Video-Tenants concerned about deplorable conditions at Midvale apartments

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Tenants concerned about deplorable conditions at Midvale apartments

ABC 4 - Salt Lake City,

Buddy Blankenfeld buddy@...

http://www.abc4.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=395e0b33-bf40-

47fa-848b-56ac2995c207

People living in at the Wasatch Apartments at 795 West Wasatch

Street in Midvale say conditions are so bad there it's making them

sick. They claim their landlord won't fix dozens of problems

including mold.

The Salt Lake Valley Health Department has sent a warning letter to

owner Matt Jarvis advising him to fix code violations but tenants

say, so far, those violations are not fixed. Sueanne said she

is fed up with rusty water coming out of her bathtub faucet and

leaking ceilings in both her kitchen and bathroom that are causing

them to fall apart and mold. " I have an infant and four-year-old, "

she said, " in these conditions they are now asthmatic and never had

been before and they say it is due to the mold. " said she has

tried to get the landlord to fix the problems to no avail. " I spoke

to the owner, talking to him about the mold, he told me it's not

going to hurt us unless we scrape it off the wall, put it in a bowl,

and eat it. "

Sueanne is not the only frustrated tenant worried about her

children. Brittany Steele has a new born son with health problems.

She claims he is sick because of what is in her apartment. She has

had to take him to the emergency three times, the last time only a

day ago, she said, " There may have been meth smoked and that's why

my kids are getting sick. " The health department tested for traces

of methamphetamine in her apartment and told Steele residue could be

in the carpet. Steele said she had to stay with relatives the entire

month of April so the Health Department could check for signs of

meth. When they were finished health officials told the apartment

complex owner to clean the carpet, claimed Steele. " The health

department called them and told them they needed to and they

didn't, " she said.

ABC 4 went to four apartments and found many of the violations

mentioned in the warning letter from the health department; Mold in

all four apartment bathrooms, chunks of ceiling falling down from

moisture and water damage, a toilet that leaked so profusely when it

was flushed it floods the floor each time and showers the downstairs

apartment through its bathroom fan outlet. A smoke alarm in one unit

was hanging from the ceiling and not working, and exposed wires from

an electrical outlet were in a child's bedroom next to a baby

bassinette. In another unit the stove did not work and a kitchen

drawer was missing. And baseboards were missing, exposing holes

under the kitchen cabinets.

Tenants told ABC 4 they were required to pay three months of advance

rent at $550 a month plus a $300 deposit. Sueanne said she

wants to move but the landlord won't let her out of the lease and

she does not have the resources to leave. " I want my money back, she

said, " they should have to pay to move us. " But that has not

happened. said the complex manager and owner won't even talk

to her anymore. " They will not talk to me now because I have been so

persistent, " she said.

Salt Lake Valley Health Department officials have been to Wasatch

Apartments twice over tenant's complaints. They plan to return

Monday, June 4. In the warning letter they sent to owner Matt Jarvis

it states he will " face further action " if the violations listed

were not fixed. As of Saturday, June 2 they were not.

ABC 4 spoke with Matt Jarvis Saturday evening. He said he has only

received one letter from the health dept concerning a cat urine

smell in one unit's carpet.

He said he has not seen the letter which was dated May 24th.

He said when he and his manager become aware of a problem, they try

to take care of it, but he said sometimes the problems are not

communicated to him.