SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — It was supposed to be a mother-daughter trip to move college student Kaylie Herzberger into her first apartment at BLVD 63 in Rolando, but instead, it ended in a scramble to find her a new place to live.
After mother and daughter got the keys to the apartment, they described the unit as uninhabitable.
“It was supposed to be a really fun, exciting time that turned bad very quickly,” said Jenny Rabe, Herzberger's mother.
Herzberger said what she saw was “absolutely disgusting ... There were stains all over carpets, some of the carpets were black, it looked like somebody burnt them.”
Rabe added, “Grease all over the kitchen, stuff left in the cabinets from prior tenants, flies underneath beds.”
Rabe said she knew she couldn't let her daughter live there and immediately asked to break their lease and start looking for another place to live, in an already tight housing rental market.
Herzberger was let out of her lease and is now looking for a new place to live.
“We don't have time to go find another living situation when it's already hard enough, and when you think you had something secured …,” said Herzberger.
“We're still out a lot of money even though were getting refunded and we're out of the lease which I'm so grateful for,” Rabe told ABC 10News.
A spokesperson for BLVD63 sent ABC 10News the following statement, along with pictures they say are of the now-clean apartment:
“Individual residents are free to speak about their personal lives and personal business. As a matter of law and of policy, however, we protect the privacy of our residents in their homes and in their business affairs.
As a seasoned, successful operator of residential housing in college communities, we take care of our properties, and we respond appropriately when residents communicate their issues or concerns to us.
When a resident expressed concerns on move-in day this past week, we responded immediately. We mobilized our contracted cleaning crews as well as our local staff to put things right. We replaced worn furnishings with new ones. We replaced discolored carpet in an adjacent bedroom with new. In other words, we made things right.
Despite our maintenance team, our property manager and others who worked in a focused fashion to return the unit to our standards, the resident opted to ask to be released from her lease. Her request was approved. A refund of rent and fees is in the works.
The deep cleaning of the unit had been deferred pending the installation of new carpet in a separate bedroom in the unit. When the carpet work was delayed by supply chain issues, the cleaners had less time to complete their work on schedule.”
