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August 2023 by Emma Shenton
If you want incompetent and disrespectful management, Equity Group is for you. I lived here for 2 years. The property manager changed a few times, Tommy Cefalu and Brian Figg to name a couple. All seemed incompetent.During the heavy rains in January, a big tree fell on the apartment. It hit the 2nd floor apartment, directly above mine. It could be argued the tree was in a questionable place to begin with, but my issue is more with the aftermath. My roommate and I were kicked out for a full week. Management kept pushing back the day we were allowed back. Although reimbursed for the nights gone, if staying at a hotel, we were expected to front the money.Over 2 months later, management had not lifted a finger to fix the roof. The tenants above were relocated. They said it’s hard to find a roof contractor in San Diego. I suspect they didn’t want to pay. In March, my roommate and I woke up to our hallway flooded with yellow water. Water was pouring out of a crack in the ceiling. Management says “turns out there was a leak in the upper apartment”. The damage to the roof cracked the ceiling enough for rainwater to accumulate inside, saturating the floor enough for it to leak below. This was a direct result of negligence. No apologies, though. They put tubs in the upper apartment to stop the leak and that was it. A week later, our ceiling starts leaking again. The roof had finally fallen into the upper apartment, pushing more water into our apartment. Again, no apologies.They finally started construction in mid-May. Considering they have tenants living in the lower apartment, it is shocking they didn’t have the common courtesy to update us about the start. They said it will take how long it takes. I usually work from home, so this was a disturbance.I had a separate water issue in my bedroom. My room started to smell very bad (damp, mildewy). I realized the carpet under my bed was getting wet. Rainwater was seeping in under the wood trim, which was never properly sealed. Management sent a carpet company over to strip and clean the carpets. I had to move everything out of my room. They left a dehumidifier and fans in the room over the weekend. Management said they would be over Monday to seal the wall. They were not. They kept pushing it back by a day, and I had to chase them down for information. They finally came by on Friday, and it took all of 5 minutes to seal the wall. I was sleeping on the couch for a week and a half and paying full rent. They refused to give a discount because we were not displaced. They do not care about the standard of living.They frequently turn off the water in the building, often with no warning. When they send a warning, they still turn off the water outside given times, such as turning it off at 3 when the window was 10 am to 2 pm.When we moved in, they said we could pay rent separately through the portal. A year in, they sent an email to everyone saying they would only accept one payment. I reached out for clarification. They waited three weeks to respond— the day before rent was due.We realized our heating didn’t work the first winter. It took them almost 2 months to fix it.Our apartment flooded because the kitchen sink overflowed. The sink was not on. Instead, sinks from 4 apartments drain into 1 pipe, and there was a blockage. When our neighbors used the sink, our sink overflowed. They unclogged it, but the cleaning process was on us.Terrible laundry facilities. They directly state they are not responsible for breakdowns or refunds. They shut the water off when I was doing laundry (no notification), turning it off mid-cycle. They didn’t refund me.Everywhere is required to have green bins for organics recycling in San Diego. They had no intention of getting any.8 months after I sent them my renter’s insurance policy (for 1 year of coverage), they reached out saying they didn’t have it on file.Every time they raised rent, “to maintain and improve the apartment”, things seemed to get worse.The view out back is beautiful, but it doesn’t make up for incompetence.
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April 2023 by Julia Yncera
One of the worst experiences living here. I moved in with a roomate and we signed a new lease agreement at the time of move in. After signing, management never gave us our copy. I realized this a couple months later, only to find out they never scanned it into an e-copy, and also lost the only physical one, then changed management (which is a revolving door, because no one wants to work here) When I asked new management for my copy they tried sending me HALF of an OLD agreement from the previous tenants that occupied that unit from 3 YEARS AGO. When I told them that isn’t my agreement, their response to me was: “I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t have it” like what ??? What kind of landlord doesn’t want to have a written agreement with the tenants? Anyhow, I explain that if they lost it, they need to make a new one for us. They refuse to write up a new one despite my many attempts to meet with them to get a new lease agreement made and signed for both parties.They shut the water off without notice regularly. I’ve been in the shower hair full of shampoo when it shuts off before. Hot water has been out a couple times too, without notice and without acknowledgement when I tell them. It just comes on when it comes back on. Nothing like taking a freezing shower in the morning while the landlord ignores your requests. Sink has been clogged since I moved in, they’ve came to fix it but never have done so successfully. Toilets barley function. Shower has mold coming out of the cracks. MANAGEMENT does not give a single care about you. They never-literally never- are in the office, they do not answer answer the phones, and they repeatedly break COMMON KNOWLEDGE LAWS regarding tenants rights to normal things. Do not move here, I repeat DO NOT move here. It’s cheap rent (kind of) but not worth the headache.
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March 2023 by Charline Myers
Service was fast! Courteous, personable and friendly staff. I absolutely love the blinds and the workmanship is superb, I can’t say enough good things about Sara Bella. I would definitely recommend, hands down
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October 2022 by Kenia Gutierrez
I enjoyed living at this apartment complex. The complex was kept clean, a janitor would come by often to sweep and clean out the trash and parking lot area. It had upgraded fans and new flooring. The price in comparison to other complexes is affordable. It was a nice basic apartment to live in. I never saw any bugs in my unit, outside I would see the occasional spider. They sent pest control once a year to ensure no there were no pests. Our unit was next to a school, so parking was easy to find. I barely heard any of my neighbors. I only needed one service maintenance and they came out promptly and fixed the minor issue. If I didn’t need a bigger place because of growing my family I would’ve stayed longer.
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May 2022 by Sheila K.
DONT MOVE HERE Unless you like not having water for 19plus hours and not being able to flush your toilet. They raise the rent and state it's for repairs which they close stating complete when a request is submitte. It's a revolving door for management . Looks like we live in third world country with a toilet stove and other trash sitting out front going on 3 months its disgusting. and Don't have a flood in your apartment they don't care they will just let you have your stuff ruined and feed the already growing mold, with unstable foundation our walls are cracking maybe when we have it collapse someone will care just won't be the latest management.
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May 2022 by Chris Lay
I don't usually do this but considering no one is ever in the office, no one ever answers the phone or emails I feel like I have to. I work for a property management company and have never seen such abysmal service. I've had a broken, UNSECURED sliding glass door for over two months. Last time someone came out here the prop manager literally told the door technician he had to discuss cost with the owners before doing anything. Extremely unprofessional but really shows where the ownerships head is at. Profit over customer service. I've let them know countless times that I don't feel safe having a sliding glass door that doesn't lock, bugs are coming in contently and I don't have access to my patio. I've heard next to nothing from them accept for one PM telling me he was emailing ownership about my complaint. That was over a month ago. I've left countless voicemails and emails with zero response. IF YOU ARE THINKING OF RENTING FROM HERE DONT BE FOOLED BY THE BEAUTIFUL VIEW. THEY DONT CARE, THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY. SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE AND LOOK ELSEWHERE!
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July 2021 by Lindsay H.
LOCATION*LOCATION*LOCATION Nature/Shops/Schools/Awesome Property Manager My family moved to Serra Bella in December 2019 after living abroad for the previous five years. As a former Midwesterner and ex-pat, to say that the move to California was a culture shock, is, to put it mildly. Worse, we barely had a chance to meet anyone or enjoy exploring the area broadly before the first Lockdown. Luckily, we found ourselves situated within a super-convenient location, with Costco, Walmart, TJ-Maxx, and Von's all within 5 minutes drive for purchasing our value household items, and a darling coffee shop (Java Garden), Pizza Hut, Mission Village Laundry, Stadium Market & Liquor, directly across Shawn Ave, so close that I may have ventured out in PJs and flip-flops once or twice... And lest you be concerned about languishing in a suburban/residential wasteland, Serra Mesa/Mission Village is so central to everything that it's hard to languish properly unless you're really committed to it. I found easy highway access to La Jolla (15-20 minutes-ish) for my work, and about the same distance for almost any beach to stretch our legs by collecting shells or enjoying the waves. And to satisfy my taste for quirky culture, Hillcrest is nearby, and Balboa Park (for museums, art, theatre, live music, etc.) is a stone's throw, as well. BUT what really SAVED US this past year and a half, is: 1. Shawn Ave itself is book-ended by Shawn Canyon Trail on the one side (where it connects up with Ruffin Canyon Trail), and then another canyon and green space on the other. With a young kid with lots of energy during Lockdown, we felt blessed to have easy access to these areas for hiking and generally getting out into nature. 2. If that's not enough, we've found ourselves kitty-corner from one primary school (with baseball diamonds and THREE PLAYGROUNDS open to the public during non-school hours), with Montessori of Kearny Mesa a 15 -minute walk/3-minute drive away! And the cherry on top: 3. The Equity Group's, Serra Bella property manager Mark K. SERIOUSLY. Whilst the world has been losing its collective mind this last patch, Mark's steady commitment and attention to the needs (and sometimes seriously frayed nerves and patience) of the 2707 MVD residents has been OUTSTANDING. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to juggle so many needs while tension is so high, but he's consistently approached our interactions (and the various challenges of pandemic communal living) with a genuine concern and amicable demeanor. I can't imagine having lived anywhere else during this time, and for our needs, feel quite content. Won't you be my neighbor? ;-)
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July 2021 by Bradley Webster
Cockroaches galore. They don’t give a sheet about their tenants. They told us when we signed the lease we would have air conditioning and new windows. Have yet to see any progress on windows or AC. They don’t care if their sprinklers are hitting your apartment door causing mold on literally their property. They don’t care, they don’t know what they’re doing, they wouldn’t live here.
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May 2021 by Alona J.
When me and my fiancé first looked into moving here, mark and ruth seemed to be very kind and on top of it. I thought it would be a nice place to live but as soon as the lease was signed the quality of care they gave dropped to almost nothing, and so it seems that all they want is the money and after that they don't care what happens to you here. If I could give this complex 0 stars I would. I have never seen such a horrendous and lack of care about this place that the management team has for this complex has shown. There are problems every week with this place that seems to never be resolved. I have to call almost every week it seems to get cars towed out of the parking space since they have no sticker but it never gets resolved. Mark the property manager has sent an email and posted a sign on all doors but still will not call a tow truck to remove the 3+ cars that don't belong. There have been times where I have called the complex number and never received a call back from mark or even an email back to let me know he received the call. The washer broke with our clothes and they were so soaked that we couldn't even try to put it in the dryer and when management got back to us they did nothing to help resolve it but to try and give us a 100 dollar fee for calling the emergency line for the water flooding out of the washer. I can say that I have never lived in a complex with management that has done such a dismal attempt at running a complex. I usually don't leave reviews but no one deserves to live a place that treats them the way we have been treated here.
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May 2021 by Konnor Elvick
I’ve been living at Serra Bella for a few months and it has been a great experience so far. It is conveniently located close to the highway, Costco shopping center, Walmart, and just a short trip to downtown SD. It is a quiet area and has a lot of street parking.The property manager Mark has been a pleasure to work with. He is extremely helpful when we have questions and takes pride in making sure the community is enjoyable for all residents.
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May 2021 by Konnor E.
I've been living at Serra Bella for a few months and it has been a great experience so far. It is conveniently located close to the highway, Costco shopping center, Walmart, and just a short trip to downtown SD. It is a quiet area and has a lot of street parking. The property manager Mark has been a pleasure to work with. He is extremely helpful when we have questions and takes pride in making sure the community is enjoyable for all residents.
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April 2021 by Michele C.
Hands down I have to say Mark our Manager is awesome. He handled my move in very professional and accommodated me in any way he could. He was very professional and made my move in very smooth. Mark always makes sure to reply to emails within minutes. He really does an awesome job. I live in 2670 and couldn't be happier
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November 2020 by rai wil
Do not move here. It's old buildings and whoever they have as manager is rude when we do have a property manager. You should probably stay away from all the properties they have. They all have the same reviews and nothing changes.
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October 2020 by Chandler T.
Do you like cockroaches? Well, then this is your place! I wish I could give this place at least a two star review. We loved our experience here within the first 2 months. Affordable rent for a 2 bedroom apartment and great parking. We even got a puppy as well due to their awesome pet policy. But shortly after those two months, we had a lot of issues. Firstly, we had issues with our neighbor. An absolute drunk who would scream and pound on his walls all night. The first issue with him was taken care of. We still had issues with our neighbor even though we complained multiple times and management kept saying, "He will stop." Like nope. He never stopped.... Secondly, they have R O A C H E S!! American AND GERMAN cockroaches as far as the exterminator that I hired said. I hired Orkin due to many weeks of trying to figure out why they were getting inside of our apartment. The exterminator looked in many places that proved where they could come from. I had to fix those issues. (Only living here for 2.5 months) Then, the exterminator had pointed out how crooked the door was and there was a huge gap underneath the door. I created a work order and they finally came out. They added a door flap to the front that fell off in 2 days. Once I spoke with the property manager about seeing roaches every single night, I was told that they were "normal" and they came through the drains. Uh, normal? No. That was the first red flag. After seeing no improvement even AFTER a professional exterminator came in and sprayed... and we never opened any drains unless we showered or washed or hands, we decided we had to move after our six month lease was up. We kept seeing roaches near our bathroom before we moved out, and we looked behind the toilet and there was a HUGE hole in the wall! I created a work order on their website and after not hearing back for a week, we bought a piece of plastic and covered it ourselves. THEN, they lied on the work portal saying they completed it!? Completely not true. After 3 days, the roaches were almost never seen. I was so disappointed to know that the roaches were in the walls of the complex instead of the drains like they had told me. It suddenly had made us aware of the roach issue and that we had to leave ASAP. Again, we thought we were going to live here for years. But due to the roaches and neighbor issues... that's OBVIOUSLY not the way we wanted to live.
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September 2020 by Lexie Herberth
If I could give this place zero stars, I totally would. I live at the Serra Bella complex and they have ignored my maintenance request for the past 2 months. I have submitted 2 requests as well as trying to call and email management to no avail. I also tried to comment on their Instagram @equitygroupsd and they blocked me instead of addressing the issue. Absolutely absurd. Property management was super attentive before we signed lease, and lost interest once we actually signed. I can’t believe I continue to give this place my rent.. will DEFINITELY not be renewing my lease and will be getting out of here as soon as possible. I have lizards and crickets in my apartment constantly because of a huge crack in our front door and the ceiling in the master leaks from the rain.. significant issues they don’t seem to care about.Take my advice and don’t live here.
