Last year, Kacee Cole developed an anxious habit of listening closely to her faulty air-conditioning system in her rental unit at Ascott Place Apartments, which sits about a mile northwest of the University of South Florida.
If the air-conditioning was leaking, her bedroom carpet would be flooded—again.
Cole didn’t want to relive the feeling of getting out of bed to have her bare feet soaked by mushy carpet, so she listened closely for dripping sounds before going to sleep.
Sometimes it was the air-conditioning, other times the toilet would back up and overflow due to the faulty plumbing.
She also dreaded what happened after leaks.
Maintenance people would come in to vacuum up as much water as they could. Then, a carpet company would arrive and leave industrial heaters in the apartment to dry the carpet for two days, Cole says.
Because of the heaters, she had to crank up her AC to keep the house cool, and her utility bill would shoot up.
“This is putting a big strain on me physically and mentally, since I keep worrying about continued leaking, continued flooding, mold and mildew. [It has] become a never ending cycle of ‘What is going to happen next,’ and it's starting to wear on me in a very big way,” she wrote in an email to Maxx Properties staff, the owners of Ascott Apartments, in August of 2020.
Out of desperation, she threatened to withhold rent.
The community manager for Maxx Properties emailed Cole back, expressing empathy for her situation, saying they would work to make improvements.
But prorated rent for the structural problems Cole constantly dealt with was not in the equation for the property managers.
“Please do not withhold rent as that is not a solution and you will accumulate Late Fees,” the Community Manager for Maxx Properties wrote. “I promise I will stay on top of this for you! Thank you!!”
Maxx Properties is a privately-held real estate company that manages 37 local communities, including 8,980 owned multi-family units in six states across the country and 2,344 cooperative units in New York. At Ascott, they manage a total of 231 apartments.
The problems for Cole under the company persisted. In May of this year, she says she continued to speak up about the maintenance issues and contacted Maxx Properties’ corporate office. She was informed just a few days later that she would not have an option to renew her lease, and would have to move out by the end of July.
That’s when Cole—who lived at the apartments for two years and provided documentation to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay showing she dealt with maintenance issues the entire time—says she stopped paying rent, which management was attempting to increase while not having fixed any issues. She also contacted Hillsborough County Code Enforcement, which found six violations in the apartment.
These included: holes in flooring, significant cracking in the living room and bedroom ceilings (which also leaked during storms), water damage and “organic growth” (a term the county uses to refer to mold), and numerous electrical violations.
The inspectors followed up two weeks later, and the improvements hadn’t been made, so a code violation case against Ascott has been referred to the county. But a date for a county hearing has not yet been set. Ascott, along with two other complexes that Maxx Properties owns in Tampa, have collectively received dozens of code violation calls in the past five years.
Cole found a new place to live, but it wasn’t easy after her issues with Ascott and withholding her rent. After trying what she says was around 30 rental properties, she eventually found a trailer park to live in. It’s not her ideal situation, but she’s glad to be in a place with properly functioning utilities.
But at Ascott Place, many tenants are still dealing with conditions Cole experienced. They have begun to take action.
Tampa Tenants Union forms
In April, Cole and other tenants started talking to each other about the issues they faced. The common complaint between all of them was the plumbing.
Garrett Camfferman, who has lived in the complex since February 2021, has experienced constant plumbing issues. In April, his kitchen sink began filling up with sewage and overflowing while he was getting ready for work. He and his roommate had to fill up and carry pots of the dirty water out of the apartment. It made him late for work and his boss was angry with him.
“It was an incredibly frustrating and stressful day,” Camfferman told CL.
There are other common structural issues, as well. Leaks, mold, flooded sinks, lack of water pressure are all habitual complaints among tenants, according to the union.
And, as new leases are signed this year, management is increasing tenant’s rents as they resign.
A current tenant, who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of being evicted, told CL that in the midst of all of these problems, getting their rent raised felt like a “slap in the face.”
Another said, “when you pay for something, you expect it to work.”
In response to the ongoing issues, The Tampa Tenants Union (TTU) formed, following the lead of St. Pete Tenants Union, a group fighting for tenant's rights across the bay, and organizers with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). Members have been canvassing around the complex since April to hear renters' concerns, hold meetings, and based on their feedback, form demands for Ascott Place Apartments and Maxx Properties.
TTU told CL it has received threats from the leasing office to call the police on them for canvassing their neighbors’ houses. It also shared emails that were sent out by management, informing residents that the tenant’s union meetings are not associated with the apartment complex.
Despite this, the union still regularly held tenants meetings and crafted a list of demands for Ascott Apartments, including renovation of the piping, prompt response to maintenance requests, addressing utility issues, and holding monthly meetings with representatives of the tenants’ association to see that any issues that tenants have been carried through.
Over 130 individual tenants at the complex signed in support of the demands.
Five weeks ago, Tampa Tenants Union posted the demands to the leasing offices front door but hadn’t heard back. So members kept canvassing, talking to their neighbors and decided to reach out to the media.
Maxx properties responds to renters
CL reached out to see how the company was addressing the issues detailed by the tenants union. On Thursday, Maxx sent a statement acknowledging the ongoing plumbing issues at the property.
“We are actively working to address all plumbing issues as they come up, including purchasing professional-grade repair equipment and training maintenance to manage many issues that would previously have required a plumber, in an effort to shorten our response time,” Maxx Properties wrote.
Maxx wrote that they have evaluated replacing pipes, which could result in significant and lengthy disruptions, including turning off water and sewer for the duration of the project. They claimed this could necessitate having to vacate the property and relocate current residents.
A 30-year maintenance man involved with the Tampa Tenants Union preferred to be anonymous but pointed out that hydro jetting could be an option for the property, which would not displace residents. But he also acknowledged that the option could be costly.
In response to maintenance service response time, Maxx Properties Vice President of Marketing Gina Bechtold-Yoo said the company is in the process of hiring more maintenance techs. They wrote that In 2020, they only completed emergency repairs to protect tenants from COVID-19 exposure.
“We are currently back to standard operations and at the time of this writing there are no outstanding work orders,” Maxx Properties wrote.
Maxx said another company handles washing machine complaints but encouraged tenants to continue to contact them about the problems.
Maxx did not respond to the union’s request for monthly meetings, instead saying, “Every resident at the community is welcome to speak individually with the office regarding outstanding issues or concerns that they have with their apartment.”
In the last paragraph of its response, Maxx Properties said that while the residents have an absolute right to form a union at the property, all parties must respect residents who have asked not to be contacted.
“We have received several complaints about repeated door-knocking and scared residents who feel threatened if they don’t join the tenants’ union,” the letter reads. “Repeat harassment of these residents may result in an appropriate Notice to Cure and up to a Notice of Possession as provided in the Statutes.”
Notice to Cure means that the property owners would ask tenant union members to cease their behavior by a set date. Calli Burnett, Staff Attorney for Bay Area Legal Services (BALS) says that Notice of Possession could mean eviction but that as far as legal terms go, it seems like a phrase the leasing company made up or is confused about.
CL asked Bechtold-Yoo if Maxx Properties has a record of how many tenants have called in saying they felt scared or threatened by the tenants union.
Issues were going on for years before the tenant’s union formed and started canvassing, which led to the company’s response to the issues. Based on this, CL asked Maxx Properties if they were saying in their letter that any of the residents who knock on neighbors' doors to talk about issues they're dealing with are now risking eviction by Maxx Properties?
Along with these questions, CL asked why the company would increase rents this year while a crucial piece of infrastructure was dysfunctional.
Maxx Properties did not respond to any of the questions.
Burnett at BALS says that under Florida Statute 83.64 section B, landlords cannot retaliate against tenants for forming a tenants union, or encouraging other tenants to become involved.
“Examples of conduct for which the landlord may not retaliate include, but are not limited to, situations where: (…)
(b)The tenant has organized, encouraged, or participated in a tenant organization,” Burnett sent in an email to CL.
TTU is currently working on a formal response to the letter from Maxx Properties. In the meantime, tenants like Camfferman are left to feel accosted and frustrated.
“It’s hardly a veiled threat from Maxx Properties,” Camfferman says. “It seems like what they’re saying is: if you continue to organize you will be punished.”
Send anonymous news tips to cltampabay_tips@protonmail.com. Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team works tirelessly to bring you news on how coronavirus is affecting Tampa and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Subscribe to our newsletter and follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter.
See a list of Tampa “Safe & Sound” live music venues here.
This article appears in Aug 12-18, 2021.