Woodlake Village Apartment Homes

*They are changing the name of the complex to The Phoenix Apartments*
There really is nothing positive to say about this apartment complex. I moved in Aug 2012, was not able to stay in the apartment for the first night because the AC was broken and it was so damn hot nothing helped to cool it off. For the first month I was there someone was in my parking spot and finally after repeated trips/​calls/​emails to the office staff they finally moved. There is a gate, it was broken and stayed open well over 50% of the first year I lived there. The cost of water/​sewer/​garbage, went up just about every month regardless of how much I actually used. The cops are there 2 – 3 times a week, looking for someone. My upstairs neighbors were constantly fighting and screaming at each other and when I told the office staff about the excessive noise, it got worse. The landscaping is pathetic there is a lot of dead grass, and broken sprinklers. In Nov. 2013 a new company bought the place, and they have been putting a lot of money in the outer appearance. However, the office staff is still a bunch of incompetent employees. My year in a half at this complex was less than stellar, but when I moved out was when the real issues began. The staff lost my move out paperwork, so I had to bring in my copies for them to make more copies of, and due to a paperwork error, my apartment was placed on the «trash-​out» list, when I wasn’t completely moved out. So I came back to my apartment to move out the rest of my things only to find 75% of my things missing, including all my food. I was given a $ 100 gift card to Target, as a «courtesy» because the property manager felt sorry for me, because I was «upset» over a paperwork error that they said was my fault… upset, didn’t even cover the emotions that I was going through. My rent had been paid in full until my lease end date, and they came into my apartment and took/​threw away my things. That’s right, the maintenance staff helped themselves to the things they wanted before putting a few things in storage and trashing the rest. The only person who was any sort of help during this horrific process was the maintenance manager, he was wonderful, and I really hope he didn’t get into trouble for helping me. This place may be more cheaper than some other complexes, but you get what you pay for. The fortunate part-​they require you to have renters insurance so I have filed a loss of property claim with my renters insurance company since the property owners are «taking no further actions in the matter»

We rented a one bedroom apartment here for my mother in law. She moved in July 4^th, so it’s been over three months now that she’s been staying there, and we visit her often.
If you have a pet, you’ll have to pay a little deposit. She has a cat, so we had to pay a little deposit. The apartment is slightly hot during summer, but with the ceiling fan and the air conditioner it’s tolerable. We have used the pool, the jacuzzi, and the gym. The pool and jacuzzi could have been a little cleaner. The gym is very nice.
Her upstairs’ neighbor, are nice and quiet, and in general, everyone we ran into has always been nice to us. The staff are helpful and polite, and we haven’t had any problems so far with theft or such.

I’m nearing the end of my 14-​month lease here at Woodlake Village, and as I pack my stuff up I must say that my stay here was really quite nice. The ²⁄₁ apartment I shared with my roommate was clean, well-​lit and relaxing. I love how close the complex is to Sac State and the freeway, which made going home to see my family in Stockton and getting to school super easy. However, the friendly and personal service I received from the office staff, namely Geoff and Claudia, was hands down the best part of my experience here. Anytime I bumped into Geoff walking out to my car or anywhere else on property grounds he’d smile and wave, and ALWAYS remembered my name as well as my roommate’s name. I’d call the office with questions and service requests and they always knew who I was and were always helpful. I never received service like that anywhere else.
The ONLY downside to living at Woodlake Village was the other neighbors: The asshole who keyed my car when I had him towed out of my parking spot for leaving his car there for a solid three days was a real winner. The cops seemed to come by at least once a week to pick people up, etc., which I suppose you could say was entertaining. In my corner of the 600-​apartment property there always seemed to be a party on any given weeknight, but whatevs. These are just things you deal with when you live in an apartment complex. Would I recommend WV to others? Absolutely. As long as you aren’t a dick to the folks in the office and keep to yourself, your stay should be pleasant.

Lived here for a short 3 months for a sublease because I was in a crunch to find a place to live. Let’s just say it’s been a terrible experience and that’s keeping it short.
When I first moved in the A/​C broke within the first couple of days. Took them another couple of days to come «check it out» after a week straight of sending requests to maintenance they come and replace the thermostat and said it was fixed. No one was at the apartment to verify that so they just left it with a new thermostat and still no cold air blowing. Mind you this was in July in Sacramento and was well over 95 degrees in the apartment. After a little more complaining and getting crap unprofessional service at the front desk we get the maintenance guys to come back they had to replace the wires of the entire a/​c system in the apartment. Which they didn’t have in stock, how do you have a couple hundred of apartment complexes and not have wires in stock. Anyways once they fixed the a/​c it was on a day where it rained and it’s cooled off.
Here’s a little more details
–rocks literally big rocks the size of a fist on the roads
–the landscapers who landscape dead grass leaf blow dirt all over your car and kick rocks all over the street
–there is always a line of ghetto people waiting to follow you in the gate cause they have no clicker. The gate is pointless.
–everything in the apartment is basically broken, used a 3M command strip so I could hang my towel, when I removed it, the paint came off the wall as well.
Don’t recommend living here unless you have low standards.

Someone listed my previous review of Woodlake Village Apartment Homes as funny.
I respect their apparent disagreement with my opinion that the apartments are indeed excellent. I have lived at Woodlake for approximately 11 months and my opinion has not changed.

Wow! I was just curious what these apartments were rated on Unilocal so I thought I would look them up. My family and I have lived here for about 4 months. I have had a couple of the same issues as other previous tenants have stated in the other reviews. I have had a package stolen off of my doorstep. Someone has tried to break in my car. My husband has had to call the police to report a domestic disturbance. (a man beating his wife while their child was screaming in the background) I have seen the police here a few times. (arresting the same guy twice) I have been woken up a few times due to loud college parties. I have witnessed a crack head running around the grounds yelling to himself. The cops took him away after he followed a man into his apartment! The grounds are completely covered in dog poo and cigarette butts. It seems like all the young college kids here love to let their pittbulls run around off of their leashes and let them poo wherever they please and just leave the poo where it lies for everyone to walk through. Ugh! The grass is dead. The office looks pretty. But the grounds itself, not too much. I do love all the trees. The office staff always likes to mention that «we just hired a new landscaping company» but maybe they should hire a company that can revive the grass instead of just blowing it away with their blowers. A lot of their work out equipment is broken. They have one spa that is always dirty. The pools are ok. The maintenance staff is very friendly. It seems like most of my issues are caused by other tenants and not by the staff themselves. I have not yet seen an office staff member walk the grounds. Maybe if they did they would notice all the dog poo, cigarette butts, and trash everywhere. Also the place smells like marijuana. Which is to be expected since this is a college apartment complex and this is northern California. The only reason why I’m giving this place 2 stars is because of Claire who works in the office. She is awesome! So 1 star is just for her. The apartments are cheap and pretty roomy. I do like the layout of the apartment. The leasing staff should be more picky about who they let live here. Decrease the thugs and the trash tenants!

I had no problems with the apartment complex until I moved out. They helped me move in ASAP, office staff was really helpful, apartment was a great size for the price. I ended up having to break my lease early and they were great, even helping me pay a little less at the end because of my reasoning. 3 months later I recieve a letter from a collections agency saying I owe $ 5400! Totally screwed me and my credit upon move out! Totally disregarded any arangement we had made iwth no communication. Horrible move out experience and now I’ll be paying for it for years to come. If you have to move out early make sure you DOCUMENT everything and follow up often to make sure they are doing what they say they will!

Only reason why I live here, is because its cheap and close to sac state. other then that, I hate it here. the gate has been broken for over a year now, and I dont feel safe at all!

This apartment complex sucks ass as u can see all the review below basically explained it. Same experience for me and my bf. Ugh we only been here for 4 months and we already had a break in our car. Can’t wait to move out of here. OMG. why did we sign a ONE YEAR lease. can’t wait to get out of here!

When you come in the leasing office, all the reps there will boast how they hold 600 rooms/​apartments they have.
But really. THIS APARTMENT COMPLEX SUCKS! Everything is broken in this damn place. The corporation UDR is nothing but a money eating corporation.
If you are looking for a nice apartment complex that provides great service and great amenities. Well this apartment complex is definitely not the place!
Their swimming polls reek. The water have a green tint to it. The gym can’t even be called a gym due to their lack of equipments. There is one jacuzzi, which is also dirty as hell!
This apartment complex is just plain horrible. Definitely not the place to live in.
900 plus is what my roomies and I pay for this bitch (2 bedroom) they do no pay for water, sewage, and garbage! I found other great apartments that are also near Sac State that pays for water, sewage, AND garbage.
THIS PLACE IS A NO NO! DO NOT LIVE IN THIS COMPLEX!

My 2 roommates and I were excited to move into this place because it was our first times on our own out of the dorms and we got the apt next to a couple friends. It was a cool set up but the longer we lived there the worse and worse the office and property got.
To show you how great the office is: we got a move in special where it was first month free and then half price for 3 months which we figured was an awesome deal. 3 weeks after moving in we got a 3day eviction notice. Went in the office and evidently no one wrote down in their system the move in special we got so we has to show them our copy of our lease in order for them to honor it. Remember this was only 3 weeks after moving in! Then a few days after paying the 2^nd month rent we got another eviction notice because they didn’t have the half price for 3 months on record and had to again prove it by bringing in our lease. The same thing happened the next month! The office is so terribly organized if we hadn’t been so up on all of our paper work they were going to evict us 3 times in 3 months for their screwup.
We had a back deck that connected the 2 apts and it had dry rotten and separated from the building. We found out when having a party and it partially collapsed. We reported that it was collapsing and it took 4 months for them to rebuild it… poorly.
I have lots of stories from the year I lived there but I don’t want this to be too long. To sum it up: Stay away from Woodlake and go look down La Riviera drive for places instead.
Oh and I almost forgot! My car was broken into 4 times in the year I lived there and the spare tire was stolen from underneath my truck.

I wish I read the reviews before I went there. At least I didn’t take the apartment, but I did leave a holding deposit, which they said they would give back. I called them later that day, actually talked to someone and told them that I wasn’t interested, and they CASHED IT ANYWAYS! Now I have to fight with them to get my money back. I called multiple times to talk to them. Sometimes the voicemail box was full, other times they never returned my call. When they do pick up, they are rude on the phone. I tried to remain calm and simply asked why they cashed my check and they immediately became defensive.
There are plenty of places to live in the area. Since this place doesn’t include any utilities, their rents are the same as anyone else, but it sure isn’t worth all the rest of the stuff you see posted here.

Wow. I wish I read this Unilocal before moving in there back in 2005. I actually lived here for 2 years and picked this place because it was cheap, close to campus, and seemed alright. Everything everyone has said here is true, the neighbors and visitors are very intimidating. My truck never got broken into but I’m sure it got keyed. The whole mail system for picking up packages is a joke. The front office is fairly incompetent, 1 reason why people don’t work there too long.
I lasted 2 years here. The gym did suck. The hot tub was gross. The pools were OK. I never noticed piss in the dryers but it worked as far as I can remember. My bike got stolen but that was my fault for locking it up OUTSIDE my door. That was within a week of moving in. As you can see, do not live here. Pay the extra money to live in a more reputable place that doesn’t feel like a halfway house.

This was the first apartment I moved into so I didn’t know what to expect. All I cared about was having roof over my head and being able to get to school easily. Anything extra would have impressed me.
When my roommate and I were looking for a place, we fell for their, «this special price will only last till Thursday. Sign up now!» scam. They have trouble renting their units and will use every trick in the book to lock you into a contract. Once you’re in, they are done caring. The front lawn in front of the rental office is nice and well taken care of. But drive inside and you noticed the lawn everywhere else looks like crap.
The gym is run down. There are 14 lights (I counted one day) in the gym and yet only 3 or 4 lights worked for the entire 20 months I lived there. Working out in the dark was routine, unless you came in a little earlier. Half the equipment in the gym is broken. The first few times I thought I was using them wrong. You soon figure out which ones work. Homeless people regularly walk off the street, come into the gym to take showers and clean up. I told a girl at the front office about how bad the gym was and they said they know, they just got $ 10,000 from the owner to get all new equipment and fix it up. Stupid me I believed them. The gym was never upgraded. 2 years after I moved out I was in the neighborhood and decided to drive in for old times sake. I peeked through the windows and of course the gym was still exactly as I remembered.
This place is a reflection on the majority of people that live there. For example, the laudry room. For some reason, people were urinating in the dryers. I don’t know why, but every once in a while, just as I am about to throw my wet clothes in the dryer, I would see a pool of yellow liquid in there. Someone was always kind enough to leave a note when they caught it tho. I learnt to just use the above dryer. I have had PJ bottoms mysteriously disappear from from my laundry. I still can figure that one out :(
One night, I couldn’t sleep so I decided to get some laundry done. It was 3am, an odd hour to be doing laundry but whatever. I walk back to the laundry room to move my clothes in the dryer but as I’m walking to the laundry room, I notice the door is now closed and the lights are off. I’m thinking, «wtf, is someone stealing my clothes again.» So I barge in there mad as hell expecting to catch a thief red handed and walk in on a couple having sex in the laundry room. I was speechless. Woman bent over the washer and all. I walked in on them but I was embarrased. I mumbled something about laundry, apologized and walked out.
A friend of ours also lived there. One night, he called the cops after hearing a heated argument between his neighbors that sounded like it ended in violent domestic abuse. He estimates he called the cops about an hour and a half after it first started. When the cops showed up and calmed things down, they told him he was the only one that reported the incident. Think about it. Do you want to live in a place where people overhear a man hitting a woman and no one does anything?
Almost the entire time we lived there, there was a wierd smell in our apartment. The place just had a stale smell, like a musty old storage room and everyone noticed it. It came from rafters. the space between the ceiling and the roof.
Good luck if you live far from the mail room and don’t drive. It’s a trek to check your mail. Oh, and the mail room is closed at night so plan ahead. If you work and go to school like most college kids, the simple act of checking your mail becomes complicated.
When you have a package you get a slip in your mailbox asking you to come into the front office to pick your package up. In the first few months I lived there, one of the ladies would take the slip and go in the back to find my package. Later, they just sent you back there to find your own package. One time I had a package slip and found 2 UPS boxes with my name on them. One was a lost one they never told me about. I wasnt expecting it so I never knew to go ask them for it.
When our lease was up, we had the choice to renew for another year, 6 months or go month to month. But these guys are sharks. The month-​to-​month rent they offered was almost 30% more than what we were paying on our lease. Another 12 month lease would have locked in our rent rate. A 6 month lease increased it by just a bit. They did everything to convince us that we should sign another 12 month lease. Luckily we did a 6 month and got the hell out. When we moved out, we did a walk thru with one of their people. We went through the place thoroughly and documented everything that they would charge us for. It all seemed reasonable and we all agreed. A few weeks later when the rest of the deposit was refunded to us, more mysterious charges were deducted from our deposit. We just gave up at that point, glad to be done with Woodlake.

I lived here for two years because it was convenient. Most of the time I was miserable.
This place is close to CSUS (shuttle stop outside) and cheap ($ 650 for a pretty spacious one bedroom) but that’s about all it’s got going for it.
Let’s start with the management. The turnover is incredible — in our two years we had three managers that I can recall. That really says something. And the office staff? Kristin was awesome and so was Leslie. The others? Not so much. Once, they wouldn’t let me claim a package (even though I had the package slip and my ID) because it was addressed to my husband, not me. Ummm, if I’m MARRIED to the guy, LIVE at the same place and have the SAME last name, and still can’t claim a package, what good is the whole legal aspect of marriage? Stupid.
The parking lot always flooded, the grounds were in disrepair, and people who didn’t live there were always coming in and using the pools. As a result, they were always pretty gross, except the first couple weeks following the annual cleaning. In the last few months we lived there, things were cleaned up a little, but still not much. Also, why have a gate when it’s open all the time?
Most neighbors are noisy and inconsiderate. The pseudo gangsters who blare their music at all hours are ridiculous. We had neighbors who played hyphy and partied late into the night. After numerous complaints and at least one police report a week for six months, they were evicted. Luckily all our new (immediate) neighbors were respectful, but a few nearby ruined it for everyone.
We’ve never had to deal with car break-​ins, but we also never left stuff in our car and didn’t have a CD player to be stolen. We did have packages stolen from our doorstep though (thanks Fed Ex and DHL for leaving them outside when no one is home).
Also, you’re either living on the domestic violence side (100’s) or the «Five People Living in a One-​Bedroom Apartment» side (200’s). Either way, it sucks.
Our apartment was left in cleaner condition than it was when we moved in. That says something. We got a hefty deposit back, but still not all of it. About $ 450 of the $ 650 we put in. Ohh well. Also, the mail that was delivered between the time we moved and the time when our mail forwarding from USPS kicked in was never given to us. I’m assuming it was thrown out.
The one star is for the maint. guy who was always great at fixing stuff and super friendly.
Other than that, I am pleased beyond belief to be gone from this place.

Front staff: a bunch of incompetent rejects. Um, tenants do notice when you bill them with a late charge along with an eviction notice AFTER you’ve cashed their rent check. Ya know, the one that was sent in two days before it was due?
1 murder and 1 «accidental» drowning since we’ve moved in.
4 … the number of times our truck was broken into.
1 … crazy woman who banged on our door at midnight to see if we would drive her to Walmart.
2 security companies … who never did anything. Pretty sure they were in on the break-​ins.
Kitchen drawers and cupboards falling apart, psychos overrunning the pool at all hours of night, crazy kids throwing rocks at cars for play … where are your stupid ass parents?
I’m so glad we’re out of there.
Just please … DON’T DO IT.