The Arbors Apartments

I moved into a 2×1 after having a great experience in my 1×1 unfortunately they got a whole new office staff and that’s when my opinion on this complex changed completely.
We had reoccurring issues with a woman named Mary Jo. She was an older women and I felt she discriminated against my boyfriend and I for being young.
We had so many situations that I had to contact corporate headquarters and get them involved. Here’s what we were harassed for.
1. Parking backwards (numerous other residents and I was told that they would be getting contacted about it too. They never moved their vehicles and remained parked backwards until the day I moved which leads me to believe that was a lie.) discrimination!
2. Threatened to be towed for not having registration. (Registration was paid, tags had been lost in mail but car was street legal)
3. Roof work was being done so they asked us to move our car for the workers, we did, then the workers said to go ahead and re park because they were calling it a day. We did. We get a call a few minutes later from Mary Jo asking us to move our car again, I told her we already did and it wasn’t needed. She said she wanted us to move it so they could park there TOMORROW. I told her no, that we weren’t going to keep moving our car Blah blah. It turned into an argument and she was talking down to me the entire time due to my age.
I’ve never felt more harassed before, for what you pay to live in these «nice» but basic, small, and overpriced apartments you expect to be left alone! They consistently let the trashcan overflow and when I addressed it they blamed it on the waste company instead of finding a solution. I really hope they replace the office staff soon. We broke our lease early to get away from them. That’s how bad it was, every time I came home there was another notice on my door or voicemail.

I just moved in this week, so far so good. The Apartment is really clean, probably one of the cleanest apartments I have rented. The staff has been very helpful. In a nice quiet area and they allow pets!

I have 2 cats, paid deposits for them, kept everything on the up-​and-​up. My cats have been fixed since they were babies, litter box trained since before 2 weeks, and on a side note are very smart and know a lot of commands.
Back to the topic: We had a large deposit when we moved in, and when we moved out, we were anticipating a large return due to being good tenants. We were charged for a full carpet replacement, carpet pad replacement, and subfloor cleaning on carpet that they said my cats destroyed.
My cats have never peed outside of their box since they’ve been able to wobble around and use their potty box as babies. The office provided a map of the areas they found urine, and even took the time to make neat little circles. Hundreds of neat… little… circles… On EVERY AREA that had carpet… and there were areas circled that were IMPOSSIBLE for my cats to pee on, unless they are supercats that can lift heavy solid desks and open doors. Areas where solid computer desks were, furniture, etc. Mind you, we kept our computer room closed constantly because our cats like to pull the cords on things, yet according to The Arbors, they managed to waltz in and urinate willy-​nilly.
The carpet itself was a year old when we moved in (I know this because of the paperwork we were given), and the cats were there for a total of of 7 – 8 months during our stay. Yet, they apparently managed to spray EVERYWHERE without any guests, myself, my fiancé, or even The Arbor’s yearly inspection crew even smelling anything. Apparently we love to wallow in cat urine. Mmm, mmm that sweet smell.
«But Alicia,» you may be asking right now, «why would they have found evidence of pet urine when your cats clearly don’t have the capability of marking their territory because they were fixed and trained at a very young age?». Brace yourself for the answer: 1) The renter who lived on the carpet before me most likely had pets and, according to management, never reported them on their lease. Great, so honest people who pay a pet deposit get screwed.
We live in a great place now, and (surprise surprise), my cats don’t have a taste for pissing everywhere here either. Because they never did. Because they don’t, and never will.
Long story short: If you decide to rent here, have them blacklight test your apartment BEFORE you move in, and get documentation of it. Because if you are an honest person who pays their $ 500 per pet deposit, you WILL be screwed upon move-​out.

I’ve been pretty happy here the past few months and feel like this is a safe environment.
There’s only been one maintenance issue and it was solved for me the next day.
I’d say come take a tour and see what this quiet and centrally located community has to offer you!

I’ve been a resident at the Arbors for almost two years and I have to say I’m super surprised to see some of the negative reviews as my experience has been nothing short of fantastic. Even with the change in Management, I think it’s been great. Anna Marie and her staff are so friendly… and Allen… omg, the man is a saint. Anytime anything needs repair in my apartment he’s here within 24 hours. And when he see’s something else that needs repair he’s pro-​active about fixing it.
Most of the neighbors are super friendly, and always willing to lend a helping hand. There’s a lot of kids in our little community and short of them occasionally leaving stuff on the playground (which doesn’t impact me one way or the other) their all very well behaved and respectful. If I had to say any one negative thing it would be that some of the pet owners don’t always clean up after their pets — but that’s the owners fault, it has nothing to do with the Managment at the Arbors.
I fully intend on signing another lease — I have everything I need here at the Arbors.

The Arbors has been one of the best places I’ve lived in the Bay Area. I’ve moved around a lot, so I have many places to compare. I’ve read the other reviews, my experience has been much different. Their pet policy is generous (though the deposit is high, but within range of other properties). The grounds are well maintained and they keep up on the apartments. They have come in at my request and for routine maintanance checks. I have always foudn that they did the job above and beyond, often replacing the broken piece with new equipment. The management staff is friendly to say the least. They know your name, pet’s name, and take an interest is talking with you.
The location has been good across from the main libarary and near the trails with a gym and pool on the premise.
I would highly recommend this place for it’s high customer service standards.

I have mixed emotions about the Arbors. On the one hand are the pluses:
— Good neighborhood. It’s right across the street from the police station, the library, and a bingo parlor!
— Relatively quiet. As far as apartments go, they were pretty quiet. I did have a few instances of neighbors making noise, but they were anomalies and not regular occurrences.
— Good value. If you shop around for location, cleanliness, safety, quietness, and a washer/​dryer IN THE APARTMENT, you will probably not find a much better price.
— Clean. The apartment was clean when I moved in, and the grounds were well-​kept.
— Plentiful parking. Each apartment has an assigned spot, and there appeared to be plenty of visitor parking (but I had no visitors, boo!).
— Shady. There were plenty of beautiful shade trees that helped keep the buildings cool during the summer. They were deciduous, so they also allowed the sun to heat the buildings during the winter.
— Pets. Pets are allowed! I don’t have any, but I suppose I could have!
On the other hand are the so-so’s:
— Maintenance seems to take a while. I spent the first month with a dishwasher that leaked onto the floor, so I couldn’t really use it because I was afraid I would cause property damage. They finally replaced it with a new one. At some point, the door latch on the new washer stopped working properly. I notified the managers; they said they would send someone out to look at it. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. The latch was still broken a month or so later with no note or indication that anyone came in to fix it.
— Outdated temperature control. The heater/​AC unit in my unit was probably the original equipment, and lord have mercy was it LOUD. I had the maintenance staff look at it, and they said it was operating normally. It seemed to work, but it made a real racket when it kicked on and off. The only solution was to set it up so that it cranked full blast without shutting off. Of course, this meant that if I fell asleep with it on, I woke up at some point during the night freezing or sweating to death.
On the other other hand are the bad things:
— Smoking. The people in the apartment below me smoked. Yes, it’s their right, I know, but the problem was that they smoked near the intake vent of the heater/​AC unit and back screen door. So, no matter how I tried to regulate the temperature in the apartment (electronically, or by opening windows to let the breeze through), the apartment would get filled with stinky cigarette smoke.
On the other other other hand are the really bad things:
— DEPOSIT WITHHOLDING. At the end of my 6-​month lease, I decided to go for somewhere cheaper and smaller (a room share in a house). Before moving out, I read the other review by Jor R. and thought I better make sure that doesn’t happen to me! I lived by myself, with no pets and no visitors, took off my shoes in the apartment, and tend to be pretty clean as a rule. I also had no furniture in the apartment save a futon bed and only occupied the living room (2 bedrooms were empty — you see why I wanted a smaller place). I called the apartment manager and brought up the return of the deposit. At that point, she made it clear (without having seen the apartment!) that I would likely be charged for painting and carpet cleaning. I made it clear that I did not believe those charges would be necessary. She said maybe, but there was probably no way she could get me out of the carpet cleaning charge.
I read the laws concerning deposits in California and found that they cannot routinely charge for painting and cleaning carpets, and need to show that they were damaged beyond normal wear and tear or not as clean as at move-​in time in order to do so. I got some legal advice and requested a walk-​through and took tons of pictures and movies before moving out. During the walk through, the manager said that the apartment looked «move-​in ready» and that she wished all tenants left apartments so clean. In the same breath, she said they would probably need to paint though. I asked her to show me where painting was needed. She was unable to do so.
In the end, they kept $ 85 of my deposit for carpet cleaning. In writing (phone calls are no good here), I requested receipts and justification for keeping the carpet cleaning charge within 14 days. I made it clear that I would continue on to small claims court if need be (and I would have, because I really think I was in the right!). I got my $ 85 back.
The moral of the story: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. I certainly don’t advocate ripping off landlords. However, if you feel your deposit was wrongfully withheld, you do have recourse. Please see:
and happy apartment hunting.

These apartments are OK. Outdated and like living in a cardboard box, but reasonably quiet.
As a WARNING, don’t bother cleaning when you move out. Regardless of the condition, they will charge at least $ 300. You will pay for a cleaning service no matter what you do to the unit (we left ours way cleaner than when we moved in and still paid $ 125 — even after we told them that if there were any issues we would take care of them!)
Don’t even vacuum — you will have to pay to have the carpets shampooed anyway.
You will also pay for painting.
Also, you have no say over these charges or the services rendered.