SFM Vista Del Mar - Goleta, California

Jude Ryan

My experience with SFM Vista Del Mar was thankfully brief but nothing short of a nightmare. This management behaves on a whim, using extortion when it comes to your security deposit. Valerie Sweat, in particular, was a professional mess. She oscillated between complete ignorance in maintaining livable conditions for tenants (invading our unit with zero notice to cut holes in the drywall, turning a blind eye to corroded pipes for months, putting general maintenance requests on our deposit like an open tab, attempting to raise our rent beyond the 10% allowed by law, etc.) and a hyper-vigilant tyrant, scrutinizing every inch of the apartment for the slightest imperfection (such as individual hairs being left in the unit).

Despite opting in for a professional cleaning service (which is absurd for a tiled room the size of a shoebox), Valerie took the majority of our deposit, leaving us with pennies on the dollar. When we disputed the overzealous claims, she threatened us several times with legal action. This level of greed is astounding from a place catering to mostly students and young people.

SFM Vista Del Mar is not only a shady business but also a place managed by miserable, scummy individuals like Rachel and Valerie Sweatt. IV is full of trashy landlords, but SFM has earned its’ reputation as the worst. Save yourself the headache and find somewhere else to live!

Ruben F

Zero stars! Do not rent here! My recommendation to Valerie and the staff was more decorum and professionalism, which they clearly lack.

The apartments are subpar and they should pay more attention in the upkeep. If Valerie’s position at the apartments is the management and oversight, she’s doing a poor job. If it’s sending condescending emails, then great.

Nonetheless, whomever it was that yelled at my daughter and called her “stupid” is unacceptable, as are the other issues my daughter discussed with me about these apartments.

Parents/students - Find another spot. Avoid the heartache and frustration.

Lindsay E

Since SFM is opening applications on Jan. 12th, I figured that I should post my experience to maybe help someone else.

Do not rent from SFM if you expect transparency and getting your money back.

The building I lived in had extreme plumbing issues and if you lived on the lower level, that meant your bathroom and kitchen flooding every couple of months. That was an issue in of itself, but what’s worse is that all of the surrounding apartments contributed to the same pipe, so the apartments above me would not get their kitchen flooded, but I would and I would get charged $95 for calling it in. SFM completely ignored my requests to investigate this issue and eventually the pipes underneath the building that were with the parking garage burst or leaked on tenants cars, leading to the ceilings being exposed and indefinite maintenance. Outside from getting a hole cut into my bathroom (which was never fixed) to determine that the pipes are corroding, SFM was not transparent about the situation, never sent out a statement saying what was happening, and still had new tenants move in.

SFM on many occasions did not provide 24 hour notice for them (Valerie or Rachel) or potential buyers for the building to be coming into my apartment.

Additionally, when my roommate and I moved out, Valerie confirmed that she would find a replacement tenant and that it was not our responsibility. Unfortunately, she did not inform us until 3 weeks after us moving out that she didn’t find someone and would charge us that rent. We also cleaned the apartment and left it in better condition than when I first moved in, but she still charged us ~$200 for cleaning and the inspection photos consisted of individual strands of hair or fiber that were found.

Lastly, when attempting to getting our money back, since SFM was planning on only giving us back 28% of our security deposit and advance rent, Valerie used information that she learned of at least 4 months prior to scare us into accepting a lower amount of money or we would end up owing her even more. Just an FYI for all of her prospective tenants that she will hold onto information until it benefits her the most, not because she doesn’t know or is being nice.

Natalie K

RUDE RUDE RUDE!!!!! Do not rent from this company!!!!! Avoid at all costs!!!! If I could give this rental company 0 stars I would. Valerie is by far the WORST building manager in all of Isla Vista. Stay far away. She tried to steal my first deposit, claiming she gave it back to me. I had already signed my new lease so I was stuck with her. The second time around she tried to charge for several damages we told her about before we moved in. I did not file an incident report because I told her about the issue several times in person. On top of her pattern of deceit, she is totally RUDE. If you want a manager that never fixes the issues on time and steals your money SFM Vista Del Mar is the way to go

Alec Aragon

I rented from Valerie twice. It's an awful experience. She doesn't respond to her emails quickly at all and she doesn't maintain property very well in general.

Anne Lee Bonfig

The SFM Mgt. are always there
to take care of your needs.
I am happy to live in my apt.
Thank you SFM,
Anne Bonfig

Kenny Stevens

Valerie sucks.