It’s a complaint that is reported from time to time by apartment residents across North Texas: They have a broken elevator that will not be repaired.
Tired tenants of an apartment complex in Uptown Dallas make their fight for a solution public.
You’ll see the signs on the windows and a large white banner hanging from a resident’s balcony at Lofts at the Sawyer, which is on the corner of McKinney Avenue and Blackburn Street in Uptown.
It is not a “now-leasing” promotion, but rather an outcry.
“I think it will help,” said the tenant Audrey Tolbert and looked at the banner with the black inscription: OUR ELEVATOR BROKEN 4 MONTHS! “People take pictures as they drive by so I think it will really help raise awareness of what is going on here.”
Those who live in the McKinney Avenue building say they don’t have a working elevator – not for a week or even a month.
“Four months,” said tenant Lindsay Smith. “Four months. Yeah, it’s crazy.”
The residents had to climb the stairs to their floors, some even up to the fifth floor.
Another option is to go into the adjoining building, take the elevator to the second floor, go outside over the swimming pool, into your building and up the stairwell.
“There is no stair-free entry into your unit,” said Smith. “It’s like a maze.”
While the one elevator in the Sawyer loft is actually operating, its inspection has expired, according to the state.
Annual elevator inspections are required by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
A TDLR spokesman tells NBC 5 that both elevators in the Sawyer loft are “overdue for inspection.”
“On June 2, 2021, we sent the property manager a notification that the elevators were overdue for inspection and we had not received the required reports, documents and fees,” continues TDLR: “Equipment failure” annually inspected is a violation of the Class C against the Ministry’s elevator regulations. The administrative fine for a first violation is between $ 1,000 and $ 5,000 per incident. ‘
The agency does not know if a lawsuit has been filed against the owner, which is a unique challenge even in the tenants’ situation.
Until Monday, November 8th, the property was owned by RangeWater Real Estate, based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Lofts at the Sawyer are now owned by Weidner Apartment Homes based in Kirkland, Washington.
Carl Simpson, code compliance director for the city of Dallas, told NBC 5 that he spoke to the property manager, who said a state inspector failed to keep the elevator up to date, citing the repairs. The manager states that before they could “post” additional repairs to pass an inspection, the property had to change hands, which happened on Monday.
Smith says hers and other residents’ requests for updates and a resolution from their previous management company have gone unanswered.
“It feels disrespectful, and it feels like they’re breaking their end of the bargain,” she said. “We pay rent on time, prime rent, and we feel like they are ignoring us.”
NBC 5 reached out to LegalAid of Northwest Texas, unrelated to the incident, to find out what rights tenants have in such situations.
Regulatory attorney Farwah Raza has nothing to do with the problem these tenants are facing, but when asked about their initial reaction to the case, Raza said, “They have residents who may be poorly informed of their rights, I am thinking of that really, because yes, four months is an extremely long time. “
Raza only says generally that it is important for tenants to read their rental agreement carefully and write a letter to the property management company asking for “repair and remedial action” in accordance with the Real Estate Act.
“Your rights will not come into effect until you submit a written request,” said Raza. “Usually you want to let that happen and then you come before a judge.”
Defective elevators should not be reported with a “maintenance request”. This is a legal problem, not a maintenance problem, she says.
Raza urges all tenants facing the same problems to seek the help of their agency and submit two written inquiries or a certified letter via the post office.
“It basically uses your rights and you have to set deadlines for them,” she said. “The landlord has to respond and they may not respond, and then you’ll have to apply to your local justice of the peace for a fix.”
Then there is the question of the Americans with Disabilities Act that could come into play.
“If there is any disability, make sure to look at the ADA and ask about reasonable accommodation under the FHA and ADA,” said Raza.
Tenant Tolbert says she has an autoimmune disease that sometimes makes walking difficult and that she has reported to management.
“Some days I’m fine, but other days I wake up and don’t want to move, and it hurts to walk,” she said.
Smith says she has never heard of any of her neighbors having physical disabilities preventing her from taking the stairs, but says it affects loved ones.
“My father is 82 years old and he cannot visit me in my unit,” said Smith. “He can’t go up four flights of stairs.”
Tolbert also says the inoperative elevator made it difficult for some neighbors to move out.
“The baseline for moving companies rises when you don’t have a working elevator, especially if you’re on the fifth floor,” she said.
Greg Cerbana, vice president of government affairs for Weidner Apartment Homes, told NBC 5 that completing repairs on both elevators in the Sawyer lofts is a top priority for the company.
Cerbana says they were aware of the “ongoing challenges” with the elevators in the course of acquiring the property, but were unable to do anything until the deal officially closed on Monday.
He says they have already “worked out contracts” with a repair company, but cannot give a date for the start of the big project. Some of the potential new challenges could relate to bottlenecks and delays in the supply chain.
The repair and upgrade work on both elevators will take 8 to 12 weeks and cost the company about $ 600,000, Cerbana said.
Weidner Apartment Homes has been operating in West Texas for 30 years. This is the company’s first property in Dallas.
“We are happy to be there,” said Cerbana. “It’s a great property.”
With no relief in sight, desperate tenants hope that their silent protests will be heard.
“People are really upset and we want answers and empathy,” said Smith. “We just want a functioning elevator.”
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