Rancho Santa Fe Apartment Homes — Local services in Tustin

I’d like to update my review:

Living here has been one of the most frustrating rental experiences I’ve ever had. What was supposed to be a comfortable home quickly turned into a series of ongoing maintenance, safety, and sanitation issues that have yet to be properly addressed.

Since moving in, we’ve dealt with persistent pest infestations including cockroaches, water bugs, and even rats both inside the apartment and around the complex. We discovered a dead rat beneath our dishwasher that we had to remove ourselves, and roaches regularly enter through unsealed wall openings. Despite repeated reports, these issues remain ongoing.

There are also serious plumbing problems that affect multiple units. Our sink overflowed during our first month due to issues in a neighboring apartment, and drainage odors continue to be a problem. The hot tub has been out of service for months, despite multiple “completed” maintenance requests claiming it was repaired.

To be fair, the maintenance staff themselves are not to blame. They are polite, responsive, and do their best. The issue seems to be with the system Irvine Company uses to process maintenance requests. Once a work order is submitted, it often gets automatically marked as “fixed” in the system, regardless of whether the issue was actually resolved or even reviewed. This creates confusion for residents, who are led to believe their problems were handled, only to return home to the same ongoing issue. It’s a flawed process that undermines the efforts of the maintenance team and leaves residents without real solutions.

Another major concern is the community environment and safety. There are frequent incidents of intoxicated or aggressive individuals in common areas, particularly around the pool, while unsupervised children run and scream through the complex late at night. This creates an uncomfortable and unsafe atmosphere for other residents.

Since COVID, the leasing office has shifted to remote management, which means there’s rarely an on-site presence to observe or address what’s happening within the community. While that may have started as a health precaution, it has created a serious disconnect between management and daily conditions. Without consistent oversight, these problems go unnoticed and unresolved.

We’ve made multiple good-faith efforts to work through the proper channels, but very little has changed. For the cost of rent here, residents should expect a safe, sanitary, and well-managed living environment, which this community unfortunately does not provide.

If you’re considering moving here, I strongly recommend talking to current residents first. The community looks appealing from the outside, but the day-to-day reality is far from what’s advertised.

I’m really disappointed with the way management handles maintenance issues. I’ve submitted multiple requests about the hot tub not working, and every time I’m told it’s been fixed — but it’s still ice cold. The truth is, the problem isn’t the maintenance staff. In fact, they’ve been transparent and even showed me their reports and photos confirming the hot tub was taped off. The issue is with management, who marks things as “completed” in the system and sends misleading updates to residents instead of being honest about the ongoing problem.

To make matters worse, there’s never anyone in the leasing office to actually assist residents. Instead, they rely on an automated system that allows them to pick and choose which requests they want to deal with, while ignoring the rest. For the amount of rent we pay, that’s unacceptable.

We pay high rent for a community with working amenities, and management’s lack of transparency feels unprofessional and dismissive. Instead of deflecting or placing blame on staff, the leasing office should take responsibility and communicate truthfully...

Trust me, you do not want to live here! For the amount you pay in rent you'd expect to have a Resident Services office that actually did something when you have a problem. The Resident Services unit is rude and completely useless. Sure, they put on a great show when you are touring and when you move in, but as soon as you are a resident, the services stop.

When we first moved in, we found cockroaches in the bathroom. We called the resident services office and we were told that they won't do anything unless we see them again. Not off to a great start

Than, our remote for the garage door opener would not work. Minor issue, not a big deal. We called the resident services offices and we were told that we had to drop off the remotes and would get them back in a day. How were we supposed to get in and out of the garage in the mean time? Oh well, not their problem. Later we were told the garage door remotes worked fine and that there was nothing they could do. Later that same day, the remote, stopped working and we were locked out of our apartment. My wife had to leave three young sleeping children in the car while she walked around to the front door, unlocked it and opened the garage from inside. Again, the Resident Services refused to fix it!

Then I walk out to the parking lot where my truck had been parked for the past 4 or 5 days in the same spot, to find it had been keyed (scratched) on the entire left side. Knowing that they would not do anything, I stupidly went to the Resident Services office and all they said was "what would you like us to do, we don't know who scratched your truck." Well that was about what I expected. I called the police only to find out that 3 other residents in the same area of the complex also had their cars scratched. Again, the Resident Services office feels that this is not their problem.

I only wish I know how terrible it was to live here before we made the decision. Hopefully reviews like this will keep people informed and make the correct decision to live somewhere,...

AVOID Rancho Santa Fe and all the other surrounding apartment communities starting with “Rancho” at all costs (they are all run by the same greedy Irvine Company)! DO NOT rent from them if you want to be charged fairly based on valid causes.

The company is extremely greedy. We understand that landlords want to welcome the next tenant with a shiny, refurbished apartment (and they profit enormously from it), but it is shady to shift all those costs onto tenants by charging for normal wear and tear. Their protocol includes finding every excuse to do a full replacement of carpet and wall paint, then asking tenants to cover those costs, even though it's not their responsibility.

If you're looking for your next apartment, avoid this place as much as you can. They will charge you for causing moisture on the wall just from breathing at night in your bed. If you put a desk against the wall, they'll charge you for normal friction marks. Mount a TV, and you'll be charged for the screw holes in the wall. Even if your pet has perfect litter habits, they'll charge you for a full carpet replacement, claiming pet urine damage simply because you have a pet and they can!

They are just greedy —...