Bur-Cal Management

My garage is broken in he same manner for the second time in less than two months because they half ass repairs. The last time the metal pole broke, it scratched my brand new car. Less than 6 months old. Here we are again, although this time the metal pole flew down while my car was parked at work thankfully. I was told it would be fixed yesterday by 5. Of course in a classic burcal fashion no one showed. So that’s day three of no secure parking that is stipulated in my lease. I’m using Unilocal to keep you guys updated. They didn’t reduce my rent last time it happened but of course I asked again. The icing on the cake is the fresh tagging on building directly above my exposed new car in the alley. It’s a trashy neighborhood with gang members and drug dealers who hang it in the alley which is why the gated parking in necessary. Let’s see how many days they let this go.

Yes I am indeed back. Same burcal building, same burcal problems. It’s been over a year and sadly I am still in the same burcal building. Only difference? Now I pay $ 1,295 a month, up from $ 1025 a month. Why you may ask? IMPROVEMENTS! Improvements that included:
Removal of tress in the courtyard — trees which provided shade for all the units in the building and also worked well to absorb some of the city sounds
Removal of landscaping and shrubs in courtyard — only to be improperly replaced with drought resistant shrubs, however when you cut corners landscaping, the native plant life tends to grow back which is what has happened and now the courtyard looks like a random mess of plants
Increase in cost of laundry machines — not new laundry machines mind you, same old ones but they added a new coin slot so now we pay more per load of laundry, how is this an improvement?
Removal of storage in parking space — everyone unit was supposed to have a garage storage unit (stipulated in lease), when they made the «improvements» they just ripped them out and never replaced them.
Removal of shade façade — used to have these lovely coverings on the windows of the building, offering additional privacy as well as shade, also torn down but never replaced.
I could literally go on for days about the nightmare that it is dealing with this company but I will keep it short.
In fact the only thing they «improved» we’re the balconies which were obviously so old and out of code they were in violation of building codes and probably illegal. These «improvements» we’re started after one tenants balcony began to crumble and a building inspector came by. Burcal scrambled to get these fixed by a deadline, and cut so many corners in the process that they actually made the building worse. The «landlord» is a joke, my apartment has been entered several times without written notice. The day the city inspector was coming to the building for the final inspection, I come home a little early, my door is unlocked and there is a man hastily painting cabinets in my apartment. NO NOTICE, NO LANDLORD THERE TO WATCH HIM, NOTHING. Broke into my apartment to finish work before the inspector came, criminal behavior but what else would you expect from the cusamono group they are all low life exploiters. They target the poor because they know we have neither the time nor the money to fight them. I write these reviews so more people know how shady, unprofessional and predatory this company is. Horrible business. Any good review of these crooks is obviously a fake.
«Like I said I think they get a bad wrap… don’t read too much into the Unilocal reviews, as they do what any normal property management company would do. Thank you burcal» — Michael D.
Wow Michael, that is some grade A creative writing. Burcal is a joke, they cut corners and provide sub standard services to turn a higher profit, they continue to reduce services and increase rent. They are trash and so are you Michael. Your review is a lie and the fact that you tell people to basically ignore every other useful rating is only proof of you true motives. People, read the reviews, look at the real pictures (not the ones of the staged freshly decorated mail room) and ignore Michael and his obviously paid for rating. For shame on you. Burcal is to be avoided at all cost.

We went with the application, as we don’t have Xerox they sent us back and when we went back with Xerox that man in the office told the apartment is approved for some one else. He wantedly sent us. He said he’ll check credit score n inform in 1 hour and again told after a day. they are not good.

There aren’t really enough bad things I can say about this company and how they handle their business and manage their properties, but I’ll give you a tidbit. Our contact is Rachel with Consumano but Bur-​Cal also has their hands in this.
Our property was bought out at the beginning of the year by Consumano. Immediately, or rent was raise by 25% only so we could live in a literal construction zone for 4 months. We got nothing out of the rent increase. My fiancé and I demanded a lease and were allowed to sign one as soon as they took over, which is great, because after 4 months of being told we could all stay in our homes, all of the original tenants were kicked out. And this is a community of people that have all lived here for 10 or more years. After all of the original tenants were kicked out, the rent became almost double what we were originally paying for an updated unit.
During all of the construction, the workers were constantly illegally parking in front of my garage causing me to miss MANY extremely important doctor appointments. I’m a cancer patient on chemo every single day, so I’m sure you can understand the frustration. Rachel did nothing about it. Absolutely nothing. I was told I could have them towed, but let’s be real; I’d still miss my appointments that keep me alive. Imagine if there was an emergency!!! Also of note, the workers would argue and yell at me when I would tell them they needed to move their vehicles and not to park in front of my garage. They would YELL at me in the middle of the alley! I was also sexually harassed on numerous occasions by the workers and was completely ignored when I brought these issues to Rachel, Bur-​Cal, and Consumano. Disgusting. This is one top of, again, living in a very loud construction zone.
During construction, property of mine was broken and not replaced. Why? I’m not sure. They kept asking for receipts for everything. I mean, that’s not feasible. At all. Especially when the workers are meddling with property they shouldn’t be touching anyway. And I wasn’t made aware of any of this until after my property was destroyed. They refused to replace it and wouldn’t even discount our rent or anything. We have also had pretty serious problems with the plumbers that were also never addressed. Have pests or lost money in the washing machines? Rachel won’t take care of any of that. But she will give you a phone number so that you can spend even more time dealing with issues that you shouldn’t have to deal with. I’ve managed many properties in my life and this is typically something the management company schedules and takes care of. Not to mention, dealing with the pest control company is like pulling teeth!!! I’m sure Rachel could be doing all of this and her regular duties and still be ok as this is her job description.
And probably last for today, Bur-​Cal likes to keep their properties clean. I salute you for that. But the amount of water that is wasted by spraying all of the sidewalks, stairs, balconies, and even inside of the building is really unacceptable. Especially for a company the size of Bur-​Cal. I can’t imagine how much water they waste every month doing this to every one of their properties. California is experiencing a very serious drought. STOP!!! Just stop! You’re already paying someone to hose everything down. Why can’t they just sweep and spot clean as necessary?! Really disappointing.
My fiancé and I had decided to stay in our apartment until we either left the state or could afford to buy a house and now we are being kicked out of our home. I can’t even begin to tell you how much this hurts. This place was absolutely perfect for us and our lifestyle. Even before it was completely changed. It’s just so incredibly sad what’s been done and being done here.

I been meaning to write a post about Bur Cal. Amazing management. Properties are clean, always maintained. Great family. I lived in one of their properties for eight years and it was so meticulously maintained. I highly recommend looking at Bur Cal before going anywhere else.

I’ve been a resident of 360 N Hollywood Way for a half year, and the management in this apartment building has been nothing but helpful. There was one time I had an issue with ants coming into my room, but they promptly had an exterminator solve the issue, and I haven’t had a problem since. The manager Linda is the kindest human being alive, and I feel like the mgmt truly does care about their residents.
My only reason for lacking one star is because for the apartment building itself, the walls are thin (you can hear your neighbors sneeze) and noises echo in the courtyard.
The courtyard is very nice, there is secured gated parking, and the area is so safe that I can walk around at night without a worry. The amenities are nice – fireplace if you have a den, private balconies, carpet & hardwood flooring, central A/​C, rooms with mirrored closets, and an in-​unit washer/​dryer and dishwasher.
It’s in a nice location, in walking distance (2 – 3 blocks) from the 24-​hour Vons, restaurants, gas stations and very close to Riverside, Magnolia Blvd and Warner Bros. There is also a bus stop right outside, and parking isn’t tandem (yay!). There is always adequate street parking for my guests.

I’m just really annoyed that they allow their tenants to smoke in the their unit. There’s nothing worse than smelling like cigarettes let alone second hand smoking it. I wish I could knock at their door and tell them how annoying it is.
Also, they wouldn’t even refund me my $ 1 for the broken washer. Ugh, I know it’s only a dollar, but they’re already charging me a gazillion bucks for rent. Anyways, maybe it’s time to move out.

Agreed w/​others on here, zero stars would be more like it. Burcal has many properties and use the same vendors, materials, and processes for all of them. Don’t get duped by their façade of what appear to be nice looking units, movie sets are built better. Anyone in the industry will understand what I mean by that. Hell, anyone who has ever been to Universal Studios theme park and gone on one of those behind the scenes tours will get it…
Had to have entire unit painted TWICE because the paint was peeling off and I had hair, HAIR!, throughout my paint in the walls, doors, and cabinets-​kitchen and bath. I was so disgusted. I also check the drains and clean them when moving out of a unit and moving into one. Professional cleaners clean and clear these, both kitchen and bath. Not the case w/​my unit. HAIR in all of those, too, including the KITCHEN drain, ARE YOU KIDDING ME… how do you get hair in a kitchen drain? I have never seen that before. NO WAY was my unit «professionally» cleaned. The hair in every spot imaginable is the worst offense. Poor paint job, dust covered counters & window sills, dirty blinds, dirty cabinets, dirty drawers. I was told unit was cleaned only 3 days before I moved in. I would believe 3 weeks with all the accumulated dust and dirt, not 3 days. NO WAY.
My first unit at this complex before upgrading to the larger one I lucked out I guess because they had renovated it so everything in the unit, including drains/​plumbing was brand new. Had no clue this was how Burcal does their units when simply prepping for the next victim-​cheap materials and vendors who regurgitate the half-​ass work.
As I stated, I upgraded to a larger unit, same complex. They charge you full security deposit again. OK… not sure why they need another full security deposit when I’m going from one unit to another, SAME complex. NEVER, EVER ENCOUNTERED THAT BEFORE. They deduct «standard» cleaning fees regardless of how long you were in a unit or how well you cleaned it. I GOT ¹⁄₃ OF MY DEPOSIT BACK from the first unit. Had I known they were going to take so much out and leave me a mess to deal with in the upgraded/​larger unit there is no way I would have done such a thorough cleaning like I always do because that’s just me and my OCD. Nor, would I have «upgraded» to a larger unit… I took what they had when I moved in because I was told that a larger unit would be available in 6 – 9 months and that I could always upgrade.
I cleaned all my hair out of the drains from my previous unit because I personally just feel that is something one does. Didn’t realize by talking to others I am the only person besides my OCD mother that has ever done this. Fine, I’ll deal w/​the fact that this is my own OCD quirk. However, the manager at my complex disputed the hair in the drains and paint complaint before even coming to my unit to physically see the evidence. Then the manager had the audacity to ask if it were my hair after I presented TONS of HAIR EVIDENCE, when it was clearly long, black, curly hair and I have short, brown, straight hair. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! And if it were MY OWN HAIR how the f*ck did it get in the unit, in the paint, in the drains PRIOR to my move in? COME ON! Are excuses, rebuttals, and accusations just reflex for the employees of Burcal? Do they hear the ridiculous things that come out of their mouths when speaking out loud to tenants!!!
No compensation for the set backs or inconvenience. Also, the painters ended up getting paint on my items when trying TWICE to fix the disgusting errors regarding the hair in all the paint fiasco. Upside for me, they use cheap latex paint that eventually comes off not only Burcal’s property but my own as well. So… there is a silver lining after-​all…
Let’s not even go into detail about the noisy neighbors. These walls are so paper thin that I can hear my neighbors farting and snoring, any thinner I’d be able to see it, too. Come to think of it… Magic Castle Hollywood, you ain’t got nothing on a Burcal property!!! Another silver lining… built in entertainment and with forced «community» feel… WINNING

Zero stars would be more appropriate.
BurCal (Cusumano Group) is only interested in collecting rent and will do nothing to assist with management issues dealing with, for example, noisy neighbors.
I wish someone had warned me… this is yet another lousy landlord.

I did not have a good experience with these people

Nice and clean apartment complexes throughout Burbank and Glendale, but when it comes to some serious issues like dealing with top management. then it’s a nightmare. They do not care about their tenants, I’ve been with them for about 6 years now, moved into a new apartment and had to deal with their manager Mindy. She is so unprofessional and rude, I can’t imagine who could possibly hire her as a manager. She can not be the face of this company.