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.
