Follow
Share

My husband and I live in senior apts we have been here 7 yrs. and we recently we got new managers and they are not nice to anyone living here!
The managers go around looking to start trouble like giving out citations for no reason at all! They stop having security come around they said we didn't need them! And the other day this lady who is in her late 80's lock herself out of her apt. and they would let her in they told her to get a lock smith!!!
Can you believe it! it cost her $225 just to get the door unlock! We don't have regular keys are keys look like a credit card! Anyway why couldn't they let her in? And if we have an emergency after the office closes there's no one here to help us the maintance guy who live on site he dont live here anymore
so we have to wait until the office opens the next day! Were all confused on what to do were kinda afraid!

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Find Care & Housing
You should meet with your neighbors and then go together to the administration with clearly thought out demands as to what is going wrong and with ideas as to how to address them.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report

California has different rental laws such as a renter can change locks and not give the property owner keys. A landlord has the right to tell a renter to call a locksmith. It is the renter's responsibility to pay a locksmith and for any damages to the door.

Holding a competent elderly person to the same standard as anyone else is not abuse nor is it a reason to legally threaten someone.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

Try acting together as a group. If all attempts fail at resolving your issues, you could try your local television stations. People have done this in my area for all kinds of situations, the public exposure and negative publicity brought about a positive outcome.

Best of luck to you.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

This is elder abuse--and these people shouold be slapped.

I don't know what their jon descriptions SAID, but there's also human kindness at play. It would have taken them 2 minutes to get the key for the elderly woman who locked herself out of her apt! I imagine that could happen a LOT.

Do you ever have a tenant's meeting? This shouldbe adressed. ALso, there must be a parent company to whom you can speak to.

I personally would WANT 24/7 emergency care. In the form of someone to call or an on site manager.

Make sure you are all on the same page when reporting this. Maybe even call the Agency on Aging (whatever they're called in your neck of the woods) and lodge a complaint. Or one letter to the owners signed by ALL who are affected.

I'd be kinda afraid, too. Good Luck. You have rights and these people are supposed to care for you--not just the facility. (Just my opinion).
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

These managers were hired by someone in authority, and that's the source for filing complaints and alerting them to the unsuitability of these new "managers".

Check all your legal documentation.   Your lease should identify who the owner is, and my guess is that it could very well be a good sized company, or an LLC.  This would be in the first paragraph of the lease as well as the end, on the signatory page.

It should read something like XYZ, a (state of incorporation or filing) corporation (or LLC),  Lessor, and (name of the individuals renting the apartments), Lessee(s) (a/k/a tenants).   Each of you should have been given a fully executed copy of your Lease.

If you're uncertain how to interpret that section of the lease, post here.  

The corporate owner also likely has a contract with the managers, but I doubt if you could get a copy of that.  What you can do though is check local property records to see if there is such a contract.  They're not always recorded though.   If you're uncertain how to check property records, post back for guidance.

Documentation of incidents could be sent anonymously to the corporate CEO, or other exec.   (Or to the local press, for investigation!) 

In the meantime, document, don't call or say anything to the new managers, but keep everything documented, with individual contributions as well.   If you document on your computer, make sure to back up the data with an offsite source and print out copies saved in locked safety boxes.

Who signs the citations, and can you give examples?   If they're not legitimate, or not founded in some actual stated violation, I'm not sure they're worth much, but keep them just to document what the managers are doing.  This sounds more like harassment to me, unless there actually have been serious violations.

(E.g., the last apartment building in which I lived before buying my house was one in which a tenant was frightening...aggressive, uncouth, a real thug.   Occasionally I saw a condom in the hallway.   I could hear him inside my apartment, which was at angles to his.   Perhaps the worst though was the sound of him playing with his revolver, spinning the chamber.  

Contacting the apartment management was fruitless; they were afraid of him too.   Somehow or some way he eventually left, and left behind a cat in heat alone in the apartment.    I didn't hear it, or I would have reported it.  I learned when I moved out that the starved cat was discovered after the thug moved out.)

The citation issues makes me wonder if some people are selected and harassed more than others.    Has the rent been raised?  If so, there might be a plan to institute dissatisfaction so that people leave and the rent can be raised. 

In fact, I think this is a good possibility, that they're creating dissension to force people out and lease to other tenants who can pay more, or be forced to pay more.

If they're creating new rules, the tenants have a right to ask for and receive written rules.  

The concept of contributing to elder abuse is a good one to consider (thanks MidKid).    Again, document, document, document, with people involved, dates, names and times.   Photos of angry managers would help!

Also, search your state's website to find an elder agency section, or an elder law section, and contact them, but caution them that you and other tenants are afraid of the management so that names and phones numbers aren't released.

Another longer term option is to leak the events to the local press, but you'd be best served if you can figure out a way to do this anonymously, keeping the names of the tenants and those abused from public release.

This is where those literally everpresent smart phone recordings could come in handy.   Recording and releasing to the press an encounter with angry managers harassing tenants would I'm sure get aired in the local press, be picked up by media, and maybe even make it to the Internet.   Publicity could be an ally to the tenants.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

Another thought, for emergencies.    If all the tenants could agree, you might collectively ask for life alert pendants and key lock boxes to be installed.  You might not get them, but that act could be documented, especially if someone needs to contact the police or authorities to help them get back into their apartments.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

If appealing to the owners or the people above the managers doesn't work, then all the tenants should get together, chip in, and hire a lawyer to represent you and write a threatening letter to the managers and owners. That usually will get their attention.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

Call your Housing Authority.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

Much will depend on what you mean by "senior apartments". Independent Living? A 55+ community? A regular apartment building that just has mostly seniors living in it?

Chances are, it's a for-profit business, and the new management was hired to cut costs and increase profits; and they're doing exactly what the owners are asking them to do unfortunately.

I agree with the others; unite w other tenants, go over the lease very carefully, and check local laws.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter