I incredibly regret choosing Monterey Villas for my new residence. The unit was presented to me in deplorable condition with extensive termite damage, and obvious termite debris, Unit Not Refreshed - I feel as if I'm moving into years of filth from previous tenants. There's an overwhelming stench of urine and feces in our patio area, which is completely covered with dead leaves, overgrown weeds, rocks, etc. has made my move a nightmare. I urge you, if you want peace of mind and an enjoyable living experience, Don't choose Monterey Villas. read more

Monterrey Villas are the slums of Oxnard Shores. There are termites, rodents, and ants in the units and patios. In my apartment, there was bad construction done on the water heater. This lead to a hole in the wall so rodents got into my kitchen. The plumbing is very old and faulty. I had a pipe burst, mold remediation, and major construction done. I had to fight with the property manager for any loss of use reimbursement. You have to file multiple complaints to get anything fixed. There is no property manager on site. Multiple families live in most units. There are loud, yappy dogs in most units. It is a grotesque place to live. read more

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Essex company doesn't know how to run a business or work with their residents. My partner got laid off and we struggled to get rent paid by the first. I understand policy is policy, but when your residents have a financial situation, you could act like a human and work with them. I always reached out and mentioned when I'd make a payment and ALWAYS made the payment. Maintenance was so difficult to get ahold of to get things fixed. Not very helpful. And due to our financial issue, we had to end lease early, and because of that they refused to take months check until I had the "early departure fee" of $2,700 AND my last months amount! So not only did they not accept my Jan rent, but needed that fee PLUS Feb amount. It is nearly impossible to cough up 2 and a half months rent when I'm already financially struggling. And the never applied the amount when I finally managed to get the $8,000 they needed. I got an eviction notice AFTER I paid that large amount. I called and they had to call me back and "confirm" the check numbers with accounting. So ridiculous. Never recommending to anyone. They are sneaky and horrible. read more

Recently, with the changes to management and maintenance, this place is looking up. This past year has been so much better than the previous 2 leases here. My favorite person is Jennifer!!! She is always quick to answer the phone, updates me on information, and takes care of my concerns as if she were family. I wish I could give her 20stars for how great she has been with me and my family! The only reason I am not giving the apartments a 5star review is due to the first 2 years we lived here. However, with the changes they have made and how productive they have been, I do not want to give a low star rating. We chose these apartments back in 2019 for the low "rent : income" ratio, and being a military family, they made it very easy to move in quickly. read more

I recently moved in and have had a great experience with the whole MV team. A big shout out to Reggie (he offered to set up our fridge and did an amazing job) and Petra (constantly checking in to make sure everything is going well) for going above and beyond to help make our move-in experience as smooth and stress-free as possible. You all rock, and I appreciate your speedy responses and help. read more

I would give this place zero stars if I could. The manager, Shawn, if you want to call him that doesn't know his right from his left. The maintenance will say they came in and fixed stuff and never show up. I moved in with an ant hill in my backyard. They refused to do anything unless I packed up all my stuff into bags to have someone come to spray. And I only had an hour to pack all of my stuff. Ended up paying an outside source to come in and spray. Also the ant worked their way into my fridge. Breaking my fridge it took them 7 hours to get me a new fridge all my food had to be thrown away and they did absolutely nothing about This place is awful. From the outside it looks great the inside is horrific. My shower doesn't work so cold to like warm showers is all I have and they have "tried" to fix it. If I could break my lease I would. But I'm stuck. From ants to rats. I have spoken with neighbors who say they also have issues and Shawn does not take care of it. Since I have moved in I have had A front door that did not seal properly A broken fridge A broken microwave A broken back door latch Multiple shower issues A broken water heater Ants repeatedly Rats And so much more Let me say I have lived here for less than a year and a half. My prior apartment complex I lived in for 2 years and I believe I called maintenance once or twice. This place is absolutely hell. They do not take care of the rats or ants or any other bugs any fiancé and I are having to handle this problem on our own because the manager here does not see the need to enter my apartment to fix our rat problem. Only check traps around the premises. I know this place is cheap compared to others but do NOT move here. You will regret it. read more

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After dealing with a little mix up, more of a misunderstanding on my part We are now renters at Monterey Villas Thank you to Shawn and Kaley for all of your guys's help read more

Jennifer has been amazing she has truly exceeded all my expectations, I was having a hard time getting into the app that we are going to be using to pay our rent, and she was the most patient person I have ever met!!! She stayed with me until I was able to successfully login and thoroughly explain each step. I am truly thankful for her assistance during the entire process. It is nice to have such a welcoming experience thank you Jennifer please don't ever leave! read more

Solid Maintenance Crew!!! Professional, Polite, and Quick Service! Highly recommend calling for Tony!!

My husband and I have been living here since September. I wish that we had more time to review the place before moving in. We absolutely regret it. it looks OK from the outside but this place is falling apart. maintenance requests take for ever and multiple follow ups. There is dog poop EVERYWHERE!!!! its never picked up. Some of the other residents are super questionable i.e letting kids play in the dumpsters and parking lots unsupervised. My husbands car was damaged by the kids and i went to the management office only to be told "i'll come check in a little bit." (They never showed). All of my emails have gone unanswered even though i was told twice they responded( i asked for proof and got none). It took 2 months to even get things fixed in the apartment after we moved in when we were told they would be addressed before move in. "fixed" is being generous. I attached pictures of the "patch" they put on the wall to fix a hole 2 months later. There is no rule enforcement here what-so-ever. My dog and i have been gone after by my next door neighbors german shepard twice now and sent emails to the manager. did anyone respond? of course not. Stay away from this place! I promise you'll regret it! read more

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It's interesting how Shawn claims to offer a lovely green area for residents, but as a resident I feel it is necessary to mention that the "lovely green grass" comes at YOUR expense. We have seen a steady rise in our cost as renters to provide SHAWN to make that claim. The property is a SWAMP! The water turns on at 4am, 7am, 9am, and many times throughout the day. Kids can't play on the grass any longer, water just pours as waste down the street on a daily basis, reports to the management always go unanswered, the club room is nothing more than a window shopping experience, mosquitos everywhere because they love to breed in standing water, and here's the kicker, they REQUIRE you, the tenant, to pay for these expenses, and call it RENT, not water! Why?, it's because if the city knew they were acting as a PUC, (public utility corporation), they would be in hot water, literally, so they try the work around by requiring You (the renter) to call it RENT! Shame on you SHAWN for your claims without telling the potential renters the truth. You are a silent manager, often times either hiding in your office or at another complex. The city should come down on you like a ton of bricks for your wasteful water practices. Countless tenants have complained to you, you can't offer a scripted reply that would reflect otherwise. Don't even try. Yes, the maintenance staff is great, but they are limited to what the upper management allows them to fix, leaving the renters with always something that is "on back order". You should be replaced as a manager with someone who helps the renters with their issues. The maintenance gets 4 stars, you get 1 Star. read more

Reggie, the new maintenance guy, went above and beyond in helping me today. He replaced our dryer and helped out with moving furniture to get it in since I'm on bedrest with a broken ankle. He even did a load of laundry for me to make sure it worked. read more

Throughout the entire year I can honestly say it was a 5 star stay up until move out. Before I get to that, I do want to say that the overall experience was great living there. It was very spacious and it was so lovely. There were a couple times we needed maintenance and it was all done at a timely manner and I was very pleased with it. I was able to get a storage unit on the premises which was just awesome because I could store items that I didn't have an immediate need in my apartment and I loved having access to it. The people were nice and the neighbors were great, I really can't complain about any of that. Cassandra Kenyon who works in the front was just awesome and a really big help whenever we needed it, no matter how big or small. She was great and I'm glad they have someone like her working in there. Ok so now to the move out. When we moved out, we had a pre-inspection move out and they told us what had to be done to get as much of our deposit back. There was this tiny red stain that it was a must to go, according to them and we tried removing it but we only got it to fade a bit. We knew that they would have to change the carpet now, but what we didn't know was that they were going to replace the entire apartment's carpets!!! Nothing was wrong with the upstair rooms or the stairs, but they decided to change it all using up all of our deposit and we still owed them at the end!!! I just could not believe it. It was a shame that they turned a complete 180 on us. This place could have been a 5, so be warned. Don't stain the carpet or take pictures for your records. read more

Although Monterey Villas is not a place I'd recommend to live and management does a poor job I would like to give Tony from maintenance 5 stars. He is not only friendly and reliable but he is trustworthy and I cant say that about many here. He is a good person and a genuine guy. He is good at what he does and is very helpful. Monterey villas and their Management has disappointed me in many ways but hiring Tony was a good idea and he is a benefit to living here. Again these 5 stars are for Tony alone and NOT Monterey Villas read more

My roomate and I moved here from Mariners place. Juana was very informative and was able to work with our schedule to provide us with the best options available. The management and maintenance teams are approachable,friendly and helpful! read more

I lived at Monterey Villas thankfully for only 5/6 months, but I feel compelled to warn people about this complex. I have never been disgusted enough to write a bad review on Yelp and it reflects that on my Yelp profile, but this place pissed me off enough. It started off great, Shawn toured us and compared to where we were previously the place was great. Then slowly it was becoming obvious that Shawn is charming for the sale then disappears when you need him. I worked a demanding job so if I ever needed to get ahold of someone in the office it was always outside of business hours and the complex is a total cell dead zone so I relied heavily on email. No one in the office ever emails back unless you tattle on them to Essex customer service. I hate being that person, but they made me have to be that "I need to speak to the manager" lady because they always drop the ball and do not care about their tenants after the sale is done. Any time I have needed a response or something done for me it's like pulling teeth to get anything from management. When my family decided to move out of state and we found a place in Washington, We needed a reference check done by Monterey Villas to confirm what we paid for rent and how long we lived there. Super simple, right? Of course not. I emailed and asked if this could be done... three days pass....no answer! Typical. I call them and speak to Erica and she says no she can't do that, only Shawn the manager can and per usual he's not in the office. So I email Essex asking if something could be done as we were going to lose our home in Washington because of competitive market and Essex customer service emailed back CCing myself and Erica at Monterey Villas that ANYONE in the office can complete a reference check and tells Erica to do it. Of course Erica in the email tries to act like she told me on a phone call that she will do it for me by the end of that day (mind you I sent a request for it 3 days prior)and acted like she didn't tell me Shawn was the only one in the complex that can complete reference checks. Whatever I'm a crazy lady, ok, it finally gets done. We get the house in Washington after weeks of added stress thanks to Monterey Villas incompetency. We move then after emailing them for 2 weeks and having to tell Essex, YET AGAIN, to have them email me back about my security deposit refund check they have neglected to send me, they finally did the next day. Looking at the move out check list they attached where it shows me what I owe it's a total scam and it's almost comical at this point. At the move out inspection, I was present for 2 weeks before move out, Eli, the head of maintenance said the apartment looked beautiful and should be getting almost everything back from my security deposit besides a cleaning/paint fee that they charge everyone and told me not to clean prior to move out because they do charge everyone for cleaning, but it is not very expensive. Looks like they charged me to replace almost 1,000 dollars worth of carpet (mind you we used a carpet cleaner before we left, no stains, and certainly NO NEED to replace any carpet)! It's literally not even worth fighting with these people and I did not take any pictures prior to move out because I was busy planning an out of state move, so they can keep all the money. I thankfully moved out of state and will be far from these clowns. I know it's tempting to move here being the cheapest two bedroom townhomes in Oxnard, but it is not worth it. Maintenance here is great guys and they were the only ones that did their jobs, but everyone else is such a headache. Do not move here and if you do, don't forget to take pictures prior to moving out cause they will lie on the refund. read more

Tony the maintenance guy with long hair did an excellent job!!! Keep up the good work brotha!!!!

We have lived here for three years only because its the best price for what you get but the reason why its such a bang for your buck it because of the infestations. Ants are horrible, we are crazy clean people but the ants are crawling out of our washer and vents, out of nail holes from pictures. We have big black bees, 8 holes to be exact of these bees living in our fence, and the termites. My two year old broke our base board with his finger. The windows don't lock and the door is so eat up by termites that they plastered it to fix the holes by my 9 month old pulled the plaster off and we had to pull plaster from her mouth. Currently our stove is sparking it self and we told them about it a week ago and no one has come to fix it. There is no air conditioning and the upstairs will ALWAYS be at least 80 so if you move in BRING A PORTABLE AIR CONDITIONER because they don't allow window units. The good part is you don't hear your neighbors. Also if you ever need them to work with you with your rent they wont. We've paid our rent on time for almost three years, and our check was two weeks late and we asked them to work with us and they said "no you will be evicted if you don't pay by the 15". Guarantee your rent WILL go up every year by 100. The only pest control company that you can use is through their company. The dryers eat up the clothes and burn them, and the blinds break profusely and there never seems to be a maintenance guy around. read more

I have lived here for 3 years, but it's going in the toilet. First of all I had my truck stolen from here. My car was broken into, so the crime is increasing. No visible security we have cameras guarding the trash bins! This place was awesome when I moved in but i no longer feel safe. Drug addicts hanging around because it seems someone deals drugs around here. Very disappointed. I hope to break my lease and leave soon. read more

We had such a positive experience this past weekend. We were helped by Kaley, who began by showing us the unit available and proceeded to tell us more about the complex and surrounding areas. She then helped guide us through the application process. She was very personable, friendly, and most of all professional. Thank you, Kaley, for helping us along this journey. read more

Nicest staff I've ever worked with!! Moving from Hawaii is very stressful but Cassie did everything to make it easier! I was able to have my father go look at the place and send me videos. Anytime I emailed Cassie I got a response surprising fast. When the time came to find an apartment from so far away I was stressed until I found Monterey Villas. They are even pet friendly! I'm so excited to come home, thank you for all your help and professionalism! read more

This company is on it my lock was not working on my front door. I called and with in 20 min Tony came out and changed my lock. Very professional and fast great service read more

Let me first start off with, Wow! We have had such a great experience with this place! We just recently moved in and we are so happy that we chose this place! The people in the office have helped us out TREMENDOUSLY! We never got to actually see the place or the area before we moved in, but we got lucky with this one! It is in a pretty nice area, not too loud, not deserted, and still has that nice ocean breeze so you can keep your windows open. We have lots more room than our last place, and they did a really good job on the layout of the whole floor plan. So glad to have a washer, dryer, and a dish washer! And we were surprised to actually get a back yard too for the price! When we moved in there were just a couple small things that maintenance needed to look at, and when I requested it, the maintenance guy Tony was here within a couple hours and fixed it right up! He was awesome and just added that cherry to the top! Thank you guys so much for taking a bunch of stress away from us on this move! read more

Maintenance guy AB was very helpful and knowledgeable he fixed all our issues . His kind and polite and went above and beyond to address all our issues read more

My husband and I just moved here from Virginia and we couldn't be happier. The staff is wonderful, especially when you're trying to get an apartment from 3000 miles away! The property is beautiful overall. The neighborhood is quiet and safe as well as the parking. The amenities are awesome and the location couldn't be better. Very close to the beach and shopping. The military base isn't far either which is a definite plus!!! After moving here to what seemed like a foreign land to me I couldn't be happier with our apartment home or the service we received. Thank you Monterey Villas for making my husband and I feel at home!!!! read more

Re:Monterey Villas, Oxnard, CA. I have a crush on my Essex home because I was able to create my own little zen garden. Also, my daughter says this feels more like a home then any home we've had in the past couple of years. Thank You Essex, for creating a wonderful living experience!! read more

This place does a really good job of seeming like a good place to live. The true fact is its not, it is a ghetto where vehicles are broken into and tenants are harassed by other tenants and the management will do nothing about it. Rest assured, they will be sure to pass on the rent increase and it may take two months to get service on your unit. One last thing if you have a vehicle here make sure your do not lock the doors it may save you the expense of replacing your window when you are broken in to. read more

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I have lived here for 2.5 years now, never had any problems. I love it here, I just wish they would keep the pool heated longer. 3 to 4 months out of 12 months is not long enough! We love to swim all yr round and I speak for our neighbors also. read more

I am only giving this place one star because I can not give it zero stars. This is the worst apartment community I have ever lived in! They expect you to solve all of your own problems like you own the place. It's riddled with ants, and when we moved in NOTHING in our kitchen worked....NOTHING! All of the outlets were dead and the microwave was dead too. There were (according to the neighbor) people living here for more than four years so the paint was all new and so was the carpet, but the toilets and floors were nasty! The dishwasher STILL doesn't work after two months of calls, and we are in DOG BARKING CENTRAL. Every apartment around us has tiny barking menaces and NONE of them bring the awful miniature delights in for the night. And this brings me to their "quiet community" and "you are CLOSE to the pool" quotes that I got. I don't know who this JESSICA is that was being touted by some (obviously) planted review, but there IS NO JESSICA!! There is only a Cassie and a Sherry, both of whom are entirely ineffective. I was sold my apartment over the phone LONG DISTANCE from the east coast as a quiet apartment close to the pool. The reality is every time someone jumps into the pool I get hit in the face with the spray I'm so close to it. And quiet?? HELL NO. This place is party central. It would have been wonderful 30 years ago, but it's NOT what they sold me!! read more

I'm a current resident. I just resigned a year lease unfortunately. It was a nice place even though the maintenance moves at a snail pace and doesn't really fix anything. My mom's car got stolen, constant problems at the pool with non-tenants and lately I've been harassed day and night by tenants I'm no longer friends with. I've been robbed and now I'm a victim of check fraud and identity theft. The management wants to evict me instead of the people responsible for allowing a criminal to come into our community and have a place to hang out. Two of my neighbors have pit bulls that aren't allowed and they bark non-stop. I've been served with a 3 day comply to covenant or quit thing that I've never seen before. I'm hoping the management isn't that cruel and I can at least finish out my year lease then go on my merry way next year. I'm a single mom and my son will be 4 in February.......I should've moved when I had the chance to before all of this nonsense read more

We went to see if they had any town homes to show. Cassie was very nice, professional and smiley. She also let us know what was coming available with out us asking and answered all of our questions. She is a great asset to Essex and Monterey Villas. read more

Do not live here im in the Marines and lived here three years and these people only care about getting your check!! Rent is high for no reason managment sucks. The only good thing i can say is i never had a problem with crime. Everybody here is trying to move out! If ur military please look somewhere else we can do better!!!! read more

To say that Monterey Villas is mismanaged would be to imply that it is being managed. That would be totally untrue. The two young ladies in the office do nothing other than show empty apartments to the suckers they somehow drag in. On the lease they have you sign a 2 bed apartment has a legal capacity of 4 people, but they have no problem renting to people who need to have as many as EIGHT (literally, I lived right next to them) people living in one unit. The office staff also does not enforce any of its own policies, such as the quiet time from 10PM to 7AM, or the assigned parking. The security they profess to have on duty during the hours the office is closed is one guy who shows up at 10PM to lock the pool house then disappears. The low class folks they rent to like to play loud music after they jump the pool fence at midnight and smoke weed while the sit in the hot tub. Holiday weekends are miserable for someone who just wants to quietly live their life; about 100 people descended upon the pool area at Labor Day, bringing children and dogs and every family member within 50 miles, and loud salsa music; for 3 straight days. Neither the office staff nor the "security" staff did anything to mitigate that disaster. All in all, my time there was terrible, and I would live in a van down by the river before I would live there again, even if it was free. Please don't let the photos online of this property fool you, the grounds are well cared for but that's all they get right. If your considering moving in I suggest you stop in during the evenings and nights before you sign anything. Also make sure you do a very thorough walk through, when I moved in the place was infested with ants and half the outlets in the place were dead. Good luck getting any maintenance done too. I had to tie the lock on my sliding door Dow to make it stay locked, but they never sent anyone out despite numerous phone calls and visits to the office. read more

Unfortunately I lived in Monterey Villas for three years because we had no choice but to wait to repair our credit to find a better place. I promise I am giving the most fair review. Please know that these people do not care one bit about their tenants. They are more concerned about making money off them. Their units are constantly falling apart. Pay close attention to the cheap paint that peals and cheap replacement parts that they use to make repairs. When I lived their our lights were constantly turning off, our doorbell button was activated for the front neighbor, our stove smelled like gas and please know that their maintenance is HORRIBLE. When we scheduled for maintenance visits they agreed on coming in on certain days and showed up on other days which greatly upset me because I truly like my privacy. On many occasions we needed to request additional maintenance because the repairs were not done correctly. My other issue with this place was the fact that my allergies were horrible and I think it was because they have mold. I also found that the window shelves were constantly covered in wood shavings which I suspect were from termites. This place will truly suck your pocket dry because every year they increase your rent and when your unable to make payments on time they charge an additional fifty dollars (Just know that even after paying them them a late fee, they will have no problem reporting every single late payment to your next potential landlord leaving you with a horrible rental history and homeless) even if you leave with not owing them anything. Keep in mind that after they suck you dry and make a profit off of you, they will no longer renew your rental contract because they cannot increase your rent. Their staff is completely unprofessional in compassionate and will treat you with no respect. At this place your just an apartment number. For those that are looking for a place to live I suggest that you search for a place that will live up to what they offer from the beginning. read more