Tenant Reviews for 1570 N. EDGEMONT ST

You’re probably reading reviews of apartment buildings, filled with 1-star reviews from people mad that they didn’t get their deposit back after burning down the kitchen. I thought that about this place and was so, so wrong. The “management”, if you can call it that, is atrocious. They are aggressively uninterested in the property, and were generally unpleasant to boot. Here is a selection of some of their actions in my 14 months as a tenant: -5 different new managers -The entire time I lived here, not once, did a building manager ever answer their phone. (One onsite guy would, but had no power to do literally anything) -Cannot comprehend simple arithmetic when computing your monthly bill, and will randomly hound you for months to pay your “unpaid bills” or face eviction -At the beginning of the pandemic, they insisted that the only legal way to pay rent was credit card, and simultaneously raised the fee to pay with CC from $3 to $45 -Raised laundry prices by 20% during the pandemic with no communication -Randomly would leave multiple nasty letters taped to everybody’s door threatening to evict them if they did not resolve minor, long-standing issues within hours -Would ignore 4am house parties on weeknights -Revoked assigned parking for renovations with no notice, no end date, and no solutions for affected tenants. The building also has myriad physical and maintenance issues. Management will ignore these issues, regardless of their urgency: -Hot water intermittently worked, with multiple extended multi-day stretches with no hot water -Two multi hour incidents with no water service to the building at all, with no communication from management. Managed to actually get somebody on the phone, who wished me “good luck with that” and hung up -Walls paper thin, the first night there I thought somebody had broken into my house and was walking around but it was just my neighbor -The apartment is conveniently located next to the loading dock of a gigantic hospital, offering all of the peace and quiet of a busy truck stop. You will convince yourself it’s not that bad. It is that bad. The hospital would get 2-3 deliveries every night between 12am-6am. Remember those paper walls? Just so you don’t think I am a shill for some competitor, there were a small number of highlights: -The maintenance guys were hardworking and competent, but were frequently hamstrung by management not letting them do their jobs. Management kept them busy beautifying the common areas. -The deductions from my deposit were fair. -The worthless management helped tenants foster a sense of community against their common foe. -There was a really nice cat in the neighborhood that would always come by for pets. You can do better than this place.

No hot water today... again. Just like on December 10-11, 19th, 30th, January 3rd - and those are just the dates I'm aware of. There have been instances of walls and ceilings collapsing and persistent water leaks.

2017 Feb. Awful awful awful. DO NOT MOVE HERE. Absentee on-site ------- landlord (lets his dog, which violates the management's 25lb dog policy, run around the back parking lot without a leash so it craps everywhere), tries to start fights with tenants if you complain. Enters units without permission, probably casing units to rob, last neighbor robbed 2X in quick succession. Management company IMPOSSIBLE to get in contact with, seriously, as a whole Laramar is purposefully making themselves impossible to get a hold of. Message after message, email after email. Leasing agent's voicemail has been full for 4 years, so don't try calling her. Office phone never picks up, most of the time rings off the hook and then just disconnects. People say they'll call you back and Never do. They'll post notices on your door at 6pm about entering your unit for "inspection" the very next day. Hardly ever give a real 24 hour notice, ever, they just back-date the notice like the winners they are. If you do actually get maintenance to come (GOOD LUCK). they'll just do as cheap and ------ a fix as possible. Never helpful, never prompt, most of the time they just don't show up. Interactions with wandering vagrants, drug users and homeless people on a daily basis from the park. They say they hired an on-site security service, never seen them, not ONCE. BULLSH*T from all angles.

DO NOT LIVE HERE Do not be fooled by the location or the seemingly professional management (they're very attentive when they want someone to move in, but once you're in...they no longer care) or the initial impressions of the building (a large, Escher like patio filled abode that seems idyllic and maintained). The pros: -Great location (right next to Barnsdall Park, walking distance to the subway, walking distance to Thai Town and Los Feliz, walking distance to Kaiser if they're your medical provider) -Lovely patios on some apartments, some apartments are great and don't require that much maintenance -Friendly neighbors -Dog friendly The cons: -If your apartment needs frequent maintenance, which moves of them do, since the building dates from 1949, you're going to waste a lot of time dealing with management because... -MANAGEMENT WILL AVOID ALL CONTACT WITH YOU. Laramar is a sham of a company. You can call, you can email, you can email 15 Laramar staff people, you can use their "portal" to make maintenance requests--doesn't matter, you will not have anyone contact you or fix your problem. If you're lucky enough to have someone contact you and/or fix your problem it is a fluke. You can have water coming through your ceiling, leave repeated voicemails for the company, and still have no one contact you. You can have your apartment entered without permission, make contact with them, and have them promise to look at security footage and call you. THEY WON'T DO EITHER THING. Maintenance department, when they show up, often are brand new--because the last guys quit. Because they weren't being paid. No joke--this is what maintenance people who come into your apartment will talk about, because they're just as frustrated as you. On the flip side, people have had maintenance people enter their apartments a) when they're not home with b) no advance notice and c) use their apartments as their crash pad. Cool, right? -Speaking of maintenance--look closer at the building. Notice the weird warped paint from water leaks? Been there since they took over the building from the last management company. Go back at night--half the common area lights are out. The building is cleaned seldomly, and when it is, the tiles all over the building turn into hazardous slip and slide zones. If you're lucky enough to have a back patio, it will get covered by dirt and LA detritus because when Laramar does clean...it's washed into your space. Previous management companies used to clean all patio surfaces, accounting for this issue, but Laramar stopped that. There are broken tiles everywhere where the walkways and flooring in the building is buckling. Hilariously, Laramar isn't totally un-involved with the property, they frequently send workers out to do cosmetic "updates." Recently they repainted part of the front of the building. Did it need it? Absolutely not--there wasn't any aesthetic or structural damage. They've ripped up low maintenance thriving plants and replaced them with new plants (but they don't water the other plants in the building, so a bunch of existing foliage throughout the building is dying). -Security. It's great having the park nearby, but because Barnsdall is perpetually mismanaged (at least slightly better than Laramar, they do respond to emails and promise to fix things, instead of just not responding at all) they've got quite a problem with homeless and mentally ill people using the back section of the park (which conveniently backs up to this building's back parking lot) as their home base--and these people then use 1570 as their water and power source. If this wasn't enough, we also have multiple tenants combating the absurd rents Laramar charges by using their rentals as personal Air BnBs. That means you'll frequently hear and see random people in the building and have no idea who they are and who they're letting into the building--and they don't care, because they have no stake in living here. -Rent. For the amount you'd pay for a studio here now, you could easily get a 1 bedroom somewhere else in the neigborhood. Heck, even if you wanted a studio at the price they're asking--get one in a nicer neighborhood with a better management for that amount. The building is rent controlled, but they will still raise your rent every year while continuing to cut the work they're doing on the building. -Amenities. No, there isn't a gym. There used to be three operational cardio machines--they've been out of service for the last year. Two of them aren't even there anymore. -On site management. There is none. Laramar will tell you there's a "responsible party" on site--the "responsible party" will tell you he's not their employee and never signed paperwork with them. So good luck if you've got an issue with a problem tenant or anything on site that needs immediate attention. All in all--spend your hard earned money somewhere else.

I lived in the Villa Edgemont Apartments since 2014. The grounds are old but the apartment itself was clean and somewhat updated. For the price of $1,275/month (back in 2014) I thought it was a decent place. However, like another reviewer mentioned this place charges for anything and everything. Pet rent is $25/month per pet, a parking space is $50/month, and a bunch of random fees start to pile up. My rent was increased once during my time there by 3% (best thing about this building is the fact that there is rent control) and now I am at $1,400/month. Considering that the other 1-bedroom apartments in the building are currently going for $1,825+ (SO NOT WORTH IT!!!) I considered staying solely based on the price. But I gave my 30 day notice for numerous reasons. First, the building is OLD. The windows are old and walls are thin so I can hear every sound that comes from the upstairs unit. Walking, squeaking, music, etc. at all hours of the day. The apartment itself also looks clean and updated but once you move in the problems start to roll in. The floor is not leveled and is squeaky, to save money on tiling the shower walls were just painted with a fresh coat of white paint to make it look clean, when you first turn on the water it comes out yellow/brown, there is a heating mechanism in our unit but it was simply painted over and does not work, no natural sunlight in the living room/kitchen which faces the center of the building, tons of natural sunlight in the bedroom aka hot as hell in the summertime but no AC unit, many of the parking spaces are not covered (some are right under trees which shed seasonally - it's almost impossible to keep your car cleaner than 1-2 days), but the main reason I'm moving out: management. My unit had water leaking from the ceiling which was first reported to management in Sept. 2015. It is now Aug. 2016. They just fixed the pipe three days ago, so no more leaking, but they left a large gaping hole in our ceiling, which we've been living with for over a month now. So apologies, discounted rent, NOTHING. Also, don't be fooled by how the management describes the building - it is inaccurate to say the least. They state that there is a "gym/fitness center." This "gym" they refer to is a tiny room attached to the laundry room with 3 cardio machines in it. As of today, there is 1 stationary bike in that "gym" because the elliptical and treadmill have since broken. The promise of wifi is also made. It's true - the complex does have its own wifi, but it does not work most of the time. When it does work, it is extremely slow so we ultimately opted to get our own wifi (like many of our other neighbors have). The building is gated, however, many times the gate/door to the parking lot is left open so it's not as secure as they say. One of my neighbors had his bike stolen - that's how secure it is. Also, it is adjacent to Barnsdall Park. Very pretty and convenient if you have a dog, but sometimes I find homeless people holed up in the area right next to where my car is parked. There have also been a couple of instances where I felt like someone entered my unit while I was out at work - furniture slightly moved around, etc. I shrugged it off as I didn't think management would enter without my permission, or at least some kind of notice. But after talking to my neighbors, they've experienced similar things. One of my neighbors found someone's lunch in their fridge. Wtf. I'm now moving to a newer building with much better amenities in DTLA and the rent is comparable to what the management is currently charging at Villa Edgemont. One thing I can definitely say...Villa Edgemont is not worth the $1,825+/month that they are asking for. I would not even, for a second, consider living here for that price. Here's a breakdown for easy reading. PROS: - Neighborhood (super close to Los Feliz, Silverlake, Metro Red Line, Kaiser, etc. There can be a few homeless people here and there, but hey, it's LA) - Pet friendly (not always easy to find a pet-friendly apartment, but they do charge $25/month pet rent) CONS: - Management (almost impossible to get in contact with someone. They say that there is an on-site manager. His number and unit # is posted by the mailboxes. I've called numerous times and not ONCE has he ever picked up. I've knocked on his door when I heard voices inside and while lights were on, and no one ever answers the door. WHAT'S THE POINT OF PAYING THIS GUY FOR DOING NOTHING?!) - Complex (it's old, there is literally 1 cardio machine in the fitness room, not secure, not well kept) - Way overpriced for what you get - Thins walls/squeaky floors (you can hear everything your neighbors are doing) - Parking (half of them are not covered, some are on an incline, and some are not even gated. Almost impossible to get 2 spots unless you live in a 2-bedroom. Street parking is available but not easy to get)

Don't move here. The facility looks nice and so do the apartments but this place isn't worth the money. They charge you for anything and everything. My rent keeps going up for random fees they keep adding. I originally only paid $1875 (with parking) now I'm paying around $1930 every month. I pay for parking and a couple of times the hospital next door had blocked off the drive way so I couldn't get to my spot and had to park on the street. They spray frequently for roaches but they still get in. I'm a clean person. Through away my trash frequently, don't keep dirty dishes in the sink, vacuum once a week and I still have to deal with the pests. They sprayed in my apartment but it didn't really help. Management is a company which rarely ever answer the phone and don't communicate well with each other. I know of one occasion for sure where they entered my apartment without my permission and I'm suspicious of other times. I have come home some times and things will be moved. I live alone so I know it wasn't me. I've talked to a couple of my neighbors who have apparently lives in the building for years who have had small complaints about the place but seemed overall happy with it. I've noticed recently that two of toss neighbors have moved out. Also it's an old building. It creeks and isn't very well insulated. It's not really an issue but the heat doesn't work in my apartment. I called and emailed all winter and got no response so it still doesn't work. I just bought extra blankets. The windows are also pretty poorly installed. They barely fit in the window and I can hear everything people are saying and doing outside. I will say the apartment is in a great area. There are a couple of homeless people but unless you go to the valley you're gonna see the homeless. I talk to them and help them out sometimes. They're usually very nice. I absolutely love the neighborhood and would like to find another place in Los Feliz but I doubt I'm going to stay here past my lease.