Columbus apartment complexes dealing with water shutoffs — even when residents pay the bills
Columbus resident James Day has lived at the Links of Maple Ridge for eight years.
He works in retail management and didn’t initially notice the sign when it went up until his wife brought it to his attention.
“I work nights,” Day said. “I passed right by it and didn’t even read it. I’m used to all of these election signs.”
Day realized the sign was a Columbus Water Works disconnection notice informing the apartment complex’s tenants that their water was at risk of being disconnected Dec. 3 because of nonpayment, even though they pay for their water directly to the apartment complex along with their rent.
Links of Maple Ridge tenants aren’t alone in dealing with this problem.
Residents in two other Columbus apartment complexes had their water temporarily disconnected for nonpayment earlier this week.
Water was disconnected Tuesday at Crystal Park Apartments and Crystal Falls Apartments on Crystal Drive near Macon Road, Vic Burchfield, vice president of Columbus Water Works, told the Ledger-Enquirer.
The bill was paid, he said, and the water was reconnected the same day. But the apartment complexes must be at least 60 days late, as with any other customer, before the disconnection notices are posted.
Last month, Spring Cove Apartments on East Heights Drive also faced disconnection.
The owner of Crystal Park is listed as Crystal Park Group LLC, according to Muscogee County property tax records, and the owner of Crystal Falls is listed as Crystal Fall Group LLC. Columbus Realty Group LLC is listed as the owner of Spring Cove Apartments and the Links of Maple Ridge.
All of the LLCs have the same address, according to the records.
“We work with our customers to try to resolve these types of issues before it comes to having to put out signs on the property because we much prefer resolving issues ahead of time,” Burchfield said.
When Day pays rent, he said, there’s a breakdown of how much he owes for utilities. Tenants are not able to pay Columbus Water Works directly for their water.
“We sell that water to the apartment complex through a master meter,” Burchfield said. “And the master meter account is in the name of the management company there.”
This is why tenants are directed to voice their concerns with the property manager, he said.
Difficulty getting answers
But Day had difficulty getting answers from the property manager.
He called the property’s office, which is at Spring Cove Apartments, on Thursday to ask about the situation.
“The lady that answered the phone said, ‘Well, we made corporate aware,’” Day said. “And that’s all she would really say to me.”
When he tried contacting Columbus Realty directly, Day was met by an “endless loop of answering machines.”
The Ledger-Enquirer visited the leasing office but was told that it was policy not to speak with the press. When asked to be provided a contact number for the corporate office and owner, the employees denied the request.
“It’s very frustrating and alarming (to see the notice),” Day said.
He lives in the apartment with his wife and children. The apartment complex was nice when they first moved in, Day said, but problems increased after ownership changed hands.
The pool has been out of order, he said, and it was only open for a month or two this past season.
Earlier this year, they went months without trash pickup, causing the area that residents use to dispose of their trash to pile up.
“It was completely full with trash bags spilling out of the sides,” Day said. “And it was nasty. It smelled so bad. The cats and stuff were in there.”
Eventually, a new dumpster was brought out, and the situation was corrected, he said. But it was as difficult to get answers during that time as it is getting answers about their water now.
“We were calling, asking, what’s going on with this,” Day said. “We paid for trash pickup, but there’s nobody picking up trash.”
The property managers told them the owners weren’t paying the bills, he said.
Potential fines and how renters can protect themselves
Columbus Water Works notifies the city’s Building Inspections and Code Enforcement Department when an apartment complex is delinquent and faces disconnection, department director Ryan Pruett told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email.
The department attempts to contact the property management or owner to inform them that, if the water is disconnected, they’ll be in violation of the city’s property maintenance code.
“If found guilty of violating the Property Maintenance Code, the property management or owner faces a minimum fine of $500 per violation,” Pruett said in the email.
Typically, a citation is issued for each unit without water, he said, but it’s ultimately up to a court whether to levy a fine for each unit.
Notice signs are placed a couple of weeks before the water would be disconnected, Burchfield said, so residents have time to make preparations.
If there is a long-term outage, Burchfield advises tenants to reach out to United Way’s 211 to find resources that can help.
Despite the problems he’s faced at the Links of Maple Ridge, Day consistently has fought to stay there because it’s in a good area with good schools for his kids.
He and his wife haven’t explored other options yet, Day said, but the chance their water is disconnected has created an anxious situation.
Day is frustrated that despite paying their bills, the property’s owners aren’t keeping up with their responsibilities to tenants.
“I’m sure if I didn’t pay my bills, they would put a notice on my door the next day,” he said. “So, why is that respect not flipped the other way if we’re paying bills? Why is that expectation not expected from the other side?”
This story was originally published November 15, 2024 at 4:30 PM.
