Vista St. Clair Apartments, Portland OR

The company that owns this apartment complex may or may not keep your deposit even if you don't get an apartment unit.

Beware!

Vista St Clair continued asking me for documentation they wanted on file, despite the fact that state law (ORS. 90.222) makes it abundantly clear that they do not have the right to require certain tenants to have such documentation. They were previously aware of my situation that triggers one of the exceptions in the law, but reached out with a notice of lease violation if I did not provide them the documentation by a certain date. I sent them an email, containing both the law, and my employment/income status, which triggers an exception under ORS 90.222 (8). It also satisfies the requirement that Vista is aware of my situation, and should have left it at that. Instead, I received two emails the following morning. The first entirely misrepresented the law, stating that “The state of Oregon legally does require ALL (emphasis added) renters to obtain Renter’s insurance…” The first email also reiterated lease violation on a specific date. This is wrong, and a leasing office should know the law, especially if they are going to treat a tenant with such contempt. They’d better be correct. I received a second email roughly 40 minutes later, stating that I was correct, and that they could not require this of me, but that I agreed to it in the rental agreement. The rental agreement does contain a “renter’s insurance required box, ” but, if checked, this references an applicant to a specific section in “terms and conditions, ” and the terms and conditions state the exception to the requirement under ORS 90.222 (8). Vista St. Clair agreed to the exception in the rental agreement. It appears to me that they simply did not want to honor it (doesn’t matter, because it is state law), and they are hoping that they would be able to cite the rental agreement and that the tenant they were trying to bully would not have complete knowledge of what was contained within the agreement. I reiterated in a subsequent email that I was confident in my legal stance. The emails from both sides were taking on an adversarial tone, at this point. I was again replied to with an email stating that Vista “do[es] have permission to continue with a violation” if they did not get the documentation and insurance they sought. This is legally wrong, and they now appeared to be intentionally misstating the law, in my opinion. They then stated what appeared to me to be the biggest threat they made, which read as follows:

“ If we still do not receive your insurance after this violation is sent out, then we can follow up with a secondary violation which may then result in a termination. ”

I have three children, and Vista knows this. Obviously, I was terrified. I knew I was legally correct, but how often does that actually matter for the little guy, and now I was being threatened with the possibility of eviction. The same email also read

“…this is still something you agreed to and you are required to follow to continue living here. ”

This is incorrect, and was a second threat of losing my residence, if I did not obtain and prove obtaining something that Vista was illegally telling me I had to obtain. I began sending emails, asking to post a flyer in the common area to inform other tenants of their rights, and things of that nature. At this point, I received an email stating that I had been correct all along, and that Vista did not need the documentation, but this did not alleviate the stress and the trauma of the situation. Vista also tried to claim that they did not know of my employment status when the violation/eviction threats were made, despite the back-and-forth described above. I believe they are now trying to wiggle their way out of the statute, which says that if they “knowingly” violate the statute, they may have to pay a tenant “$250, or the cost of the damages, whichever is greater. ” It is my opinion that they continue to misrepresent, and I have the documentation to prove it. I believe this is how Vista would treat you. Buyer beware.

— they are “considering” my request to make other tenants aware of their rights. I wonder what they are considering.

Carmen & Makayla are amazing. Every phone call and email I sent was responded to within a reasonable amount of time. They were great!

I've been a resident for almost two years and submitted my first maintenance request yesterday. Cole in the maintenance team responded quickly, and went above and beyond to fix the problem. Additionally, I was impressed by his ability to find a creative solution to a seemingly intractable problem.

It's nice to live in a place that has a maintenance team with such skilled and awesome people.

Thank you Cole, and Vista!

I've lived here for a year.
Pros: great location!
Lots of sunlight even in north facing units.
Decent rent and utilities are a flat rate.
Good amenities like package lockers, gym, nice lobby
Cons:
Constant construction, I would really think twice before moving here if you work remotely or have weekdays off. The frequent drilling, hammering, demolition etc can get really loud and makes being at home uncomfortable.
VERY thin walls, there must be no insulation at all between units. I can hear my neighbors cough and sneeze it's that thin. God help you if you have a neighbor who yells at video games all night or with a yappy dog. ()
Water! At least 1-2 days a week I have to wait 20+ minutes for the water up heat up if I don't give up first. Maintenance says this is normal and nothing can be done
Invest in some good earplugs because you will be hearing high pitched sounds and clanging at random intervals all hours of the day and night. Wish I could post a video but believe me it's not something you can sleep through.

A perfect example of a "landlord special" apartment.
- Could hear my next door neighbor sneezing and burping through the wall, the children in the apartment above us, and any time someone used the restroom above.
- Weeks after move in, they began renovating the unit above us - we didn't know this at move in - and from 8-5 Monday through Friday, we dealt with loud drilling, banging, grinding construction noise above us, and my roommate worked evenings and intended to sleep in past 7: 30AM when they arrived and started walking loudly to set up every day. Some of the days the construction even vibrated the walls, or would be so loud it would sound like it was in the apartment with us. Multiple days it was too loud to have a conversation or hear the TV in our own apartment. We also lived in one of the newly renovated units, but every 2 feet we would find examples of the painters being careless, or the flooring being uneven, or the other installations obviously being done carelessly or by someone who must have been in a big hurry to complete the job.
- The office management puts on a great "customer service" performance, other than the times I've waited outside the office while they are on the phone and they roll their eyes while answering basic questions for a prospective resident. I also had issues when moving in, they give inadequate instructions on how and where to access the loading dock, the only place they allow you to move in through.
TL;DR: I am relieved to be moving out and no longer have to worry about hearing my neighbors on all sides, or the construction, or the sloppy, poorly "remodeled" apartments; New paint and carpet doesn't mean much if it's done poorly. I'd advise looking elsewhere for your next apartment.

I do like the location of the building. But I must admit management and maintenance is lacking.