Apartment Review for Elite Bancorp - Los Angeles, CA

Three resident managers have come and gone with little or no notice from the offices of Elite Bancorp Group. We'd finished out our year long lease, and agreed to stay on a month to month basis beyond that, but the management's stipulation was that the payments could only be made in certifiable funds. When we placed a security deposit on the place we had to pay a deposit equal to a month's worth of rent, in addition to the opening month's worth, as well as a "final" month's payment - which could be applied to the month beyond the lease agreement. They are still holding that $, and furthermore, the recent residential manager who'd been collecting cash payments from us (as a matter of convenience) has left. We were instructed to make another cash drop, to which we found out days later was never collected, and the person who presented and signed the 3 day letter, who was also collecting and delivering funds from the secured drop box assumed no responsibility and gave a fax number as the phone number to the office when she'd instructed us to talk to the CEO of the company to sort things out. We are still in limbo with the outcome because the manager(s?) are not responding to our numerous emails and voicemails. We've thus far only had the person who's been collecting the funds from the drop box say that she is no longer involved. I feel ashamed and naive to follow direction to pay in certifiable funds only, or cash even for that matter, and have learned an important lesson in all of this, but furthermore, I am upset that I have been treated as a petty criminal trying to get out of a month's rent after being a tenant who paid routinely for 15 months. Elite Bancorp has not been prompt to fill out work requests, and are terrible with follow through. Please be aware that the communication line is terribly frayed and if you elect to do business with this group, that you need to be extremely cautious and meticulous with your records of communication. It's really not worth all the time and effort. The "secured" courtyard is constantly vulnerable to intruders due to forgetful smokers who've propped the doors open. Any official notice of anything that would impede your routine, including personnel shifts, are delivered after the fact. When there was no hot water for two days, we received a letter stating that the water heater was being replaced. After the tenant below us complained that there was water leaking into her kitchen from our shower stall, it took nearly three weeks for a maintenance person to seal it with caulk. Move on when you see Elite Bancorp. I've had much more pleasant experiences working with private owners or other management companies. Good luck.