City Lights at Town Center

vince4x4

Resident • 2008 - 2013

Criminal overbilling of water/trash utility bill. $65 a month? Are you kidding me? Someone at City Lights or Shea must be getting a kickback or pulling some scam here. When I first moved here in 2008 it was $15 a month which I thought was still a little high since everyone on the same floor shares a filthy, rat-infested trashroom. When I moved from a 3 bedroom house to here it was only $11 a month in a house with 3 people living there. Now it is $65 a month with just one. Maybe this is due to the water leaks in every unit. They recently "fixed" the ceiling leak problem everyone was having a few times a year. Since the home invasion of construction workers over a two week period that "fixed" the pipes, they have burst two more times. There must be some scam going on here. They started charging $65 a month recently and changed the name from ISTA to Yes Energy. Sounds very fishy. I filed a complaint at the California Public Utilities Commission Consumer Affairs Branch Website. I know I'm not alone in getting overbilled as all of my neighbors have equally high bills. I didn't pay for 3 months trying to figure out what was going on. The front office must be in on the scam since I got no answers. All of a sudden my bill was $242 with "penalty" and "late" charges. The a-holes up front even put a 3-day eviction notice along with the phony bill. If you have been ripped off too with overbilling go online to the California Public Utilities Commission website or call them at 800 649 7570 and maybe we can stop this scam.

bmx43

Resident • 2012 - 2013

I lived at CL for a year starting last April and just recently moved out. Here's what I learned during my year on site. DO NOT, and I repeat DO NOT move ANYWHERE near one of the pools if you value fresh air and tranquility. When I signed my lease in April, nobody mentioned to me what happens as soon as the outside temp hits 70: hoards of screaming kids come out of the woodwork and terrorize the pool from around 10am until 8pm. And if you live in any of the inner units facing the pool, all of that nonstop screaming amplifies right into your apartment. It sounds minor, but trust me it is a major major problem. You will have zero peace and quiet I guarantee it. I paid a premium for the "view" but was never even able to enjoy it on the balcony because of the blood curdling screaming of the kids. Many parents seem to use it as a daycare and are not even present, nor do the ones who are there care. Parking was never an issue for me and I think this is one area that CL has handled. Nobody was ever in my spot, and we never had a hard time finding an open guest spot. The parking garage itself, while a fantastic idea, is actually a major clusterf__k! Especially if you live on the 4th floor, which it seems like everybody does. The problem is that they have these nylon speedbumps installed 2 on each level. They are extremely loud and put a lot of wear and tear on your car if you drive over them each day. If you live on the fourth floor, you are hitting at least 16 of these a day. It gets old really quick, makes a lot of noise and absolutely damages your car. This has long been a complaint on here but they dont seem interested in fixing it. The problem would be solved with installing normal, asphalt or concrete speedbumps (the long and low ones). They would slow cars down and also keep the noise down. Office staff. They have one person on site is awesome by the name of Chantal. She kicks ---. If they ever lose her, they will be struggling because nobody else that I dealt with there seems to have a clue. Shes pro, she's on it, and most of all shes nice! The property is kept very nice and has more of a resort feel than an apartment. They keep it clean and neat. So why did I leave? 2 reasons: Most importantly was the nonstop noise from the kids in the pool. And secondarily was the fact that they tried to jack my rent by $100 to almost $1800 (plus utilities). Paying $2k/mth to live in a 1br apartment is just not something im willing to do. I realize this is an OC problem that is not unique to CL but when you have a tenant who pays rent on the first every month, and was never late by even a single day, you do whatever it takes to keep that tenant and not try to gouge them when the lease is up. I probably would have moved even if the rent did not get jacked anyway just because of the noise but that increase made the decision easier. Would I live there again? Absolutely. just nowhere anywhere near one of the pools. And I may park on the lower level and walk up the stairs...

Current Resident 838516

Resident • 2010 - 2012

My fiance and I lived at City Lights from January 2010 through December of 2012. While there were things we liked about the property and our particular apartment, we will never recommend this property to anyone. Never have we ever been treated so rudely by every single person that worked in that leasing office. It became a game for me to time how long I would have to wait to be acknowledged when I was the only person waiting in the lobby and I could physically see at least 3 associates completely ignoring me. To give you an example, I went in to ask where the business center was (I had never used it before) and the associate said to me, "If you live here, why don't you know where it is?" I was completely taken aback. On a completely different subject, while we were living there we experienced 6 leaks, two of which completely flooded our hallway and saturated our carpet. We were turned away and scoffed at when we asked for some kind of compensation for not having our second bathroom available to us for over a week at a time. The "we don't care" attitude from that entire office was so shocking that we counted down the days until we could leave and actually ended up just leaving a month early because we couldn't take it anymore. Pay attention Shea - if we had received even remotely mediocre service from the leasing/office staff WE WOULD STILL BE RESIDENTS THERE AND WE WOULD HAVE RENEWED OUR LEASE. We gave them several chances to redeem themselves but to no avail. Lastly, we were one of the apartment homes that had a scheduled week-long repair for the plumbing issues (which we understood and appreciated that they were doing the repair even though it was extremely inconvenient). When they took the mirror down out of the master bathroom in order to access certain pipes, they broke the mirror. When we came home that evening there was broken glass everywhere that no one had bothered to clean up. I called the office to let them know that the repairs were apparently done but we were still without a mirror. They told me that they would be in the next day to install a new one. No one ever showed and we never had a new mirror installed at all. We moved out with no mirror in the mast bathroom and no response from the leasing office. When I told them broken glass was left all over our bathroom, they did not even offer to have someone come clean it up. If you want a great location within walking distance from the Aliso Viejo Town Center but don't care about customer service, then this is the place for you. Good luck.

FountainLover

Resident • 2009 - 2013

We lived at City Lights for 3 1/2 years and would still be there if not for a job change. We absolutely loved our apartment in Bldg. 6, overlooking the fountain. The courtyard was beautiful and serene, and our neighbors were quiet. It was great not to have to look at or hear cars, yet our parking space was just steps away in the garage. The complex is really nice, too, more upscale than any other in Aliso Viejo. What we miss most, besides the fountain, is the convenience of having everything - the stores, theater, library and fireworks/concerts at Grand Park - literally next door. We're in City Lights withdrawl right now. The negative comments on this site are not reflective at all of our experience.

Current Resident 828262

Resident • 2012

If you like bugs and noise, then City Lights is the place for you! If your neighbors don't give you a headache from the noise they make, then the weekly "plumbing repairs" from maintenance (which ironically appeared to CAUSE a leak from my bathroom ceiling) will! I have beetles and silverfish galore in my apartment. The neighbor below me plays his guitar so loud that it rattles my apartment and he literally screams along to it, at all odd hours of the day. I have talked to the neighbor several times asking if he can play after a certain time so that I can have at least a little peace and quiet and he has yet to show any courtesy in considering the headache and disruptions his constant noise causes me. I realize that an apartment complex isn't going to be completely devoid of noise, but that doesn't give you the right to CONSTANTLY be rude to your neighbors and not give a **** about anyone else. I thought maybe management could help mediate a discussion and create an agreement/compromise between my neighbor and myself. Management's response? "If he's not playing music after 10pm, then there's nothing we can do." So my neighbor continues to blast his music and scream along to it day after day while I am slowly going insane. The only redeeming quality about City Lights is its location. But you can bet that I won't be renewing my lease next year.

Current Resident 239129

Resident • 2012

I lived in City lights and everything seemed fine until...I left. Suddenly City Lights "found" damage to my apartment and proceeded to take my deposit and then charge me an additional 300 dollars on top. They said they had to replace the carpet and that there were some scratches on the wall. When I left the apartment it was in perfect condition. They would not let me see this "new damage" that they "found". I asked for new carpeting before I leased the place and they told me that there was no need for new carpeting that a carpet cleaning was sufficient. They change their tune after my lease was over and now decided they wanted to change the carpet and have me pay for it. The carpet was the in the same condition as when I initially rented the place. They sent me threatening letters and I decided to pay them instead of fighting them, because it was useless, they were obtuse and unreasonable. I think that this might be a very common business practice in City Lights, a chance for them to make some money out of you once you leave. The bottom line is that I felt that I had to pay, like in prison, an exit tax. Buyer beware.

Eva-2011

Resident • 2011 - 2012

I have lived here for a year and think most pros and cons list in the previous reviews are true. From previous reviews, seems many neighbors met various kinds of problems: mold, rats(most like the first floor),water leak even flood in the bathroom, etc, sounds terrible, sorry for those guys, I think they already left city lights with broken hearts. Luckily my apartment is fine until now. We also bad experience, my husband's car got hit-and-run in the parking lot, left a huge dent in the back and we had to pay for the repair by ourselves, his car is not fragile at all, so we guess it must be hit by a truck. My apartment faces to a pool, so sometimes it's noisy, there was a time a young man sat in the pool and opened his radio for hours, supposed the whole building enjoyed his loud crazy music. But those things rarely happen, most of the time, it's quite, and my husband and I love our apartment. Here is a tip if you want to find a good apartment here: when you first visit the leasing office, they usually leads you to see some available floor plans, in the mean time gives you a pamphlet which shows all the floor plans and a map. If you don't like those apartments the office girl showed on the spot, it's time to go back home and do your own home work online using the pamphlet. On the website, it always lists up to 8 apartments for each floor plan, (leasing office girl doesn't show you so many, so you have more choice online). Looking at the map on the pamphlet, you can have a clear image of where those apartment locates, does it near to a pool or a road or facing a wall, what is the surrounding view. That's the way I found my apartment last year. Basically, the apartment facing the main road are noisy during the day, those near to the parking lot are worse, because the sounds that cars hit the speed bumps happen day and night,could drive you mad, my husband and I used to stand in the corridor near a parking lot for only 10 minutes one night, and we couldn't bear it. The apartment of fourth floor is the best, with better interior finishes, higher roof and best views, but it takes 5 minutes to drive your car from the gate to your parking lot, going through all those speed bumps. As I see it, the tenants who have apartments with good locations tends to hold for longer time, and the tenants had encountered noise problems because of bad location of their apartments usually move out immediately once the lease is up, so good apartments rarely vacate, be patient. The last thing is rental do raise. I hate rental raising! This year my rental raise 6%! RIDICULOUS! When I received the renewal letter, I was really angry, consider the recent economic situation, I don't see any reason why the rental should raise so much. Then I realized that's why so many neighbors moved recently, there was a time that my neighbors in the same floor left one a week! Eventually,I decide to stay, not because I accept the price, just because I have move 3 times in the past 4 years, I am sick of moving and really want to settle down for a while. I feel like I was blackmailed just because I want to stay for another year, IT SUCKS! I am pretty sure next year I will definitely move even if they remain the same. Overall it's ok just to stay for a year, That's it.

rentinggame

Resident • 2010 - 2012

I won't go as far to say its a total nightmare but living here is highly inconvenient. Great location, could be a great complex but poor poor management. My garbage disposal hasn't worked for 3 weeks ( the part still hasn't come) and I've only had cold water for 2 weeks. When they came to fix the water they damaged a valve and now I have just above a trickle of cold water. I had to light a fire under them by calling corporate and refusing to pay rent. This is my second apartment here and third with Shea. Used to live over at Club Lagina which WAS a nightmare. They are highly unorganized in the office and misplace rent payments. And if you call the office you'll never get a call back. You have to go into the office to be acknowledged. I've lived in Irvine Co. Apartments before and decided to go with Shea because it was a little cheaper, but it's not worth the problems. Irvine understands you are paying more and treat you like a king, Shea is solely concerned with their pocket book with terrible customer service. And since all the buildings butt up to the parking structure, you can hear every car go over the speed bumps.

tractt

Prospect • Visited 2011 - 2012

WHAT A NIGHTMARE !!! Can't wait until my lease is up, I will be gone. This building has had so many issues, work repairs, water shut-offs etc - almost monthly since I've been here. Legally - I'm surprise Shea has not been sued for the massive repairs they need to put their tenants through. If your reading this now go to the complex it looks pretty from the outside but so many problems take a walk through building 1 (this is the latest block) that has problems. Also what is sneaky is Shea/City Lights did their Tenant satisfaction survey before this massive repair to their pluming - So Shady! What I don't get is the how can a new building have so many water problems?? The staff is nice when you want to rent but when you have to complain they are rude and very condensing. The Mgmt staff has to go. I must say that the only bright spot is the location and the friendly receptionist she is very nice with a pleasant demeanor. The rest of the staff have to go so rude! Even the guy who runs the business office I forgot his name.. These people need serious training in customer service. This place is nightmare SO MANY ISSUES.. if you don't believe me.. come yourself knock on a few doors and ask them how many issues they have had - If their not too busy moving out and packing they will tell you ! I can't wait to get it out for what they charge - it is a total nightmare. I can probably move to santa ana and get a better apt. NOW I Know why so many people move in and out all the time (people are moving out constantly). I should have known, well, I live and learn and hope some of you don't have to go what we been through. I will be posting pictures..The site only allows you to post 6 pictures (otherwise I would post more) I had about 10 major holes in my apt and basically unable to live in for about 1 week. I think someone should be talking to a lawyer... I have dozens of pictures.

AngryAtShea

Resident • 2008 - 2012

Scammers...DON'T MOVE HERE!!!

In the 3.5 years, we had nothing but complaints with the management staff. Furthermore, when it came to renew the lease back in 2011, we received a letter from the office in May stating that we needed to make a decision by July 25th if we wanted to get the discount rent. However, on June 18th, we received another note that said that the office made an error and we have until June 25th to make a decision when we already had a letter stating that it would be in July. Management said that they wouldn't accept the first letter and put pressure on us to make a decision in a week's time when we thought we had another month. Shea Properties and their practices are shady in nature. I have no problem putting Shea on blast for all they wrong they do to their tenants. This will continue until our matter is resolved....

citylightssuck

Resident • 2011 - 2012

Former Resident

Just moved out of the place. everything that could possibly go wrong there did. dog poop all over, parking is a living hell. my car was vandalized multiple times and I've always felt unsafe parking there, but what other options would you have? talking to the office, they won't do jack for you. one of the managers just said you park at your own risk. i was completely offended by that statement. management always gave you a huge window for maintenance services, 9-3 or 1-5 . . . i got other stuff to do . give me a better time frame. don't even think about getting your deposit back, they will rip you off the crapper so fast you can't even think twice about wiping. as i finally moved out of the place, lived there for 15 months, cleaned the place up the best i could to get something back in our deposit, we get a letter in the mail. i look at it, and i know there isn't a check in there. invoices up the --- with what seems to be unnecessary items. carpet cleaning, and carpet replacement?!? couldn't you just replace the carpet and save me the 160? and that is only one part of it, if i were to continue to rant about this place, we'd be here for as long as i stayed there for, 15 months... overall this place sucks. i cannot stand this place, and i wouldn't even want my fellow human beings to go through the pain that i had experience in the god forsaken place. now i know why the labors held signs saying "shame on shea properties" they treat everyone from the ground up like un-royal ----. -citylightssuck

doituntome

Resident • 2011 - 2012

Poor communication across all staffing levels

Using the BuildingLink allows the maintenance staff to take an extra day to perform maintenance requests, because there is no automation through this process. BuildingLink simply records your request but still requires a staff member to write up the request and turn it over to maintenance. Consequently, most requests are not completed until 2 days later and if it takes longer, quite often they use the accuse of starting the 48 hour guaranteed maintenance when the staff "Gets the request" which is always some arbitrary time after tenant actually entered into BuildingLink. Therefore, they never end up issuing a maintenance credit. Had to make a few phone calls and debate over security deposit refund. One guy from corporate writes it up, another person handles the vendor billing for actual services performed, and forwards that information/charges to a third person who is the site "bill collector" and he sends out the itemized statement which wasn't as agreed upon during the final apartment walkthrough with the corporate guy. 3 people, one bill, one simple apartment. In the end, bill was resolved, but took way too much time. No refrigerator? Really? This is supposed to be the "best of the best," "luxury living at its finest," etc. The appliances that were included are very basic. After my first year, the renewal agreement included a 5.5% rate increase! CPI in Feb '12 was 2.9%. Nice try, but no thanks. Since I did not renew, the next person gets to rent it at a 7.5% rate increase. 7am every morning, without fail, there are yard workers running leaf blowers. I was on the top floor and could still hear them. Parking garage is a pain if you live high up. It takes forever to go around and around, over several speed bumps, and finally get to your spot. Also, when they last had a vendor clean the parking garage, they posted notices in front of each parking spot advising you to move or you will be towed. The trouble is, they posted only 3 or 4 days in advance! So if I left on business or vacation for a week or two, I would have had no idea that I would need to move my car. I would have been towed for about $100 and paid $25 for each day the car sat in the tow lot. This almost happened to me. I came home from vacation to find my car sitting in an empty parking garage. I then saw the signs which had been posted 3 or 4 days prior according to my neighbor. I had been gone for over a week. For some reason, I was not towed, but when I expressed my concern to management, she said "Oh yeah, you should have been towed." in response to my suggestion that they post notice at least 2 weeks prior. Terrible communication, apathetic staff, typical corporate entity.

Current Resident 159890

Resident • 2012

living at Citylights Aliso Viejo

Warning do not be fooled by the appearance of this complex, It is so unbearably noisy due to the traffic racing up and down the attached parking structure that watching television or sleeping is impossible, there has already been a hit and run accident in the garage and I have only been here 3 months. This goes on 24/7 and management does nothing about it. They had a security guard for a while but he hasn't been around for a month now. Between the noise and car alarms and monthly broken pipes and water shut offs, it is an awful mess. Do not move here if you value peace and any quiet!!!

kookkie1127

Resident • 2012

DO NOT MOVE HERE!!

Duration of lease: Jan 2011 - March 2012 (15 month) Apartment Detail: 1bd/1bath; 2nd floor; 708 sq ft; $1367 (with pet rent included) PROS: -"city" like style of living -parking structure: your car doesnt get damaged by rain and etc because its always under a roof (unless youre parked on the fourth floor) -complimentary doggy bags -elevator -gated community -walking distance to shops, parks, restaurants, and etc. CONS: 1. your ONE assigned parking isnt acknowledged by your neighbors guests! there have been MULTIPLE times where someone has parked on my assigned spot and did not leave until the next day. When you call the office and their 24-hr management on-call takes FOREVER to pick up and it directs you to their night custodian, which DOES NOT pick up his phone. The first incident was a person who quickly parked their car their to pick up something from someone that lived in my building. The second incident I was kind enough to just let it go because the ignorant guest could not read that it was an assigned spot and NOT a GUEST spot, and left the morning after. The third and MOST annoying incident was a car who was parked at my spot around 6pm when I got home from work, I let it go because my husband and I were going out to dinner. We came home around 11pm and the car was still there. We got a hold of the night security and he was kind enough to write the owner of the car a parking citation and told us that we could tow the car once the NIGHT CUSTODIAN was able to verify if the car was a registered resident, unfortunately, the NIGHT CUSTODIAN was OFF that night. We decided to not bother with the towing company and pay the expenses because we thought the car would be gone by early morning. The next day we left around 11am and the car was still there!! I called the office and asked to speak with the property manager but was told that she was NOT there. I explained to the receptionist that I was very furious because of the situation and was going to complain, so she transferred me over to the property management. As I tell her the situation, she told me that she had to give the night custodian and DAY OFF (which is fine because everyone needs a day off) which sounded very rude because I wasn't even complaining about the night custodian having a day off, she also told me that they would NOT reimburse me for ANY towing cost if we would've towed the car the night before, and at the end of our conversation, she said that once in a while this happens and gave me another excuse to why this wasn't of her concern and gave me a pity apology just to slap it on my face. 2. There was a pipe breakage on the fourth floor, so it leaked all the way down to the first floor. We had to ACCOMMODATE the maintenance crew on their time frames or else WE would pay for all the maintenance cost that were needed in OUR apartment if we had to reschedule. (My husband and I both have full-time jobs and busy working schedule) The property management threaten us about the cost if we did not let them in our apt at THEIR scheduled time, which means we had to make it happen with our jobs so that they can make us keep BIG FANS in our bathroom for 2 weeks which caused my ONE bedroom apartment a very noisy place and unsanitary because the place where I bathe isn't really clean. To add insult to injury, they offered a free carpet cleaning BUT we had to work around their schedule ONCE again or else we miss out on the FREE offer. 3. I try NOT to offend people by NOT following too close to them and patiently waiting for them to park their cars safely before continuing to drive to my spot; BUT somehow SOMEONE keeps SPITTING on my car windows almost every week. 4. I can honestly say that every month, the water gets shut off and you'll be out of water for some time between 9am - 6pm. 5. Rent keeps going up. 6. If you are coming home from grocery shopping, it takes MULTIPLE trips to and from your car to your apartment WITHOUT a courtesy City Lights grocery cart (which btw only exist when you dont have groceries to carry). 7. Dog owners do NOT pick up after their pets; yes we see your dog's poop even if its only as big as my pinky. 8. We could hear our upstairs neighbor fight like cats and dogs so clear that we know they are having relationship issues (name calling and all that). There was once an incident where someone or something was thrown against a call after a slapping sound. 9. There is a no noise policy after 10pm, but people across the terrace who has drunken parties every weekend are obviously NOT aware of this policy or have immunity to it. OVERALL: I would only recommend City Lights to the single and lonely community who wouldn't mind sharing their paid assigned car spot to their neighbors guest; but if you are about to/already have/planning on having a family and want your money's worth, save yourself some time and MONEY and look at other great apartments within the Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel radius. Also, we are finally getting out of this apartment in 3 weeks and if they are going to find ways to screw us over our security deposit, stay tuned for an update or a volume two of my review. ***Review Edit April 12, 2012*** (probably the MOST IMPORTANT ONE) Ah at last we finally received our statement of items for our security deposit. We were expecting NOT to get anything back after reading a few reviews here, BUT... we werent expecting to OWE THEM MONEY!!!! Yes folks, thats right, we "OWE" City Lights $107!!!! (from a $900 security deposit) and here's why... WAIT, first of all, the preliminary walk-through with their maintenance staff is useless because what he says and writes down wont make a difference, City Lights will screw your deposit over! Basically, the maintenance staff said (and its in writing) that they wouldnt have to replace the carpet, but guess what, they did and they took it out of our security deposit ($480 ). I read the statement closely, and they painted the ceilings!!!! WE DIDNT EVEN TOUCH THE CEILING!!!!!!! Another thing is that we moved out in March (March has 31 calendar days), but I received a call on MARCH 30th from the property manager saying that we NEEDED to drop off the keys on MARCH 30th! even though our lease ENDS on March 31st! Anyways, we dropped it off on March 30th because we wanted to get rid of them and be done with City Lights... BUT THEN!! (yes folks, theres a 'BUT') on our statement of security deposit, they first credited us ONE day of prorated rent and pet rent, BUT at the end of the statement, they debited it saying that our lease ended on March 31st!! I have a photocopy of the keys that we turned in on March 30th and SIGNED!! So technically, we didnt HAVE TO turn in the keys until March 31st! ugh, so fed up with these people who seem to just want to screw over honest hardworking people. To wrap things up, DO NOT MOVE HERE!!! Unless you have money to piss and dont really care for your deposit back.

Current Resident 2594

Resident •

Problems with management

I am a current tenant of City Lights Apartments. We live in a New Yorker on the first floor. I am posting a review to let everyone know about the our experience here so far. Pros: Nice looking place from the outside, great location, close to the park, shops, and restaurants. CONS: We have been here a year and it started in a bad note as soon as we moved in. As soon as we moved in, the kitchen cabinets and counters were all dirty, blinds and sliding screen doors were not working properly. (You would think that someone would inspect it before the new tenant moves in and make sure that it was cleaned adequately and that everything was in working order). There was a rat found crawling in the kitchen by the dishwasher and rat droppings in the balcony. They told us they would send an exterminator but we had to remove all our stuff that we just moved into the kitchen cabinets. No one ever said sorry for the inconvenience. Later on, we noticed recurring mold issues on the window sills. This is apparently due to condensation during the colder season and we were told nothing can be done about this. Even if we air out our apartment daily, puddles of water still accumulate on the window sills. Their response to this is sending some guys to wipe it down and repaint over it. We also have mold issues in our bathroom. Again, their response was to put caulking on top of the mold so it cannot be seen. What a joke! The mold is still there just because it's covered up! In addition, the caulking that was placed just washed off the next day. At least four or five different people have come to check out the mold/caulking issue. We were told by the assistant manager that they were ordering a new shower door. Weeks later I find out that no one ordered a new shower door. The manager told me that I would have to call the office again so that she could send the service manager to look at it AGAIN! What was the point of the other 4-5 people that came and looked at it already and even took pictures of it. The maintenance list just goes on and on. For example, the water gets turned off for a few hours from time to time, leaks from the pipes under the bathroom sink (this happened as soon as we moved in), garbage disposal issues, and recently 2 major leaks in both of our bathrooms! They had to bring in someone to cut a hole on the ceiling and walls, take our toilet out so we could not use it for a few days, and people who had to come in to fix the dry wall and more people to repaint (and we had to be exposed to these fumes). They had very loud de-humidifiers and fans running all night and day (at our expense). The leak also had soaked the attached wall closet and carpet so we had to move clothes out of the closet so we could not use one of the bedrooms for a few days as well. That was a total of 10 days of total inconvenience! To top it off, they did not even clean up the bathrooms after the constructtion mess! We pay for a 2 bedroom 2 bath place and are only able to use 1 bathroom and 1 bedroom because the leaks happened one right after the other. You would think that management would understand our frustration but instead she has been unapologetic and non-chalant about the whole thing. We never asked for reimbursement for all the trouble but just a plea for someone to try and fix the issue. The manager's response, instead, is for us to pay for a new shower door if we want it replaced. Nice~I guess that's what they call customer service. I just want a clean and safe place free of mold. So disappointed about the level of service here at City Lights. We pay over $1900 a month for this! Please see the photos. It will post in a few days.

Current Resident 473205

Resident • 2010 - 2011

Don't Evern Think About IT

So many leak problems, Horrible behaviour of staff for leaving people, maintenance people always showed up after 48 hours. Speak properly and politely for future residence, but arrogant behavior for current or leaving residence. Planning to move soon, stuck with Lease.

alf1

Resident • 2011

Very Nice, Best in Aliso

I live here going on 3 years now and Like it very much. My lease is up in Feb, I plan to renew again. Best location (right behind aliso town center), 5 minutes from Laguna, minutes from the Toll road 73, everyone I know who lives here likes it. I read the few fake bad reviews sounds like the same 1 person from before, the same person who wrote the bad reviews years ago when I first moved.. kinda a weird. Nice place to live. I guess im with the majority 65% who like it.. another 5 stars from me.

Current Resident 399516

Resident • 2011

noise and crime

there has been continuous noise from the tenants upstairs. they were supposedly addressed but tenants keep retaliating by stomping, slamming sliding door, and sounds as picking up the bed frame and letting it drop on the floor. marijuana smoke has been smelled and little kids were subjected to it. excessive littering of cigarette butts. one apt. was egged. teenagers run around screaming at 2am on the weekend. the cops been here at least 5 times and we lived here only 3 mos. the cops last night was inquiring about a gun incident where a person stated a guy broke into his apt and bedroom and he had the gun. my kids again were subjected to that and now are afraid. staff does nothing at all. everyother place stated they would have evicted these tenants, but we are the ones who have to move by request which we are grateful. if u like gun shots and noise all day and night this is your place to move. also, if u like ur kids exposed to domestic abuse and the cops are there this is your place. read up on california tenant law. dont rent here.

CharlesCrimson

Resident • 2008 - 2011

Yet another stolen car in the parking structure. Routine weekly burglaries and vandalism. One of the illegal alien City Lights child molesters recently arrested. The crimewave continues with nothing being done and no end in sight.

Since I'm stuck in this lease and having had my car both broken into and vandalized two months later, others must be warned about the crime that is allowed to occur on a regular basis here at city lights. This is all public information that can be verified through the orange county sheriff's public blotter on ocsd.org or though the ocregister.com since I anticipate the front office will try and discredit this review as they have been busy writing phony glowing reviews to cover up the crime and plumbing disaster here. Although there is not enough room to post every burglary, act of vandalism, and assault in this small space, here is a small sampling of recent crime here: Another Stolen Car: 10/15/2011 1:46:10 PM 10/15/2011 2:07:35 PM 11-188186 STOLEN VEHICLE 8100 BLK CITY LIGHTS DR read [10/15/2011 13:47:22 : pos11 : guzacm] NBH: 921D5 92656 33.5731,-117.727465 930 REF MC L/S LAST NIGHT AT 2100 HRS Another Burglary: 10/16/2011 8:42:47 AM 10/16/2011 8:45:57 AM 11-188738 BURGLARY ALARM-AUDIBLE 5000 BLK CITY LIGHTS DR Another Car Burglarized: 10/19/2011 4:59:18 PM 10/19/2011 5:16:12 PM 11-190735 PETTY THEFT REPORT 8100 BLK CITY LIGHTS DR read [10/19/2011 17:41:54 : pos3 : HUGHESAE] [Cleared with unit 383] [10/19/2011 16:59:49 : pos13 : hovdebm] NBH: 921D5 92656 33.5731,-117.727465 930 The City Lights Child Molester Arrested: http://www.ocregister.com/news/dejesus-308033-girl-asked.html http://www.ocregister.com/news/girl-307682-park-dejesus.html

skyzen

Resident • 2010 - 2011

Far better places available in Aliso Viejo

I stayed in City Lights Apartments for a year and i must say that they have the worst management an apartment can have. The rent is too high because of the location of the apartment (next to park, restaurants, grocery stores). The management policies are ridiculous. $100 to use the party room for 3 Hrs, that's outrageous. Sewer, Water. Trash monthly charges are high as well. Water pipes break every now and then. Dogs poop everywhere in the community (even in corridors). Greatest lie is when they tell you during lease-signing that certain areas are pet free zones (total BS). Do not trust a single word they say while signing the lease. Or better yet, don't sign with them at all. Beware of the move-out charges: No matter how clean you keep the property walls, carpet, patio, appliances they are going to charge you a minimum of $400 as move out charges (this is for 1 bedroom). I haven't met a single person to whom they charged less than that. Also, at the time of pre-move out inspection, they don't even tell you the estimate of the charges.

Current Resident 712089

Resident • 2010 - 2011

Nice place to live

The best part about living at City Lights is that there is a shopping center right next door. It has all the stores/restaurants that I use and so very convenient for me. That is the biggest plus for me. It is somewhat noisy, but I'm pretty sure most apartment complexes have noise..? Unless you are living in the country ranch home, noise is going to happen. For the most part, everyone is fine, the fact that there are kids around makes me feel like this place isn't full of drug dealers or criminals.... Anyhow, I think its a nice place.

Current Resident 228735

Resident • 2008 - 2011

Staying is fine, leaving is horrible.

I lived in this apartment complex for 3 years. I was living in a smaller apartment so asked them for a bigger for higher price, all the lease was signed and then these folks turned to me saying i can't move to a bigger apartment. I left this apartment & moved across the street. After vacating these folks sent me a receipt for $400/- . The funny part of the receipt is : 1. Apartment cleaning : 95 2. Carpet cleaning : 115 3. Carpet cleaning(removing deep soils) : 195 4. painting : 65 I don't understand the difference between "Carpet cleaning" & "Carpet cleaning(removing deep soils)". when i sent a mail they didn't reply back. They keep sending me the mail to pay $200 as i had $199 as deposit. I was expecting some $$ in return and looks like i have to pay them. They suck big time when you vacate the apartment. I have changed so many apartments till now, but this is a HORRIBLE experience after vacating the apartment.

Current Resident 416471

Resident • 2010 - 2011

You'll regret it

I've never reviewed an apartment complex in my life. To be perfectly honest, I think that people who write on these sites often have an axe to grind, or they work for competitors. So I don't put much stock in these postings. But we had a terrible experience at City Lights, and I feel compelled to warn other people. While City Lights looks like a new and modern apartment complex, it was built with cheap materials. Those aren't my words. The maintenance guys often told us about how difficult their jobs were as a result of these low-quality materials. It's easy to hear other tenants through the walls and floors. More importantly, the contractors used the cheapest pipe that they could when they built the place. Consequently, pipes burst all the time at City Lights. Everyday when I came home from work, there were plumbing trucks in the garage, and they were trying to get water out of the various apartments. Of course, to work on the pipes, they had to shut off the water in the entire building. So two or three times a week, our water was off. It happened when one of us was in the shower. It happened when we prepared dinner. It happened when we were giving our daughter a bath. They would shut off the water without notice. So if you move here, get ready for twelve months of this. Of course, it's not just the water. The heating at City Lights relies on these pipes. If the water's shut off, air gets into the heating system, and it ceases working. This doesn't matter for nine or ten months of the year, but when it gets cold, you might have to go without heating. For most adults, this won't matter. But we had an eighteen-month-old kid, as she had a number of sleepless nights because of the temperature. And to add to these difficulties, I found the office staff to be as unhelpful as they could be. When you ask for their help, they find all of the reasons that they possibly can to not help you. I've lived in apartments for a decade, and I've never found an apartment staff to be less helpful. They wouldn't return calls. They wouldn't talk to me about these problems in person. Honestly, I found the staff's response to be more offensive than the building problems themselves. Lastly, if you're a parent, I really would look elsewhere. Most of the tenants are young, and they make plenty of noise. Nights and weekends are a constant party, especially during the summertime. I'm not some old crank. I don't care if people cook out or have fun at the pool. But we'd hear people at 2 AM or 3 AM on a regular basis. They were still playing music, yelling, etc. Oh, and it's really expensive compared to other apartments in the area. There are some positives to this place. The maintenance staff was always great. They were helpful and personable every time they came to our place (which was often). And it was a short walk to a nearby playground as well as Town Center. But overall, we had an awful experience at City Lights. If you're moving to South Orange County, I'd really recommend that you look elsewhere.

deceivedrenter555

Resident • 2009 - 2011

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT !!!!!!!!!!!

I moved out of 1435 City Lights on May 2011, I'm not a competitor, If you like you can e-mail me or call me and I'll be glad to prove that and explain all the cons and pros about this place. 1. Major water leak problem, not just one apartment or building, the whole apartment complex,it's so unbelievable everyday there is construction in one of the apartments (I'm not exaggerating) water removal vans are always there, there are cut dry walls all over because of that they shut the water off almost every other day and every time they do that either A/C or the heater wont work, you call them if you are lucky some one will show up the next day or a couple of days later, during that time you freeze to death if its winter time so if you move there it's a 75% chance you will experience all this. I experienced this in the kitchen it was water all over the kitchen and kitchen walls, i called them right away, and they showed up in 5 minutes ( not because they are concerned about me its because if the water goes into the unit below me it's going to cost them more $$, dry walls cut, carpet partially removed, and they put a industrial size dehumidifier which the noise was unbearable, it took 2 weeks for everything to get back to normal but it was so uncomfortable for me I could not use the kitchen fully, it was like i was living in a construction site when they removed the carpet they damaged it but when i moved out the maintenance manager told that i should not be responsible for the carpet because it was not my fault but a couple weeks after I moved out i received a letter asking me to pay for the carpet but not because of that, they assumed that I had an illegal pet in the apartment supposedly the pet urinated on the carpet and I should pay for it. I never had a pet in my life, I love animals but I'm allergic to them, so I told them maybe it was the tenant before me, they said the carpet was brand new when I moved in, it looked new but not brand new, so I asked for a receipt when they changed the carpet last, they could not provide me anything so I end up paying for somebody else s responsibility so if you move here make sure you ask them to provide you something that the carpet is new. Another problem I had was with paint, I end up paying for the paint after 2 years of my occupancy there, be very careful with these people they are so evil smart, when i renewed my lease for the second year they only renewed it for 11 months not for 12 months because according to the state law tenant is not responsible for the paint after 2 years but they make the lease for 11 months you are 1 month short and you pay for the paint even though the manager says I should not be worried about the paint 1 month short is not a big deal. 2. Office people are extremely friendly and they butter you up before you move in and sign the papers but when it's time to move out or you have a problem they treat you like a loser, worthless...etc so don't be fooled by the fake smiles on their face The last day before I handed the keys in we walked through the apartment with the maintenance manager, I explained everything, he said I should not be responsible for anything other than the cleaning fee which was ok because no matter how clean you leave the apartment, you will still be billed for the cleaning, he gave me a copy of the move out check list he put OK or good for everything other than the cleaning, but I still have to pay $400 something I went back and forth with the management and the corporate office for 4 months they lowered the balance due a little bit.i just mailed them a check recently because i did not want this to effect my credit. I should have received my full deposit and a credit for the 2 weeks construction in the apartment. I am going to file a claim in small claims court against this company and I'm sure I will win because I have all the paperwork and pictures, so don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you K.G

alfreds0102

Resident • 2011

Good Location

City Lights is the nicest place in aliso to live at. I looked at them all. I like it.