Glendale v Falls at Montrose

Not too long ago, on March 30, 07, Starpoint LLC (the parent corp for Falls at Montrose), bought the property on 2121 Valderas Dr. From what I understand, the community here was quite different at the time-the landlords were an elderly couple who had a super that constantly made sure everything was ok. The landlords also made sure to keep it a quiet, tranquil neighborhood who take the application process quite seriously.

Once the property was bought and formed Falls at Montrose LLC to manage the property. Immediately they began a campaign to remodel units which rubbed tenants the wrong way. According to stories and reports, they raised rent over several hundreds of dollars, pestered tenants in hopes of making them vacate, and other unwelcoming behavior. An anonymous poster on Apartmentratings.com summed it best:

I lived here loving my apartment for 6 years. I had wildlife out my back door and beautiful waterfall, stream, trees and flowers out the front, as well as lovely neighbors - UNTIL - March 30th when the lives of the tenants of 104 units were negatively impacted by StarPoint Property Management of Beverly Hills.

I had just completed treatment for a serious illness and was just trying to recover when on March 30th I found 2 notices on my door. The first welcomed me to the building and announced that they were the new owners. The second (which was illegal in Glendale) gave me 60 days to vacate or else be charged 3 times my rent and have a negative credit rating put on me.

I immediately went to the apartment noted as the "office" to ask for more time in light of my recent illness as I did not have the stamina to move. Of the 104 units, only 20 of us were given eviction notices. That's so they could collect rent from the other units while rehabbing. When I asked if I could be one of the people to stay on, I was told no. When I said I was undergoing cancer treatment and didn't have the stamina and asked what I should do, I was told to CALL A SOCIAL WORKER!

This is the bad faith that was shown to all of us from day one. Immediately they commenced repiping the building while folks were still living in the units. They deprived us of our parking spaces so the plumbers could have access (this is a cul de sac on a steep hill - street parking is just about non-existant), they chopped holes in our walls leaving fine white dust everywhere, they turned off our water, leaving folks without toilets! They are in peoples' apartments til 9 0 10 p.m. at night. They have turned off the waterfalls and drained the streams. Complaints fall on deaf ears. StarPoint is so arrogant they don't care. They are a billion dollar corporation who has a legal department and they feel they can escape any legal actions via loopholes in the law.

Glendale law requires that they give a reason for the vacancy notice and information about relocation money at the time of the notice. From then they have 15 days to give you the money. So far, in my case they are 5 weeks late. When they were notifified by the City Attorney's office that they had to pay relocation costs - they rescinded the evictions! Then 5 days later raised everyone's rent. In some cases as much as $500! In Glendale, there is no rent control so they can legally raise the rent every 60 days.

If you are crazy enough to move in, be prepared to be treated no better than we have.

A poster named zyxwe added her experience:

I have lived in this apartment building for over 3 years. Ever since Star Point took over we have had nothing but problems. They raised my rent $301.00 a month when I just had an increase less than 6 months ago. I had huge holes in my walls that were started and then left like that for 2 weeks. I have not had hot water in my kitchen for over a week and I have asked for it to be fixed 3 times. This used to be a nice building where I felt safe, but I no longer do. They were giving the piping people our keys and letting them enter our units alone with no supervision. I have an 8 year old daughter and now I don't feel comfortable. Who knows who has keys to my unit now. This management company shows no signs of compassion or understanding. They are out for money and I would not recommend to anyone to move into this building. They will not care how you feel or what you have to deal with as long as they have money in their pockets. I assure you it will be the biggest mistake you will make. They have taken all the water out of the waterfalls so now it doesn't have that nice peaceful atmosphere. They also have materials all over the place and the grounds are no longer being kept up. The manager does not live in the building so he cannot possibly be caring for the grounds like the old manager used to.

Some of the tenants banded together and lobbied the city to take action against the Falls by means of a criminal lawsuit.:

Superior Court Judge Stan Blumenfeld on Wednesday set June 13 as the date to begin the trial in the city’s criminal case against the owners and operators of a Montrose apartment complex for alleged violations of tenants’ rights.

The city brought the case against StarPoint Properties, LLC and Valderas Drive Properties, LLC, which own and run the apartment complex at 2121 Valderas Drive, for alleged violations of the city’s just cause for eviction ordinance. After conducting a five-month investigation last summer and fall, the city attorney’s office concluded that the companies violated the city’s just cause for eviction ordinance in multiple ways.

At some point, the city settled with Starpoint attorneys, with Starpoint assuming no guilt and maintaining a rather self-righteous position:

Yeretsian said that the effort to settle the lawsuit was not an admission of guilt by StarPoint but an effort to put the issue behind them.

“Our clients are very happy with this result,” she said. “It’s best any time you can get the case dismissed.”

Some tenants remained upset:

“StarPoint has offered to settle with people at an amount that is less than the [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] guidelines,” said former Valderas Drive resident Sharon DeFrank, who was not named in the criminal case after having received about $38,000 in relocation costs. “The city has the [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] guidelines, but is willing to let StarPoint pay people less. I hate to think they are working together, but it’s hard not to.”

...So they decided to file a civil suit:

The tenants had filed a lawsuit in Glendale Superior Court against StarPoint Properties LLC and Valderas Drive LLC for relocation costs after they said their apartments were left rundown while construction crews worked on the complex.

Commissioner Steven Monette mailed out his judgment to the tenants in which he ruled in favor of them and against StarPoint Properties and Valderas Drive LLC, citing that they were substantially impaired in using and enjoying their apartments during the reconstruction.

But he said that since the tenants weren’t evicted, their relocation fees had to be capped off under a Glendale Municipal Code.

While Starpoint isn't exactly in charge of Falls at Montrose (though who knows how politics work within Starpoint LLC's), you'd imagine they'd want to save face. Change the manager, be more apologetic after the lawsuits, or do something productive. But no, nothing has changed because the subsiding of construction. The same property manager, whose behavior and heavy-handed managing got the company into lawsuit, is still employed. The management still abuses its tenants, still subjects them to unhealthy living quarters, and humiliates them.

Three Stories Regarding Unliveble Conditions and Harassment

_{The following stories involve a single tenant who told me her story. I'm summarizing it here.}

Story One: Harassment

About half a year ago, the Manager came to apartment of tenant at about 9 PM and knocked very hard “scared the shit” out of the tenant. The tenant, a recently widowed mother, was afraid not knowing who was knocking so urgently to see what was the emergency. She went and opened the door only to be surprised by the Manager, half-naked in a bathrobe who immediately began screaming and shouting accusing the tenant of dropping her trash in front of the dumpster. In the midst of her accusations and rant she even yelled at her son. She forced the tenant and her son to go and clean it in the middle of the night.

The Manager made not point to clarify whose trash it was. In fact the trash, which consisted of a pregnancy test and Asian takeout, did not belong to neither the tenant nor her son. Nevertheless, they cleaned most of the mess.

Story Two: Sewage Flood and Unlivable Conditions

Roughly a year ago, issues with the pipes caused sewage to rise from the tenant's toilet and completely covered the bathroom and entered the master bedroom.

The tenant asked for a clean up crew to come and handle the clean up of the sewage. The Managers had cleaners come and clean up; unfortunately, the cleaning crew cleaned the carpet but not the bathroom. Moreover, in the process of starting to clean up the bathroom they removed some things that fell into the sewage in the bathroom.

The tenant complained that the job was left unfinished. After a dispute with the Manager, the cleaning team was sent back.

At this point, the carpet was still dirty and unsanitary. The tenant requested that the carpet be replaced, which was rebuffed by the Manager who said that that was the tenant’s responsibility. A year later, the carpet has yet to be replaced. A formal complaint has been registered with the City of Glendale.

Story Three: Hardwood Floor Issues and Unlivable Conditions

Over a year ago, the tenant's kitchen hardwood floor began to bubble and fringe. The tenant complained to the Management that it needed to be fixed. The Management didn’t even acknowledge the issue. Later the bubble burst, leaving splinters of hardwood exposed to the Tenant, her son, and her pets. Despite having tried to fix it herself, the tenant reports that she has tripped over it many times.

Up till this week, the issue has yet to even be acknowledged by the Management.

Harassing a Tenant, Trust Betrayed

After moving in, the tenant was interested in getting satellite tv, whom he had been informed by the Manager when he signed the contract would be ok if it could be mounted on the balcony.

The tenant decided to order satellite television service, the installation of which required a waiver signed by the management. He tried calling the apartment office for a week and eventually sending this email:

I tried calling the office (several times...over the course of several hours) and your cell phone and on one's picked up. I'm getting satellite TV installed tomorrow and I need you guys to sign a contact OK'ing it. Because I can't get a hold of you, I'm emailing you now in hopes of getting it. When you do, please give me a call at [number redacted]

Eventually he got a call back from the Manager telling the tenant that they could meet together at 9 AM the day the installer was coming to sign the waiver.

Not only was the Manager not available or responsive on their cell phone at 9 AM, but even after the installer came and left hours later. The tenant had been stood up.

Days later the tenant went into the management office to get an explanation for the irresponsible behavior. Rather than meeting the manager, he met an assistant manager who explained that the Manager was rather busy and was also responsible for other apartment houses (despite living at this one). While not being convinced, the tenant told the assistant manager to not pass his concerns along as he didn't want to pursue the issue.

Days later he received phone call at work from the Manager who was screaming something along the lines of:

You have no right to ask about what I was doing!

My job is none of your buisness!

You have no right to tell me how to do my job! I don't come to your work and tell you how to do your job-you can't come to my job and tell me what to do!

I'm supercool, I signed off on your car. I'm not taking packages or signing off on anything else for you again.

The tenant was utterly confused as he had forgotten about the matter. Not only was he just called and harassed at work but his trust was also broken when they had told the assistant manager to not forward their concern regarding the availability of along.

In an email response the tenant asked to meet about the situation which was never followed up on (along with maintance isses that had not been handled since the move in). The tenant did CC their attorney which quickly prompted a change in behavior in the Manager who, while not apologizing, resumed taking packages.

Two Stories Regarding Disrespect of Privacy and Admited Criminal Acts

Both of these stories are involve two tenants, Tenant A and Tenant B, who are both neighbors which had been on rather poor terms. It was after these following events that the two tenants got to be on amicable terms and shared the information herein. One of the tenants was unavailable so I wasn't able to corroborate the story with her.

That said, the tenant who told me these stories is asserts that they happened and that she was told the truth by her neighbor. As soon as the other tenant becomes available I'll try to check the veracity-until then I'm leaving this statement as a caveat.

Store One: Disrespect of Privacy

Tenant A had filled out an application for an apartment in San Diego that she was considering; in this application, the Management or Manager at the Falls at Montrose was listed as a reference for Tenant A. At some point the apartment management from San Diego must have called the Falls to check to verify the tenant's qualities and status. The Manager construed that Tenant A had intended on moving out.

In a conversation with Tenant B, the Manager mentioned that Tenant A would be moving to San Diego (or that she would be possibly be moving to San Diego) in the context of the dispute between both the Tenants. Tenant B had not known this as Tenant A had not told anyone at the Falls that she had applied to another apartment.

Later, Tenant B mentioned it to Tenant A who was incredibly surprised that her confidence and expectation of privacy was betrayed.

Story Two: Manager Claims to Have Vandalized Tenant A's car

In another conversation with Tenant B, the Manager made two claims:

1. That they had peed on Tenant A's car
2. That they had put something in the gas tank of Tenant A's car to ruin it

While it's unlikely that either of these happened (in fact, Tenant A says their vehicle's gas tank door can only be operated from within the car) and that the Manager was being serious, this in no way appropriate. Moreover, the Manager was aware of the dispute between the two tenants and a joke like this is in no way constructive in mediating the dispute. As much as the Manager can claim to have been joking or acting in the capacity of a friend, there's no way to ignore her role as the property manager and the responsibility she has of resolving tenant issues.

In short in these two stories, the Manager not only violated a tenant's expectation of privacy but tastelessly joked about vandilzing property.

Animal Urine and Feces

Upon visiting the Falls at Montrose, you'll notice plenty of this:



which I posted in the first post.

This is a chronic problem at the Falls, so much so, the Management acknowledges it on each monthly flier they distribute. Despite warnings of fines, one a given weekend you'll see this:







Just in walking out to my car. These photos were taken over the course of a weekend on the grass at the Falls and on the side walks on Valderas and within the falls itself.

A tenant remarked to me that they have often complained and sent photos to Management asking for specific action be done to clean up feces and urine. Management has never responded to her emails and the feces and/or urine seemingly persist with no action being done.

Now I personally never noticed marks of urine, but the tenant alerted me that the ever-present splotches I see on the walkways of the Falls are in fact urine. The tenant contact management several days ago with this photo:



Management has not replied, let alone cleaned it. In fact, the number of these splotches along the walkways is alarming. While it's at first the pet owner's responsibility, it is next the responsibility of Management to maintain the grounds and develop better countermeasures to this behavior. None of which is seemingly being done.

Stagnant Water Violation?

Yet again, another potential violation.

The namesake of the Falls is a system of man-made waterfalls that are placed throughout the complex. They certainly serve a purpose in drowning out annoying noises such as music or dogs barking, but they're not always on.

For starters, they are off every night. While this may save water and power (which would seem somewhat disingenuous on behalf of the management as they leave the light on in the management office on overnight from time to time) is still leaves stagnant water.

There have been several days on end, as well, where the pumps have been turned off and water hasn't circulated. Moreover, there's been a few times where the lagoons were drained of water, leaving a few puddles here and there.

Also, even despite function of the pumps, there are regions which appear to remain stagnant as is shown here:












The Manager has claimed that the waters are treated to prevent insect infestation, though I'm skeptical of this claim after reading the pool report and having seen many gnats or mosquitoes previously.

Whatever the case, it is in need of an official inspection to make sure it is up to relevant codes.

Loose Step in South Staircase

I don't know if anyone has reported it, but ever since I've moved in there has been a loose step om the southern staircase lead to and from the pool. Sadly, it's difficult to take a photo of a loose step to show it's actually loose-but it does pose a hazard to people who may be running up and down it while not minding the rails.

Whether or not there hasn't been a report, it's highly unlikely that any member of management would have not walked on it and it is their responsibility to maintain it. If someone falls and is hurt-they are liable according to Every Tenant's Legal Guide (click here for link to the page).