Renaissance Park Apartments

Lived here last year, my friend even calls it Barbaric park apartment. House is old and renovation of furnitures is just paint furnitures into white, carpet and floor seems have a good renovation though. However, sound insulation of the room is not good, and floor is too thin that even people lived in second floor walk normally it will feel like they are stomping hard. There were many unexpected thing happening here. At the first day I moved in, I asked an agent about whether the heating system... is using electric or gas, and I got an answer as electric, so I didn't create gas account at PG&E. Later in late November, I turned on the heating system and it doesn't work at all, when I requested a repair of my heating system, the repairman responded quickly and told me I need to open gas account at PG&E to use the heating system(I have to say repairing group is really responsible here). AWESOME, agent of the apartment doesn't know how the heating system is driven. Moreover, if you really need to choose here as your home, DO NOT PAY WITH CHECK OR ONLINE PAYMENT. I tried to pay my rent in the first month with online payment, I was sure I have enough money in my account, and I checked the routing number and other information carefully twice before submit, after a week, I got an email told me that the payment didn't go through, and I thought maybe I input the wrong number in the system, then I checked it even more careful than a week ago, it still didn't go through, and I had to pay with money order. Next time I tried to pay with check and they told me they won't take it because I'm "dishonoring" them. AMAZING. I paid my PG&E bill with online banking, I paid my rent at previous apartments with check, and they worked perfectly good but just didn't work at Renaissance Park apartment, further more, they accused you "DISHONORED". I recommand that let the repairing group take charge of the management and it would be better than now. Won't recommand choosing this apartment as your home. Read More

The flats are expensive and very old. The isolation and the water are 2 serious problems in their flats. All the furniture are very old. The management and maintenance are very inefficient. They always try to argue to don't process the maintenance requested. How does anyone live here for more than a year? I wanted to move after 2 weeks.

Water is shut off at least 10 times in the year, many times without notice. When they do give notice for their frequent walk in visits they occasionally never show. Office is very unorganized with the new staff and lose paperwork. Also this place makes you use their renters insurance if they don't like the one you have. How does anyone live here for more than a year? The only benefit to this place is the not so busy location.

Management and maintenance:
It took well over a month for them to process our application. I usually hear back within 24 hours if not within the hour. We nervously awaited to see if they were going to approve us while all the other apartment complexes in Davis filled up and they sat on our $500 holding deposit. It almost felt like this was a tactic to get us to shop around elsewhere so they could keep our deposit and rent the apartment to somebody else. When we finally got approved and moved in... I could barely find the keyhole to my apartment because the outside light had burned out. I was informed by maintenance that they only fix those lightbulbs when a certain number of them go out. They just handed out a letter saying that we cannot store our bikes on the balconies outside, which was quite frustrating to find out seeing how this is Davis and bike theft is extremely common. To sweeten the deal they built more secure bike racks for us to lock our bikes up on. They also offer bike lockers for $15 a month. Alas, the bike lockers are located nowhere near most apartments unless you are right next to the clubhouse, and the secure bike racks seem to have been deliberately installed where your bike would be rained on. During the fall/winter they leave the lower level flooded and the upper level covered in dry pine needles which are fun to slide around on. For the rate they charge I really cannot understand why this place feels like everything surrounding the clubhouse is part of the third world.

Conclusion:
I think I would have preferred to live on campus or closer to campus if I didn't have a dog with me. I will definitely be seeking other options through a different management company once my lease is up. If you want peace, quiet, convenience, and affordability I would not recommend this place. If you are rushing to find a home right before the quarter begins and you absolutely need a place that is pet friendly, I suppose you could settle for Renaissance Park. The maintenance guy is nice and gets the job done quickly, but as I mentioned with the outdoor light bulbs, flooding, nails, and pine needles-he can't do everything to keep that place afloat.

Side note: They raise the rate every year. This time it has been raised by over $100. Not looking forward to that, but I am expecting it. Read More