Alexx Bishop

To sum it up: The parking is horrible (or non existent), and the office management is no better. Upon move in, we were told to park on the red curbs so we could unload our stuff. My boyfriend and I were carrying a dresser up three flights of stairs and moved into the bedroom and by the time we came back our car was towed. The office didn't care and said "well it's a red curb," however there is no actual loading zone at all, and how could we park in our actual parking spot away from our building and carry a dresser all the way down the parking lot? They also did not offer any compensation, so we had to pay $350 to get our car out of the tow yard. When we went to get the car, the tow company said the apartment complex gave them permission to do "random sweeps" of the parking lot. So that was our first impression. Between myself and my two roommates, we have three parking spots. We are very lucky considering many people are still to this day signing leases without designated parking spots. However, each parking spot is $25 per month. There is no overflow parking except the bar next door, next door to that is a trailer park. Literally no where else to park. I've recently seen people parking on the red curbs over night. However they haven't ever been towed. Convenient. The first time someone was parked in my spot was last year when we had just completed an 8 hour drive home from San Diego. We didn't get home until about 3 am, exhausted and just wanting to go to bed. The office had posted contact information of the same tow company who towed me when I first moved in, so I called them when I saw someone parked in my spot. They said there was nothing they could do if the apartment manager wasn't calling to ask for a tow, which they obviously were not going to do at 3 am when it was closed. I asked if it could just be a "random sweep" and they said no, there was nothing they could do. So we had to park at the bar next door and drag all our luggage to our building, which was a huge inconvenience. Remember, this is the spot I pay $25 per month for. We have had people park in our parking spot several times in the past couple months (because they keep accumulating more tenants and don't have the parking spaces to accommodate this). Between the three of us, we have mostly tried to trade off our other two parking spots to be fair to each other while people are parked in our one spot. We have notified Tricia Simmons, the apartment office manager, many times, on the phone and in person, and she does absolutely nothing to help. She says there's nothing she can do, including call the tow company apparently. Again, convenient. The most recent random person who parked in our spot told us "Tricia told me it was okay to park in your spot." This is where our money is going. Shared parking with random strangers that don't have to pay for parking like we do. Something else to remember: this complex requires 60 days notice if you want out of your lease. It does not just end when the lease is up. It is not a 30 day notice. We did not realize it was a 60 day notice which was our fault because it is in the lease we signed 15 months before, but Monterey Grove definitely does a great job of not notifying or reminding tenants of their 60 day notice. We missed the deadline, and we are having to pay an EXTRA $1,000 to get out of this place. When we went to the office to speak about our options with Tricia Simmons, she was so rude and condescending and no help at all. She treated us like we were children trying to do something illegal when we simply just wanted to leave when our lease was up. I've been in customer service my whole life and she has definitely provided the worst I've ever seen. Honestly, the pros just do not outweigh the cons. It's not worth it to live here. Don't do it