Tenant Reviews for 1304 W 2ND ST

10 REASONS WHY I HATED LIVING AT BELMONT STATION APARTMENTS, and why you will too: 1. PAPER THIN WALLS! I could hear my neighbors' cell phones, laughing, talking (not even being loud). This was the #1 problem for me because even when I wanted to sleep, if my neighbors were still awake I could hear whatever they were doing! They weren't even loud people, but it was unbearable at times. I can't even imagine what life would have been like with LOUD neighbors. 2. RUDE MANAGEMENT WHO DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU! They were incompetent, and didn't care at all when we had problems with our unit, parking situation, and when we told them we were moving out they turned downright nasty! The management was much better when we moved in. The manager at the time had very good customer service and actually cared when stuff broke! The current manager is a very mean and rude person who shouldn't be in customer service. 3. The crowd got really shady here. It always smelled like WEED everywhere, even in the common areas. Not cool because there are lots of little kids who live here! I would NEVER live here with a child, I would rather break my lease and pay the penalty. 4. LOUD PARTIES ALL THE TIME. For some reason a lot of tenants loved to party IN THEIR APARTMENTS instead of going to bars or clubs. Every weekend without fail, there would be super loud clubbing music playing somewhere. During the day there would be loud music and parties too. 5. RAISED THE RENT CONSIDERABLY AFTER PERFECT HISTORY OF RENT PAYMENTS - They raised the monthly rent by about $200 when we had never been late on paying rent during our lease. 6. NICKEL AND DIMED ON THE SECURITY DEPOSIT! Don't even get me started on this...SHADY COMPANY!!! No wonder they nickel and dimed us when we cleaned the apartment ourselves and left it in perfect condition, because EVERYONE WAS MOVING OUT WHEN WE DID! The weekend we moved there were at least 3 other people moving OUT. The apartment across from us took over 6 months to fill the vacancy! Now that's a bad sign. Their occupancy rate may have gotten lower, but not the noise! 7. DRUNK PEOPLE RUINED THE CARPETS AND IT TOOK THEM A YEAR TO FIX IT - We got to stare at multiple red stains from the drunk girl who barfed all over the carpets on NYE until June. Before that the carpets were already super nasty. They do not spend money to maintain the stuff here! 8. BOTH ELEVATORS ALWAYS GET BROKEN AND TAKES FOREVER TO FIX THEM! One elevator was broken for over 2 months before they fixed it! Unacceptable. Every time I would get in the working elevator all of the tenants would complain to each other about how bad this apartment company is!!! 9. SHADY NEIGHBORHOOD. Take a look around... 10. VULNERABLE TO SHADY NEIGHBORHOOD - The visitors' parking garage is simply open, with no gate or anything. Many a time I've seen homeless guys go into the parking area, and even into Belmont lobby to use the trashcans and bathroom. The side garage is gated but it's ALWAYS OPEN! I know they keep it open for movers, but a lot of times it would just be randomly open on the weekdays and at night, and I would see random people walking in and out of there! 11. NO VISITOR PARKING, but there are so many vacant spots in the parking structure! We were counting the days until we could move out. You can do so much better for your money than this place. They seriously rip you off with the rent prices. If it was a lot cheaper I wouldn't be complaining like this but we moved to a MUCH nicer place for the same exact price!

I've lived at Belmont Station for three years now and I love it. The staff is professional and friendly and the maintenance do their best to keep it clean. I use the amenities every chance I get. The gym is clean and there are free yoga classes!Things seem to get better here every year with more maintenance being done.

Everything is always broken from the elevators to the parking garage door, and it never gets fixed. The elevator across from my apartment has been "due for scheduled maintanence" for 5 weeks. This is not new, it has happened before. The walls are super thin, you can hear everything. People are not considerate either, playing loud music, screaming and yelling, and smoking weed outside so if you live near them your entire apartment reeks of weed. If you want to have people visit, plan on them having to park in shady areas. My boyfriends car was broken into while parked right next to the building on Lucas. The garage isn't that safe either. A friend who lives in the building's motorcycle was stolen from the parking garage. The management is awful. They will actively try and screw as much money out of you as possible. Tread lightly. Also, they will tell you one thing and do another. It is incredibly frustrating. Oh they seem nice when you sign the lease but they are just not. They do not care about you they care about your checkbook. We have been here only a year and are counting down the days until we no longer have to deal with this place. On a positive note, the maintenance staff and security staff are incredible. Basically it costs entirely too much for what it is worth. It looks all pretty but it is one of the worst places I have lived. Seriously, can't wait to move out and be done with Belmont Station forever.

I've been living at the Belmont Station, less than a year and I can't wait to move out. reasons: 1. The elevator is always broken. So far, it broke 6 times, and this time it's been 4 weeks straight without an elevator. 2. The walls are so thin. I can hear when my neighbor is watching tv, I can hear when my upstairs neighbor is walking, and its more like marching. 3. The barbecue area is where the dog park is. AND they only have a tiny little table, and 2 grillers, but one is broken. 5. Having a washer and dryer in unit is convenient, until all of my white clothes started to have rust marks everywhere... I'm honestly disappointed, and if you are thinking in moving in, think again, you can find so many other, and better places for the same price.

Dropping them down to one star after their ridiculous response!! I received an email today immediately after I wrote to the Essex property relation's office, 63 days of ignored emails and a certified letter. The housing manager said she just saw it because she was away on a one-week vacation. She emailed saying I should be thankful that the charges are what they are since I damaged the carpet.... this is the first I've ever heard about this. They failed to tell me this: in my pre-inspection, move-out itemized list or on the email response they sent me saying I did not damage the apartment. SHADY!! Thank goodness I have email documentation. This place is also notorious for telling me to call them to discuss, but never do that since they deny things they tell you. This also happened when I tried moving out, but that's another crazy discussion. Get dated copies of all conversations of everything you send them, because even emails you can see them flipping their story. ---------------- Video of our apartment at move out: http://www.youtube.com... Hidden move out costs: After 2 1/2 years my roommate and I moved out of our 2 bedroom and 2 bathroom apartment last month and was told "You were not charged for any damages, but for normal turnover charges that were NOT outlined in your lease" .....BAM a $213.55 move out cost. Our lease states that in our pre-inspection if there were any associated costs to our move-out they had to tell us before charging us :( They didn't say there was going to be any charge to us. Cons: We had a noisy street facing apartment near the main entrance door, the security staff smokes right beneath our window. I told management and they told me he's allowed to smoke there and I just shouldn't open the window. If you have a street facing apartment, be prepared to sleep with street noise. Weekends were especially bad you would hear a lot of drunken fights through the wall. I kept earplugs next to the bed. The staff also has a very annoying habit of coming to the apartment without permission; they've come in at least five times. At first it was unannounced, then a paper was left on your door saying they were going to come mid-day in the week. We hear gunshots at night, stabbing across the street and my friend got held up at the Chevron gas station down the street. You're also not walking distance to anything. Plus: Belmont station is a decently new apartment and the amenities.

I love this place. And I didn't realize exactly how much I loved it until I had to move out. The pros out way the cons, let me explain. I get my own parking spot. In a covered and gated parking garage. How awesome. There's a full gym, movie theater, 24/7 security, leasing office open 7 days a week, pool & jacuzzi, dog park. Central air, NO BUGS AT ALL, quiet area for where it's located (near downtown la). I've never even seen one single ant while living here, and that is awesome. It might be because I live on the highest floor (5th) but this place is still so well maintained. Dishwasher, new appliances, nice carpet, modern features. The elevator has never broken down on me, I've never seen dog poop anywhere inside the premises, maintenance and security are very friendly. I've never once felt unsafe in or around this area. Lots of visitor parking (inside garage, on cul-de-sac and on lucas). Only gripe is the cost to live here - $1400 for a studio is kind of steep.

I've lived in 4 apartments in the last 8 years, and this is by far my favorite. The building is very new and very well maintained in the common areas (gardens, pool, party room, dog park, etc.) I guess there were a lot of problems with the dog park before, but they put in astroturf for the ground and new grills. Almost everyone cleans up after themselves in the dog park, and the maintenance staff comes in regularly to clean too. My apartment is very nice and we've been here a year and never had to make a maintenance call. I think it's very quiet - I never hear people in the hallway, I just occasionally hear my neighbor's cabinet doors banging closed. The area is perfectly fine to walk around during the day. I wouldn't walk around at night without my dog, though. There are sirens and helicopters and the occasional loud music - but in LA I don't think you can get away from that, unless you live in Beverly Hills or some other posh overpriced neighborhood.

Belmont Station is expensive. And the location is very sketchy...so, if you are a jogger, I would not reccommend this place for you. Often you will see homeless people outside the building or some wierd activity. And the walls are super thin. I can hear my neighbors all the time. But there are a few pros to the place: 1. In unit washer dryer. 2. Assigned Garage Parking....this is pretty hard to come by in downtown los angeles 3. 24 Hour Security...most of the guards here are nice. 4. Efficient Maintenance staff. They are quick to fix and the place is fairly well maintained. 5. On site leasing management....if you got a complaint...atleast you know they are right there to go to. There is usually always someone in the office during normal business hours. The building is fairly new. I never had problems with mold or bugs. Which is a major plus for me. The only major dislike about this place is the area. I feel safe once I'm inside the building. But not so much of the outside. Also, the elevators do have a tendency to break down once in a while. But, I have yet to live in a apartment building with elevators that do not break. If you know a place like that...please post. I would love to check it out.

We just renewed our lease to January, 2012. No place is perfect. This is a nice complex and nice people working here. If something needs fixing, they get to it right away! Rates are about right for this location near downtown. Grounds are well kept and clean. No problem with crime in the building. Only some problems we experience: 1)The ceiling, flooring and walls are very thin, therefore you can hear and feel thumps and sounds more than other places we have resided in at this price range. 2)The side street "Toluca" has small older houses across the street with loud mexican music, loud cars, horns, alarms and yelling most of the time, especially at night and early morning. Cops are often there. 3)Fire alarm often going off at anytime and than fire deparment with sirens blazing showing up each time. 4)Not enough visitor parking due to too much reserved parking for future residences. 5)Management and security allow moving and delivery vehicles to park in red curb zone in front of lobby, creating a very unsafe visual driving situation when pulling in and out of the parking area. 6)Management does not assign parking spots closest to the units, grrrr. Anyway, we are still here until next January, than hoping to buy a home. Maybe Ownership should buy the houses on Toluca and tear them down to make additional visitor parking! If the above were addressed, We would stay longer and pay more to see it happen!

Worst worst worst!