Monday July 11, 2005 I received a notice (placed on my door) that said the following:

July 8, 2005

ATTENTION : ALL RESIDENTS
BUILDINGS 8-10 AND 30-34

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT WE WILL BEGIN PAVING THE STREETS ON MONDAY, JULY 11, 2005, AS WEATHER PERMITS. THIS PROCESS WILL TAKE APPROXIMATELY UNTIL WEDNESDAY, JULY 13TH 2005. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU DO NOT PARK YOUR VEHICLES IN THE AREAS MARKED WITH THE NUMBER 4 ON THE ATTACHED DIAGRAM. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT ANY VEHICLES FOUND IN THIS AREA WILL BE TOWED AT THE OWNERS EXPENSE. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR COOPERATION.

MONTICELLO MANAGEMENT

My issue is that, even though the letter was dated "July 8 2005", I can assure you that it was placed on my door on the morning of the 11th.

Fortunately, I had taken the day off from work, however, I had originally planned to leave town. I ended up staying home due to hurricane Dennis. Had I have come home to find my motorcycle and/or car towed at my expense (and possibly damaged), I would have been even more upset than I am now.

I frequently travel, and feel this notice was totally insufficient. Even if the letter was placed on my door on Friday the 8th, I still do not feel like that would have been reasonable notice.

What if the notice blew off my door due the high winds we have been having'

I did move my car and motorcycle to an area not under construction according to the shaded area on the map, but the map was inaccurate (they were paving a much larger area), as I had to move my vehicles again the following day.

About an hour later I witnessed a towing company tow about 8 or so vehicles that remained in the construction area.

One front wheel drive vehicle (despite the tow-truck driver entering the vehicle via a slim-jim) was towed from the rear for about 20 foot with the car in gear.

I have pictures of the driver entering, the car being towed, as well as the skid marks that resulted from the front wheels of the vehicle dragging as the vehicle was being towed from the rear.

Aside from the paving issue, the Monticello management has changed the lock on my mailbox without giving me any notification. About a 2 week after I moved in my mailbox key suddenly quit working without explanation or warning. No big deal, I just thought I was going insane.

The "Security gate" is not very secure as it infrequently closes - even at night. I have not seen it close for at least a week.

The careless maintenance people left a plane of glass in the breezeway that broke after sitting there for several days. In the broken state it sat there for few more days and was finally cleaned up after I complained. They did fix that issue promptly though after I complained, which I did appreciate.

Now they have abandoned a rusty hot water heater in the breezeway, which has now been there for over a week.

When I moved in I had to sign an agreement stating I'd not leave trash bags in the breezeway or I would suffer a $25 fine (not like that is something I do), but they can leave rubbish everywhere without consequence'

The hot tub was one of the reasons I choose Monticello over similar priced apartments in Miami Lakes.

The hot tubs are not working and are extremely poorly maintained. The swimming pools don't look much better.

I have had a few minor issues (inside my apartment) which were fixed promptly, so I do feel the maintenance is good.

Finally, I was told I would only need a money order for my deposit and my first months rent could be in the form of a personal check. On move in day I was told I'd need to pay the first months rent via money order as well. Unfortunately, I had to cash-advance a credit card to move in that day as my bank has a $400 limit per day on ATM withdraws (I bank online - no local branch).

You can be assured that I am carefully documenting my every dealing with Monticello.

I have only resided here for a month and can't wait for this lease to end even though I hate the idea of moving again.

**UPDATE**

I left home to do some shopping and when I returned my air conditioning unit was no longer blowing cold air. I suspect the maintenance people (in retaliation for my photography earlier today) have disabled the outside portion of my AC unit, as the fan on it is no longer moving. Obviously, I have no proof so this just might be a coincidence.

I went into the leasing office and notified them of the problem, and they said they would send someone right over. I left to drop someone off at the airport and when I returned my AC unit was not fixed.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, however you look at it) my previous slumlord left me for 5 months with a nonfunctional AC unit so I broke down and bought a 1200BTU portable AC unit so I could sleep at night. I hooked it up and my office is now returning to a habitable climate. The rest of the apartment's climate is obviously still miserable.

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