I have been renting from Koto for a little over a year and they have been great to rent through. They are prompt with repairs and their online payment portal is easy to use. Koto is one of the only companies in town that is not charging pet rent, which is greatly appreciated! I do wish it was a little easier to get a hold of someone on weekends if/when needed, but overall I am very happy.
Unfortunately there were some short comings with my experience with Koto Group. Mainly there were a lot of communication issues since there was no landlord and the only way to contact anyone was over email. This was especially frustrating during move out (which was during the height of the pandemic) when my roommate and I had a lot of questions and it took weeks to get any answers. And some of our questions were still left unanswered. It felt like I was being directed through levels of customer service from a company that just wanted my money.There were also issues with fees and additional rent items not being prorated that were supposed to be. And my apartment was pretty dirty when I moved in despite Koto Group charging an additional cleaning fee at the end of the lease agreement. It took me a whole day to clean the floors after I moved in since they were filthy. I wish I had taken photos at the time.Wouldnt recommend.
I stayed with the Koto Group for 3 years in Isla Vista during the time I spent at UC Santa Barbara. They were an incredible leasing company in a neighborhood notorious for dishonesty in leasing companies. Throughout our time with Koto we always had quick turnaround times with maintenance requests and received our full security deposit back ever year (even when we had a puppy one year). I would recommend anyone to sign a lease with the Koto group in the IV area and am thankful I spent most of my time in college with a reputable and respectable company.
Wonderful property management company. Apartment was well maintained and any issues were addressed quickly and professionally by their maintenance staff.Getting my lease setup was a breeze - they made it easy to get everything signed and moved into my new apartment.Definitely the best experience Ive had with a property management company and would not hesitate to rent from them again in the future.
Moving into a Koto Group apartment was one of the worst and most stressful experiences of my life. I had not even lived in the apartment for a full week and there had been two occurrences of flooding in our bedrooms, no hot water for four days, unfinished apartment (patches of the ground with NO flooring, wood vinyl pieces completely peeling up, appliances installed crooked, hot water heater not installed properly, no hood over the stove as advertised, among other issues). In addition, we did not receive the keys to our mail until we had been there for 3 weeks already and when we asked where our mailbox was (no mailbox anywhere near the apartment and the ones semi-close had no labels) we were told to “figure it out.”Moving into this apartment was a waste of my time and money. I would NOT recommend moving into a Koto Group apartment. Oh, and this “newly renovated” apartment hasn’t had any permits taken out or inspections made in the past 20 years (yep I called the city and asked, yep I reported it.)These people clearly do not consider your safety a priority at all. Save yourself from following my mistakes and use literally any other property management company.
2 of the 4 1/2 years I spent at UCSB I lived with Koto. I hold the company in high regards because they were by far the easiest and most reasonable property manager I had to deal with. We kept to ourselves and they kept to themselves. Unless we needed them for maintenance or an issue, we didnt hear much from them which is how it should be IMO. Its no secret that Isla Vista landlords screw tenants on security deposits and fine print gotchas, but both times I lived with Koto I got my full security deposit back and had no issues on move out.
The Koto Group is a highly professional and responsive property management company that clearly cares for its tenants, the quality of their properties, and seemingly their helpful and kind employees. They make tracking rent and expenses, maintenance repairs, and communication effortless. They’ve also been kind and flexible during challenging times. From regular landscaping to respectful scheduling around maintenance and caring communication the Koto Group makes for a first class residential management company.
We thought Koto was a very good leasing company until this happened. When I applied for their rentals for 2022 with my roommates, they didn’t end up accepting my application, hence my roommates’ applications as well because I was an international student. Prior to this, I haven’t had problems renting with other companies. I have proof that I can pay for both deposit and rentals for the entire lease and also other documents that verify my identity, financial status, and previous leasing contracts. We called them after waiting for a month (no emails from them) to get an update on our application. I told them everything; from the documents to my personal situation and my roommates as well. I don’t understand why my application was not even accepted in the first place, just because I’m an international student. I literally have multiple evidence that I’ve never paid late for anything in school and previous leases. I know that they may be skeptical of the financial status of foreigners, but at this point I’ve explained everything, sent them documents regarding my financial status, etc. Me and my roommates will never be applying to them ever again.
Very clean apartments that were easy to maintain. Whenever we had issues, Koto worked with us to get them resolved quickly. I had nightmare landlords in Isla Vista prior to Koto, so was worried about any rental company in the area at the time, but was lucky to find you guys. Thank you all.
I moved into their apartment and it was infested with termites.1120 Laguna st. Believe the reviews posted here. Ive rented for 13 years and work in real estate. Never seen such horrible property management. The photos are from DAY 19 in the apartment. I had just moved in! $2500 a month isnt cheap either. Termites were falling all over me and my room. On my bed. Fell from the ceiling onto all my clothes. I couldnt even sleep there because they were in all rooms. Actual termites. It took them 1 week to get a guy to spot treat for it. But they told me the place was habitable and would not reimburse for the days I couldnt live there. They claimed they didnt know about if before I moved in. However, I ran into some neighbors and they told me the previous tenants left because the apartment had termites and the Koto Group wouldnt do anything about it. This was not just in the bedroom, but also all in the living room...a separate colony. Also 3 out of 16 tenants there have had to seek legal advice regarding this group. Run away from Koto group. They did let me out of my lease but acted like they did me a favor. However, they knowingly moved me into a unit infested with termites. They knew about it, simply painted over the previous termite damage. They also knocked me with a $240 cleaning fee when I left the place so clean. I dusted the baseboards 2x and even cleaned the windowsills. Left it cleaner than when I moved in. Completely immaculate. The worst part of everything was the way they handled it. They are condescending and tell you how you are wrong. Really termites everywhere upon move in? I just wanted an apology and assurance that they would take care of it and to ask how they can help. I would take them to small claims because its illegal what they did, but the emotional toll of dealing with them again just isnt worth it. I moved out and am so happy with my new property management group. Seriously so happy. I have so many tenants that I ran into that told me how much they hate them and how they were tricked also and how dealing with Koto group has been hell. I cant believe how many horror stories I heard just from my few days there. Stay away. I promise you will find a better management group.
The Koto Group is always friendly and responsive, while giving tenants plenty of privacy. Ive rented through them for three years, and have always appreciated their hospitality, even through tough times (during the government shutdown in 2019, they offered me rent deferral while I wasnt being paid at work).
Does anyone who is the person behind this management company? I have submitted applications and I have always been told it was rented to someone else, when evident enough I was the first one interested! they dont have a number.. and now the person behind email ls not even replying back! my god many people seem to have very similar issues. the units I have applied for say available NOW however, when I ask if I can view the unit he/she makes it impossible!
I moved into Koto Groups property in San Luis Obispo, University Foothill Commons in July 2020. The application process for my group and I was easy/fast and all done online. When I arrived the unit was clean and the manager Nicole was friendly.Highly recommend!
Koto Group scheduled a viewing for one of their apartments and confirmed with me 1 hour ahead of time.I believe it was Jen who showed up late only to tell us that theyve already leased the place. No respect for peoples time, and when I asked what could I have done different she got very defensive and was being rude. I understand that there is a ton of demand for housing in SB but does that mean that common decency is thrown out of the window?EDIT - As a response to the owner - I understand that your comments are genuine and really appreciate that. It would have been nice if that was your employees response instead of creating a fake account on google to leave a review to the company that I work for saying that theyve had a bad taste in their mouth after working with me specifically. I also received an angry email from the same person that I mentioned earlier at around the same time. I guess its also my fault for interacting with you guys via my business email. Scary...Happy to forward that to you.
Reasons for low rating:1. Koto does not promptly respond to maintenance requests or tenant needs.2. Was never able to get in direct contact with Koto via phone or in-person.3. Apartment was not ready for someone to live in when I was supposed to move in.4. Koto did not notify tenants when people were entering the property (gardeners).The Koto Group failed to come even close to what a landlord should provide.
Had a really great experience leasing with Koto Group! They are super responsive to things needed to be fixed around the house as well as the application process prior to moving in. Even continuing to lease here next year!
I had a great experience with Koto Group in Isla Vista, which is a place where property managers are constantly making students lives horrible. They also responded quickly and even dropped off gifts (pumpkins on Halloween, a gift card for IV food) to us!
I’ve only been renting for a few months so don’t have much of an opinion but so far you guys have been good. My only complaint is the tenant below me and tenant on adjoining wall. They are consistently very loud and almost disregard the other tenants. Don’t know if the walls are thin because I hear both of them constantly. I have made complaints and they quiet down for a week or two they go back to being loud
Bunch o goofballs. Place was nice considering it was just renovated and was close to campus, but nobody was around to help except for that dude with a beard who wore jeans and running shoes. You can at least smile when youre handing people their keys, bud.Cant contact people by phone, wack. Some bum broke into my storage unit and a few others like twice because the doors arent attached to the bolt correctly THE DOORS DONT WORK. They didnt do anything to help even though the locks and doors DONT WORK. Stole my girlfriends bow and arrows. Yes someone stole highly effective weaponry from my storage unit and they did little to nothing about it.Rent is too high and dumb.
Applied to multiple locations, no call backs, no meeting in person. Great company for robots, but the personalized experience of finding a home to rent has been lost with this company.They refuse to call and will only email people. Pass.
Have lived with Koto Group for the past three years, really responsive management, it is great to text with them for getting in contact and their online rent and maintenance portal is so much easier than the other management companies Ive lived with in the past needing to send checks in!
Weve been contacting you for over 24 hours about not having any hot water in our apartment and have not yet heard back! Our property flooded over two feet yesterday and no one from your company has contacted us. Please find our multiple emergency maintenance requests submitted on your website, as well as with your weekend answering service and contact us immediately! Youll find which property were contacting from in the many maintenance requests submitted.
Yesterday I went to see an apartment at an open house. 1114 Garden st has been listed for weeks with a note saying dont contact them that they would have open houses. I got to one 5 minutes before it was over and waited while a woman in a large black hat spoke to some of the last people at the showing. I am polite so I didnt interrupt. When they finally finished this woman turned to walk away and I said excuse me... I m here to see the apartment. She says, Oh the showing is over at 5. I looked at my watch and it was literally 5:01. I asked her couldnt I quickly see the apartment and she said that she was busy no, and besides 70 people had shown up already. She was rude and I was insulted that I had left work to rush there only to be treated as if I didnt matter. Dear property managers of Santa Barbara, I know you feel you have all the power and your egos love it; I hope the worm doesnt turn on you.
I have been a tenant with the koto group for nearly a year now and they have been great. Rent is fairly priced and they have made multiple improvements to the outside of the complex! They are fast to handle most problems as well!
I’ve been searching for a 1 bedroom for 4 long months now and I’m barley finding out about The Koto Group ! I know I’m late but the pricing and square footage alone has me sold on these apartments, the area in these locations and modern touch is just the cherry on top 🍒
Definitely horrible management. The construction machine has been worked for more than 2 weeks besides my room and no compensation or any notice before-head. It always tell me that the construction will be end for several days. It LAST FOREVER. They can only email you I am really sorry about that with no action at all.
Hands down worst property management company in the SB area. Tennants are treated like cattle, square footage is totally fabricated and way below stated. Felt like I was living in NYC - avoid at all costs.
Absolutely the worst property management! Koto Group consistently failed to enforce parking, house rules, and respond to any/all emails & phone calls.I would steer clear of this one.
Very strict rules protecting the landlord, but we had no problems with them. Auto pay worked smoothly. They were fair with deposit refund.
I had a good experience with koto !! I loved paying my sons rent through your app and you made it easy…. When he moved he got his check back right away . No complaints here !!!
The Koto Group has been wonderful to work with. I’ve been living in a property managed by the Koto Group, and haven’t had any issues. Highly suggest!
As good as it gets for property management in Santa Barbara. Everyone I have been in contact with has been very polite and easy to deal with which I cant say about every property manager I have dealt with in Santa Barbara.
Ive had a good experience so far renting with Koto Group. I appreciate how quickly Koto Group responds to questions and requests and I have enjoyed property that I am renting!
The Koto group went above and beyond to help 2nd year Cal Poly students understand the rental process.ThanksThe Herrmann Family
Bought apartment property. Within a month gave residents 60 days to get out, People that have been here for many years. They have no respect or comon decency.
Very responsive and kind, the only complaint is that many things around the apartment broke during our lease such as the fan, doors, blinds (which were all able to be fixed) but was a little inconvenient—especially with newly renovated furnishings
I have been a happy tenant for almost two years. It’s great to live on a property that is well maintained, always in pristine condition.
Horrible experience. This company is a scam. They will charge tou for things that are broken before you even moved in and claim it was you who brokeIt.AVOID AT ALL COSTS!I would give a negative one million if I could!!
Very responsive team. Love paying rent through the app and the quick response to service needs. Theyve made renting a breeze!
Quick response time on my maintenance requests. Super easy to email or text with them. Really enjoyed living with them!!
They are not professional or courteous in their conduct of business. Not recommended. They are habitual prevaricators.
Recommended, we spent 6 years with Koto. Easy communication, prompt service.
You charge way too much, and your apartments do not match that price tag. If I could leave negative stars, youd get the full 5.
1) Very responsive staff2) Easy to use payment system3) Quickly addressed any issues with the residence
It was very difficult dealing with individuals in the office regarding our lease. I would never interact with this business again
Koto group is as fair of a property management group as I have personally ever delt with.
Your on line payment system made it easy to keep abreast of rent, etc.
Theyve been responsive to all requests, and fair about rent. Also very accepting of dogs!
Great management company. Super friendly and responsive.
It can get hot AF in the apartments
Pricey and terrible
Total reviews rating 3.3
61 Reviews for The Koto Group 2024:
Review №1
2024-06-19 22:35:47Never told us about any vendors doing work on site, lost a lot of sleep with our new born. They also threatened to tow our car off site? while we are still paying rent and within our lease? Trust them as far as you can throw them, theyre robotic. Even more concerning is there lack of records for any tenants. Check the reviews, more often than not they know not who they are talking to.
Review №2
2024-01-25 16:04:14They wouldnt show a property until I filled out an application, which requested contact info for my work manager. Its not appropriate for a property manager to contact senior executives at a tenants company. Do what everyone else does and contact HR to confirm employment. As a former landlord I can just imagine Koto owner clients wondering why their properties sit vacant so long, not realizing that they just bounce well qualified tenants.Update: Ive had seven viewings over the past two days. Two were shown by owners. Three were shown by good managers. Two were shown by poor managers. Zero asked me to apply prior to the viewing. The best was Jovien Joy at Sierra.
Review №3
2024-01-26 01:55:59If I could give negative stars I would. We lived in the koto groups Paso apartment, it was a nice apartment. However we had packages stolen, maintenance requests were declined. Was told sorry that’s not our issue call a non emergency number when something happened at the complex.There is not one person from koto group on site. A neighbor lit a car on fire and cops came by everyone’s apartment looking for them the “landlords”responded to anything. Someone’s apartment caught on fire. There are units that sell and do drugs out of them. And homeless people living on the complex. The police didn’t do anything. The sewer backed up and poop was everywhere and we had to send multiple requests to get it taken care of.We moved out and we cleaned the apartment and didn’t get a full return back because of labor and professional cleaning. They always have an excuse and they never seem to care about the tenets.Live there if you don’t really care about the place you live. The company doesn’t care.
Review №4
2024-06-11 18:37:29What in the heck kind of rental company is this.....they only text and email. No way to get ahold of a person on the phone to schedule a tour or ask questions. The text agent couldnt even send a direct link to a listing that I kept saying wasnt on their site. So weird!! Renters beware!!
Review №5
2023-11-16 06:58:11My UCSB daughter and her 4 friends wanted to rent an apartment from the Koto group for their junior year. The Koto group charges a non refundable $25 application fee. The girls each filled out 2 applications, one for each available apartment. They didn’t know that one application was all they needed. So the Koto group automatically charges your card for each application even if they don’t look at it or open the application. So that was $250. A lot for each girl to lose when in college and not working. The girls also wanted a parent to co-sign. They felt that it would help them by turning in their apps with the co-signer attached and it needed to be done real time for both apartments. As a parent I filled out the applications as a co-signer as soon as my daughter asked. This is all online and automatically charges your card without opening the apps. They charged me 2 $25 fees and the other 4 girls parents too. Another $250 charged for not even looking at the application. So that equals $500. The listings closed and no one was contacted because they received too many applications. At $25 a piece plus a co-signer, how many $50 fees did the Koto group collect in those 2 listings? Our group was $500 and many others applied. As soon as you you hit send you’re charged. As I brought this to their attention they said no refunds, it’s an application fee. Fee for what? They didn’t do anything, it wasn’t a credit check, they told me, it was an application fee. For what? No one has responded to my email pleading our case. I’m letting everyone know what poor business acumen the Koto group has. Making money from college students by collecting huge amounts of application fees knowing that they won’t get to most of the applications that get sent in. Its hard to get an apartment by UCSB, there aren’t enough to go around. When one pops up, the kids get in the app fast. This is quite the money making scheme. I asked for half the money to be returned in good faith, no one is answering my requests. So far 2 emails and a text to an employee, all ignored by the Koto group. I want all of Goleta and Santa Barbara to know what thieves the Koto group are. They run a money making operation on the hopes that these college kids will apply to one or more of their properties. Don’t give them your credit card number. Beware of these wolves. I’ll follow up if they ever return my emails. There’s also no phone number to the office, there’s a message that says they only communicate via email. So there’s no access to them, you’re at their mercy.
Review №6
2024-05-24 14:26:45I enjoy their properties and theyre probably the only safe place to go to for services and dining. Most of the bad reviews are probably saboteurs or affiliated with those people.
Review №7
2023-12-22 02:45:24Hey, yeah I did have issues with them. They took a lot of money away. I had professional cleaners go through the house and they still charged 500+ for cleaning expenses. The one thing that was broken in the house they didnt charge for, so Im not sure how they calculated over 2500 of charges. I hope it works well for you, I would just be prepared for them to be greedy.
Review №8
2023-08-02 03:18:50This doesnt seem to be an adequate operation. I received a text message to set up a call, after submitting an application to an apartment offering a pay in full upfront term, only for no follow through. It was on the 2nd available in an 8 unit parcel that had been vacated x 4 months for renovations. Loss of revenue looking like 64k + reno cost ... to ignore a 25k at lease signing instead of offering the next unit ... I own hold and lease in a different state - this type of stuff is what I look for to reverse PM contracts. Save your time and revenue from these ones.
Review №9
2021-03-11 00:43:05I have had nothing but great experiences while renting from Koto Group. Whenever there is an issue in the unit, their team is quick to respond and it is usually resolved in less than 24 hours. They put a lot of work into ensuring the community looks beautiful, and the unit feels very up to date. I also LOVE that their units are pet friendly! Have recommended and will continue to recommend Koto Group to friends in Santa Barbara!
Review №10
2021-04-02 19:07:04I have lived on a Koto Group property for three years and I have found them to be fair and responsive when any issues arise. They do a good job maintaining the property, and a fair job managing find to good tenants that take good care of the units as well. In my experience, Koto Group goes above and beyond to show that they appreciate their tenants. And, the rent is fair for Santa Barbara not outrageous like most of the rentals (or closets in some cases) in the area. If you are new to Santa Barbara, look for a Koto Group property first. Their properties rent faster than the others for a reason.