Bill Luther Real Estate

This company is going downhill at record speeds. I believe Deana the head property mismanager is mostly responsible. She doesn’t work with clients. She would rather get rid of you. Using any means, Including unwarranted eviction attempts and violating federal and state and local laws that protect us from predators like Deana. She blatantly used disability discrimination as an attempt to evict us. We settled with this company the FIRST time, however she is up to it again! She is now facing charges. She has no problem breaking the law apparently. As I have since found her breaking and entering, (on surveillance camera), of an already OCCUPIED rental unit while the occupants were on vacation. I can only hope they file charges. She blows off of our complaints, including violations which we have not reported to the Housing Authority yet. Until Bill Luther Realty gets rid of her I suggest we all look for a different realtor/​property management company.

Expect to be overcharged, ignored, and generally not taken care of. Had to threaten legal suits to be able to have livable conditions when first moving in.
A six foot long snake lived in the rental property we were in unbeknownst to us or our landlord. Ripped off for over $ 500 when we moved out.
Terrible property management company who DOESN’T take care of their tenants. They are negligent and have created a monopoly on a lot of expensive properties in the Mission Beach area. Because the property is such high value they know they can get away with what they want.
Worst landlord/​tenant relationship I’ve ever had.

Nonresponsive: management has a bad attitude that can’t be bothered. The most recent problem: they contracted to have a trap set for a skunk. When the skunk was trapped, we called and called and the lackadaisical response was «Yeah, they’re on their way». 24 hours later, the skunk is dead and still in the trap — there are flies and it’s beginning to smell. We’ve had to call the Humane Society who then referred us to Public Works to take care of it because Bill Luther Real Estate (Deidra (notDeena)), the person who was on call) refused to take responsibility.

I lived in a Bill Luther Realty managed property for one year, and I had many interactions with the property management staff. Although they were often pleasant, I found them to be unacceptably slow in finishing the repair jobs we required. The office staff routinely had no idea the repairs they ordered weren’t started or, sometimes, had been begun but weren’t completed. And sometimes the office staff was totally non-​responsive.
For instance, it took more than three weeks between having their plumber determine our kitchen faucet needed fixing and actually having it fixed. (That’s not counting the days between when we reported it and when their plumber first came to inspect it.)
It took more than a week from the time the repairman came to look at our non-​functioning dishwasher for it to be actually usable. (At one point, he told us he brought parts home to work on over the weekend, which seemed unusual to me.)
It was more than two weeks between when we reported our non-​functioning dryer and they sent someone to repair it.
We reported that the chain to operate the only light on our main floor broke off (in a way we couldn’t repair). On July 8, we got notice in writing from BLR that the owners had approved replacing the light fixture. When we moved out on Aug 9, it still was not fixed.
Some issues we reported and were told would be fixed never were.
Finally, when we received a bill for the dishwasher repair, we asked BLR why we were responsible for the repair. (We understand that under CA tenant law, the owners are responsible for damage caused by ordinary use.) BLR said it was because items were found in the pump. I was there when the dishwasher repairman took apart the dishwasher, and he only reported one item was found, and it was a weird piece of wood, like a framing splinter. So I contacted BLR to dispute the charge and asked for more explanation. I never received it. We continued to receive bills for the charge, which we continued to dispute, sometimes over the phone and sometimes via email. When we moved out, I contacted BLR in writing to again ask for more information regarding the dishwasher charge and to communicate that I anticipated a response before they’d withhold it from our deposit. I never heard back from them. We just received our deposit, and it had the dishwasher repair charge deducted with nothing but the «items found in the pump» information. We are now out $ 240, with no more information about why and no meaningful way to appeal their decision.
I feel quite frustrated that we lived with so many weeks of a non-​functioning dryer, kitchen sink faucet, dishwasher, and main floor light (not to mention broken window screens and a cricket-​sized gap under our front door, which they never repaired) – when we were paying a huge amount in rent and, ultimately, had our final requests for communication totally ignored.
I wish I knew who our unit’s owner was. I’d write them to say to change property management companies. For us as tenants, BLR was a hassle, a disappointment, and now an expense.

I have contacted this property management company several times over the past two years to ask them to replace the broken trash bins. The bins have no lids, and it has been that way for over two years. The tenants have complained. And myself, as a neighbor of the property, is fed up with the vermin, roach, and fly problem this has created in the neighborhood.
If you are looking for an effective, responsible property management company, this is not it. Bill Luther is a negligent company. They neglected to have garbage cans with lids, and now the property that they are getting paid to manage is crawling with mice, rats, cockroaches. They have caused all the people in this neighborhood to live with flies swarming in our homes. This is a major red flag, be warned. Do not do business with this company. This is not what good property management looks like.

I moved to Mission Beach (San Diego) 3 months ago and was fortunate enough to live in a Bill Luther Realty property. I typically don’t write reviews but after the excellent property service and conversations I’ve had with our Property Manager Deena, I felt compelled to share with others online. This is a great company with significant presence all over Mission Beach. Thank you again Deena for getting all of my electrical outlets fixed within 2 hours (she called her personal contact to come out immediately) and having our garbage disposal fixed within a few hours of contacting the management company. These professionals are A+ and a genuine joy to rent from.
— 777 Isthmus Ct.

Loretta is a great real estate agent! Everything we needed, she promptly responded and worked hard to be sure our stay would be comfy. I recommend looking for her if you want to rent a place in San Diego.

I frequently vacation in San Diego and Loretta is my go-​to for beach rentals. She always goes out of her way to make sure my needs and budget are met. I’ve rented from other companies in the past and Bill Luther Realty is by far the best to work with.

I rented from Bill Luther Realty for 6 years. Never missing a payment. When I moved out, I inquired about my deposit. My boyfriend, retired SDPD, was informed that we were suppose to do the carpets, «but we won’t ding you too much». 20 days later I received the check, $ 65 for carpets, $ 35 for steam cleaning of patio tile & grout, $ 175 for cleaning of condo. 10+ of my neighbors helped me clean the place, including the windows, inside & out, & replacing stove pans. I emailed Deena twice about deposit, with no answer. Mitch replied, but then did not inform of deposit, as promised. I will NEVER rent from them again!!!
Forget about getting any repairs done, have to do it yourself. At your expense.

Yes, I never thought the day would come, but I’m giving 5 stars to my (former) landlord. I recently moved out of my tiny Mission Beach apartment that was home for the last 4 ½ years and am on to bigger and better things.
I had always had great things to say about Bill Luther Realty but I was waiting until move-​out to actually write a review, as that is when you discover how miserly your landlord really is when you get 82 cents back out of your security deposit with deductions for things like «worn paint on closet bars» and «oil drops in parking spot.»
Whenever any repairs were needed they sent someone out almost immediately, and always asked permission before entering when I wasn’t home. Furthermore, when I informed them I was moving out I had a slight problem of my ex still being on the lease despite not living there for 3 years and now residing out of the country. Deena, one of the employees involved in their property management, went out of her way to contact him herself in order to put the security deposit refund in my name only.
And after almost 5 years, I would have gotten all of the deposit back if it weren’t for the cleaning fees, which were more than fair. If my situation ever changes and I’m back to renting, I’ll certainly try to do business with Bill Luther.

Terrible company, terrible person.
Years ago I was nearly wiped out by an earthquake, but had been working a job in San Diego. Responded to an ad by this company, looked at a cheap run down apartment, signed the papers, left a deposit check, everything was approved by his staff. Finally I was going to be able to recover from the disaster.
On the drive back to LA, got a cellphone call — it was Bill himself telling me he was voiding the deal and ripping up my deposit check.
This caused WEEKS of hardship — had to spend more money living in hotels, almost lost my job because I had no local residence, had to take off work to look for more places, finally connected to a rental company who had ethics and lived in their unit for many years.
Bill Luther, I will NEVER forget how you pointlessly (and probably illegally) screwed me over while I was working hard to recover from a natural disaster. I’m now once again a successful businessman, and you can be assured I will never do business with you again, and I have told many people in Mission Beach your story of greed and selfishness.
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Update: Bill, I have no interest in speaking to you, ever again. When I bought property a few years later, it was specified in my agreement with the Realtor that i would not consider any property listed by you or that you are involved with in any way.
You had your chance to do the right thing, you chose to screw me over simply because you could. Greed and selfishness has consequences.
The fact that you don’t even remember doing this suggests that you have screwed over so many people over the years that you have lost track, and I’m sure I won’t be the last person who comes back to haunt you.