Melissa Diaz moved into the Viña Apartments in Elyria-Swansea about a year ago.
Back then, she said the affordable housing complex was "the nicest place" she's ever lived.
Today, that isn't necessarily the case anymore.
Diaz and several other residents have formed a tenants' union, with the help of Denver-Aurora Tenants United, after complaints of safety concerns, deteriorating conditions and inconsistent rent and utility charges have fallen on deaf ears.
They hope that the formation of the union will lead to addressing these issues.
On Tuesday, the Vina Apartments Tenants Union presented a letter to the management office, with their concerns and a request for a meeting between residents, Syringa Property Management and Columbia Ventures, the property's developer.
"We're here today to address some of the issues with our housing, safety, repairs and things not getting done," Diaz said. "We're hoping to get some type of action from the management company by presenting a letter of demand...Our hope with the tenants union is that we come together and get some things done."
The complex opened last year and this is the second time residents have spoken out about issues they're facing.
Viña offers 150 units of income-restricted housing. When it opened, half of the units were for those earning up to 30% to 50% of the area median income or salary ranges of $22,050 to $36,700 for a single person. The remaining units were for those making up to 80% AMI or $55,950 for a single person.
But as of June 2022, those AMI ranges have changed. Now, a single person making $24,650 is at the 30% AMI level. Denver7 reported that typically rents increase by about 5% each year, but, in January, residents received notices that due to the increase in AMI levels, their rents would be increasing by 12%. The increase was in accordance with rent amounts set by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority.
Residents said, while the increase may have been allowed, it doesn't account for the fact that their incomes did not increase. Many residents at Viña live on set incomes, including Diaz who said she receives federal assistance.
Diaz said her rent increased by about $90.
"I live on a little bit of money a month, probably what some people make in two weeks. I live on that for a monthly basis," Diaz said. "For me, that was [an extra] $90 a month and that's huge. That's huge for me to have to come out of my pocket but unfortunately I have to suck it up and take it because I don't really have anywhere else to go."
Besides the rent increases, residents are dealing with other issues that they've outlined in the demand letter.
The residents are seeking resolutions for four main issues:
-Double charging of rents, incorrect fees, general lack of payment ledger transparency.
-Inconsistency and lack of transparency regarding the recertification process.
-Failures to respond to tenant notices of uninhabitable conditions in a timely manner.
-Overcharging of electric bills and dishonesty around electricity provider.
On the first and second concern, Bruno Tapia with the Denver Aurora Tenants Union said the issues began when Syringa took over as the property manager in April. Tapia said residents haven't been able to access the payment portal to view their rent or electricity ledgers. They've seen unexplained fees, higher fees than what the affordability level is supposed to limit and late fees when there haven't been late payments.
Several residents on Tuesday said they use Section 8, or the Housing Choice Voucher Program, which subsidizes a portion of an eligible person's rent.
Typically, participants pay a portion of the rent, about 30% to 40% of the household's adjusted gross income, and the voucher is used to pay rent.
Residents said they were either being charged the wrong amount of rent or asked to pay as if they were not using the voucher.
Tapia added that with the property management switch residents no longer pay Xcel Energy directly for their electricity bills but instead pay a third-party vendor. Since then, their bills have not been itemized to show kilowatt usage and their bills have increased.
"Our utility bill shows no kilowatts, shows no usage. It didn't even have my name on it. No name, no address, just an apartment number and what's due. No breakdown," Diaz said. "I don't know about anybody else, but that's unacceptable. I know my case manager won't take that as a bill."
As for the third concern about addressing maintenance issues, residents said they have a mix of issues.
Many residents said they have bug infestations, backed up pipes and broken fixtures such as door handles. Residents also said there's no security in the building.
Diaz said there was recently a shooting near the complex and some residents have said their doorknobs have jiggled in the night.
Jessica Neckien said the complex's rear door wouldn't lock for months, leaving the building open to trespassers who slept in the stairways. Neckien added that the call box doesn't work, the front door doesn't lock, she's had a difficult time receiving packages and the cleanliness of the building has been an issue.
"I want to see some changes or we're going to take them to court. We're paying more rent and we want to see something done," Neckien said.
In the demand letter, the union said they would like to meet with Syringa and Columbia on May 23.
"We're hoping that a representative of theirs could meet with us either virtually or in person on Tuesday," Tapia said. "We want to give them that opportunity to answer these questions, these demands before we go forward and take more drastic action to see these changes happen."
Dillon Baynes, the co-founder and managing partner with Columbia, said a representative from Syringa intends to meet with residents this week. He added that residents with financial concerns will have to reach out individually but Syringa and Columbia will handle any issues.
"We are 100% committed to a terrific living environment at Viña," Baynes said. "We are stand up people and we're going to do the stand up thing about this...We're inviting any residents to come meet and help us understand where they believe an error occurred. We're grownups. If we made a mistake, we'll own it and we'll address it right then."
Typically, when residents have complaints regarding portals or cleanliness, the issue falls on the property management team, but Tapia said the reason residents are also seeking a response from Columbia is because of accountability.
Columbia doesn't own the land but they are leasing it, they own the building and there are preliminary plans to build more affordable housing near Viña.
Tapia wondered, if Columbia can't fix the issues with Viña, what will happen with the other properties?
"It's the property management company that has the day to day, on the ground work in the building but it's ultimately Columbia Ventures who decides who gets hired for that position," Tapia said. "If they're not able to remedy the issues that are existing in the apartments right now, we're really concerned for what it's going to look like in the upcoming buildings that they want to build there.
If Columbia or Syringa don't respond to residents, Tapia said DATU would assist Viña in seeking legal action.
Diaz said she's hopes it doesn't come to that.
"There's power in numbers for one thing and we have to come together to get anything done," Diaz said. "You can't have just one person with a complaint. If we come together as a group, as a whole, you know, that's going to have more weight...Hopefully they take a look and actually take us seriously and respond in an appropriate fashio
