Bernardo Crest

Amalia, Bea, and the rest of the staff are the kindest, hardest working, most reliable people I’ve ever rented from. The maintenance guys are fast and efficient, the pool and jacuzzi area is spotless and clean. I’ve lived here for two years and don’t plan on moving anytime soon. Close to great food, great schools, the I-​15. There’s always parking. Great place to love

As far as location and staff (service and people at the front desk) I would give it 5 stars. But the management makes it a horrible experience to live here; if you encounter an issue in which you need to contact the lady that runs this place you will be treated with a lot of hostility. We found mold in our apartment, and the process to exchange apartments was a slow one (as if this was not a serious matter) and we were treated very rudely. We were asked to go somewhere else while they fix the apartment!!! As if it was not their problem to resolve our living situation and we were still responsable for the monthly rent payment! After us refusing to accept this and days of going back and forth, we were finally offered an exchange of apartments while our old one got fixed. No help was given to move our stuff from and back to the apartment, the moving of our services, or adjustment on our payment. We were given the wrong parking place (which brought issues with the person who was assigned to it previously) We were placed on a very uncomfortable position for over a month (for a process that was to take no more than two weeks). I cannot stress how badly we were treated by the manager of this place, and with so much disrespect, she needs to be removed!

We have lived at Bernardo Crest for two years and approaching time to decide to renew our lease again. We enjoy living here and feel the property is well kept (minus loosing grass because of the drought), safe, and a quite neighborhood. The amenities are up to standards for the area and there is even a small dog park in the complex. We have needed maintenance on our unit 3 times since living here and each time they have been prompt and efficient. My only compliant is that it is corporate owned and there are significant rent increases every time your lease is up without any appreciation you are staying with them for another year. There seems to be a high turn over of residents here due to that.

All of the help at BC are extremely helpful and responsive. The Maintenance personnel, are not only responsive and on time, but they are proactive with their repairs. The leasing staff also are pleasant and helpful, I can stroll into their office any time of the business day, and I am their «top prior». They make you part of the family, part of the community. Beatrix Ongjoco is extremely personable, friendly, helpful and caring. I plan my visits to the office when she is working, but if she isn’t there, everyone else in the office will bend over backwards to accommodate my needs. You can’t go wrong with this community.
Walt

Great location in Rancho Bernardo with easy access to freeways, grocery shopping, restaurants and local schools. Beatrice Ongjoco leads a great leasing office staff who are always available to assist. The spacious community layout make it feel more like townhouse living, vice apartments, which is a plus. But additional BBQ pits throughout the complex would be nice.

I am a current resident. I am very happy with my apartment here. The only negative we have had is that is not a non smoking community. I am expecting and my surrounding neighbors all smoke. After having conversations with the management they were able to move my husband and I to a different unit at no additional cost. I was impressed at their willingness to go above and beyond. They have a great work out facility, pool and nice areas to walk your dog. It is very well kept by the management.
The wonderful thing about this place is if you need to transfer to a bigger unit you don’t have to pay to break your lease.
It’s very quite here and the people that live here seem to be pretty respectful of being quiet after 10. It’s a nice safe community!

Very private, I don’t ever hear my neighbors through the walls. Lots of storage space, except the kitchen cupboards are a little cramped and outdated. Overall great place for the price. I love our balcony. Beautiful view coming in to the complex makes me happy to live here. The office staff has also been very nice and helpful.
Also, not sure why everyone is commenting on bad parking. My husband and I have never had problems finding parking (we live in a 1 bedroom and have 1 parking spot, for 2 cars), there is always a spot open for our second car.

I’ve lived here for almost a year, and overall it has been a good place to live. The units are a bit dated, but overall very livable.
I am a bit disappointed that I recently received a lease renewal notice that has my rent increasing beyond what they are advertising the same floor plans for online.

I almost overlooked this complex as an option because of the reviews here, but I’m glad I gave it a chance. If you are dubious due to these reviews, just keep in mind that people are more likely to review when they have a negative experience. Check it out for yourself before ruling it out. You may or may not be disappointed, but I am delighted with my new living arrangements.
I ended up renting a 3 bedroom unit with my 2 kids, and while I’ve only been here for about 2 months, I have been very happy with my experience.
The 3 bedroom units are on the edge of the complex, so I have no neighbors behind me. I only share one living room wall with my next door neighbor. I sometimes hear footsteps of the upstairs neighbors, but it’s really not bad. Having lived in single family homes for over a decade, I was nervous about the noise, but I have lucked out with my neighbors. I can’t comment on how the conditions or noise are in the other areas of the complex.
The leasing process was easy and the office personnel I have dealt with have been friendly.
I am pleased with the condition of my apartment. While it’s not perfect (minor cosmetic blemishes such as peeling paint on a cabinet door, scuffs on the laminate flooring, obvious paint over dust on baseboards), it’s clean and comfortable. The water pressure is great, and I am a stickler for strong water pressure.
I downsized from a much larger home and have been able to use some creativity for storage options and still park in my included one-​car garage. In the area I am, parking hasn’t been an issue even when I don’t park in my garage.
I can’t speak to how much the rent goes up when my lease will be renewed, and I haven’t had an opportunity to use the pool yet. But the membership to the Bernardo Heights Community Center for $ 10/​year for my whole family is a great benefit, and my kids love the open space and hiking trail next to the complex. The location can’t be beat in RB, and for the time being at least, I am very happy in my new apartment home.

Forgive my brevity, I’m doing this on my phone. We called for an appointment with Todd even though I should have heeded these reviews. The morning of they called to confirm our appointment for 230 and said the less expensive unit was not available. I checked and they just posted a unit for less just four hours earlier on craigslist. Well, we arrived at 230 and there was a sign that they were showing property and would be back at 255. Tried to call just incase and no answer. We decided waited outside in the car. His head popped out and we got ready to get out of the car. Someone came in right before us and when we spoke to him he said he was at lunch. It would have been nice for a call to change our appointment! He also said he said he was going to help the couple ahead of us even though we waited almost an half hour outside with my girlfriend and child and had an appointment. Might not have irked me so much, but he was just so smug about it!

I wish there was an option for zero stars on Unilocal.Bernardo Crest apartments for one, are ridiculously difficult to get a hold of, and. oh yeah, cars get stolen here! Apparently, Rancho Bernardo is a high crime area for auto theft which doesn’t necessarily come to mind when thinking of moving to a retirement community. Also, what century are these people living in to not have any security cameras set up? That is a scam in itself. There was zero sympathy and/​or compensation from this place and I can’t wait to get out of here. Don’t be an idiot by helping this place stay open.

in a word, Living in Bernardo crest is the worst experience in my life.
— dog shits are everywhere, i cannot believe it is San Diego, California. one day, i saw a woman walking a dog and she was holding plastic bag and looked she was taking care of the dog waste. but i was wrong, after the dog poop on the lawn, she just walked away like nothing happened. she was just pretending to taking care of the dog poo.
— noise air conditioner close to your bedroom. I am not good at math but i will not forget there are 6 A/​C machine beside my bedroom window. they generate big noise day and night in spring/​summer and fall. as i know, some people moved out within 1 month just because the noise and they have to pay $ 2500 fine for breaking the lease! further more, the leasing offer person is very NOT honest! she told me the A/​C is not noisy at all. i wonder why i am so stupid that i can believe what she said!
— lots of parking spot. this is good for family who have 2 cars
— rent is pretty reasonable. i would say it’s pretty low in that area.

We were in a bre property before and decided to check this place out as it was in the area we wanted to live in and would be much easier to transfer.
The first time we went along to try and view properties it was a Thursday evening (they open later on a Thursday) however, because it was dark they weren’t allowed to show the properties. If that’s the case what is the point of having the office open at all?
The second time I went along they showed us both a two bedroom and a three bedroom. The three bedroom was tiny and it was clear that the properties were in need of an update.
When I gave my date of moving they told me there was no properties available of the 3 bedroom type and only the two bedroom and they didn’t even want to take my details to try and find me a place! It was clear that they valued new business over transfers.
I am glad now that we didn’t move here as the properties were in need of updates, there were a lot of hills to navigate and I didn’t have a great experience with bre when it came to maintenance issues previously.
Just need to add that when you drive into the apartment complex there is a huge dip so you have to drive extra slow if you drive anything smaller than a truck else you are in danger of damaging the underneath of your vehicle!

Beyond deleting reviews this place is just horrible. Don’t bring your pets here because they will get infested with bugs, ticks and fleas. I have spoken with six different dog owners and all of their pets have been taken to the Vet for «unexplainable itching.» Which was only cured from expensive medicines.
As far as parking goes, that is also horrible. Condo owners park in renter’s parking spaces but because Amelia, Renter’s Manager/​Condo Owner/​Condo Board Member, really doesn’t give two sheets in the wind. People park illegally all the time but unless the «apartment employees» see them, nothing happens. Not to mention if they come come when it is reported it is usually much later. See they drive down before calling the tow truck company. Giving the rule breakers almost two hours before anything shows up. I got news for you, they don’t report it either because Amelia never listens and doesn’t want to get in trouble with the condo board. In fact the condo board president is married to one of the primary offenders. Also this community isn’t safe for kids as a majority of the residents speed at all times of the day. I have almost been hit by speeders every day since I moved in two years ago. Including Amelia the manager more than three times!!!
Things to notice when touring the property. Pet Friendly but there is no poop bags ever. Every Resident pays $ 100 per pet per month and they don’t supply bags because the condo owners steal them after letting their dogs run around off-​leash. Yet the residents have to suffer because management is on the condo board! After telling management the direct person that does it as well as other infractions, they simply did nothing. What is the point of rules if you only enforce it to one side of the population?
You will also never receive the following from them. Updates on community events, best way to find out is going into the «Club House.» Which by the way is used more by the staff than anyone else. I mean they keep their Lunch in there instead of the employee room. You will also never receive any consistency in maintenance staff as I have yet to see one of them last longer than six months. They get fired or transferred, simple as that. There is no security at night no matter what they say. At most the individual stops by once per night, only to speed through the complex to get to the other Properties on their list. You will also never receive flyers for residents only events, hours before the event. They insist on making the maintenance staff drive and deliver them as opposed to having it in the mailbox behind the manager’s office. You will never get parking at the mailbox either A) because management removed one spot for mailboxes so she could park closer and B) there is only one spot that bottoms out pick up trucks when pulling in. You will never see them fix anything wrong with the community, i.e. Overload breakers less than 3ft from a tree. You will never see them calling the city to fix the Street Light next to their employee’s maintenance shop, been off and on for over a year now… Lastly you will never get results from management, not even regional. I have called them twice since moving in and things actually got worse. In fact, they just installed a dog park which is never maintained and because they «love dogs» so much they couldn’t even tell cementing a water bowl into the ground was a bad idea! To remedy this, they simply put another bowl inside that bowl which does nothing but make two bowls ridden with bacteria. Railings are not properly maintained and shows rust even sharp metal edges on most rails. Also they have no control over their dumpsters. I rarely see trash inside the dumpster unless it is the one by the tennis courts. Condo owners having work done often let their contractor’s park in renter’s spaces and sometimes even cone off the spaces around instead of parking in Condo only parking. That is any time of the day too, sometimes as late as 7pm at night.
You will receive, letters to the general population about cleaning the balconies, only if, multiple units are available for rent and could make them look bad. You also will receive … I can’t think of anything. The only time they did anything nice for the residents was when they had over half of the main building up for rent. Even then they made maintenance sit out in the cold of winter trying to hand out brown bags to anyone leaving the property in the morning.
Lastly what all the people have posted on Unilocal about them price gouging after the first year is correct.

Also if you have any issue, take pictures because they will not give back the deposit on average which is usually because they never fully prep a unit for a new renter’s. Carpet is only replaced if there is no hope of saving it, even still they will charge you, from your deposit, a carpet cleaning fee, removal and installation fee

I moved in because the initial rate was cheap, at first. Than I had ended up paying a higher rate because they literally argued that I was in a «updated unit». I told them to walk in and take a look for themselves. No refund on past months overcharged just a correction on my bill for the future.
I do not know what they do to the grass but do not wear sandals on it!!! Your feet will break out and if you have pets they will need to be put on antibiotics. You need to constantly take a pet outside the community for it not to get ill. There are five other residents with dogs I talked to all confirming this with the worst case being that the dogs had to be put on steroids to fight off the infection.
Also it is against state law to fumigate without proper signage or notification as it could be dangerous to pets or humans. They never post signs but are always fumigating. It might be because they have the worst spider and bee population I have seen in years.
They recently fired or transferred their entire handyman staff which is odd because they both had employee of the month awards. A leasing Agent quit do to the manager which was horrible because the person knew everyone by first name and they liked him!!! Regional office decided the manager who does nothing, knows no one’s name was better. Ask, I will give you their number.
The review by Erin F. is a complete lie. The majority of the units look nothing like what they have posted. Parking is horrible unless you own the condos in the same complex. Which the condo owners take when they want to save room for their house parties. By the way, they poop and don’t scoop but we get letters for it. If you try to complain to the current manager (also a condo owner/​on their board as well), which is a complete conflict of interest, you get blown off completely. Once I heard the board members laughing that they hear that all the time. Well what are we paying the boards for?
I have tried to get the regional manager’s number now to complain for 5 months but the office manager refuses to give the information. Also if you call the regional office in Irvine they don’t pick up. Not to mention the only way to get the number is to talk to to the on-​site office. Kind of corrupt right? Lastly if you try to put in a work order to have your unit fixed you now have to call an 1 – 800 number instead of being able to walk up and tell the manager like in the past. I guess rent went up so they could have a call center…
I would like to add to the topic of rent spiking. It is true. In one year they raised the rent $ 300 without pet deposits or anything.

These negative reviews shock me! I have lived here for four years now and for the first three, there was NO rent change at all! At year three, they did want to raise the rent but, seriously, I think that is completely acceptable. At that point we actually moved to a three bedroom rather than stay in the two bedroom at the rate they were offering. I don’t think the rent prices are GREAT but good luck finding place to rent that accepts dogs anyhow. Sure, pet rent is silly considering you already give them a pet deposit, but that’s probably my only negative with this place. And it is the parent company, BRE, not actually Bernardo Crest that is to blame for that.
The pool is nice and clean, they maintain all the roads and plants and ANYTIME we have ever called maintenence, including on Thanksgiving Day, they get right back to us. Not to mention that for just $ 10 a year (per adult), you have access to the Bernardo Heights rec center that has multiple pools, a gym, tennis courts, banquet rooms, etc. The office staff (Amalia and Kevin) have always been more than helpful to us and they have community events on occasion that my kids enjoy. Halloween, free smoothies, taco night, etc.
I’ve never had any property damage to anything here, either. When we had an issue with a neighbor, the front office took care of it for us swiftly.

I have to thank Bernardo Crest for being so horrible as it caused me to move and now I am very happy where I live. I was a resident of BC for 12 years and wanted to move to a larger apartment. Despite ALWAYS being on time with my rent, they said no. We moved to a house (Nd yes I had the credit and the income to qualify) and am very content. Over the years the property management has changed, the maintenance got poorer, and the tenants got louder. Thank you BC for being an ass, and making my life better

All I can say is I would stay away. First of all, you get a «teaser» rate when you move in, then when your lease is up, they jack your rent way up. After my one year lease was up, they increased my rent 10%…in one year. They tease you to get you in with a good rent rate but then bank on the idea that you won’t want the hassle and expense of moving so you will pay their jacked up rates. So, now I have been paying SIGNIFICANTLY more for rent, however I am STILL stuck with the teeny tiny kitchen (could not fit my small amount of pots and pans and fits very few groceries), popcorn ceilings, the AC/​Heater fan is so loud I can barely hear the TV in my bedroom when it is on, the electrical outlets were so loose that my plugs kept falling out. Also, cannot run two blow dryers at once, or cannot run the blow dryer and the electric kettle in the kitchen at once, etc… keeps blowing fuses. These places are old and it shows. I paid less rent at my last place and it was very modern, large kitchen, no noisy AC unit, and just much nicer over all and in a gated community. I now pay more rent to live in a way older and crappier place. This place is not bad for the teaser rate you get when you move in, but it is just you can get a much nicer place for the same amount and they likely won’t play the «lets jack up their rent and hope they don’t want the hassle and expense of moving» game. Also, the washer stained a bunch of my white clothes with these awful rust stains… the entire load of laundry was ruined… stains never came out… BRE (corporate owner of this property) did nothing about it. I lost over $ 500 worth of clothes. Gone. Poof. They did nothing to remedy that. They didn’t even want to see the clothes. They just denied any responsibility and said they would do nothing to compensate me for the loss. Bathtubs very small, like everything else here (mini size) so if you are over a hundred pounds it’s a shower only for you. They also are not very «friendly» here in that they tend to do things like send very harsh and abrasive notices saying they are entering your unit for this reason or that reason (look at an appliance or whatever) and you legally have no say in it. Yes, they send a letter stating they are coming in and you cannot legally stop them so don’t even try… basically. Very rude and off putting. Was clearly written by their lawyers. Speaking of lawyers, if you do not pay your rent by the 10^th of the month, you will pay BRE’s lawyers fees to evict you. Yes, you will be sued and have a court case filed against you after 10 days. You have to sign something in the lease when you move in stating you are ok with this. I think they state in the paperwork legal fees are $ 650. After 10 days you will be sued and pay $ 650 to be sued. Seems a little harsh for just 10 days… no? Hmmm, what else. On a good note, the people who live here are friendly. And though the pool here sucks, you can, for a small fee, use the community center pool nearby. It’s really nice. It’s also very quiet here (besides the AC unit) so that is nice. You cannot have a BBQ here so if you plan on grilling, forget it. Their insurance says no. You are also required to have renter’s insurance. Have to. They check up on you to be sure. Another added expense that should be voluntary. But they force you to get it and keep it. And they check up on you like little children. You pay a lot for water here too. I am one person. I take one shower daily and use very little water and I pay over $ 50 bucks a month. They don’t care how much you use, you are gonna pay pay pay. Their tennis court is in disrepair and run down but that community center down the road has a nice one. Be very careful with the blinds on the windows. If you breathe too hard on them they will snap in half. You have to pay to replace them. Sigh. Ok, I will stop now. I am moving in a few days and I am very glad. I wonder if they will try to stick me with a ton of fees when I go? I plan to be here when they do the walk-​thru just to keep them honest.

We moved into these apartments in September when we needed a new place quickly — and one that took pets. The move in process was very easy. They reviewed our application and we moved in the same day. The deposit was reasonable — only $ 199 plus a $ 500 pet deposit. The place was bigger than some other ones we’d looked at in the same price range. The complex is okay, although some of the residents do lame things like play loud music at night and throw their trash NEAR the dumpster rather than IN it, but you’ll find that anywhere. As far as amenities, there is 1 pool, a fitness center, a tennis court, and 2 laundry rooms (some of the units have washer/​dryer).
The apartment itself was a bit older, but with fresh paint it wasn’t too bad. There were a couple of annoying things — the microwave sucked, the carpet was a little worn, the cabinets and counters in the kitchen were super old. We had a couple maintainence issues like the drains all being clogged (GROSS), but it wasn’t too bad. For how quickly we needed a place, it would do just fine.
The problems started when we had to move out. My boyfriend got transferred out of state and we tried to give our notice on Dec 22. There was no one in the office and no note on the door. Same the next day. I kid you not the office was closed almost 2 solid weeks. We left multiple phone messages explaining our situation — no return calls. I finally managed to catch one of the guys in the office on Dec 31. He told me he’d call me after showing an apartment — he never did, and then they were closed for another few days. I just about blew a gasket.
They did honor our original phone message for our move out date, so that was nice. However, when we got the «damage» bill — I was shocked. They charged us to replace the cheap old countertops, even though the maintenance guy had said they were all being replaced anyway. I mentioned that they were old and chipped when we moved in, but since we didn’t put it on our «move-​in» checklist, we were liable. I didn’t know that they would be that anal. They also charged us a cleaning fee, even though we scrubbed that apartment down before we left.
They have you schedule a maintenance inspection about a week before you move out. The maintenance guy said everything was fine but we should probably steam clean the carpet, which we did. I am extremely frustrated that the «final walkthrough» happened after we vacated. I was under the impression that the maintenance inspection was it. Since we’re now out of state, I have no recourse.
If you’re going to live here, make sure you write down every little thing that’s remotely wrong with your apartment when you move in, and make sure that you demand the final walkthrough before you give them the keys.
*UPDATE* — They went ahead and refunded the part of our deposit they witheld for the countertops, so I’m much happier now.