CitySouth - San Mateo, California

Johanna A.

Cada vez qué hay que renovar contrato los incrementos son bastante elevados cada año me han subido más de $200

iman S.

We had a tour scheduled, but no one showed up, and the leasing office door was locked. This happened twice; both times we had scheduled tours, but no one was there. When we called, we only got virtual assistance, and on one occasion, someone answered and said they didn't know anything about it. We spoke to some residents, and they gave us very negative feedback, which convinced us to skip this place.

Joel D.

I am writing this review because I experienced a couple of events that impacted my safety and well-being. I hope this will help prevent future residents from experiencing the same trauma.

1. The front door locks are electronic, and the lock on my door unexpectedly performed a factory reset. I came home late at night to discover that I could not unlock my door. As it was after hours, I called the emergency maintenance number 3 times. No one answered. I called the local police, who recommended I call a locksmith. The locksmith arrived and was able to help me gain access, but unfortunately the lock/door was damaged along the way. It was my only option considering I needed my belongings before the front office would open 2 days later. When I explained all of this to the property manager, she told me that it was my fault for not using the CitySouth textline. I’ve used the textline before and am aware that after hours texts just redirect you to the emergency maintenance number anyway. Unacceptable.

2. My apartment was uninhabitable for nearly 2 months, as the heater did not work between November and January. I created a maintenance ticket, sent emails to the property management, sent texts via the textline, and tried calling the front office. All were ignored. After weeks of suffering through the cold, I finally stood outside the front office until I could speak to someone in person. The property manager said she saw my emails, but there was nothing they could do as they were waiting for an HVAC part to arrive. She only offered me a small credit towards the next month's rent. Unacceptable.

3. UDR retained my security deposit (citing damages for the lock issue described above) without following the correct procedure. They never provided me with a bill or invoice from the vendor that made the repair, which is required. I asked for this multiple times. Unacceptable.

Suggestions for UDR (because at the end of the day I want this place to succeed so that people can have a safe and pleasant place to live):

1. The front door locks have no mechanical backup (like a physical key or provisions for a locksmith), so people rely entirely on software to access their homes. If these are the locks you are choosing to use, there needs to be a 24/7 resource available for unexpected technical issues. And if this resource does exist, please reach out to the property manager of CitySouth, because it’s not being provided to residents.

2. If an uninhabitable issue arises, communicate immediately with the affected residents. Give them a timeline for when the issue will be fixed, and determine what accommodations are needed in the meantime. Do not ignore residents who are reaching out regarding the status of the issue. Please make sure the CitySouth property manager understands this.

3. Please assure that your teams are familiar with security deposit procedures. You cannot just keep security deposits without proper documentation.

andrea M.

a terrible experience with this property, so I strongly recommend being cautious if you decide to apply here. Here are some key points to consider:
1. You can’t apply far in advance: They only hold apartments for 14 days, so you have to apply no more than one week before your move-in date.
2. Additional costs: They charge $52 for the application, $250 as a deposit for each applicant, and you’re required to purchase renters’ insurance.
3. Limited availability for processing: The person reviewing applications only works until Friday and doesn’t return until Tuesday, which can delay the entire process.
4. Platform issues: Their document upload platform is unreliable. I had to upload my documents more than six times because “they weren’t loading.” Despite sending everything on time, the person in charge (Krystina) never confirmed receipt, even after I asked multiple times.

My case:
I needed to move in on Wednesday, but Krystina didn’t review my documents until Tuesday, claiming she hadn’t received them (even though I sent them multiple times and promptly responded to every request). Finally, on Wednesday, she told me my application was canceled because “nothing was received.”

Customer service and refunds:
They don’t have a proper support line for real-time assistance. Additionally, their platform clearly doesn’t work properly, which they even admitted in an email. Now I’ll have to wait 4 weeks to get a $500 refund—money I paid for them to do their job correctly and on time.

Moving is already a stressful process, and this kind of inefficient and negligent service makes it worse. If you’re thinking about applying here, reconsider carefully and be prepared for the potential issues outlined above.

Daniel Z.

Beware: High Risk of Stolen Packages!

If you're considering moving here, be prepared for constant issues with stolen packages. There's a locker room for Amazon deliveries, but if your item doesn’t fit, there's an overwhelming 95%+ chance it will be stolen. In just two months of living here, I've had every single package (3/3) that didn’t fit in the locker stolen.

It’s not just an issue with Amazon either—other shipping companies like Temu don't even use the locker system, which means you're out of luck if you're ordering anything that doesn't come from Amazon or isn’t small enough to fit. The worst part? Packages are stolen within hours of being delivered, and despite there supposedly being "cameras" in the locker room, they’ve been offline the entire time I’ve lived here.

If you look at the other reviews, you'll see this is a widespread issue that management clearly knows about. It feels like there is a complete lack of urgency or care to fix the situation. The negligence in keeping basic security features like cameras operational is unacceptable. I wouldn’t recommend this place if you value the safety of your deliveries.

Edit in response to the Owner's comment below:
I have reported it every single time and the answer is always the same: "Sorry, our cameras don't work. Please advise curriers to leave packages inside the lockers when possible or in front of you door if they don't fit in the lockers". Then, when the package gets stolen from my doorstep (as it has happened), their answer is: "Sorry, the cameras in the hallway is not working".

Seems like complete negligence.

Shaun C.

The staff is very irresponsible. Frankly I don’t know what they are doing everyday. They gave no notice before turning the water heater off. Tenants of a whole building has to suffer from no hot water for a whole day (still going on). They sent us an email right before the end of their business hours, so they won’t be bothered to handle this issue. And no one answered the emergency maintenance call. Worst apartment I have ever lived in.

W W.

Here are some of my experiences.

Elevator:
The elevator’s last check date is 2014 while now is 2024. Got stuck in the elevator for 20min, when the management team came to get me out they said nothing with an indifferent cold face. Is it the correct way you treat a resident that got stucked in the elevator? Afterwards the reply to my complaint is they have the elevator checked every year just they don’t have the sticker updated. Oh do you believe it?

Package:
my 300 dollar package is stolen and though there is camera in the package room they said parcel pending own the camera so they can’t get any video, ask you to call parcel pending then when call parcel pending replies that they didn’t install any camera. You paid monthly 5 dollar for that locker which is absolutely useless.

Maintenance:
the maintenance people broke my personal belongings and just left without admitting it. After contacting the management, they first ask me to show evidence that this is broken by maintenance as the maintenance team don’t admit it. Luckily I have home camera which record everything. Then second they ask me to prove it is broken not fixable or they will not proceed. During this whole process they dont say a single apology. I can imagine how they will treat those residents who don’t have home camera to record things. It’s not expensive and I didn’t expect much compensation but just at least apology and correct attitude. But management’s attitude on this is bad

Renew lease:
There is a trick in the notice of vacant which can mislead you to miss the correct notice date. As mentioned in other people’s comments also.

Shaun C.

This place is horrible. The walls and floors are paper thin. The leasing office is absurd. You barely find them in the office. They make strict rules for residents but they make mistakes all the time. For example, they told me my garage was not ready on the day I moved in. And I had to park in the future resident parking space which they agreed, but only to find they towed my car the second day. I noticed there are broken glass on the driveway behind the main entrance and submitted a request. They canceled my request on my behalf. And the broken glass is still there.