Complaint Review: Playa Blanca Condominiums - San Diego California

Alright, so this neighborhood consists of both privately owned and property managed condos. The neighborhood itself is beautiful, however the parking is absolutely terrible (if you have anything larger than a Honda Civic, good luck fitting into the parking spaces).

The reason why I'm writing this review is to discourage military from renting the privately owned apartment #267. The apartment itself is fully upgraded and offered at $1100 for a one bed/ one bath which is very reasonable. However, the landlord, Manuel Martinez is not worth dealing with. When I first moved in, we had come to the agreement that rent would be paid by Account to Account transfer, to keep a digital receipt and ease the inconvenience of postage and all that jazz. Every month I would get an email from him stating that my rent was late and that he was charging me a late fee. Every month I would take a screenshot of a completed transaction and tell him to contact his bank. Too much hassle, but that is only a minimal issue. 

The day I moved in, instead of changing the responsibility of the electricity into my name like a normal landlord does, he killed the power altogether, and I had to sit in the dark for 5 days before SDGE could come out and turn it on. As soon as I finally got power, I turn on the lights and discover that the place had not been cleaned from the previous tenant. The fridge had stains inside of it, the microwave was dirty, there were pubic hairs on the toilet seat, bars of soap and used razors in the shower. I notified him immediately and told him I would clean the apartment myself. He claimed that he had a professional company clean it a few days before I showed up, but that was obviously a lie. My initial deposit was $500, which when I moved out, I told him I wanted back entirely. He tried to give me a fraction back due to cleaning and repainting. I demanded the full refund due to being initially moved into a disgusting apartment, and he tried to claim I never notified him of, which I promptly dug up old emails for. Then he claimed that his privately owned cleaning company had cleaned the apartment, so my mother who was acting as power of attorney at the time demanded to see documentation of the cleaning, along with work visas for all of his employees. The landlord decided to threaten my mother for her request. After a few arguments, I finally got the majority of my deposit back.

Another major issue I had with this apartment, was when I went on a mission, I notified the landlord that I would be out of town while rent was due, and if he had any issues to contact me so I could fix it. When I returned home after a few weeks, I entered my apartment to discover that someone had been inside my apartment during my absence. Nothing was stolen luckily, and I was unable to find any means of forced intrusion, which means that someone who had a key had entered my apartment without giving me advanced notification so I could have a proxy available to meet him.

In addition, my former neighbors had informed me that the previous tenant had the apartment all over Youtube from her gang activity, and that there were possible drug deals going on inside the place.

My entire experience with this landlord was an absolute nightmare. If you choose to rent at Playa Blanca, I strongly encourage you to go through the actual property management company. 

Read more: http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/CA-San-Diego-Playa-Blanca-Condominiums-1423310.html#ixzz1s46xfjPj