TRUST ME on this! We made this mistake!!!! Looks are deceiving. Let me LIST ALL of the PROBLEMS we have with the VUE apartments located on 255 W 5th Street, San Pedro, CA. 90731.
We moved here in the end of 2011. The HOA and leasing staff was nice to assist us with out contract in a expedited manner. However, we first faced an issue of not being able to move in on the day WE could because the elevator was already booked. How can you not move into your apartment on the day your lease starts because the HOA says the service elevator is booked? The weekend was completely booked full so we were not able to move our furniture in until the following weekend. We also had issues scheduling furniture deliveries because you can't move furniture after 6 PM. I don't get off work until 6PM!!!
We park our 2 large vehicles in our assigned'compact' side by side parking spots. We also have a large pillar pole between our spots so you can not get out in the back side doors because the pole is 8 inches from our car. The leasing office says there is nothing they can do about moving our assigned spots.
The smell of marijuana and cigarette smoke is constant even though this is a 'smoke free' building.
Kids constantly run up and down the halls.
There are constant mechanical problems with the building. Hot water is off many times, fixtures break, water comes out black from bathtub. Sometimes water won't work at all. Hot water (when it works) comes out scorching hot. All issues come without notice when issues arise, and when issues are resolved. We've had false fire alarms demanding mandatory evacuations. HOA and the leasing office do not help solve problems. They are completely worthless and just point the finger at each other.
The leasing center staff is a revolving door. They haven't had an active Manager in months and keep rotating staff in from various states. One day Oliva is there, the next day she quit. Then you get more donkeys that have no idea about the tenant's problems, the building itself, and are supposed to 'deal' with it.
The leasing agents lied to us about move in conditions, we were told we were the first tenants to live in our apartment; however, the bath tub drain was clogged with long black hair at move in and then the leasing center stated "that they may be unaware if prior tenants lived there." Stains started to come up on the carpet and it smelled moldy only a week after living there. Counter tops were cracked and chipped in numerous spots. Cabinets looked like someone took a knife to them. Our dishwasher has had to be fixed once and then finally replaced after they couldn't 'fix' the problem another time. The maintenance man stated they switch the broken appliances to other unoccupied apartments so no wonder our appliances didn't work when we moved in. The appliances were certainly not new. The washer and dryer are large enough to fit a small towel and that's about it and there are no temperature controls. The washer also sounds like you have a bucket of tools rotating around during spin cycle and is not quiet. But the washer is NEW remember! Also, be prepared to run you're A/C year round. If the A/C isn't on then your apartment will be well in excess of 80 degrees even during the winter.
The paint throughout the apartment is splattered everywhere and done in a half ass way. There are paint drippings on the carpet, countertops, bathroom tile, and baseboards. There were no door stoppers throughout the apartment.
The bathroom door had a fist punch hole that had been patched over ("but we were the first people to occupy our apartment").
Besides the interior issues. There is CONSTANT NOISE ABOVE US. At move in, the leasing person ensured us that we would not hear any noise above us. That is not true at all! We hear moving above us at all time morning, noon, and night. We also hear yelling and arguments outside from our crazy neighbors coming from outside. The constant sounds of the streets make you have to close all windows and doors or be at the mercy of hearing fire trucks horns blazing, police car sirens, motorcycles, screaming students (school across the street), large trucks driving, and everyday noises.
After move in new rules requiring specific elevators be used with pets even though you have no ability to call specific elevators. Sometimes you have to wait for 10 minutes to get the "animal approved" elevator. They pick and choose which rules they want to enforce even though there are many "unapproved" breeds living at the VUE (pitbull(s), Rottweiler(s), great dane(s), etc.) The dogs also go to the bathroom and throw up on the turf outside and the dogs' owners fail to pick it up.
The apartment looks nice but it is made with crappy and cheap materials. Think Ford Escort with a stick on Mercedes Benz Emblem.
DO NOT LIVE HERE!!!!!!!!! read more
