Metropolis Apartments — Attraction in Irvine

I previously had a review of this complex sadly that review has changed drastically. Just to note I’m on my 3rd lease for context; so I know this property very well at this point. I am a black man I have never been late or missed a payment or had any complaints on me. I don’t advise any one of black and brown to lease at this apartment complex; and I’ll prove why!! They allow all other races of people to leave things outside their door while making everyone else put things inside their home, allow them to leave trash outside by the elevator without being corrected. They allow them to party at all types of the night with no consequences. Since the last year and a half someone has been leaving disturbing and somewhat racist notes outside my door and One on my car. I have received 5 notes talking about my son, section 8 this isn’t a welfare apartment and I could go on and on about the nastiness of them letters dropped off at my door and the office has done NOTHING ABOUT IT. After the 5th note I refused to leave their office and told them I’m calling the police now for the second time. During this I recorded the whole conversation and was very respectful about this being handled and not giving me the run around for the 5th time. I have pictures of the person found his name email and apt number and even car color and model. As the cops came I left the office to talk to them they locked the office as if I was some kind of criminal for wanting my family to be safe from all this hateful behavior and racist notes. I have the report where they told the cops I was respectful (the guy in the office is on record saying that) but he just didn’t want to leave their office. The next day I get a email stating I had an aggressive tone?! What!?? I can prove the office manager Melanie and her district manager are flat out liars. Stating that I cannot no longer come in the office because now they Metropolis Apartments are retaliating against me for being upset that they haven’t done their job and upheld the standard that’s on their profile to have a respectful, clean and safe place to live. I went into the office the very same day and was met by the regional manager who was acting very delusional and wanted to suggest that because I am upset respectfully about them, not doing their job that the office doesn’t feel safe about me going to the office anymore and now all communication has got to go to email. Never mind I didn’t curse, I didn’t scream and I didn’t yell at anybody. I’m just a 6 foot one black man that they just decided, Oh you know what his blackness intimidates me. We don’t want him in the office anymore. They have done this to 3 other people also. I shortly after received a letter from their attorney that I’m not to go into the office and the only reason I haven’t sued them for retaliation, unsafe living environment and being flat out racist to me is because I’m dealing with a very important matter currently with my lawyer, but when that matter is resolved, we will be taking action against METROPOLIS Gardens especially management. For case pending purposes I legally cannot post the proof and evidence against them. I don’t have issues, I’m a paying resident currently and I want them to be fully aware I haven’t forgot about this or have let it go legal action will be coming very soon. They lied to make me look like an aggressive angry black man for trying to protect my family and son. This office is cold and only care for you up until you actually fight for your legal rights. I will be communicating with the Better Business Bureau. I will be coordinating with My Lawyer and we will be contacting the Orange County housing Authority. I should be able to report a negative action about a resident without being made to look like I’m aggressive because of my race, color or size, they have no evidence to prove these claims. In the court of law you will need evidence not just because you had a feeling that’s not a crime. Everything is always broke sauna in the men’s bathroom almost all the EV chargers in the...

Lived there for a year and if I could give 0 stars I would. We have LOVED the staff everywhere we lived until here.

If there is ANY chance you may have to move, dont move here. There is no break lease fee (they told us 2 months rent and we would be out if my husband got a job offer we were hoping for and when it happened they laughed and said they made a mistake and that wasn't the rules and that we signed the lease so verbal means nothing..) We kept signed edocs giving them a move out date and they didnt rent our place out or even try for that matter, haha! We had friends go and pretend to look for a place and gave them our apartments EXACT info and they told them about every other apartment EXCEPT ours. They even told the office they had 6 weeks from our move out date and were flexible. When they asked if they had any on the second floor, the office told them no. THEN, we called the office the next day and they said "of course we told them about your unit" and our friends had them write down EVERY apartment they had available, and ours was not listed. We know it takes 2 weeks to clean after move out, so we gave them the date for 3 weeks from our move out date.. they just didn't tell them because they'd rather get vacant apartments rented out first before an apartment with someone liable to pay until the end of their lease.

WE SIGNED DOCUMENTS 3 TIMES TO MOVE OUT. I was pregnant and had my baby May 17th after a super rough pregnancy where I was hospitalized quite a bit. Well they have a rule where you have to sign move out docs 30 days before you plan to leave or they charge you rent. Well, both my dad and husband signed the documents but I forgot about them. (Had my son from c-section and have a 15 month old at home) well now they are charging us 1400 worth of rent because I didnt sign them in time even though EVERYONE else did and even though I just had major surgery a brand new newborn and a 15 month old I was taking care of. They are saying tough sh** and they don't care.

They also try to make your move out fee a tiny less than 1 months rent. They get you with $99 security deposit, but guess what, you still have a bill at the end now. When we got our final bill, they charged us 2945. Our rent is 2965.00 That's not just a coincidence based on what I've heard from past tenants. They charged us to completely replace carpet even though they just needed to replace a tiny spot in front of the bedroom door and a good wash would have been perfect (their own people even told us that before we left.. 1 day before to be exact.)

They dont take care of the property or their residents. I was 6 months pregnant and walked into their elevator and slipped on dog piss and fell. I was bleeding and almost lost my baby. I reported it to the office in the form of 3 emails, 2 phone calls and walked in 1 time. I have all of the hospital documents that show I suffered from a bad concussion from hitting my head, lots of blood loss, and problems with the baby. Still have migraines and my back and knee are still in bad shape. Both of my brothers are lawyers, as is my grandpa, aunt and uncle and everyone told me to get a lawyer but at the time I chose not to because I didnt want more stress. Well baby is here after no fetal movement and an emergency c-section and after seeing how they treated us when we finally moved out, I think I changed my mind on how to handle everything. Oh and again, NOT 1 APOLOGY from them when I fell on their property or a call asking how I was.

If you get locked out, it will take hours to get you back in and if it happens more than 1 time, you'll have to pay $50 for them to let you in after sitting their for 3 hours. This happened with our newborn and 15 month old and we were stuck in the hall with no food or drinks for them for 3 hours.

WORST COMPANY and I will continue...

Very poor Management Experience at Metropolis!

I recently had an unfortunate experience with the management at Metropolis. Despite their review responses stating that "they do their best to resolve issues" or "they are fostering an exceptional living environment," or " they act like they are addressing issues" they do everything but those! What they excel at is collecting money, adhering to their poor processes, and not being willing to fix issues or improve even when you explain how terrible they are with clear examples. They don't even attempt to contact you or follow up on what steps they are taking for improvement. I am very surprised by the Garden Community corporate, that to my knowledge, they have never run a survey to ask about the performance of the leasing office management from the tenants, with whom we interact all the time. Is this how you show you value your tenants and customers and hear their voice? No survey and no response to their feedback? Here is the specific issues I encountered:

The building structure is made out of wood! Despite its poor quality, when I came for a tour and asked about the noise level between units, I was told, "Well, here is made out of wood, so you should expect some noise, especially when walking between units, depending on your neighbors." Okay, that is understandable but terrible! Is this building even safe?!

Recently, I received notices alleging that I was making noise because my TV was on after 10 pm, albeit at a very low volume. You could barely hear it in the hallway unless you were right by the door! When I asked the security if they had checked to confirm the noise at the reporting unit, they said they hadn't. I inquired about how they confirmed the noise, and was informed that they stand behind my door and listen for any noise, such as TV, talking, or laughing, in my unit. So technically their process says after 10pm you are not allowed to do any of these!!! My neighbor bang to the ceiling all the time when I walk, even when the TV is off! When I told leasing office, they said let us know about it but we cannot verify that! LOL Then why should i waste my time reporting! It's obviously your poor building quality!

I escalated this flawed process to the leasing office multiple times, emphasizing that they must first verify the legitimacy of the complaint by asking and visiting the reporting unit. They should determine if the noise level violates HOA regulations or not. However, I was informed that I was being noisy simply because I walked in my unit. While it's true that I walked in my unit, I don't believe it violates any HOA regulations and they falsely claim my TV was making noise because their process is so bad!

In short, they listen behind your door to check if the TV is on without verifying the complaint with the reporting unit. Was that a complaint because of me walking in my unit or TV noise? They had no clue! Are you asking me to not walk in my unit after 10pm! To not talk and laugh normally?! Are you coming behind units to listen what people say or do? Any privacy you consider for tenants with your terrible process! This is a terrible mishandling of the case.

(Moral of story! if you are above 180lb you can't walk after 10pm! or at least keep your TV off so security cannot verify the claim by coming behind your door! Oh btw, you cannot laugh either! LOL)! Terrible!

I will post more about all the issues at Metropolis and hope those help you to find the...