EVERGREEN SQUARE

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EVERGREEN SQUARE

8/17/2008

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal - Tupelo,MS*

By LeCoz

http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=277542 & pub=1 & div=News

Whenever the resident above Tacita Wimsatt's Evergreen Square

apartment flushes a toilet or runs the washing machine, Wimsatt's

family gets ready with the plungers.

They must beat back the water that rushes into their kitchen and

bathroom sinks from the unit upstairs.

Sometimes it's more than just water that invades the Wimsatt's home;

sometimes it's raw sewage swimming with feces and toilet paper and

feminine products. It bubbles up into the bathtub and seeps into the

washing machine.

When family members aren't fighting the water, they're combating the

mold that grows up the walls and across the carpet. Every day,

Tacita Wimsatt said she and her fiancee and five children bleach and

scrub and ventilate the unit.

And this is the second apartment she's occupied here. The first one,

F29, had more severe problems. She complained enough to management

to obtain a different unit - D33 - in June. But within days, the

problems started there, too. So, Wimsatt said, she started

complaining again. But instead of receiving help, she got an

eviction notice.

It's not a rare case at Evergreen Square, a 257-unit apartment

complex on Lawndale Drive that has racked up numerous city code

violations and condemnations and had police called to the property

nearly 100 times in the past 12 months.

This isn't the only apartment complex in Tupelo with crime and code

violations, but it is one of the most problematic - if not the

worst, said both Police Chief Harold Chaffin and city Housing

Inspector Debra Byrd.

At least a half dozen tenants told the Daily Journal that they live

in mold-infested, bug-infested apartments with routine maintenance

problems that are either ignored entirely or patched up

inefficiently.

The owner of Evergreen Square, Von Kurnatowski Jr. of New

Orleans-based Fountainbleau Management Services, denied those

allegations. He said the situation there has been exaggerated by a

handful of unruly tenants bent on attacking the current manager.

They dislike her, he said, because she enforces the rules.

Von Kurnatowski also said he is unaware of any mold and claims the

on-site maintenance crew fixes all problems efficiently and

thoroughly.

" We've been inspecting those apartments for two months, and every

unit that has come back is fine, " Von Kurnatowski said. " If there is

a unit, then we're going to deal with it. "

But last week, several of the apartments had soggy carpets, moldy

walls, bubbling floor tiles, foul odors, leaky faucets and the

countless tiny, biting insects. And these were the ones already

inspected and approved by the city as recently as March.

Byrd said when she visited them they were fine, but something

obviously had changed between then and now.

Although Evergreen Square apartment manager Shariah Gates refused to

make an official statement on behalf of the complex, she did say all

the residents who talked to the newspaper were being evicted. She

also denied any of the currently occupied units had problems.

Not so, said Byrd, who on Aug. 8 found a family living in a

condemned unit. And after a subsequent inspection the same day, Byrd

found that F64 was still unfit for occupancy.

That's a violation of Tupelo's Rental Housing Code, which requires

landlords to get city approval on a unit before moving in a tenant.

The incident will cost Von Kurnatowski a trip to Municipal Court,

where he could face up to $1,000 in fines.

Von Kurnatowski's company owns and operates 34 apartment complexes

throughout the South and in Texas. Fountainbleau purchased the

roughly 30-year-old Evergreen Square in August 2001 when it

was " full of drugs and prostitutes and dangerous behavior. " Since

then, Von Kurnatowski said, he has pumped money and manpower into

the property to make it a clean, safe and affordable place to live.

He notes that the complex offers after-school programs for children

and sponsors the annual Tunes Over Tupelo cancer fundraising event

every year.

" What we do is turn properties around and put them back in commerce

and do it at a minimal increase in cost to the tenants, " he

said. " I'm not saying it's a perfect property. It's an old property,

and there are problems. But we're not forcing people to live in

squalor. "

Still troubled

But Evergreen still battles squalid conditions, just as it continues

to fight off drugs and prostitutes and dangerous behavior. In the

past year, the property has racked up 13 burglaries, 12 simple

assaults, four strong-armed robberies, three grand larcenies, three

drug-related offenses, one count of prostitution and one kidnapping,

according to the Tupelo Police Department.

And last year, the city had to shut down four of the 16 apartment

buildings in the complex after finding the mold to be so hazardous

to human health that inspectors had to wear Hazmat respirators

before entering some of the units.

The state Department of Health does not handle mold issues on

private properties, a spokeswoman told the Daily Journal on Thursday.

Von Kurnatowski said he's been disappointed in the city's attitude

toward his complex and that inspectors have unfairly targeted him.

" I couldn't be anymore upset and disappointed with the whole process

anymore, " he said. " It's an insult. "

Nevertheless, Von Kurnatowski said he has made good-faith efforts to

correct all the problems, including replacing the main sewer lines

in at least one of the buildings. As of mid-July, 162 of the

complex's 257 units have been approved by the city. Forty-two more

will be inspected Monday.

But other condemned units remain untouched. Von Kurnatowski said he

eventually will repair them but has no immediate plans to do so. In

the meantime, water continues to accumulate in these vacant

apartments and seeps into the occupied units next door, Byrd said.

" There is mold in the corners and in the tub, and it always smells

weird, " said Latonya , who lives in F44. " Under the air

conditioning vent was about 1 inch of standing water and mold with

gnat eggs all up in it. "

But if every unit on the campus isn't brought up to code by Sept.

11 - a deadline imposed by the city earlier this year - a public

hearing will be held, Byrd said. At that time, " we'll force them ...

to either repair it, or we'll have the buildings demolished. "

" We don't want to demolish the buildings, obviously, " she said, " but

if that's what we have to do, we'll do it. "

No where to turn

In the meantime, residents complain of breathing difficulties and

depression and say they don't know where to turn for help. Moving

out isn't an option, many said, because it costs too much to

relocate and because few other places can beat Evergreen's monthly

rent prices, which range from around $300 for a one-bedroom unit to

about $500 for a three-bedroom unit.

Several tenants this month drew up a petition complaining about the

poor conditions there and gathered about 45 signatures. But when the

apartment manager found out about it, she wrote up those residents

for " disturbing the peace, " and said it was a violation of their

lease.

Sutton, one of the tenants who got the citation, moved out

of C27 last week and into a new apartment complex altogether. She

said she was sick of living in mold, tired of being ignored and fed

up with what she termed harassment from management.

Von Kurnatowski said he stands behind Gates, who is simply enforcing

the company rules.

Residents are accustomed to receiving such citations - or

infractions, as they're called here. The notices are tapped to their

doors, sometimes with a $50 fine, each time they fail to observe

curfew or park somewhere they shouldn't or remove an exterior light

bulb or violate one of a number of rules and regulations.

Because Wimsatt received six infractions in the past year - two of

which she termed bogus - she was told on July 30 that her lease was

being terminated and she was being evicted. She must leave by Aug.

31, Gates told Wimsatt in a notice tapped to her door.

Wimsatt, a student at Itawamba Community College, notes that the

eviction notice came just days after she called the city to complain

about the apartment's conditions.

" I don't think this is a coincidence, " she said. " I think it's

retaliation. "

Wimsatt said she's not sure what she'll do come Aug. 31. She doesn't

have a lot of money and knows of no other apartment complex as

affordable as Evergreen Square. But she said she's looking.

" I don't want to live this way, " she said. " Nobody does. But it's

not easy for me to just pick up five kids and move. "

Contact Le Coz at (662) 678-1588 or emily.lecoz@....

Know your rights

8/17/2008

Daily Journal

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

Under the Mississippi Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, anyone

renting a home has basic rights. Here's a quick summary:

- USE AND OCCUPANCY RULES (Sec. 89-8-11) - A landlord can adopt and

enforce rules and regulations but only if they are reasonable and

promote the convenience, safety or welfare of all tenants.

Furthermore, all tenants must be given ample notice of the rules and

regulations, and landlords must apply them fairly to all tenants.

- RIGHT TO TERMINATE LEASE (Sec. 89-8-13) - If a landlord wants to

terminate the lease of a tenant who breached the terms of the rental

agreement, the landlord must give the tenant at least 30 days

notice. However, if the tenant can restore the terms of the lease -

by making repairs or paying late rent, for example - the lease

should not be terminated.

- REPAIR OF DEFECTS (Sec. 89-8-15) - If a landlord fails to make

repairs after 30 days written notice, the tenant can repair the

defect himself and charge the landlord for the expense, as long as

the expense doesn't exceed the cost of one month's rent.

- OBLIGATIONS OF LANDLORD (Sec. 89-8-23) - A landlord must comply

with all applicable building and housing codes and properly maintain

the unit. However, a landlord isn't obliged to fix defects

deliberately caused by a tenant.

- OBLIGATIONS OF TENANT (Sec. 89-8-25) - A tenant must keep the unit

clean and safe and dispose all rubbish in a clean and safe manner.

He also must use all facilities in a reasonable way and not

intentionally damage any part of the unit. Finally, a tenant must

not disturb the peace of his neighbors.

Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal,

8/17/2008, section A , page 7