The BORA 3170

Stay away from this nightmare — Bora Apartments will ruin your life We’ve been living at Bora Apartments for 7 months — and we are still stuck here because management refuses to let us break the lease despite serious health and safety issues. Pest infestation (gnats and flies) has been ongoing the entire time. Pest control treatments failed. My pregnant wife and I are forced to live in unsanitary conditions, and the problem clearly affects the entire building — gnats are everywhere, including the office and common areas. The workspaces are a disaster. One of the private office booths — which are supposed to be for tenants — was taken over and used as a personal office by the leasing agent. We pay for utilities and common areas, yet we cannot use them freely. Staff often behaves rudely and are always ready to argue instead of helping. Management, especially Cindy, has been not only unprofessional and dismissive, but outright hostile. When we first reported the gnats, she mocked us and told us to "look up life hacks on YouTube." She repeatedly claimed that we were the only ones with this issue. But I was prepared — I immediately showed her video proof of dozens of dead gnats on the third floor office, proving the infestation was building-wide. Caught off guard, Cindy quickly changed her story, saying, “Well, I live with this too. What do you want me to do?” — an unacceptable response from someone whose job is to maintain habitability and safety. Cindy does not solve problems. She argues, denies, blames tenants, and changes the rules constantly. She has no qualification to be in property management. Her behavior is not just unprofessional — it’s hostile. There are many bad reviews mentioning Cindy by name, and now we know exactly why. Other serious issues: Frequent fire evacuations that happen often and disrupt daily life. Thin walls and poor insulation — we hear every step from neighbors above and washing machines running. The apartment gets extremely cold in winter. The in-unit washer is unusable, forcing us to do laundry elsewhere. This building is not a luxury apartment, despite what is advertised. I deeply regret moving here. If you are reading this, please do not move in. Trust my words — no difference in rent is worth the stress and frustration you will experience here. The building may look nice from the outside, but inside it’s chaos and constant problems. The bad reviews are not random — they are 100% accurate.

I signed a little over a year here and it's important to acknowledge the good and the bad in terms of living experience here. The location is very ideal if you want quick access to public transport or to some really nice food in the area. The rooms are appropriately sized in my opinion. I had a chance to see a few layouts and I think that it's ideal for college students, young couple or older couples. Entire families might feel like a strain based on how cramped you're used to being but overall personal space is very nice. The shower pressure is great, all appliances are provided (they're electric) and there's a great amount of cabinet space. As far as my experience went, the amenities including the pool, gym and rooftop bbq area were well maintained. Parking is easy and safe and packages are easy to retrieve. Getting into the bad, many of the tenants are either very entitled, misinformed or both. They continually accuse Cindy of being the problem but both she and her assistant at the front desk were very helpful and informative. People become disgruntled when they don't get an answer they like but this place is managed by a company all the way in Korea. Cindy is just a person in between. Let's get into issues I've seen mentioned. I've never had an issue with gnats. If the tenant or their neighbors are unsanitary or don't handle food appropriately then I'm not sure but I haven't even seen a gnat unless I left my balcony door open for too long which I also stopped doing after a ton of ash fell in during the fires. I passed by the work spaces all the time, which were numerous and never completely taken. If we're talking about the personal one, I've never seen the Bora staff in it, just in a designated space for their work right next to the gym. The fire evacs were an annoying aspect of being in this building initially. The frequency died down because I think as a newer building the system needed adjustment. I started ignoring it and only had to leave the building once when someone actually fell asleep cooking pork at 1:30am or some non-sense. But that's an issue with a tenant not the building. It's a relatively quiet building, I never heard anyone through the walls or above me. My neighbor did have someone complain that they could hear their footsteps but if you've lived in any number of apartments it sometimes happens. Not a big deal to me personally. In unit washer dryer worked fine. Within the first month of staying there I did have a drip from the ac unit in the ceiling but maintenance came and fixed that within the day so I got squared on that pretty quickly. Valid complaints would include this place being very pricy and the upper management being the worst. It is an exploit model but that isn't the fault of Cindy or Mingyu. Kim and Casey Property management is lackluster, uncaring, and inflexible. I'm personally going to be making sure I don't visit any properties they own in the future just for peace of mind. Simple commonalities like lease transfers they make impossible because they either don't want to do the work or are to entrenched in a model designed to trap you. Either way, I liked living at the Bora for the period of time that I did. It gave me time to move my life along in a meaningful way and the staff at the building and the amenities were helpful for that. So 5 Stars for Cindy, Mingyu, all the security workers, cleaners and maintenance folks (really great speaking with all of them) -5 Stars for Kim and Casey.

Do not live here under any circumstances. I’m constantly stressed out every single day because of the noise. The construction quality is terrible — probably because it was built by a Korean construction company. There is absolutely no soundproofing at all. Even though I still have a long time left on my lease, I’m under extreme stress because of it. It’s no surprise that most of the units here are still vacant. I absolutely do not recommend this place.

Bora Apartments is not just a bad place to live — it’s a complete scam run by the worst management I’ve ever encountered, led by the openly hostile and dishonest leasing agent, Cindy. From day one, we were dealing with a severe gnat infestation that affected not just our unit, but the entire building. Instead of addressing the issue, Cindy repeatedly dismissed our concerns, mocked us, and even told us to “look up YouTube life hacks.” When we presented video proof of dozens of dead gnats in the office areas, she changed her story and shrugged it off with: “Well, I live with this too. What do you want me to do?” She’s not just unprofessional — she’s the reason this building feels toxic. She blames tenants, argues constantly, and has a long history of poor treatment, as confirmed by multiple negative reviews. To make matters worse, Bora Apartments lures tenants in with promises during tours — like free, first-come access to rooftop grills and amenities — only to introduce expensive fees ($150 per use) once you’ve signed the lease. This bait-and-switch tactic shows how little they value honesty or their residents’ trust. Living here has been an ongoing nightmare of health hazards, broken promises, and dealing with a property manager who clearly should not be in this role. If you value your peace and well-being, stay far away from Bora Apartments. This place will drain your wallet and your sanity. Never, ever move in here if you value your peace, your health, or your quality of life.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve already taken a tour or are planning to. My wife and I were in your exact position — and I’m asking you to listen carefully. These reviews are not random. This place is truly awful, and we’re stuck here unable to get out. I’m leaving this review because I want to help you avoid the situation we’re in. THIS PLACE IS A NIGHTMARE. The worst apartment experience I’ve ever had. Please don’t make the same mistake. I’ve never left a 1-star review before, but this place deserves it. And a big part of that is because of Cindy — manager. I genuinely don’t understand how someone like her ends up in a position where she has to deal with people. From the very beginning, she’s been rude, cold, and defensive. Any time we bring up a real issue, she either ignores it, mocks us, or blames us for noticing it. I'm not exaggerating — when we pointed out obvious defects in the apartment (like warped doors or poor insulation), she said, “that’s how it was built” and even implied that “only sensitive people” would complain. That was shocking. She almost never replies to emails directly — and if she does, it's with a passive-aggressive tone that makes you feel like you're the problem. Most of the time, she has someone else reply for her, and it’s just a generic copy-paste message that solves nothing. She takes zero responsibility, avoids real conversation, and acts like helping tenants is beneath her. This building could be falling apart — and she’d find a way to blame you for noticing it. Multiple neighbors have told us similar stories. People feel uncomfortable going to her for anything because she either brushes them off or gives a vague non-answer. It’s honestly draining. You’re living here, paying real money, and the person who’s supposed to manage the place treats you like a nuisance. And it’s not just her. The building itself is falling apart: You can hear your neighbors at all hours. Our washing machine shakes the whole apartment. The balcony door has a visible gap — it’s been months, and still no fix. Hot and cold water barely work properly at night. They scam you with the amenities — what they show you during the tour and what you actually get are two different things. The rooftop grill and lounge? You have to pay $150 to reserve it now. That was never mentioned before we signed the lease. Utilities? Also a joke. We were told $100–$120 per month. They left out the “service fee” and other surprise charges. It’s more than you expect. And the worst part: if you want to leave, you’ll have to pay for the entire remainder of your lease. Even though California law says two months is standard, they trap you in a full-term cancellation fee. It’s predatory and they know it. So yeah — we’re stuck here. Counting the days until we can leave. If you're thinking about moving in: don’t do it. I’m begging you. No amount of rooftop views or staged tours are worth what you'll deal with once you sign that lease — especially with Cindy running the place the way she does. This is not luxury. This is stress, avoidance, gaslighting, and total lack of care. Stay far away.