Great Apartment, borderline criminal landlord

Posted 5 years ago

Fernando will come across initially as personable and warm which will quickly change the minute you sign a lease with him. Can be frustrating because he operates some decent apartment buildings in West Hollywood and the Beverly hills area. My perception quickly changed when I met my first neighbor after moving in who quickly warned me that Fernando is a "nightmare" to deal with. This neighbor followed up his comments by saying every tenant in the building "despises him". After getting to know most of the people in my apartment complex, this was overwhelmingly accurate as almost each tenant had a different horror story. With the lease, he will also try to include a "cleaning fee" within your security deposit (which is 100% illegal) that means he will keep $350 of your deposit to clean the apartment when you leave, regardless of whether or not you hire someone to clean the apartment for you. When the coin operated laundry (of which the price went up almost a dollar in three years living there) first broke, I asked him how we should handle the situation to which he responded with, "that is not my problem". Aside from his complete haphazard attitude with the overpriced laundry machines, Fernando and his "super" Abel were routinely late with any requests made to them and would frequently provide any excuse they could think of in order to avoid any responsibility. When they did finally show up to take care of issues, it was always on their own time with no consideration given whatsoever to any kind time frame I was trying to accomplish as a working professional. If this wasn't enough, I would routinely find reason to believe his super Abel was in my apartment without my permission. I would find wrappers and waste within my apartment that was not mine and even once found an electronic cigarette in my bathroom. I lived alone so this was very concerning. I eventually purchased an in home camera monitoring system which helped the situation, however, on more than one occasion I would come home to find this system disabled. Once I even found the back door left open after my security system had been turned off (not by me!). Now, I have plenty of stories to share here to convey just how ludicrous this man is as a landlord but I will wrap this up with just one: my move out. I was a tenant of his for 3 years with not one missed rent payment and the following story happened word for word. My girlfriend and I found a really nice apartment in Studio City where we could comfortably move in together. Unfortunately, I had to leave my lease with Fernando a month early as I had no other choice with the new building I was electing to move into. I promptly gave Fernando 60 days notice of my leave, including letting him know I would be moving out a month early. In my naive state of mind, I thought maybe this man would give me my last month rent payment back as I gave him so much time to shop the apartment. Not the case. I can understand that situation from his perspective, so I simply went on with my move and kept several items in the apartment to sell as I no longer needed them when moving in with my girlfriend. Wasn't much stuff, it was my portable a/c unit, a bed frame and a few chairs etc. that just needed to go. I took the typical routes of finding some people to buy and luckily found one girl who wanted everything I had to sell. We set up a date for her (still before my lease technically expired) to rent a uhaul and pick everything up at my apartment. Much to my dismay, I showed up to my apartment to meet my buyer (only days after moving out) only to find Fernando had entered the apartment without my permission and placed ALL of my items for sale in the back outside by the dumpster. Thank god no one took it upon themselves to steal these items as the girl buying them from me showed up on time with her uhaul confused as to why my items were basically in the trash. Thank god these items were never stolen and I managed to sell them to this girl regardless of the situation, however, other tenants certainly might not be this lucky. When I tried to bring up this blatant disregard for tenant rights with Fernando, he pulled out his classic "I am a good guy" banter and continually interrupted me with lies and excuses. This guy actually tried to tell me that I told him it was okay to throw out items I clearly had listed to sell! He also decided on top of this to take more than half of my security deposit because the apartment was "messy". As is typical with leases and landlords, I spoke to a few lawyers who mentioned that taking this to small claims court was not worth the trouble. In the end, I sadly stuck around this apartment because the rent was fairly competitive and I lived in a great area. After the fact, I am still bothered by the way this man operated his business. He takes advantage of his tenants any chance he gets and I know I was not the only person victimized by his absurd lack of integrity. This man will repeat to you over and over how he is a "good guy" and how all of his tenants "love him" but unfortunately this is just an act poorly executed by a common criminal. I would heavily caution any individuals considering renting from him. It will be a horrible experience that will leave you frustrated, taken for granted, and financially distressed. For any more perspective on this, I would be happy to respond by email if anyone has any questions about my experience. DO NOT RENT FROM THIS MAN.

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