AVA Little Tokyo

I should have followed my first instincts to not proceed with renting from this company, when I started having difficulty contacting management to complete my move-in paperwork and make my initial deposit and move-in payments. As if that was not a red flag enough, one of the managers, Rhondi Strong, had such a lousy bedside manner. She was never nice and I tried to overlook it but, it was impossible. Yet, I still tried to tolerate her and just proceed. For a while, I thought that it was just her interactions with me but, then one day I was at the front counter downstairs when another person came for assistance and ended up dealing with her and she was just as nasty to him as ever. It bothered me how she was interacting with and treating him. Then, I knew that it was just her. But, the fact is that she is not pleasant at all and should not be in a management position. Anyway, I started living there December 2021 and very quickly realized that I had made a grave mistake. As soon as I moved in and started using the plumbing, I noticed a sewage type smell in the main bathroom. I told management, Angela Garcia, thinking that it would be taken seriously and resolved but, that was not the case. I was treated like I was crazy and making it all up. So, I ultimately had to make the difficult, inconvenient, costly decision to move out just a couple of months after move-in because, I refused to pay the high luxury prices they were charging with that questionable smell, not knowing what type of health effects it would have on me. It was not worth the risk. I just wish that I had listened to my better judgment from the beginning. They need to have better management and provide better customer service for the prices they are charging for supposed luxury. There was nothing luxurious about my experience at all. I would not recommend this location nor the company that owns it, Avalon Bay Communities, to anyone.

The only positive aspects of living here are the proximity to good food and the maintenance crew. There are minimal safety measures despite the fact that the building is adjacent to Skid Row and has a significant homeless issue. A homeless man broke into an apartment with a hatchet and set off the fire alarms a few months ago, and AVA kept the entire situation hush. A homeless woman broke into my patio and stole my property. Other than forwarding my complaint to security, nothing else was done to address the incident. The same homeless man continues to sit outside my apartment and smoke for months. When I call courtesy patrol, no one shows up. Roland from the leasing office mentioned that I could move into a different apartment, but when I emailed him about this and requested to talk in person, he never responded. He was also the one who insinuated that all first floor apartments have a home security system as part of the lease. It wasn’t until after I signed the lease that he told me that I had to pay for the security system myself (and actually my apartment doesn’t have a built in system anyway). Don’t live here if you value personal safety.

Thank you for the hard work from the management and maintenance people to make living experience great in AVA little Tokyo Shout out to Justin, Roland and Ashley from leasing office for helping me. Eden, Jorge, and the staff who clean the trash and community. Just one point that I don’t like my neighbor and I don’t know who always leave trash in the trash room. What’s going on with the manners….. there is a trash chute……

Honest review after 2 years of living here Cons: -BEWARE OF SECURITY DEPOSIT SCAM- They will take a minimum of $140 for a cleaning fee despite California state law stating you cannot do this. After notifying them of this law, they did not care and said this was the policy. Do NOT expect to get your security deposit back. -Elevator breaks all the time Pros: -The maintenance staff are actually the best and extremely nice. -The leasing office staff were actually nice and reasonable except for the security deposit scam

Don’t live here or rent from any AVA property. We had an incident where someone broke into a neighboring apartment (separate ongoing issue where the “security” does nothing and offers no help”) and caused flooding in our apartment. Maintenance has to demo about 1’ of drywall from the floor to air out the stud walls. We have since left the apartment and upon moving, AVA sent us the bill for ALL the drywall repairs and painting totaling over $1,300. After multiple emails and calls with AVA, they still are trying to charge me with $800 in “painting” which is associated with the drywall repair (definitely not normal wear and tear). I’m addition to that, we’ve had multiple maintenance, security, and miscellaneous issues to include inoperable heating, trash just being lined up in the street leaving glass/debris in the road, and rude front staff to name a few. The only redeeming quality are the maintenance team and close proximity to restaurants/shopping. Do yourself a favor and don’t rent here - not worth the headache.

Ava / Little Tokyo is an awful place to live. Management refuses to address any community well-being issues. There are non stop barking dogs through all hours of the night/morning/day. There is dog poop throughout the complex, in stair wells, elevators, hallways. There is constant false fire alarms that make it impossible to stay in your apartment while the super loud alarms are blaring inside your own apartment. My dog has become neurotic from the constant false fire alarms. The 'keyless' entry system is constantly on the fritz.

The only positive aspects of living here are the proximity to good food and the maintenance crew. There are minimal safety measures despite the fact that the building is adjacent to Skid Row and has a significant homeless issue. A homeless man broke into an apartment with a hatchet and set off the fire alarms a few months ago, and AVA kept the entire situation hush. A homeless woman broke into my patio and stole my property. Other than forwarding my complaint to security, nothing else was done to address the incident. The same homeless man continues to sit outside my apartment and smoke for months. When I call courtesy patrol, no one shows up. Roland from the leasing office mentioned that I could move into a different apartment, but when I emailed him about this and requested to talk in person, he never responded. He was also the one who insinuated that all first floor apartments have a home security system as part of the lease. It wasn’t until after I signed the lease that he told me that I had to pay for the security system myself (and actually my apartment doesn’t have a built in system anyway). Don’t live here if you value personal safety.

Thank you for the hard work from the management and maintenance people to make living experience great in AVA little Tokyo Shout out to Justin, Roland and Ashley from leasing office for helping me. Eden, Jorge, and the staff who clean the trash and community. Just one point that I don’t like my neighbor and I don’t know who always leave trash in the trash room. What’s going on with the manners….. there is a trash chute……