Residents fed up with complaint management by the complex company.
By: Joseph Harvie
Some residents of Deans Apartments on Blackhorse Lane are getting fed up with the way complaints are being handled by the management company of the complex.
They say that trees are so overgrown that branches are brushing up against windows, shrubs haven’t been trimmed in more than three years, the vinyl siding on several buildings is falling apart, streetlights need to be fixed and the playground is falling apart.
The development, made up of affordable housing units where rent is based on income, is managed by Lower County Building Management of Sicklerville in Camden County. The company is in charge of making repairs on the buildings, but says it hasn’t received complaints from residents.
Donna Duckworth, director of operations for Lower County Property Management, said it is repairing vinyl siding and will begin working on landscaping complaints next week. She also said the company is working with the township to address the streetlight complaints.
Arlyne DeSena, the township affordable housing officer, said the apartments’ owner, Property Management Company of North Adams, Mass., was issued a summons last year to repair the streetlights. Ms. DeSena said she was able to acquire a grant through the county to pay for the repairs, but when no one from the property owner’s office or the management company met with county officials to go over the work, the grant was pulled.
Ms. DeSena said she has had a hard time getting in touch with the owners and was unaware that Lower County was in charge of managing the property.
The residents say they face the same issue.
Ellen Liggon, who has lived in the complex for 19 years and in South Brunswick for 40, said she has been trying to get management to fix things, but she never seems to get a reply.
"They always give you the same answer, ‘there’s no money,’ " Ms. Liggon said.
Ms. Liggon said her main concern is the safety of residents. She said that with all but two streetlights out (the two in front of the complex), it gets very dark, and most residents keep their porch lights on just to keep a little light on the complex.
Ms. Liggon said the playground area, which consists of a swing and a slide, has deteriorated over the years. The paint is chipping off and has only one swing where two once were.
She said she is frustrated because the grass on the property is mainly weeds and that the only grass in the complex is that planted by residents in front of her homes. She also said the shrubs on the sides of the houses need to be pruned. She said they haven’t been pruned since at least 2002.
"If you have someone coming to cut the grass, why can’t you have someone to cut the shrubs?" Ms. Liggon said.
Ms. Liggon said the owners of the complex haven’t sent anyone to cut the grass this year or to rake leaves that fell during the fall and are still behind the buildings.
One resident who asked to remain anonymous said she and a group of senior citizens raked the leaves behind their building over the weekend because they couldn’t take the smell of the decaying foliage.
The woman said that, as they raked, they noticed an odor coming from the siding of the buildings because of mold that has built up. She said that someone was supposed to come last week, Friday, or Monday to power wash the mold.
Jonathan Yetman, a resident of Building 3 for four years, said the deadbolt on his front door hasn’t worked since he moved in.
"There was a break-in before we moved in and it’s been four years and they still haven’t fixed it," Mr. Yetman said.
Mr. Yetman said he had to fix his neighbor’s window last year because one of the panes broke.
"She was eight months pregnant and needed the window fixed," Mr. Yetman said. "They never fixed it, so I did."
Mr. Yetman and Ms. Liggon said they also have constant problems with their closet doors. They said the sliding doors come off the hinges and have become a nuisance.
"I took three of mine off and brought them to the (manager’s) office," Mr. Yetman said. "They have sharp metal edges and one nearly came down and hit me in the head, so I took them off."
However, Ms Duckworth, said she has not received complaints about landscaping issues and problems with the playground area. Ms. Duckworth said if residents do have complaints they can make them by calling her number directly. She said all of the residents have the phone number to her office in Sicklerville.
Ms. Duckworth said Lower County is preparing to fix streetlights, but she does not know when work will start. Ms. Duckworth has not received complaints about shrubbery or overgrown trees, but she said would send someone out next week to take care of the problem and to look at the playground.
"I don’t know when he will be scheduled, but I will have him go up and take care of the shrubbery," Ms. Duckworth said Tuesday.
Ms. Duckworth said the company sent out crews Monday to fix the vinyl siding on the apartments and they are scheduled to return Friday. She said her crews were getting upset because while they were repairing the siding more was being damaged.
"We had two men up there yesterday replacing the siding and as my men are replacing it, children were throwing stones at other siding, breaking it," Ms. Duckworth said. "That is going to be something that the site manager is going to send a letter to the residents about. We are trying to put new siding up, but the children are destroying existing siding while we we’re doing it, which is very disheartening."
Ms. Duckworth said the vinyl siding would be power washed once all of the broken pieces are repaired.
Ms. Duckworth said she can not arrange repairs unless she is notified of problems by residents.
"Perhaps they should have notified me about the complaints," Ms. Duckworth said. "We are in South (Jersey) and they are in Central Jersey, so it is a little hard, but they all have my phone number."