I just signed an offer to rent at this building and had a great experience. I was helped out by Ana Smith, one of the leasing agents at the building. She has been extremely helpful and great with communication. She answered all my questions and helped me out with everything in a timely manner. Wonderful experience signing here. Thanks! read more

I lived here from August 2020 to May 2022. I have no complaints about Rosy and especially her maintenance staff. The maintenance workers at this place are fantastic. They replaced our stove, fixed our flooring, increased our shower water pressure. Any time we had a maintenance complaint something was done about it. The building is very safe. You need to use the building key at least twice to get access to the rooms. There are three unlocks if you use the stairs. They figured out a good system for the packages. Everything goes into the Dropbox which is consistently unlocked every day at 10pm. Our apartment was very quiet. Top floor, south facing. No one above us, and the windows faced a parking lot where there was no street noise. I'm a light sleeper and I was happy to get good, uninterrupted sleep in Berkeley for once. Some of the laundry machines can be a little fickle, but I trust it's something they will work on if you let them know there is a problem. read more

I stayed here for a year, 2018-2019 and had a great experience. My unit was renovated and clean when moving in. I only had two issues with the unit (shower clog and a small water leak) which were both resolved very quickly by Rosy, the manager. She is responsive and often available. There is a package box in the lobby as a precaution against stolen packages, which is a rampant problem in this area of Berkeley. While having to ask Rosy for the key to the box to retrieve your package is a little bothersome, it is much safer and I would rather have to wait an extra day than to have my packages stolen. Overall, it is a comfortable place to live and I would recommend this building. read more

When I moved in one year ago, Rosie promised me new windows. One year later, the windows are still on order. The repairs and noise have continued for six months with no end in sight. read more

There seem to be a lot of older reviews on here regarding poor experiences with the maintenance/property manager. I lived here the whole past year and definitely feel like many of the cited concerns have been largely resolved or are due to poor communication by the tenants. I had a great experience living in 2530. Rosy was quite clear about the expectations, standards, and terms of the contract from the start. She has been very fair and very responsive as a landlord, and is super accessible via text message. Any maintenance that came up was taken care of super well & timely. Our unit came with new carpet and paint, and has af spacious living room, so as long as you take good care of your area/home, you'll be satisfied with the nice natural lighting and balconies throughout the building. Also, if you have a car, the parking garage is super convenient, satisfying, and safe. The building & common areas as a whole are well-taken care of, especially as compared with the insides of the identical neighboring building, 2520 Hillegass. Great location - close to food, not too close to Freshmen/Campus, generally chill area. Areas of caution - wouldn't order packages here, elevator is a little jank but does the job. If you communicate clearly with Rosy, are a respectful neighbor, and take good care of your place, you'll be happy in 2530! I'll miss this place. read more

This place smells like a combination of "wet sock" and "dumpster juice". Stinky hallways, stinky elevator, water intrusion and mold everywhere. The management fixes nothing important but they do bizarre things like mow the law in the rain and hose down the roofs even though there are signs of leaks everywhere. The manager, Rosie, is a horrible person. The way she talks down to tenants and illegally enters apartments without notice is deplorable. She has a "drop box" in the lobby which she uses as a pretense to steal everyones packages. Packages don't arrive in the lobby or at your door; she intercepts them and waits for you to contact her. Anything you're not expecting, she steals. (Well tbh, I'm pretty sure she steals other packages too) There's a reason there's a million Hillegass Terrace ads on Craigslist. Nobody stays here for long. It's a total dump. And when you leave they'll be stealing your deposit too. read more

We have been living from August 2021 to May 2022. Our experience has been great, especially with the manager, Rosy, who was always sympathetic with us, and other staff members, like Cristina, or Dario. The unit was good and clean. They helped with a refrigerator that needed to be changed w/o any issues, as well as with a few minor things during the 10 months we stayed. In summary, everything with the apartments and the unit was good: mail, elevator, security, clean. It's a large building with many units. Difficult to manage, and they did great. read more

Communicating with the manager has to be the most nerve racking thing in the world. She pretty much comes off as she hates all her tenants, and we are just getting in her way when we ask for things. It makes sense that things have to be written, but she doesn't require formal work orders. You can literally take a sheet of scratch paper and just write in giant letters: "change smoke alarm battery. apt #xxx". That's all. Anyways, that's not the reason behind the 1 star review. The reason is... These people are scammers. I recently moved out and I just received my security deposit in the mail. Mind you, my security deposit came a full MONTH after I had moved out. Her excuse? I didn't provide her with an address to mail the check. I DID provide her with an address, but I guess she lost the paper on which I wrote it. Now the security deposit was missing a huge chunk of cash. What did she charge me for? Painting and cleaning. Cleaning, okay, I understand. Painting? I didn't tear giant holes into the walls. I didn't throw a sledgehammer around on my spare time. I didn't take a sharpie and draw dinosaurs from wall to wall. California law prohibits landlords/managers to deduct from tenants' security deposit unless the damage can be considered beyond normal wear and tear. Now this is where it gets good... I was curious about the painter and the cleaners, so I did a thorough google search. Not only does the painter have a disconnected telephone number provided on the invoice, the address is a residence. Who's name comes up when I google the address? None other than the manager herself. What happens when I google the PO box for the cleaners? B&T Properties shows up. Prior to November 2012, Hillegass Terrace was known as B&T Properties. The invoice for the cleaners provided no phone number, simply a P.O. box. So what I've collected from the little bit of snooping I've done... They're falsifying documents to pocket the money themselves. It's a shady, shady place. read more

hard to get your deposit back, packages get stolen even though there is a dropbox and you need to wait a long time to coordinate with the building manager to get your packages. read more

Sure, the apartment building is located relatively close to campus, restaurants, and transit lines, but that is pretty much all this place has to offer. The building is showing signs of age with old kitchen cabinets, single-pane windows, poorly patched walls, and more. Rosy, the property manager, is not always responsive to texts and 24 notices for entry into our unit were not always given. The package drop box in the lobby does not work effectively. Only Rosy has the key to it, and coordinating package pickup can take several days. Sometimes, the packages are stolen before then and we have no way of knowing until we can gain access to the drop box days later. At the end of our tenancy is when things started to go from mediocre to worse. 60 days prior to the end of our tenancy, I submitted a physical copy of our Notice of Intent to Vacate (ie. 30 day notice) with a written request for a pre-departure inspection (legally required upon request). That way, we get a chance to identify defects that could be remedied to minimize deductions to our security deposit. Rosy ignored the request, and we moved out of the unit after thoroughly cleaning the unit. After moving out, I get the security deposit check in the mail roughly 3 weeks later with $310 deducted for carpet cleaning (compared to local professional carpet cleaning companies that are quoting ~$100). I inquire about this, and Rosy tells me that "even tho [sic] the unit was fairly clean to live it was necessary to do deep cleaned in order to passed to next tenant". I quote California law and try reason with her and she responds with blatant lies. After about a month of back and forth, and she finally agrees to return the full security deposit amount. Smart move because I was exploring legal options. Since the apartment building is owned by Hillegass Terrace LLC and all our rent and security deposit payments are made out to the company and not Rosy, my theory is that Rosy and her group of friends who do building maintenance and cleaning use bogus security deposit deductions to earn some fast cash from unsuspecting tenants. My advice for prospective and current tenants: -Note all unit defects and submit a written list to Rosy before you move in -Take a lot of detailed photos of the unit the day you take possession of the unit and the day you return possession of the unit -Communicate with Rosy using a method that leaves a paper trail (eg. text/email) -Have packages shipped to a local UPS, FedEx, or Amazon location for pickup -Make sure to request a pre-departure inspection in writing and have at least one tenant is present during the inspection (legally required upon request) read more

I been living here quite a while now and I love it. The building isn't the best quality but the location is really what it's all about. I am 2 blocks from telegraph and there are plenty of restaurants and fun things to do around. The manager here is super friendly and seems very family oriented. I have never had any issues with Rosy, she seems to do her job very well. The maintenance here at the building is friendly as well. This spot is super chill. read more

I've been living here since 2013, and overall I am very happy with it. Considering this building is very old, the maintenance team is responsive and friendly. Maintenance issues such as food disposer, light replacement, heater, and water faucet were all resolved efficiently upon a written note. The location has its pros and cons. It's walking distance to bus stops(6 and 51B) on Telegraph and College Ave. Also, it takes about 10-15 mins to walk to the UC Berkeley campus. However, it is kinda shady and possibly dangerous in this area since it's located near People's park. But, in general, you should stay alert on the south side of campus at night(even around the dorms). UC Berkeley provides "Bear walk"(night escort) service so you should take advantage of it. I have never been robbed since I lived here. Keep your guard up and you'll be fine. The manager is always trying to do the best they can accommodate my requests and keep this building clean and safe for tenants. I'd really miss this place when I move out of this apartment someday. read more

This is an overpriced, horrible building to live in and the property manager is difficult to deal with and corrupt. The building feels somewhat like a prison- the dirty walls are concrete and occasionally covered in spray paint and many of the apartments give you a great view of the ugly, concrete courtyard. You also need a key to get through 3 doors just to get to your apartment door because sketchy people are constantly sneaking into the building and rummaging through the trash or steal mail. Inside the actual apartment, it is fairly nice, although there was very little natural lighting so I often felt like I was in a dark cave. Also, our packages were frequently stolen from the mail area of the building. We altered the property manager that this was an on-going issue for us and many other tenants, but she did nothing to prevent the mail theft besides sporadically bring our packages into her apartment (but often would not tell us she had them, so we assumed the package had been stoled). The property manager, Rosy, was rude and difficult to deal with. She would text us about things she needed and then immediately stop responding when we ask about the status of a repair, avoid phone calls, and even lie about strange things to my roommate and I (often telling us different things). She would send repair men in without prior notice so I came home several nights and and was shocked to a find a man in my apartment (although the repairmen were all very nice once I got to know them). I should have taken it as a warning sign that before moving in, I had called her phone number to confirm the move-in date and the phone was answered by a man who refused to identify himself and ended up screaming at me that he couldn't confirm the date because they had no way of knowing if the previous tenants would be moved out by the day my lease began. I can only sum Rosy up as unprofessional and rude. The property manager also runs a security deposit scam. I did not get my security deposit back for over a month (the law requires it be returned within 3 weeks). When I first contacted her to check the status of my security deposit check, she said she was holding it for me to pick up, even though I had told her in person, emailed her and left her a hand-written note upon move-out with the address I wanted the check sent to. It still took her another week to mail me the check. When the check finally arrived, she had deducted $245 for cleaning and $437 for "painting touch-ups" even though I had left the apartment spotlessly clean and in better condition then when I moved in. I had even filled holes in the wall from before I moved in and washed the walls, so it was obvious that no painting was needed. I later found out that she seems to be charging all tenants between $300-$600 for painting even when it is not needed and that she has her regularly people do the painting but makes a bogus receipt and then deducts absurdly high amounts from the security deposits. That might explain why her apartment suddenly has a new giant flat screen TV, white leather couch, and fancy decorations. read more

Hillegass Terrace - Apartments Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Hi, our experience with the building manager Damaris Aka Rosey and her husband Cesar has been WONDERFUL! Right from the start Damaris went beyond the call of duty to help us get into the unit and she didn't know us at all. She was amazing!! It needed a little extra love after moving in but, everything we asked for has been done. Anytime I called or texted Damaris she always responded right away if not within a couple of hours but, most definitely by end of day. Her lines of communications were always open and whenever I needed something she was very accommodating. My son lived there for two years between August 2017-August 2019 attending UC Berkeley and graduated with honors and even though the building is older we have never had issues with waiting for things to be repaired or making sure that my son was comfortable. Things were done when asked. I was very appreciative of Damaris and Cesar watching over my son. They are so sweet!! When you have mutual respect for one another things are simple and easy. In fact when I go back to visit we will have lunch or dinner (girls day or night out) with Damaris. If anyone is thinking about moving into the building, please do so. You will love this lovely couple who take care of this building!! read more

I've lived at these apt for 3yrs and I loved the way maintenance took care of everything I needed upon my request and management is very helpful and understanding........I've never had any problems at all. I would definitely recommend this place to live read more

terrible management... slow to respond, really stingy and greedy owners. they only care about your money. ive called them in for repairs with no response. the manager is barely in and shes so apathetic to tenant concerns read more

Good place to live. Safe and close to campus. The place is clean, well-kept. Rosy is legit, she keeps it clean and things work. Had my furnace repaired super quick. The building is not brand new, but that is pretty much perfect for college kids. I lived there for 3 years...it's way cheaper than most places in the bay area! read more

0 stars. The manager, Rosy, is unresponsive, condescending, and unprofessional. It's been 2 months since I moved out and I still haven't received my security deposit. read more

Sometimes the manager was unresponsive, and maintenance issues went unkept, but I really enjoyed living here. Just to be clear, the manger did fix everything we reported wrong eventually. Rent for the next tenants went up by 200$ per person, though and I don't think it's fair. I think the living space was good, and our deposit was returned nearly full. Only reason I wasn't was because they cleaned very well. I saw and spoke first hand with the cleaners, and they are dedicated and I think the price is fair. I'll miss this place :p read more

It's a shame that Yelp doesn't allow you to give a 0 star review because that is exactly what this place deserves. Not only is the apartment a run down piece of junk, dealing with the manager is harder than figuring out rocket science. She will act as the nicest person in the world to get you to sign the lease but once you get locked in, prepare for a nightmare with this lady. I lived in a two bedroom and upon the first day of moving in, I was missing a curtain for one of room's the makeshift closets. I stupidly stayed at this apartment during my whole time at Cal (3 years) and even though I asked for a replacement the first day and brought it up here and there, I never ended up with a curtain until the day I moved out. Let's start with communication. The manager simply does not communicate well. If she wants something from you, she will communicate with you via broken english text messages. This goes hand in hand with rent payments. One time, one of my roommates unknowingly sent in a bounced check and from there, the manager decides to wait about 12 days before notifying us that the check was bounced. This basically allowed her to pocket money ($40 late fee plus $5 per late day). If she is going to collect rent on the first day of each month, she should do better by cashing in the checks that day. This is not the case with this manager. She is brutal when it comes to late fees and she WILL NOT inform you that you even have a late fee at all (so she can pocket more money.) Even after moving out of the apartment, I had a REALLY difficult time getting my security deposit back. 3 months is 1/4 a year and is also the time it took to get the process started to get my security deposit back. It was awful and upsetting. I was on the verge of suing for illegally pocketing money that was to be paid back. Want to get something fixed? Good luck. lol. The neighborhood is pretty crappy as well, but I would say that the painful experience of having a manger like this blows the neighborhood condition out of the water. Yes, rent may be cheap, but please do not be deceived by the low prices and one day friendly apartment manager. If you are stuck here right now, make it your first priority to GTFO. The manager will only give you a hard time and it simply is not worth it. If you are seriously considering this place, you have got to be out of your mind. Renting a place should be a relationship in which the tenant enjoys living there so much that they would WANT to pay to live there. This is not one of the places where you can fall in love with your apartment. Lastly, pay attention to these other reviews and save yourself by not living here. read more