I am a current resident of the Montevida Apartments and just moved-in in late September of 2015. As soon as I moved in, one thing was very clear: the model apartment that I was shown before moving in was much bigger than the actual apartment I was assigned. For reference, I am in a B2 floor plan (1 bd/1ba + den). The next thing that I noticed was that the microwave door was broken; and I mean the bottom of the microwave door was hanging from the microwave. So, like anyone else I notified the front office that the microwave door was broken the same day I moved in. The office attendant asked if maintenance had permission to enter if I was not home and I said yes.
Next, I requested the garage door opener to the garage unit that I rented with the apartment. After a few minutes of looking around for it, I was told that they would call me once the manager was able to locate it. I later received a call saying that my garage door opener would be available to be picked up sometime the following week when the garage company representative could get one to the complex.
Well, since I travel a lot for work, sometimes for weeks at a time, I wasn't able to do a full walk-through until about two weeks after I had moved-in. Other things I noticed upon move-in were the counter-top molding falling off of the counter, a crack in the ceiling of the den, damaged floorboards in the kitchen and bathroom, and a loud banging noise coming from what turned out to be the compressor banging on the back of the refrigerator (think of a cop banging on your neighbor's door twice with his fist as a warning for a sting/raid - THIS LITERALLY WAKES ME UP AT NIGHT!). So, I took pictures of all of these things, AND the broken microwave door that had yet to be fixed and submitted it with the walk-through paperwork.
SIDE BAR: You might be thinking, well this could be somewhat common for a complex when a new resident moves in. Well, you might be right if they didn't have more than enough time to take care of ALL OF THIS before I moved in. I gave them two months notice! I had to because my old complex required it. You mean to tell me that if I give you two months notice, then you can't do a walk through to make sure the damn microwave door isn't hanging from the microwave? Really?? That's not enough time to order a garage door opener? Really?? Oh, and then when I turn in the walk-through paperwork and pictures to two ladies in the office, they start looking through it and one says, "Oh wow, that's not good" referring to the picture of the microwave. To which I said, "yeah, that was like that when I moved in." So, then the other lady looks right at me and asks, "so was this like this when you moved in, or did this happen during your move-in?" Really, lady?? First off, you just heard me say it was like that when I moved in. Secondly, the arrogance of that question is astounding. So basically, you just wanted to follow-up your co-worker's comment of concern with, "oh wait, did YOU do that?" Thanks for that cheerful week 2 dialogue.
BACK - So, the maintenance guy comes out and fixes most everything. Then, he takes a look at the refrigerator and determines that it has a loose compressor banging up against the unit and says, "management won't replace it until it gets worse." I ask who to talk to within management and he gives me the information, which brings us to present day.
I just got off the phone with Heather in the main office and much to my surprise, the maintenance guy was telling the truth. Apparently, the good people at Montevida Apartments do not believe in fixing an appliance that makes a LOUD banging noise every time it shuts off because it doesn't happen OFTEN ENOUGH. That's right. I was told, that until the refrigerator is constantly making that banging noise, the complex would not fix it. I was also told that because I live on the third floor, that things like this commonly happen in the process of moving appliances into the unit; and that MANY OTHER UNITS ON THE PROPERTY HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. They said that they would move me into another unit, but because they're so full it's just not feasible at this time. I was also told that in the meantime they would be on the lookout for another refrigerator from an available/empty unit to replace it, but there aren't many available units right now. Also, because my apartment is on the third floor there's no guarantee that the next refrigerator won't act the same way after they move it up three flights of stairs. Apparently, Montevida is the Bermuda Triangle of apartment complexes where the ability to place a refrigerator into a third floor apartment without damaging it is utterly impossible; as if no other property in Phoenix has mastered this task. Really?? OK.
So, there you have it. Move in at your own risk. And if you do, don't say I didn't try to warn you read more