Crestview Pines

‘Eek! Methinks not.’ is right! I lived at Crestview Pines Apartments for about 8 months.
The property itself it generally kept well and it is a gated community. For the most part I felt secure within the community. Parking was never an issue and they have courtesy patrol that is on the property at night. If you happen to wonder outside of the apartment community, that is when things get sketchy. The surrounding neighborhood is (for lack of a better word) ghetto. I never felt safe going for a jog by myself. There were a few maintenance issues with the apartment when I move in, but nothing too extreme. I rented a 2×1 and it was pretty spacious.
During my stay I NEVER paid rent late except for one month (my very last month). They charged $ 250 to serve a «3-​day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit» AND charged an additional $ 100 for a late fee for being one day late. I work in property management and I am a huge advocate for late fees; however, these charges are excessive. I work 9:00am to 6:00pm and as a result I missed the open office and was forced to pay rent late and the property management company was not willing to work with me on these charges. Usually apartment communities provide a one time courtesy waive for residents who never pay rent late. I had to call all the way to the corporate office and after several calls, they only waived half of the fees. I did not feel like they valued their residents AT ALL. I never paid rent late and I never caused any problems. Because of this, I gave my 30-​day notice of intent to vacate.
When I moved out the company did not send me my deposit back within 21 days (required per California law). Nor did they send an itemized statement to me within those 21 days (also required, provided that the deposit is not going to be refunded). I called the property manager Reuben several times to see when my deposit was going to be refunded that me and he kept indicating my «refund» was on its way. Come to find, over 21 days later, no deposit was refunded at all. In fact, the apartment community claimed that there were over $ 3000 in damages. Yes ladies and gentlemen THREE FRICKEN THOUSAND DOLLARS + in damages. This was absolutely ridiculous. I understand that the apartment was not in pristine condition. (I did not have it professionally cleaned and I did not have the carpets cleaned). However, I did spend a ton of time deep cleaning that apartment myself. I left the apartment in an overall good condition. The property manager did not do a Move In or Move Out inspection (EVEN THOUGH I REQUESTED A MOVE OUT INSPECTION). Also, they did not provide ANY receipts or invoices for the charges they were trying to charge me with. Regardless, the property did not refund my deposit within 21 days. So legally, they had to refund my deposit entirely. I faced no charges– whew!
If you are planning on moving here I have some recommendations:
1. NEVER pay rent late, no excuses. And if you do, be prepared for an additional fee of $ 350 on top of your rent.
2. Request that the property manager does a move in AND move out inspection and take lots of pictures! (REALLY, DEMAND IT OR HE WON“T).
3. Be prepared to be dispute your charges when you move out.
4. Know you rights as a tenant!!! **** I can’t express that enough. ****
I would not recommend living here at all! There are way nicer apartments within the area (all comparable in pricing too– some better).

The place is alright… a lil over priced but not too bad… NO CENTRAL A/​C which does not seem too bad to start… but when its 106 outside that wall unit is not going to cut it at all. The parking sucks. little to no visitors spots available, street parking is not safe as the neighborhood is not the best. The apartment complex across the street looks like a garbage dump. The «security guard» is non existent, I never saw him in the 6 months I lived there, and I am a night person. In the end the management tried to screw me over and keep my deposit and wanted more, once my attorney wrote them a nice letter they were more then willing to cut me a check to refund my deposit. Thank God I had an attorney or I would have been SOL like many others have there im sure. All in all it wasn’t half bad till the end but thats was enough to warrant a 1 star… Try somewhere way nicer for the $ in this market. Cross Point is cheaper and 100X’s nicer as is anything Sierra Pacific has. Good Luck!