Tierra Palms Apartments

So ive been living here almost a year now and i love it. Think some of the photos on here need to be updated because they actually really keep up with the look here making sure its nice. My company loves coming over seeing how nice these apartments are. When i moved in i was told there were under new management and Manager Amy had been great. If ever i need something looked at or replaced its always been done right away for me. KID FRIENDLY ALSO! Makes staying in a big complex nic when you have great management. And no this isnt a fake review.

This place sucks. No parking, roaches, car theft in the street. However, management was great. They are very professional. If you plan on living here, be sure to only have one vehicle and don’t expect people to visit. The parking was atrocious and by far the most inconvenient thing about my stay. Not only that, but my car was broken into. I saw it happen to others the whole year I stayed and eventually it happened to me. My apartment unit had a roach problem. Luckily I knew how to stop and prevent them with a few household tricks my mom taught me growing up. They still did damage though. Having roach legs in your cup of water was not the best. Maintenance was a joke with this problem. Its best to handle it yourself. Never coming back. Not worth the rent price.

Im about three months late with this review and I wasn’t even going to leave one but I feel inclined to do so because there are lots of kids and young adults that populate the complex.
First, I will say that the apartments were actually really nice and spacious. My roommate and I shared a 1 bedroom apt and comfortably fit two twin sized beds and desks and things like that. they have HUGE closets so that helped with storage a lot. When we first moved in, our backyard was a mess. Weeds and grass were very outgrown and they never got the gardeners to fix it up. I think for this reason, the amount of spiders I encountered over my year there was insane!!! From black widows to daddy long legs to brown recluse. we fumigated and sprayed all the time and it didn’t work. Never encountered roaches, the trash cans out on the side do get pretty full and gross but it didn’t bother me much.
The reason Im leaving only two stars was because at about 10 oclock one night, I was followed by a man (mid 40’s) who was masturbating in the corner of the parking lot (he was ONLY wearing a shirt) to my apartment. Mind you, this place was at the time being patrolled…
I called the police once the man was knocking at my door and during the 10 minutes I waited, he was roaming around the complex naked.
As the sheriff showed up, they went to check my back yard and there he was, now completely naked trying to peer into my window. I am 21 years old and was terrified. There are a lot of high school students that live here too and I’m glad I was victimized vs any of them.
This man ended up running away and neither the sheriffs nor our on patrol security guard found him. They did however find his clothes which included a wallet (with and ID! :D) and about two weeks later I get a call that the man lives on property and was arrested.
Amy the property manager was extremely nice about hearing me out and agreed to allow me to break my lease a month early to move out as I couldn’t sleep there anymore without feeling paranoid and unsafe.
To sum it all up, the main reason for this review is to encourage others to be careful in any place, not just Tierra Palms. I just wanted to share my experience and possibly shed some light on it to others alike myself

My roommate and I just moved in here a few days ago and couldn’t be happier. We looked at about 10 different places, and none of them compare to this one.
First of all, the staff is very accommodating. For only living here a couple of days, and calling the front office numerous times, they have all been very patient and extremely helpful.
The apartment itself is super cute and newly renovated. I’m the one who cooks, so having a nice kitchen was a huge plus! The rooms are great sizes and the living room is really big as well.
If you’re looking for a place that’s very homey, this is it!

I have now lived at the Tierra Palms Apartments going on my 16^th year. The reason for my long term residence here is because of the great management and crew that are now working here and have been for the last few years. When I first moved here I can’t say that it was the best place to live, but now that there’s new ownership and management I have nothing but good (make that great) things to say. The complex (along with the Courtyards Apartments next door) are now upgraded and beautiful inside and out, and the landscaping is just as nice. The manager of both complexes (Amy) is always willing to help and make herself available, and when something needs to be fixed or repaired it’s either done right away, or in a day or 2. The reason I first chose to live here is because of the easy freeway access (to the 5, 605, and 105 freeways), but now that there are many more places to shop and eat within walking distance, there is no reason for me to look elsewhere to live.
Again, I’ve lived here these many years because of the continuing improvements and upgrades, but also because I’ve never found a reason to leave and look elsewhere to live. It doesn’t get any better than the Tierra Palms (or Courtyard) Apartments, so I’m looking forward to even more years here of enjoyment and comfortable living.

My fiancé and I moved to California from the East Coast and we’ve been living in a Tierra Palm apartment for 10 months. Of all the things we’ve had to adjust to with a cross country move, one of the most delightful experiences has been our living situation. I cannot say better things about this apartment complex. As I read through some of the negative reviews I have to scratch my head. Perhaps West Coast people are not used to the tiny living spaces and deadbeat slumlords we have out East, because our experience here has been exactly what you would hope for from a renting situation. Allow me to expand…
THE APARTMENTS: We live on a first floor apartment which means we have the bonus of backyard. The yards are a big dirt area and you are encouraged to make the space your own. We’ve added an 8’x4’ vegetable box and it only takes up a small portion of the space. The rooms to the apartment are also very spacious. Our living room measures about 19’x12’ and comfortably fits a full size office desk, filing cabinet, book case, chair glider, full size couch, tv stand, and coffee table. The bedroom is also very large, measuring about 13’x13’. Even better, the closet runs the entire length of one side of the room, so you have a TON of closet space. The bathroom is nice with counter space, plenty of drawers/​cupboards, and tub/​shower. And the kitchen has a ton of cabinet space and really nice stove. The one thing we didn’t realize when we moved to California is that you have to provide your own fridge (on the east coast the landlord provides it). Man, was I happy to have a first floor apartment when we figured that out! :)
APARTMENT MANAGEMENT/​MAINTENANCE: Seriously, I have never lived in a place more responsive and respectful as the management and maintenance teams here. When we’ve needed some minor things repaired, they are fixed within a day or two (max). Amy, the property manager, is one of the nicest people I have ever met and you can tell that she truly cares about the tenants. I honestly sometimes just go into the office to say hello and chat (ok, and maybe grab a cookie. YES! They have cookies in the office!).
APARTMENT GROUNDS: Everyone that comes to visit us is so impressed by how beautiful the landscaping and lawns are. We’ve also been very impressed by how clean they keep the grounds and the pools. There are 2 pools, community propane bbqs, an event space you can rent out for larger gatherings, and a couple laundry facilities. For a small deposit you can also get a key to use the gym in the Courtyard apartments across the parking lot (2 min walk). The gym is small, but substantial if you just want to do some basic cardio. As for parking, as others have mentioned, there is no guest parking. But people can park in a parking lot that is about 5 min walk, so it’s really not that big of a deal. My *only* complaint about this place is that they don’t have recycling. We are huge eco-​conscious people so we simply cannot stomach the idea of throwing away recyclables (we end up taking them to a friends house). It pains me to see all the cardboard and cans in the trash here… I so desperately wish apartments could figure out a way to recycle.
SECURITY: We have not had any issues with security. Our backyard actually backs up to the Costco parking lot and there was a small concern that people could easily jump the wall. But between the security at Costco and the security on the grounds here, we’ve had no issues. I do see the security guard wandering around at night, so there is some presence. At the end of the day, though, Norwalk is a city. Theft and homeless are part of city living. Management does everything they can to make the apartments as safe and secure as possible, but unfortunately things will still probably happen. Such is city life.
Overall, this has been one of the more pleasurable living experiences we’ve had. We’ve found all of our neighbors to be respectful and kind. The demographics really range between mid 30-​ish couples to full families. We’ve had no issues with loud parties or late night noise. There are a lot of small dogs that live here, so hearing some yappie barking does happen, but we’ve never had any issues with it being an all day issue (and if it is, management will be happy to address the issue with the dog owner). Do not get worked up by the negative reviews people post. This is a lovely place to call home.
THANK YOU TEIRRA PALMS MANAGEMENT! YOU GUYS ROCK!

The parking lot in the ‘gated’ community has been broken into multiple times whether it be from residents or outsiders. Windows have been broken and my boyfriend just had his wheels and tires stolen from his car port and ‘no one’ saw a thing. Where the ef are security or security cameras. Low life’s piece of shiiiiiiiit have to steal from people in this community and management won’t do anything about it. It’s frustrating. Choose somewhere else if you have the option. Seriously don’t live here if you value your belongings and safety.

I’ve lived here for three and a half years, and this is the best apartment complex I’ve lived in so far. As soon as you walk in the gate you feel like you’re at a resort, everything is clean and beautifully landscaped. All the maintenance crew, management and office employees are all so nice and helpful, never have to wait long to get responses from them. I live by myself and I feel very safe here, all the neighbors watch out for another and are all friendly as well! So if you’re looking for a nice place to live this is the place!

UPDATE — Feb 2016
Everything is still great! No complaints!
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It’s my understanding that the management has been different for about 2 years or so, and a lot of the complaints I saw in the reviews freaked me out a little bit, but based on my experience, they have improved and fixed a LOT of the issues you see in the photos, since the old management team didn’t appear to care.
When the temp left and Charlette came back, we dealt with her on everything concerning our apartment. She was unbelievably patient with me getting antsy over all the things the temp had slacked on during the application process. I felt so bad calling her on the phone as many times as I did but she was so great through the whole thing, even when I was getting anxious myself (although I maintain professionalism over the phone, I was never angry or anything). She hadn’t even met us in person yet and was really nice!
Good things I’ve noticed that matter to me, as an easy-​going 20-​something:
* Cleanliness of the grounds. None of the landscaping/​trees/​shrubs/​grass is dead. Everything is alive. Trash, if you even happen to see any, gets removed immediately. The dumpsters also aren’t as bad as what I see in the pictures here. Waste management picks up as best they can, but you can’t control the actions of every single resident, unfortunately. There will always be people that just throw trash on the ground.
* Covered parking. Something I didn’t look for or care about, but is a nice benefit. My AC in my car doesn’t currently work, so the car not sitting in the direct sun is a huge help. My space also happens to be right next to my apartment so I got lucky with that.
* Gates are always closed and appear to lock properly. I haven’t seen any gate left open at all.
* Plenty of electrical outlets in the apartments. It’s not like scary hotel rooms that only have one.
* Air conditioning. In a perfect world, I’d love if it was connected to all the rooms, but not having one would have been an absolute dealbreaker for me. I’ll have to get a fan for my bedroom, but it’s fine. It works really well to cool the kitchen and living area, which is important to me.
* Pest control. NO PESTS! I’ve had a couple spiders in the apartment since being here, but they could have come in with my moving boxes and could have come in when the windows/​doors were left open, but it’s certainly not a «pest problem» by any means. They spray the grounds weekly on Wednesdays, and if you need any more pest control they’ll come to your apartment and treat for whatever you need, but I’m so, so thankful that there aren’t ants or the r-​word!
* Maintenance. They are ON IT! I moved in and a few things needed to be fixed, and all of the issues except one were fixed within seven days. The maintenance crew has been nothing but cool and they know what they’re doing. There’s like five of them on site, all day every day.
* Spacious livingroom for me and a decent kitchen for my chef-​boyfriend. The kitchen is his dojo, and he was cool with it. I needed a livingroom that would allow my bookcases and huge couch to fit. They do. It’s great.
* Water pressure is decent. Another win for me!
I’ll add positive things as I remember them.
Things that I see others mentioned over a year and two years ago that I’d like to update:
* I haven’t seen any homeless at all.
* Gates are always closed and lock properly (I did mention this already).
* Trash does get full fast, yes, but waste management picks up pretty well.
* No shopping carts in the complex.
* No issues with trash.
* No one has parked in my spot. It seems like they’ve fixed the issue with parking. I’m noticing and recognizing the same cars in the same spots, so I think this has been loonnng sorted out.
* Landscaping isn’t just dirt. There’s mulch and bark. It looks pretty nice.
I would also like the laundry rooms to be updated like the Courtyards side as well. The rooms are fine, but they are not ventilated. They get pretty warm, but I haven’t had a problem doing laundry or with anyone tampering with my stuff, but we set timers on our phones for the time the machine tells us, so it’s not like our clothes are sitting in there for any longer than they need to be.
The only thing that you should know going into this is that, YES, there is NOT a lot of guest parking. There is no guest parking inside the gate. If you want to have friends come over any time after 4pm, you have to be prepared to have them park at Food 4 Less or Chuck E. Cheese’s, and go get them and bring them in. There’s usually not street parking in the afternoon or evening unless you get lucky. This just comes with apartment living, even though I would agree it would be super nice to have more guest parking, we just aren’t the type to have a lot of guests.
I’ve had a good experience, all said and done, and Amy (the property manager) has been nothing but cool and personable. Don’t take the older reviews from 2013 too seriously, stuff is different now.

I’ve been living here now 3months: I have to say overall the apartment is nice. Large kitchen and living room and nice sized bathrooms (2). The pools are awesome and the maintenance crew are on point with coming and fixing any issue and cleaning the grounds: Allow pets. Kid friendly and close to all major highways and stores:
Bad; PARKING, illegal towing practices and a lot of tickets. They painted a lot the areas red for trash pick up so no parking, visitors have no parking so have to walk from Chucky cheese. The Air condition in the unit is n the kitchen/​dinning area which defeats purpose, should be n living room but has air:
No lights have to buy lamps only ceiling fan is again in kitchen. I don’t like the fact everyone knows the pass code to enter the gate. They should change it and not giving out keys for the pool bathroom, means all guest have to go back to apartment to use restrooms: So only really (2) negatives
Parking and pool bathroom
Also they do have a security guard who walks the grounds at night, he’s very cool and pretty big guy!
Over all on scale 1 – 10 I give this place a 7.5 which is good:

Been living here since March 2014.
Cute apt as a couple and as well pet friendly.
Parking will give you gray hairs. Not like any apartment parking won’t give you a hard time.
The pools (salt water) are filthy swam the other day I got out and I had a ball of long hair on my foot.
I do not know how often they clean there pool but they should do it often since it is summer time and many kids do swim. Some times the pools are locked and not useable.
Stray cats tend to sleep on your door and leave an odor. Especially if they pee on the mulch or dirt. I have called animal control and not to sure if they done anything about it as well the apartment management. (Probably not)
Since it’s summer there tends to be brown outs in this area. From imperial street down to firestone I believe. And the apartment complex will be pitch black at that time.
Overall the maintenance crew are awesome and they do a great job.
There is a night guard as well.

Only complaint about this place is the parking. The assigned parking is very far from my apartment. (Funny how they didn’t include that in the tour) finally all visitors have to park outside gate, where there I no parking. Guests end up having to park as much as 2 blocks away! I don’t think I would have moved in if I knew this information in advance.

Tierra Palms isn’t anything impressive. Don’t be swayed by the rather spacious floor plans and low rent, this place is nothing what it seems when you’re originally shown the place during a tour. During the year that we lived here, we had a number of issues.
Laundry Facility — One of the major issues with this place is the laundry facility, they are not monitored by cameras, and are in obscure areas where no one can see what is going on in them. Multiple times, we had caught people smoking in the laundry facilities; we had even had our clothes stolen out of the dryer. Not to mention our time being hijacked by other residents.
Lack of Security — For the first 6 months we lived here they had one security guard, he hardly spoke English and spent 90% of his time in the parking lot watching TV in his car. At one point the fire department came to the complex and asked the security guard if management was on-​site or if he had keys to get in an apartment they needed to get into, he didn’t understand them and as a result they had to break into the apartment (where someone just moved into the week prior). After that incident, that guard was let go and they hired a third party security service. They were cool in the first week, patrolling the grounds all night, but later they got extremely lazy. They would drive into the parking lots every 30 minutes ~ hour sit there for a few hours then drive back out and drive somewhere else. When we would call them regarding issues they would either ignore our calls or never respond on-​site. There are also no security cameras in this entire complex. The gate which is supposed to keep people who don’t live there out, is always broken and kept either open or unlocked at all times of the day and night.
Landscaping — The landscaping here is non-​existent and amateurish. Most the plants are either dying or already dead. The planters have no woodchips or anything; it’s just dirt, so during the rainy seasons there is mud everywhere.
Lack of Communication — The management there refused to notify us of multiple things, the most annoying one being construction that was to happen to the unit next to ours. We were awoken to loud banging one morning at around 7AM, which is way before the legal time period for construction in a residential area. This construction lasted for over a month.
Parking — Parking is the worst problem here, they never properly assigned parking spots to the residents, so for the first 6 ~ 7 months they were trying to sort that mess out. Even a few months before our lease was up, people were still parking in spots not assigned to them. Guest parking is non-​existent; they have to park on the street, which is full of cars at almost all times. There is even a man who lives in an RV who keeps his RV parked on this street, he never leaves.
Homeless People, Vendors & Shopping Carts — Homeless people frequent this complex very often; they are able to walk right into the complex from the gate which is always kept open by the management. They picked through the dumpsters, sit on the benches, and even eat lunch in the complex. Vendors with carts (the kind who show up and ring a bell and sell corn) show up every weekend and are not told to leave. The residents here are also incredibly lazy, they steal shopping carts from the various stores surrounding the complex to bring their groceries back in. At one point we were able to count 6 different shopping carts left in the complex from: Food 4 Less, Costco, Ralphs, and Stater Bros.
Cleanliness — The dumpsters are filled extremely fast, and as a result, trash is piled up around them. When the workers come to pull the dumpsters out and leave them on the street for Waste Management, they do not pick up the trash that has been piling up behind the dumpster; they simply leave it and put the dumpster back in front of it.
Cops — Cops are very frequent at this complex, toward the end of our lease; the cops were showing up every week for something different. From fires, to fights, to people hiding out from the cops in the complex. At one point we even had a helicopter patrolling the complex over-​head.
Fire — A few months before our lease was up, a fire broke out in one of the units and took four other units with it. The fire department had cleared out the units and piled the ruble on the walking path directly below the units. This asbestos filled burned debris stayed there for nearly over a month, at which point they moved it all into a shipping container that has been sitting in the parking lot every since.
A/​C — The wall mounted A/​C unit is pretty terrible, when you initially are shown the apartment is it cool and seems to work fine, but once you get your stuff into the place, it takes hours to cool down your apartment, resulting in high electric bills every month.