I lived at The Cape for almost 3 years and I just moved out about a month ago. Overall, this complex is in an excellent location, just walking distance from South Coast Plaza and directly across the street from Metro Point. It's also very easily accessible from the 405 freeway. There are some good and bad aspects to this community. The community, for the most part, is quiet. I guess living in any apartment complex you're always going to hear a loud party or screaming people running down the walkway every now and then. Parking is ample since they probably have seen a large decrease in the amount of units rented over the past year. But when the complex is full, BEWARE! Parking is very difficult and although they pass out parking passes, I've never seen them enforce it. There are a few, but very big problems I see with this community. For one, the property manager keeps changing. Since I moved in, there has probably been about 4-5 different managers in that office. It's hard to find a community you can call home if every time you walk into the office, you have to meet a new face. No wonder there's no loyalty in this community. Another problem was that my building was falling apart. Literally, there were cracks on the walls (and big ones), a lot of the doors were unable to close over time. Our front door had to be adjusted many times due to the sagging building, thus mis-aligning all the door frames. After a while, I stopped calling maintenance and just dealt with sticking doors that wouldn't close. Okay, so I understand they need to clean up after I move out, but seriously...I put down a $650 deposit and got back $329. I am a VERY clean person and we actually had the place cleaned from top to bottom before moving out. We had a "no shoes" rule in our apt, and the floor was very clean. Even the maintenance guys that walked into our unit commented on how immaculate and clean everything looked. Anyhow, I signed our move out papers and off I went. Well, it turns out that The Cape charged me for all sorts of things. Here's the list: $650 - Deposit ($70) - Carpet cleaning - OK that's reasonable ($5) - Photos - what the heck is that? ($118) - Painting - I have to pay for labor for them to paint AFTER I move out? And seriously...$118? ($47.50) - Paint materials - Again...I have to pay for materials?? ($80.00) - Cleaning - OK, my cleaning lady didn't charge this much to clean and even do my laundry. Are you serious? Anyhow, if you're looking for a place to live near South Coast Plaza, this is a good complex, but beware of the issues I've seen in this place. I've also attached some pictures of the cracks in our unit. Very concerning!