Avalon Bay Community Apartments (UGH!)

Apply ONLY if you dare!

Many of you might be aware that on January 7th my beautiful Altadena home burned down in the wildfires, due in large part to Southern California Edison’s neglect of proper inactive-tower maintenance.

To say it’s been a comedy of errors ever since, is an understatement. When ya go thru a traumatic life event like losing everything you’ve ever owned, you hope that your efforts to rebalance won’t be too difficult… but, and I’m not exaggerating when I state this, everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong for me ever since. Nothing’s been easy~ including mobile phone company challenges that would wear the mightiest of you down, if I went into any detail about it.

Ya start to think, IS MERCURY IN RETROGRADE~ and if not, why the fuck am I encountering myriad obstacles, with everything I attempt these days?! I don’t want your pity. That’s not the object of this post… it’s merely background.

So, a man at my current hotel (The Hampton Inn, West Covina) in the breakfast area, told me about Avalon apartments. He said they have 3 large, luxury structures in Pasadena (my before-fire hood) and one in Monrovia. I haven’t left finding housing up to my insurance company’s subsidiary department. I’ve put some elbow grease into finding lodgings myself~ and in fact, secured 2 different hotel stays for myself, so far~ for which Mercury Insurance has thankfully paid.

So, I tried to apply for an apartment with the Avalon community. Picked out a unit I wanted and jumped thru numerous hoops of fire to complete my application. Even tho I’m not the one who would PAY for that unit, as my insurance is the guarantor on the rent, they would not hold this unit for me until their application process was completely finished. The last step demanded I provide my last two bank statements to ‘em.

When your home burns to the ground, all personal belongings, documents, important papers (including passports, home title, bank checks and records, physical files, receipts, etc., are gone. They’re ash. There’s no record you ever existed! The trudge uphill with Avalon apartments was nothing less than excruciating, ‘cause in a situation like this you’re already shellshocked. I suppose I could have electronically gotten ‘em the bank acct. proof of income they wanted, but it seemed a moot point, as I (personally) would not be paying the rent charged for the unit.

Would they make a tiny exception for a home-displaced fire victim, and just work with my insurance company to help me secure this apartment?? Hell no! And this is why with every fiber in my body that’s still enraged, I’m posting this prickly issue all over every social media platform I’m on, to say NEVER TRY TO RENT FROM AVALON COMMUNITY APARTMENTS!!!

They are ruthless, they’re impossible to work with, and they care not at all for displaced folks who need safe, comfortable lodgings after their devastating losses in the wake of a natural disaster. Just so you know… this organization uses an outside digitally operated source to vet and verify that you’ll be a financially responsible tenant. Don’t expect robots to be empathic… and you’re a damned fool, if you think organizations who use ‘em, will be either.

My insurance company wasted a week trying to circumvent their abusive application policy, to no avail. I’m the kinda dame who shares good stuff AND bad, during the course of my life’s journey. You can bet I’m gonna put this review up on Yelp and every other venue I have access to, because nobody should ever have to encounter what I did with “Avalon Apartments” when they’re in dire need of a place to land after a crisis.

In closing, I’m a fatalist. I believe what’s meant to be, IS. So, when I’m trudging up a mountain and boulders are routinely rolling down and trying to knock me off of it, I typically decide it’s best to choose a different mountain!

I’m told that in CoDA meetings (Codependents Anonymous) they say, “rejection is God’s protection.” Every now and then, our agenda doesn’t align well with our higher purpose and what will serve us best. I think it’s important to pay close attention to struggles we encounter as we navigate this thing called “Life,” and try to apply this principle, don’t you?