ARCATA, CA — Tenants at Woodridge Apartments in Arcata say life there has grown more stressful and less safe since Ridge Capital Investors sold the complex and Asset Living took over management in May. Residents described missed calls, delayed lease renewals, billing confusion and a feeling that basic communication has broken down.
Woodridge has 126 units near Cal Poly Humboldt, and several residents said they were initially willing to give the new management time to settle in. Months later, many say their patience has run out. Their complaints now go beyond inconveniences and include fears about whether promises are being honored and whether the property is being run in a way that protects tenants.
Residents describe a sharp drop in day-to-day management
William, a Cal Poly Humboldt student who asked not to be named, said the change in management was immediate. Before the sale, he said, repairs arrived on time and the property felt stable. After Asset Living took over, he said the tone shifted quickly and the building started feeling neglected.
He pointed to items like replacement railings he considers weaker than the old ones and said he has had trouble getting responses about his housing voucher through the Yurok Tribe. According to William, emails went unanswered and repeated phone calls to the on-site office did not resolve the issue. He said he spent months watching his savings shrink while waiting for a clear answer.
Several tenants said they now see the company as inconsistent at best. What bothered them most was not one single problem, but the feeling that small issues were stacking up and never getting fixed in a reliable way.
Lease renewals turned into a source of fear and confusion
One of the main complaints involves lease renewals. Tyler, another resident, said he expected to receive a long-term lease after his previous agreement expired in April, but months later he was still on a month-to-month arrangement. That matters in California because month-to-month tenants can face shorter notice periods if a landlord seeks to end a tenancy.
Tyler said other residents were dealing with the same uncertainty. Some had leases that expired without replacement paperwork, while others said repeated emails, phone calls and office visits brought little progress. He said the situation has made a stable home feel precarious.
Tenants who did receive new leases said the documents were much longer and harder to understand than the agreements they signed under the former owner. They also described errors in the paperwork, including wrong addresses and at least one reported rent increase of $500 more than tenants say they had been told to expect.
Utility charges and lease errors added to the strain
Residents also said Asset Living began charging for utilities after the takeover, unlike the previous ownership. Sean and Maya, two roommates who work different shifts, said they were told one thing in conversation and later saw something different in writing when they reviewed their lease documents.
They said reaching the office was difficult because staff were often unavailable and phone calls went unanswered. In their case, there was also a gap between the old lease expiring and the new one taking effect, and they said the company never resolved it. They have not signed the new lease.
For tenants like them, the problem is not just the extra cost. It is the feeling that important terms are changing without clear written confirmation. A tenant union representative said one of the group’s main goals is getting the company to put more of its promises in writing.
A barbecue meant to build tenant solidarity drew police instead
On July 26, about two dozen tenants gathered for a barbecue at the complex with help from members of the Humboldt Tenants Union. The goal was to compare notes about the new management and encourage residents to talk to one another about forming a chapter.
What happened next made a number of tenants more suspicious of the company. Around 2:44 p.m., Arcata police showed up after someone complained about people going door to door inviting neighbors to the barbecue and discussing the union. Officers told attendees no laws were being broken and asked them to stop knocking on doors.
Tenants said the complaint appeared to come from maintenance worker Paul Trujillo, who lives on-site. A police report described the gathering as unauthorized and said the caller wanted people removed. Union members interpreted the response as intimidation, saying it made them feel more determined to keep talking to one another.
An overnight hallway intrusion deepened fears about safety
Late on August 25, Sean and Maya said they were startled awake around 2:45 a.m. by sounds in the hallway outside their apartment. They said someone came through an unlocked shared hallway, entered an adjacent unit, and then tried to get into their own apartment by twisting the locked handle hard enough to alarm them.
They said the person later knocked on their door, left, and returned several times during the night. After they called police, officers came to the property but did not arrest anyone. The police report said officers could not locate a person trying to break into the apartments, though the pair said they identified the man they believed was Trujillo.
The next day, they confronted Trujillo in the manager’s office after showing a video they said captured him outside their apartment. According to Sean and Maya, he first denied it and then offered a different explanation. Trujillo denied trying to break into anyone’s apartment.
Tenants say the incident changed how the building feels
Word of the overnight episode spread through the complex by tenant conversations, not through any formal notice from management, residents said. Many said they were left wondering whether Trujillo still worked there, whether he still lived nearby and whether the company would take responsibility for what had happened.
Sean and Maya said they now want to move, even though they have lived there since 2021 and had built a life in the complex. They said the lack of sleep, the fear of another incident and the absence of clear information from management have taken a toll.
Maya said the experience has left her feeling frightened and angry, and that the apartment no longer feels like home. Other residents echoed that reaction, saying the property now feels less like a place where problems can be solved and more like a place where frustrations keep escalating.
Asset Living did not respond to repeated requests for comment, and Midori Thompson declined an interview request.
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