CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Southside apartment complex is facing scrutiny after allegations of manipulating online reviews while simultaneously dealing with crime concerns.
Screenshots from the property manager's personal Facebook page suggest an attempt to artificially boost the apartment complex's online reputation. The property manager reportedly requested positive reviews from friends and family on multiple occasions, specifically following previous news coverage about criminal incidents at the property.
The posts were made twice—first less than two weeks after KRIS 6 News initially reported on a suspect wanted for crimes, including a sexual assault at Caspian Apartments, and again three days after a follow-up report.
Reba Gandara, a licensed realtor, condemned the practice, stating, "You're wanting to build trust in a community, asking for fake reviews is not the way to do it."
She articulated the importance of authentic reviews when people are searching for a place to live.
"They look at the reviews before we even decide to go look at the apartments because the reviews are important in regard to what the community who lives in those apartments or may no longer live in those apartments or live around those apartments are saying."
6 Investigates analyzed the Google reviews made after the Facebook posts.
Several reviews were posted by individuals who had previously liked the property manager's posts. One particularly telling review read verbatim to the manager's request: "I'd leave a 6-star review if I could, but apparently, that's not a thing. Someone fix this - Belinda is great! Caspian is the best!"
Review statistics
- Total reviews in the last two months: 36
- Five-star reviews: 26
- One-star reviews: 9
- Significantly, Caspian responded to every five-star review but only one one-star review.
Google's review policies explicitly state: "Don't post fake content" and avoid "misleading information."
Katie Galan, Better Business Bureau Director of Education, highlighted the importance of authentic reviews.
"It definitely holds a lot more weight than if it was, you know, the corner store or something like that because this is where you live. This is probably where your family lives," Galan said.
Crime Concerns
The investigation uncovered additional concerns about safety at the complex. Using AI analysis of police call logs from 2024, KRIS 6 News found:
- Total calls to Caspian Apartments in 2024: 796
- Property crimes: 10-12% of calls (approximately 80-95 incidents)
- Burglaries: 25-30 calls
- Thefts: 20-25 calls
- Trespassing: 30-35 calls
In comparison, three neighboring apartment complexes combined received less than half the number of calls.
Lieutenant Kody Harrison from the Corpus Christi Police Crime Reduction Unit said, "We've had discussions with the management, and we've had meetings with them, we've come up with solutions and they're working on some of those solutions."
Property Management Response
A representative from Caspian's ownership group told 6 Investigates,
"I don't know how many reviews you're talking about. And I know we have a ton of good reviews that are normal reviews from, you know, residents," they said.
The representative suggested the review solicitation might have been unintentional, stating,
"Based on what I'm hearing, I don't think anything was done illegally or intentionally or illicitly. I think it was done maybe haphazardly and trying to follow directive and maybe not understanding all the protocol," they said.
Advice for Consumers
Experts recommend looking out for artificial reviews by watching for:
- Overly positive language
- Vague or generic statements
- Suspicious patterns of review timing
