Monte Bello Apartments

 

12

112

Camille C.

Sacramento, CA

Monte Bello Apartments actually deserve more like 2.5 stars, but they get 2 since they definitely don't deserve 3. Where do I even begin?

Exactly one week after moving into these apartments, my car got broken into and my stereo and designer sunglasses were stolen. Why did this happen? 1) I live in Sac. 2) Although these apartments are located in a gated community, my gate card didn't work so I had to park on the street (adjacent to my apartment unit, mind you). 3) Even though I had taken my faceplate off, I left it in my glove compartment. Yeah, stupid me. However, my boyfriend  witnessed other cars parked INSIDE the gated parking lot with broken windows, so I assume it wouldn't have made that big of a difference anyway. Furthermore, when we told management about my car being broken into, she replied with a remorseful, "do you have renter's insurance?" Umm, no...I've only lived here for a week for crying aloud! I hadn't even finished unpacking yet.

Other problems:
The model unit they showed us did not look anything like the actual apartment we moved into. Everything was old and dingy and scuffed or stained. Our front door knob had problems: the maintenance guy "fixed" it the first day we moved in...6 months later my boyfriend got locked out and I locked in. We had to unhinge the door ourselves and fix it. My boyfriend found out that another tenant's apatment had been broken into, so he had maintenance put a new doorknob on his front door only to find out that the laundry key (that EVERY tenant has) unlocked the new knob. The shelves in my walk-in closet are hanging by a (very loose) nail--literally. The doors to my boyfriend's closet are barely hanging on. My boyfriend's toilet runs EVERY single time he flushes it. I had to open the tank to my toilet once--let me tell you, I nearly vomited on myself looking in there (not to mention the pungent smell I had to endure). The mini-blinds in every room are flimsy. The ONE laundry card machine they have, which every one must load their $ on to use the laundry machines, has been broken for days at a time AND of course, they do not bother to notify the tenants. The "fitness center" had all of the equipment removed for MONTHS due to remodeling. Management patrolled the parking lot and put warning stickers on cars that had expired registration--my boyfriend's car got stickered (he forgot to put his new registration sticker on) and now has half of a bright orange sticker stuck on his window that he's going to have to scrape off with a razor--I personally don't understand what their interest is in our cars. Parking spaces are included in our rent regardless if we have registration or not. Besides, why don't they use their time to catch people stealing people's car stereos or fix up the apartments? There is only one FUNCTIONAL gate to enter/exit. There is absolutely no extra storage space--no coat closet, no linen closet, no drawers or medicine cabinet in the bathrooms--and hardly any counter space in the kitchen. The cabinets in the kitchen have shelves that are too high for me to reach beyond the first shelf, so the second and third shelves are useless.

Why did I even give them 2(.5) stars then? Well, to be honest, management and maintenance are all actually nice. Aside from things being old, everything is functional and maintenance is prompt. The apartment landscaping is pretty. The rent is cheap ($855 for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, fairly spacious apartment) and close to my work and my boyfriend's school so we don't have to deal with a whole lot of traffic. They allow pets. The other tenants are fairly quiet and friendly, except for a few crazies that come and go. I've seen A LOT worse in Sacramento. Most of our problems occured when we first moved in--things have settled a bit now. If you're a prospective tenant, I recommend asking management to see the vacant apartment as well as the model (if they say no for whatever reason, try checking it out on your own--chances are the door will be unlocked anyway!) so you're not in as much shock as I was when I first moved in.

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