I wrote this review on their property management page. I thought it was important I share it here…read moreas well because these are the reviews along with their YouTube videos that made me what to sign a lease with them. I thought most of them being posted on the same day was kind of strange, and I now realize I should have paid more attention to that.
I was genuinely excited to move into Echo Lofts because I thought I'd found a gem. However, on September 1st, I walked into a complete mess. Before you sign a lease with this property, be sure to read all of their reviews--not just the five-star ones. Before I moved in, I assumed that the property manager would walk through the space with the previous tenant to ensure the space wasn't left in the condition you see in the photos.
When I walked in and saw the holes, black fingerprints/footprint (yes, footprint), a black speckled air vent, water damage, and the grimy nature of the apartment, I was shocked and disappointed. If you're wondering if I saw the place beforehand I did. However, when everything is moved and the person doesn't bother to clean up behind themselves you can see how bad a space really is.
These issues made it very clear that the person moving out didn't care for the space and that Sky Properties doesn't do their part to maintain their properties. Again this is disappointing, especially since they have these videos and perfect photos posted on YT and their listing pages.
They allow their tenants to leave their properties any kind of way. What has been the most disappointing, is the lack of accountability for the former tenants. In addition, management will do nothing to make it right, even if it's as simple as painting the walls so that someone feels comfortable paying a deposit on my new space. No one wants to get stuck paying for someone else's mess.
One thing to note about deposits in LA in general which is new to me as I've never had this issue, possibly because of dealing with more flexible landlords. The deposits that are left on the apartment when a tenant moves out will only be given back if all occupants vacate the space. This is their policy. So don't count on getting your deposit back if you and your roommate aren't moving out at the same time. The sucky part is they will not use that to fix anything that a previous tenant left behind.
I focused on the pretty photos, videos, and "5-star" reviews. I have learned a valuable lesson that those aren't the best gauge when it comes to how a company cares for its tenants and its property.
Since my writing of my review, I did receive a phone call asking what could be done to get me to take my negative review down. They offered to let me out of my lease. However, my stuff has already been moved in by movers, and we all know finding a new place takes time. Not to mention, that option would leave my roommate paying all of the rent. I couldn't do that to them, even given my ongoing disappointment and frustration.
The only bright spot in this whole thing has been their head of maintenance. He came by at 7:00 on Friday evening (drove all the way from Reseda in traffic) to look at the air vents and the water damage. He changed all of the air vents, cleaned them off, and he will be back on Monday/Tuesday to paint the water leak spot, which he looked into and said needed no repairs. As a property, I get there are things you don't "have" to do. However, when your old tenant leaves a place in a filthy mess, in good faith, I would hope other property managers would try to meet in the middle. The lease out may have been the middle for them, but that would have left me without a place to live and having to spend more time and money to move out when a paint job and a little maintenance would have done the trick.
I have spent all week trying to clean my "new" place that I was SO excited about, which just keeps making me so sad. I have never had a move in experience as challenging and frankly, disgusting as this one, even as a subletter. The rooms I moved into were always in good condition--no footprints on the walls, no filth anywhere. And the landlords always made sure space was in its best condition instead of waiting until they have to fix a problem. I'm grateful for their head of maintenance. He truly made my day yesterday, and you can tell he cares about his work and tenants.