Apartment Flooding Raises Management Questions
PALM SPRINGS – Monday’s storm hit the Saturmino Garden and Continental Garden apartments in Palm Springs hard. It caused leaking ceilings, now sagging with the weight of rain water and flooded floors.
Resident Gina Loscutoff shows us her rain damage, pointing toward her bed, “This whole thing here is just totally soaked. I have a blanket here to help soak up the extra water from the mattress. We had to push it over. You can see in here how much water fell.” Loscutoff holds a bucket filled with approximately 2 inches of water. “We don’t know if we’re breathing in black mold. This will be the 7th time that it’s actually leaked in here,” adds Loscutoff.
Paula Fischer lives in neighboring Continental Gardens, managed by the same company, and adds, “I had a leak that took 5 pots to catch the leak. It’s all across the whole ceiling in my bedroom.”
Four different people told us their apartments had major leaks Monday night and that it’s a regular occurrence. We confronted the apartment’s maintenance worker.
We ask as he drives away in his truck, “What’s being done about these leaks?”
He answers, “We’re addressing the them as it dries up. That’s about it.”
We press, “People have complained for months.”
The maintenance employee says, “No comment on that. We’re on it. Yeah…”
We confront the apartment manager, Shane Starkey, who walks away to call his supervisor, Toni Ringlein, only to respond, “We’re addressing the issues.”
We ask further, “That’s all you have to say?”
Starkey nods his head yes.
People living in both complexes also complain of major electrical and security problems.
Betty Bertram explains, “I’ve been robbed twice due to a door issue that wasn’t secure. I’ve got a window by the front door that came apart when you open it. It separates from the frame and the glass.”
We ask, “How many times have you told management about this problem?”
“At least 10 minutes in the last month,” is her reply,
“And they still haven’t fixed it?”
“Nothing’s been addressed, no,” says Bertram.
Desert Shadows Property Management runs these places, a total of 11 in the Palm Springs area. That company is owned by RP Management of Washington state. The Better Business Bureau gives the company an “F” rating.
Palm Springs City Manager David Ready says, “What my code enforcement staff tells me is they’re doing a complete walkthrough of the grounds and on Wednesday or Thursday of this week they’ll do a final report. Then they’ll be working with the landlord to deal with the issue. It’s important to note that if there’s any safety issues, those will be handled immediately.”
The city adds some advice for residents now thinking of a mass renter’s revolt at the complexes.
“State law prohibits us from just going in and making an inspection. We have to be invited. Either by the landlord or the tenant. So, when they have a complaint. Let us know and we’ll be happy to go do an inspection,” adds Ready.
