A pattern has evolved in recent years that when Montebello public areas may require some routine maintenance, a major renovation is done instead—at great expense and ever-increasing condo fees.

Some examples are:

·         The lobbies’ walls and elevator lobbies were wallpapered with an expensive neutral leaf design or abstract pattern when some areas had become scuffed, rather than re-painting and repairing the scuffed areas. Despite great expense and inconvenience during the renovation, the changes were barely perceptible. Visitors never even realized a change had taken place.

·         At a cost of $350,000 the indoor pool was cosmetically renovated. The original beautiful tile accent areas were ripped out and replaced with new boring generic tile. The rationale was that a few of the original tiles were chipped. (The damaged tiles could have been replaced, as is common practice) Repairs, painting, ceiling and tile replacement keeping the original superior design concept would have cost a fraction of this amount. Indoor deck not properly cleaned in years resulting in dark dirty paths--so entire deck replaced!

·         Now there is a move to renovate the lobbies –changing the original design and present color scheme at great expense.

Plants in bad condition--notice cut leaves; the fake plants and real ones at the pool are in worse shape. Fake ones are an absolute joke they are in such bad condition!!! Been so for years! Have less plants but at least insure that the contractor maintains them! What are we paying for???? Actually, way too many plants--another inexpensive way to improve the decor is to eliminate many of them.

Wallpaper color removed around elevator call button in bldg. 4 due to harsh chemicals used to clean brass; done in last few months. Should replace damaged piece of wallpaper--should have been done months ago, after it happened. These things taken cumulatively add to the "shabby" appearance that people complain about. If things are not properly cared for, new stuff will soon be shabby as well!

Floor covering in community center walk-way is deteriorating.

Time to get rid of the glued-down ashtrays in the lobbies; smoking was banned years ago! Could also eliminate some of the tschotzkies and over-abundance of fake and real plants. Faded prints should be replaced. Some furniture could use some "Restore-a-Finish" to minimize scuffs and scratches.

Edge of carpet through all buildings has stained edges--chemical change has changed color; fibers have changed color--most likely from chemicals used in steam cleaning or never vacuuming the edges. It has been also mentioned that the edge discoloration is from pollen (therefore, extra care should be taken in pollen season to vacuum edges). Could also possibly be off-gassing from the wood molding or a reaction from tide-line from chemicals used to steam clean. Certain woods are known to off-gas that can create a chemical reaction.

Walk-through of all buildings showed that often paint is mismatched for repairs, i.e., the colors do not match and different types of paint is used in repairs, such as using semi-gloss where flat paint is used. Flat paint is and should be used in hallways. This adds to the shabby factor. It should be noted that most paint stores have modern paint technology that use colorimeters to exactly match paint color. This technology has been around for years. They just need a sample to match. In addition there should be a file with appropriate paint type, etc. to use. In addition, low UV fluorescent lights with the same color temperature should be used to minimize fading and to avoid color shifts.

AND $45,000 PAID FOR CONCEPT DESIGNS!!!!!

Need to ensure that hard-working staff are properly advised of proper cleaning procedures and that contractors do their jobs--and damaged stuff replaced!!! WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER!!! Contractors require monitoring on a regular basis--just nature of the beast.

Hmmmm . . . another leak in my bathroom coming from another unit--will it take a flood to fix this time--and 6 years of complaints? (click flood for more info). I talked to another owner a couple months ago, who had the exact same problem and she ended up paying for repairs herself as she could not get Montebello to act, even though she should not have had to pay for these repairs. She said she just got fed up with the hassle of dealing with management. Staff says no leak; responded quickly this time.