The Encore Apartments

This is the worst place I have ever lived. The management treats tenants like employees and have the worst attitude possible. They treat you like you are lucky they allowed you to live here like its a palace which its not. The elevator is constantly broken. The back area smells so bad I get an instant headache. If you get on the managements bad side by complaining or asking for something to get fixed in a timely manner (under a month) they become vindictive and speak badly about you to other tenants. If the 2 people in the office would be replaced this place could be a really nice place to live but until then it’s rundown, smelly, dishonest and deceptive.

I moved here Aug 28^th 2015. Duane gave me the tour earlier in the month and once I saw it I knew this is where I wanted to live. Not only is the complex well kept but the security and onsite repair is always there and ready at a moments notice! One of main reasons I will resign for another year is because of Duane. On day of move in there were somethings need to be taken care of and he did that and more. He is extremely thoughtful and will do whatever needs to be done to help you out :) If your looking for a place in Sherman Oaks I highly recommend you check it out, and make sure you have Duane show you the property you’ll be happy you did. I know I am :)

I lived at the Encore Sherman Oaks for one year. Moving-​in was perfect, they have a large elevator that is useful when moving large items and the staff (Victoria and Duane) were very much helpful. The location of the building is great and the neighbors were fine. We decided to move-​out because the cost of rent was too high, they tend to increase your rent every year, and we didnt use any of the amenities they offer. Towards the end of our lease, loud neighbors moved-​in down the hall, part of our ceiling collapsed and you cant miss the dog poop or pee you encounter throughout the building every other day.
Move-​out was far from perfect. Moving is a pain in general so adding poor customer service is truly unacceptable. I scheduled a move-​out inspection and was informed that they only conduct move-​out inspections on Tues or Thurs, because clearly residents shouldnt work during the week. They also didnt provide me with a time because they dont make appointments. I requested a time frame, at the very least, so they said they would arrange for the inspection before noon. I took half a day off from work, went into the Encore office to see if they had a time in mind. They couldnt locate the person who was supposed to conduct the inspection so they asked if they could email me when they had a time or when the person was ready to inspect the apt. I didnt receive an email, phone call, or any notification of an inspection that day. I didnt as much receive a notification that an inspection was done without my presence.
I did, however, see a statement on my account that indicates that I will be refunded less that 15% of my deposit. The most alarming deduction was an $ 85 cleaning fee. I have moved out of many apartments and I always make sure to thoroughly clean the apartment before move-​out so that I can get as much as my deposit back. Even when moving from a small building I have always been refunded my full deposit. I understand that that may not always be possible but to charge almost one hundred dollars to clean an already clean apartment is thievery.
I will be contacting their area managers to get this settled or at the very least provide them with evidence of poor customer service from both Victoria and Duane. Their lack of respect for my time was beyond anything I’ve seen from any company.
Note:
You may not hate the place while you live there but you wont live there for long, unless you are fine having high rent that increases every year.
The decent customer service provided by the staff will disappear as soon as you tell them youre moving out and you will not get your deposit back.
Lastly, beware of your leasing terms. We were under the impression that we had a 1 year lease but we sadly found out (when we were moving out) that we had a 1 year and 2 week lease. Who does that? We had to pay for 2 additional weeks of rent on top of our new lease at another apt. This was our fault for not noticing the lease end dates when we signed but never did we think that our lease was for more than a year. CHECK YOUR LEASE DATES.
I will never live at an Encore apartment complex again.

A continuation of my efforts to reduce the amount of second hand smoke in my apartment due to smoking neighbors:
— On October 22^nd, 2015, I reached out to management about the cigarette smoke smell in my apartment.
— On October 27^th, I finally got a reply from management saying they’ll look into the issue.
— November 2^nd, I reached out to management again because the smoke smell had not abated.
— November 3^rd, I got an email from management stating, «We have contacted the resident residing next to you and below you and have been informed that they are not smoking in their home. The next step is to inspect their homes. As you may already know this process can be a bit invasive and proper notice must be given.» I went in to speak to the office and confirmed that a 72 hour notice would be given to residents for inspection and that I should hear back by that Friday with results.
— November 13^th, I got an email from Duane (management) with a terse explanation that I signed an addendum to my lease stating that the apartment complex cannot guarantee a smoke place apartment building but will do their due diligence to reduce smoking instances… Email in response to my complaints that I can’t use my air conditioner despite paying 1800+ a month for these amenities:
«Please understand the items you choose to not utilize are in working order and have always been available to you. Where we understand your frustrations do understand that the lease you signed also made it clear we could not guarantee a smoke free environment. I attached the smoke free addendum again. Please see the second to last paragraph. «
— November 14^th, I responded stating that the «new air filters» installed in my air conditioning were not stopping or mitigating the smell of smoke.
— November 19^th, I received an email from management stating that inspections were complete (despite the fact that they were supposed to be completed the week of November 3^rd) and that they had not found any signs of smoking in neighboring apartments, even though a maintenance personnel confirmed that he had smelled the smoke I was referring to in my apartment.
— November 23^rd, I emailed management stating that, once again, I could smell someone smoking in their apartment.
— November 24^th, I received the following message from Duane:
«It is unfortunate that you are still experiencing this issue but we are confident we have conducted the appropriate amount of inspections up to this point. We collected feedback and information from your neighbors and then determined to go in after you said you continued to smell the cigarette smoke. Just as it is very important to find out what the source of your issue is it is equally as important to not to continually disturb your neighbors comfort without any evidence to do so.»
Basically, this apartment complex does not deserve even 1 star. A month later, and despite the promise of «smoke free living» and clean premises, the management company refuses to provide a solution to the issue. As a result, I’ve developed an allergic cough persisting for the past four weeks due to the amount of second hand smoke I’m inhaling whenever using my air conditioning or heater. Management refused to do anything further, because according to them, the air conditioner works and it’s my fault I’m not using it because I don’t want to flood my apartment with cigarette smoke.
Please take my advice and go lease elsewhere. I leave this unit in 3 weeks knowing I’ll be paying rent, but also knowing that I’ll be flooding Unilocal and other sites with poor reviews of my experience in these apartments. If I can keep 1 person from making a bad decision and going with Encore, I’ll sleep better at night.

I’ve read a bunch of the reviews posted here, some have merit and others I’m not sure what they’re talking about/​referring to. We moved in here about 2 months ago, moving cross country from FL. We were in LA a week in July touring various apartments and ultimately decided on living here. From the moment we met, Victoria has been a saint and seems to genuinely care for those she comes in contact with. Quick to answer emails and get back regarding anything you contact her about. Since living here the back elevator was out of service once, I will concede that. Is it ideal, no. But there’s elevators in the front and steps literally beside said back elevator-​just take them, it’s faster & the buildings only 3 stories tall. Dogs are a minor issue as is other various noises you may here but when you live in a city and across the street from the hospital, noise is to be expected. The one time there was an issue and needed Duane, he fixed it right away, no delay. Some neighbors are louder than others but again, it’s an apartment complex and unfortunately some noise is to be expected but thankfully it’s nothing too loud or obscene.
Maybe it is me still looking through rose colored glasses, but all things considered the Encore apartments seem like a starter place. Perspective is everything.

I’ve lived here for three years and not one thing gets better. They spend every dollar to make the property look like it’s worth the high price but it isn’t at all. Oh and every year my rent goes up almost $ 200. They’ve also added charges to my account and when I try to get them off they hide behind something in the lease and by something I mean ANYTHING they can. Awful. Buncha money grabbers. Screw this place.

So many awful things about this place: Property is always dirty, my car has been broken in twice in the garage, there are 5 to 10 people crammed into 1 and 2 bedroom apts which management is aware, but unwilling to do anything. When something needs fixing it takes up to two weeks to get it repaired. The only place they keep looking nice is the lobby and recreation room, but I guess this is for appearance so that they can trick people into thinking its a nice a place.

The management here is AWFUL. Here are some things you need to consider before you decide to live here:
1. If you need to contact the office about something, don’t bother emailing them. They never respond to emails.
2. They often conduct «city inspections» and go into your apartment whether or not you’re there.
3. The «mandatory» fire alarm testing is extremely annoying. It goes on all day and they need to go into your apartment to make sure your fire alarm is working. I’ve lived at many different apartment communities and this is the only one that conducts these «mandatory» fire alarm testings.
4. The washers and dryers are often out of order.
5. The rear elevator is often out of order as well.
6. They will tell you to clear out the parking garage so they can do «maintenance.» If you don’t leave your assigned parking space, they threaten to tow your car.
7. They often shut off the water for «repairs.» So you might wake up one day and find that you can’t take a shower because of a water shut off.
And finally: I needed to extend my lease an extra 5 days because my new apartment is not ready yet, and the management here gave me a prorated price I’d be paying when I turned in my notice to vacate a month in advance. Then when the day came to turn in the payment, they told me they miscalculated the first time and that I actually have to pay a higher rate. If I had known I would be paying this higher rate instead, I would not have extended an extra 5 days, but it’s too late now because I’ve already signed the lease for my new apartment. That’s how they do business here — they screw you over at the last minute so you can’t get out of it.
I do not recommend living here. Only pro is that they have a ²⁴⁄₇ gym, but all the amenities don’t make up for how horrible and untrustworthy the management is here.

Pros:
Friendly staff.
The very friendly night watchman. (The big guy)
Quick turnaround for maintenance issues.
Good gym.
²⁴⁄₇ Laundry room although paid.
Close to everything (freeways — 101/​405, Movies, Restaurants, etc)
Cons:
Improper maintenance of rear elevator and the Dog area on the backside — the maintenance needs to monitor these areas more frequently.
Poor visitors parking — There are very few parking spots for visitors which are parked by cars which end up sitting there for weeks.
Very low threshold for sounds — office/​people start complaining for very medium sounds even during weekends. definitely not a place to socialize.

I am living here and I am so happy.

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. They treat prospective customers so awful that I can’t even image how they treat their tenants who are trapped in a lease!!! I WOULD NEVER LIVE AT THIS APARTMENT!!!

No star for this apartment! Money suckers!!! They increase the rent yearly. Poor management poor security. Often times there will be police activity and even SWAT team and no management insight. No follow up either.
They kept changing employee. The parking situation sucks. Someone broke in to my neighbors car. They should be more strict with their pet policy because it always stinks in the parking elevator!!! They only keep the front elevator clean to attract new tenants. This apartment is only good for short term!!!
I won’t recommend this place to anyone.

I move out to LA about a yr ago and from the beginning this was a weird and confusing relationship reserve the room on line with a lower amount, as they told me and it didn’t do it and reserved it for someone else.
When I finally got it worked out they hadn’t told me that I needed Rentals Insurance I learned that the day i was going to pick up the key.
Every other week something was happening: changing the carpets, changing the toilets, painting, redoing the lobby, redoing the common areas, the gates to the parking where open for a while, jacuzzi wasn’t working for almost 2 months… Every week it was different people coming in the complex to work on something that wasn’t broke (long story short carpets look like I would’ve done a better job.
I got a puppy (Mutt Boxer Mix) and because they thought it was a PitBull the didn’t want to renew my lease. This is she everything started going worse. I needed people to looks at my carpet it took 3 weeks for they to come back to me. The only way they would respond was after 3 emails and one visit to the office.
They told me I had to pay for the new carpet and then just for the treatment. They where charging me twice for my last month rent and wouldn’t tell me the correct amount (that I needed because I need to pay by check by their ways).
Their dog common area is full of insects and completely gross. When they where changing the toilets they use it to put the trash there.
It’s been the worst welcome to LA experience… and I still have a couple of weeks to stand it and I’ve learned SUPER EXPENSIVE. I was desperate to get a place. This is what happens.
The only good thing is the maintenance guy Robert, the security guard he is so nice and the Yogurt Land walking distance.

This is the worst apartment complex. They have new management and they are the worst. In the years that I lived here there have been swat, cops, domestic disturbances, constant car thefts. They constantly increase the cost of rent trying to rip you off every chance they get. The manager there is the worst I have ever come across. Do not live here. there are better run apartments in Sherman oaks.

My roommate and I are students at UCLA trying to find a 2bed/​2bath that was worth the money. After having a horrible living experience at our old spot in Westwood, we managed to find this place only 10 miles away from school in beautiful Sherman Oaks. Bus stop is literally right across from the apartment that takes you straight to Westwood. The freeways are literally only hundreds of feet away from the apartment complex and so are the fun dining/​shopping/​bar areas! Parking although I wish we were lucky enough to have side by side parking is still convenient with security overnight too! Everything is clean and chic and the bedroom layout it so cute! An addt’l door entrance in your own room to the balcony? So awesome! Management has been super accommodating and extremely professional. Duane is awesome! I never want to rent from a «mom & pop» style of management ever again. The professionalism makes a huge difference. Plus vending machines, indoor ball court, pool, office area, sportsbar with a TV & gym with free weights adds a nice touch! Thank you equity/​encore apartments! Worth every penny & that’s coming from a college student! :)
Could be 5 if laundry facilities were open ²⁴⁄₇ but I understand how loud it can be for the surrounding apartments!

Im not understanding the management. My rent for August was late, so the management is refusing my payment which includes late fees because they want me to pay their attorney fees on top of September’s rent which is due. I am struggling as you can see, and is trying to avoid eviction, but this is ridiculous.

As a resident down the street from the Encore Apartments I would like to add to the many negative reviews concerning the management. On an ongoing basis tenants allow their dogs to crap on the sidewalk and the grass strip along the sidewalk. A signed petition of complaint of 27 residents has failed to get the attention of the Encore management as well as complaints to the Sherman Oaks City Council and animal regulation. The management ignores all these complaints and refuses to address them. As evidenced by the other negative reviews from tenants this is telling of the indifference and attitude of this management company towards their own tenants and homeowners in the neighborhood.

Seriously the worse place to live!!! Marisol the manager is horrible, she is unproffesional and rude. The office is barely open and they take forever to return phone calls. After the first year we lived here, they raised the rent over $ 300! The place is a total dump and they keep doing these «renovations» that are hazerdous to everyone’s health and aren’t improving the building whatsoever. There have been several cars broken into within the complex even though it’s «gated» because the back gate is always broken. I would never move here again, total dump!!!