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I've been reading the complaints against Arnel Mgmt. Co. My daughter, a single parent with 3 kids, moved in August. She was notified that her rent was going to increase & she couldn't afford the increase, so she went looking for another place. I went with her to the management office to inquire about the lease...etc., etc.. I was a cosigner for her because she didn't have any credit history. She left August 4th. I got a bill in October for over $1800. I know they lease the apt to someone else 3 days after she moved. It is illegal to collect double rent - I've been reviewing laws related to fair housing. I have requested information several times that they are obligated by law to give me. They have not complied. I just got a phone call from their collection department threatening to counter sue me if I take my issue to small claims court. I think someone needs to start a class action law suit against these people. I have an attorney friend that is seriously considering taking the case. I have documentation, etc. etc. I realize they are big & probably have political ties that they can use, but they are not a legitimate organization & it's time to start making the thiefs doing business in the USA to stop. I think all of us need to do our part to help with this problem instead of watching it keep going. I'd like to start with Arnel. Is anyone else out there interested?
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I am definitely interested. I was a tenant for nearly 12 years. I had two months left on my lease and could no longer afford it after having been laid off nearly a year before. the contract work I had been doing to survive had dried up and I was quickly running through my savings. I called the headquarters in costa mesa and explained the situation. I spoke to myke kim who was very understanding and told me just to give my notice and move out at the end of the month. he stated that he would write off the last month's rent and work with me on the remaining month. after receiving his assurance that this would happen, I did as he told me. then he would not return my phone calls until I finally sent a letter certified mail. he finally called two weeks after receiving the letter and told me that he had left me several messages. completely false. his number would have shown up on my call log. but whatever, I just wanted to get the portion of my bill that we agreed to prior to me moving out paid and settled. he said that he remembered the agreement and he would deduct my deposit from the one month of rent. the only problem was that he was stating my deposit was $75.00 less than what it was. I told he I would check my records because I thought the amount was different but other than that I would pay the difference. I asked him to send me something to that effect and he went nuts! he started yelling at me and told me if I wanted something in writing than I could pay the full amount. I got him to calm down and told him I would send him an email with the deposit amount once I checked my records. I sent him the email and a month went by without a response to it. so I resent the email and noted that I was hoping that we could get this settled soon. he sent me an email back stating that I should contact him in person and that I owed $2200. I called and he stated that I should have settled this 6 months ago and that we never discussed what he had already acknowledged we had, in fact, discussed. he said if I wanted anything in writing than I could pay the $2200, take it or leave it, which is nearly $1600.00 more than we had agreed upon. he repeatedly refused to put anything in writing, i'm sure due to the $1, 000, 000+ payout they had to pay a while back due to them illegally withholding tenants' deposits. arnelsteals@hotmail.com
I will be a part of it! I can't stand corporations like this. I am having problems with them as well.
Hi... I am right there with you! please join, or check out my group, "the cape apartments, costa mesa, ca"... we have serious mold problems here... I think they might also be double charging the guy who moved out of our place... they told us he broke his lease due to job loss and was still responsible... I plan to try to contact him... this company is not ethical.
We hope to legally break our lease, as today they threatened us after we would not allow them to tear out our walls, with mold inside them, thereby, releasing the toxic mold spores into the air and contaminating our entire place, making us sicker... plus they are fully aware we are asthmatic! unbelievable. they were verbally abusive (a guy from corporate) and stormed out yelling they'd be back with their legal reps!
Is that how you treat tenants? and they expect people to renew their leases, or refer to their properties? they must have a deal with oc health & housing... this is insane what they are getting away with on many levels! too much power... that mr. arnel.
The collection diivision at arnel property management:
The famous un-named collection team :
A thug by the name of jim jones, (appropriately named) and (a korean named) who says his name is michael kim, as his side kick. but who knows... they could be anyone or these could be ficticious names
I searched for collection agency licenses under these names, (individuals and corporate) however no luck... although sorry to say that california allows them and anyone to operate and issue threats, and say what they want... (not surprised) without license, however the feds do not : (the feds enforce the laws and dont grant state political favors :)
its apparent the pair of these guys often rule by and engage in threats by posting libelous statements on the web about their own tenants in a reckless fashion largely against honest people that disagree, or have a simple question with their business ethics
We have interviewed 25 tenants this quarter in 2010 that have left there, and as such their approval rating has dipped to a new low of (1.5 people) that actually like them out of 25 previous tenants
Their law suit threats are nothing more than that, empty threats. the only thing that they like is evictions, or so we could find in pleadings. its seems its all about the money to them as they seem to get paid on their collection efforts, and if they can make you pay but issuing threats, thats what they do, and they do not particuliary care what they have to say to get you to pay up. w e have heard some real horror stories
So thats the deal over at arnel however our advice is for you to vuisit with their upper management, if you have a problem and avoid laurel and hardy at all cost!
Stay tuned
Scorpio consumer services
Apartment housing reports
HI
Thanks for the comments about Laurel and Hardy ! It seems you are right, I say they are "mental giants" both of them.. and legends in their own minds
I moved out three months ago...what a mess
The guy named Kem told me that his organization is so big that they can do whatever they want to do, to include threats.. Also that the DA in Orange County is a friend of their owner. I did not need all of that ... All I wanted was my deposit refunded and Kem gave me fourty different reasons why they would not refund my money... All of which are designed to keep my money I think this guy is an asian guy, which explains a lot of his arogance
However Arnel does charge double rent, its a fact they charged me and then charged the new tenant. I dont know much about this Jones guy, but if hes anything like Kem the owners should show these guys the door real quick...Im getting a lawyer ...
Good Luck !
As the world turns george arygous arnel owner
If he really really cared or knew what was going on in his organization, he would probably start running the company himself, however that wont happen
"the apple never falls far from the tree"
We need to join forces... How many are interested in going to the media with this? I have a reporter interested in doing a story. Please reply ASAP !
I will ! Contact me at Lmonk721@yahoo.com
Im interested, my ex wife and her mom got a leased in my name while I was incarcerated, Ive sent Arnel documents proving my whereabouts, never got response. Now I get a judgement. I tried to apply for my own apartment with my 5 year old and got denied cause this is on my credit. Please help
I am a former employee of this company email me if you need any help heartofgold77@gmail.com
Please contanct me. I am currently having problems. Lmonk721@yahoo.com
post your experiences in the apt section on craigslist where they fish for new residents!
Just recently moved out of the Homestead. They took all of my deposit of $400 except $35. They charged for cleaning carpets, painting, cleaning apartment, taking pictures and keys. Now to add I also took pictures always gearing for small claims court...just in case. The carpets where cleaned prior to leaving which wasn't necessary for me to do. The apartment was impeccably clean, pictures to prove, no need for paint nothing was hinged to wall. The final mean spiritedness of the matter is they charged me for keys and remotes which where returned. That is a new one. Never have I had a landlord to states that I didn't give them the keys, but I have phone records showing how many times I called the office that day. All keys and all remotes where returned but they added that on too. Along with charging for them to take "pictures". Now the District Attorney has investigated them but it obviously hasn't made a change in their business practices. They are still scamming. Now either Argyros is just nuts not to set company right or he is just buying people off in favor of his company against tenants. It doesn't make sense for such business practices to continue and to have to drag them into small claims court as if they couldn't have their staff spend their time doing better work. Plus they get a bad reputation. I mean, how many people are we going to tell against the company of what they did? Everyone. It is just a loss of money. The Homestead is a nice place but not worth $1455 a month for a 1 bedroom. The upgrades that are done cost one months rent. They have many empty units and I hope more until they start doing the right thing. If they did right thing I would move back, but I want nothing to do with that management company. It is like dealing with the mafia.
As i'm sure most of you already knowww... arnel is the shadiest company out there! take your money elsewhere and move down the street! you'll be happy you did! they charge way too much for what you get (which is almost nothing... pretty crappy apartments for the price if you ask me), and will lie to rent to anyone just to get a lease, because upper management is psycho. take it from someone who knows — I have had the opportunity to work for arnel! don't say I didn't warn you. they are the shaiest company to work for also! they verbally threat and harass their employees. they fire as fast as they hire because they don't want to give anyone a raise. so they'll just hire stupid young people that don't know any better. biggest turnover rate ever. stay far away from this company they will burn you.
Arnel is the absolute worst apartment management company I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with in my entire life. and I have had some pretty awful landlords.
We had to move out of the cape, their 'flagship' property. we were exposed to mold contamination, high humidity, which made us sick constantly upon moving in. arnel did not care at all.
When they realized we are actually educated about mold and how it can kill people and cause numerous illness... they agreed to let us out of our lease.
After several calls to the office over w 2-month period, and numerous notes to them asking for help and listing new problems. they finally inspected and admitted there was a serious problem... we have it on audio tape. it is not illegal to record anyone, unless they are an "officer of the court" i. e., a police officer, lawyer, etc... they lie so much, that I would advise everyone to record their calls to them, or their maintenance inspections. they always make at least 2 maintenance guys go to almost every visit... this is no accident, and they are not "training" them... as they claim. it is so they haves witnesses for court! trust me, I figured it out very quickly.
We recorded them after they treated us like crap and their executive from corporate came over and yelled at us and threatened us, all while we were very ill with flu symptoms, sinus infections, fevers, nose/sinus bleeds, sore throat, migraines, bronchial infections, gi spasms, fatigue, anxiety and many other problems.
The executive was so horrible, I begged him to stop yelling at me because I had been so sick for weeks and could barely talk! I simply asked for something in writing, pertaining to them ripping open walls in the closet, where we smelled mold, while we were there. they went crazy and tried to bully us.
Please note: never let anyone open your walls while you are inside, - it will make you sick, and will contaminate your property.
He kept yelling, and threatened that he would be back in "an hour with the legal reps and more people" but the wimp never came back and, like the coward he is... threatened us more.
Three er visits later, they promised to transfer us to a "dryer builder" and telling us that most of the buildings at the cape were "soaked" and that "we don't do anything about mold even when we know it's there because it doesn't matter unless someone complains..." they said that about all of their properties. wth?
So they allow the people in their buildings to become very ill and they do not care!? yes, that is what they said, with no shame.
We have photos of a humidifier in our unit that reads "80%"! it is mind boggling.
They need to be sued again till an honest judge who will not take a bribe, and gets a hold of one of their cases and forces them to be accountable for their crimes against tenants.
They are so bad that do not even care if your apartment gets burglarized! our apartment was burglarized by our drug dealer neighbors and her friends, and they did not do anything. they same neighbors stole our first class mail... a box that contained a a gift and $40 cash! the neighbors mother was visiting and found the opened box under her daughter's sink. about a 6 weeks after we were supposed to have gotten it... the mother did the decent thing, and gave us the $40.00, but then there was an attempted burglary right afterward in which someone tried to pry open our doorknob! we have no idea what they planned to do when they got inside! so creepy! and they have the nerve to call this place "luxury living"? I never felt safe there, ever. when we called the corporate office about the burglary, do you suppose they cared if we were okay or not? of course they did not care thay someone tried to pry our door open! they actually got mad that we had proof!
Guess what they said? they said, "try to prove it!"
We said, "fine, we have a police report" there was total silence and they got angry at us for calling the police. I kid you not. unbelievable. they are sleazy beyond a doubt.
In sum... they made our lives a living hell and we hope that more people get smart and do not fall for the bs and lies to talk people in to living there... they will say anything to get you to sign a lease... anything.
Run, do not walk... from arnel! they do not care about you, your comfort, your happiness, you in general... just want to rip you off for every last dime they can get out of you... they tried to bill us after they let us out of our lease, for... are you ready...? $15, 000.00!
Yes... they sent us a bill for $15, 000.00 for maintenance and the rent for the rest of the lease term! it is so obvious that no one even bothered to look at our apartment, because they claimed our dishwasher, which they replaced, was "moldy inside" they listed "refinish the cabinets" where we have tons of photos from our move-in, of the worn out cabinetry, and all the stains that they did not bother to fix prior to our move in. what is really maddening... is they have the nerve to charge everyone for cabinet refinishing when their cabinetry if 20 year old, ugly, dirty, dated wood... that is moldy, smells horrible and should be torn out. their stoves are filthy too... they pretend like you damaged them... but they are so old... I think I was still in high school when those appliances were made.
So, basically, they looked at our move-in checklist, and then took the info we found wrong, and then charged us for it!
That's right... that is called fraud. arnel is very good at trying to get away with it at every turn.
I have never had a more shady housing company that I have dealt with. It isn't true that because there is information on this board that the information is general knowledge as some have suggested. Prior to moving in, I did a search on The Homestead and found things like: nickel and dime you (but specifics), not worth the price. But there were no horror stories or I wouldn't have moved in. That is because when you search you search by apartment name. When you rent, you are then familiar with Arnel, unless you do more of a surface search. My deposit was taken and later went into court and through mediation was returned. I will warn people not to do mediation. It is because people settle that Arnel doesn't get punished for what they do. If the DA was looking into them for a class action lawsuit that says a lot, but that it was settled, shows people don't stick to their guns and the practices continue and you lose out on punitive damages for bad faith retention of deposit. Mediators will try to buckle you, many people going to court wil buckle Arnel. They need to stop and do better. As a black renter with The Homestead, I was shown two apartments and told they were the only apartments available. One wasn't upgraded and right next to the management office with inconvenient parking. The parking spot way away from door. I declined and was shown another apartment. I realized I was being shown the most undesirable apartments they had. Now to be fair, they hire a diverse workforce, but that means nothing. It is perception and whether you are able to judge the person accurately and individually. In other words, black perception can be just as bad as any other. I guess, because of prior experience, they figured black people just trash apartments. Anyway after moving in and still after moving out, I found many apartment units open. I have changed my locks to my apartments two times in life, both in LA. Once because my keys were swiped and the other after moving into The Homestead. The people I rented with made me feel so uncomfortable and came across as so shady despite their phoney smiles, I changed my locks because of them. I later changed back because they left a note after about 2 months saying they needed to enter to check the batteries in smoke detectors. Well, didn't you check that before moved in? Changing the locks on that antiquated door was just a hassle and left. Apartments aren't like men, there are enough to go around so don't be desperate shop around. Remember, Motel 6 has marble countertops because more economical.
I agree with the above and would like to join any legal action against them including a class action if we can get someone to start. ...
To Moldy at Cape 2 - would like to join you in the media
I must say that none of this surprised me in the least bit. I worked for arnel back in december 2001 and the exact same bullshiit was happening them. they are the epitomy of slum lords. at the time steve mensinger was the president of the co.in the event you are trying to get a hold of them and they fail to respond you can find them personally over at metro point on south coast drive near karl strauss across from the cape. that is where the corporate office is. they are in the high rise building near finbars and the parking structure. they are on the 6th floor (or 5th) they got sued a long time ago for failing to return deposits. I think probably the most successful way to be heard and draw attention would be to pickett and protest in front of their "prize properties" the cape, wimbledon glen, and southpoint. rally people by making 100's of fliers informing tenants of the illegal and fatal business practices and late at night post them of every single door. by saturday morning you should have a pretty good crowd of mistreated tenants. weekends are their big days to rent apts thats why you always see their bootleg signs posted by all the freeway on/off ramps. preventing new people from renting and enlightening current residents will make the occupancy drop rapidly, this is the best way to hurt arnel, all they care about is new leases. your power is in numbers. so be loud and proud; fight back! (where is david horowitz when you need him, or maybe chris hansen (the "to catch a predator guy))
Happy rioting ;)
Hi
It seems that these guys Arnel have paid off the Better Business Bureau they give all the Arnel properties an A plus rating, allof a sudden from a D, overnight !
Argous must have spread his money around to the B.B.B. shows how much they rate. An A plus with over 51 complaints against Arnel and numerous [redacted]s. Man these guys are a pair... So much for the Better Business Ratings. Anyone who puts any faith in these guys are just kidding themselves, its all about the money !
Please join the Facebook page "Misadventures with Arnel Management Company" to share your unfortunate events and take action.
I have read sooo many stories about the horrific experiences witnessed by many, we need to unite and take action. This is not what we signed up for and wanted to spend out hard earn money on! The ball is in your court now for us to be one voice!
They yelled at me when i said i wanted to terminate my lease, saying i am responsible for all the payments for the lease duration. Is this right? I read my contract and I dont see anywhere stating that.
To add to all of the above, there is a collusion between Arnel management, Calpark, and local police resources to essentially facilitate predatory towing practices. Any car you bring to the property is absolutely under threat of "legalized" theft and then extortion to get it back.
As an additional piece of info, please feel free to click to:
http://www.google.com/search?q=arnel+management+complaints&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a
100% totally evil business practices!
Hello everyone,
I am the person that wrote the post on 12/10/ 2009. I didn't see any responses for quite some time and forgot about this complaint I wrote. I kept requesting information I was entitled to - like all of you above & got nothing but threats from them about taking me to small claims court. For those of you interested google the arbitation proceedings for OC DA's office. See how many Arnel arbitration hearing their are. Look at who the arbiters are. Look at the outcome. After a while the antagonism stopped & I heard nothing. Today, I got a call from a collection agency regarding their claims. Here I go again! Thanks to all of you who enter complaints here - JESSC
Hi there! I was evicted out on one of their arnel properties at south coast plaza the wimbledon glen due to loss of job in 2014. I answered 5 days prior to court hearing for unlawful detainer but, then they won of course. I cleaned up and tidied up the place and still charging me cleaning for over $250. they have ordered legal order to garnish my savings account without authorization through the state of ca for $5245 + interest for debt recovery judgment. I don't think I owed them that much. please let us join hands and get these money hungry [censor] and file a class action lawsuit. please email me at baybee.11june@gmail.com thank you all!
The assembling of a class action law suit is in the process. If there are any victims who's deposit was retained for frivolous repairs or expenses, please notify Arnelmustbepunished, at gmail.com. Make sure to leave your name, daytime phone number, the name of the community in which you resided, and if possible, whether or not you requested a pre-moveout inspection, prior to vacating the premises. The will only stop their behavior when it costs them so much in penalties that it is no longer profitable. Take the initiative, you've already lost your deposit, but stand to gain it back, possibly more, plus the sweet taste of justice. It is all up to you.
I will be contacting you.
I am an attorney. I am suing Arnel for all their fraudulent activities. I need your help. Please contact me at smartlawyer23@yahoo.com, if you are interested. I am going to start a class action law suit. All tenants, both previous and current, as well as any former employees are welcome to contact me. Thank you.
Has it gone through? Please let me know. Lmonk721, at yahoo, com.
I completely agree with with the stories shared on this board.
Arnel also attempted to illegally withold my security desposit, and also refused to comply with my legal rights regarding requests for information and action on their part. I have evidence of their behavior.
They disregard you, they disregard the law, and they rob you...all while being an incredibly profitable company.
How is this acceptable in today's society?
I really do hate living in Walnut East SUPPOSEDLY Luxury Apartment !Please save your money and do NOT live in ARNEL properties! Here is the list of ARNEL properties!
Pheasant Ridge Rowland Heights, CA
Walnut East Tustin, CA
Villa viento Tustin, CA
Nogal Feliz Tustin, CA
Heritage Point Irvine CA
South Point Costa Mesa, CA
The Cape Costa Mesa, CA
Wimbledon Glen Costa Mesa, CA
Alicia Plaza Laguna Hills, CA
Alicia Village Laguna Hills, CA
Calespana Westminster, CA
Cinnamon Creek Westminster, CA
Suttan Place Westminster, CA
Casa Ciento Orange, CA
Casa Madrid Anaheim, CA
Hampton point Anaheim, CA
The villager Anaheim, CA
Cinnamon Ridge Fullerton, CA
The Homestead Fullerton, CA
The parking is horrible at least at our facility Cinnamon Ridge. We had our carpets cleaned on Friday and I told the manager we were going to be out of town Friday morning till Saturday morning and we got back Saturday morning and they left all our blinds wide open windows and our drapes folded up into a ball above our windows. My husband and I were very upset and felt our privacy was invaded and anyone and everyone could of walked by and seen everything in our home. Our home is our sanctuary and this was very wrong of the carpet cleaners to do this! If the house needed to be aired out than they should of cracked the windows not open all the blind and or ASKED us if they can leave the windows open for airing out. We were unaware our windows and blinds were going to be left like this! It's the holidays and what if we were robbed? Very disappointed residents.
Definitely,
I can't believe these property management companies have so much power. I don't see any tenant representation. I 'm about to move from one of their facility after 5 years there. I've been a good tenant, pay the next months rent on the previous month. Had no issues until they started bringing in chain smokers. Complaints were met with "I'm not going enforce the leasing agreement, " "they just moved in, " and "can't do anything if it's a guest." Unbelievable! I have called housing authorities but just get a lot of civil codes. These companies are not afraid of civil codes or throwing the lease agreement in their faces. They will violate codes, leasing agreement because they know they can get away with it.
They take advantage of those of us that are working - we don't have time or the energy to fight.
I'm tired of being bullied. Put me in to fight these bullies.
Yes. I am in as well. They treat their customers like dirt! When they are in the wrong, they do not make it right, and then you end up having to pay for their mistakes. They are EVIL!
We are thinking to move due to legal reasons (not fixed roof leak over 2 weeks, and mold now, with other reasons such as constant police visits to neighbors, noisy and smoking etc). We are also thinking to prepare to future potential lawsuit and organize tenant representation. Please reach out to me at chiachun450374@gmail.com. Let's put everything on the email mailing list
I also want to seek legal action against Arnel cause my ex wife and her mom leased apartment in my name while I was incarcerated and now I can't get my own place cause its on my credit